STELLA

I’ve been avoiding him all week.

Different hallways. Different lunch periods. I’ve even taken the long way around the science wing just to avoid brushing past him. I fake phone calls. Duck into bathrooms. I’ve perfected the art of pretending Viktor Morozov.

It should be working.

But now I’m sitting in a near-empty classroom with only one other person — him — and every nerve in my body is on high alert.

“Are we waiting for the others?” I ask, not looking up from ...