"'Real. Not a game. Ender's mind was too tired to cope with it all. They weren't just points of light in the air, they were real ships that he had fought with and real ships he had destroyed. And a real world that he had blasted into oblivion. He walked through the crowd, dodging their congratulations, ignoring their hands, their words, their rejoicing. When he got to his own room he stripped off his clothes, climbed into bed, and slept.'"

Root closed the book. Ender's Game was the last book on their summer reading list and they were almost done. School started again in a couple weeks and this was the last of their summer homework.

Root squinted in the bright light. They were hanging out on the front lawn; Sameen laying on her back, arms crossed under her head, and Root sitting cross-legged, grass tickling her skin. Bear ran around them, chasing dragonflies and eat dirt.

"What would you do?" Root asked Sameen, tossing the book onto the ground next to her.

"What?" Sameen grunted.

"If you found out you'd just killed a lot of people?"

Sameen shrugged, eyes closed. "I don't know. They were enemies, right? If it was a fair fight, I guess it's fine."

"I mean, they had been enemies years ago, but they weren't actively attacking anymore," Root said, stretching her legs out. "I don't know if that's fair."

Sameen didn't say anything, just kept her eyes closed, hair splayed out around her.

Root sighed and leaned forward, touching her toes with her fingers. It was the mid-July and nearly 100 degrees outside. Maybe they could go swimming later to cool off.

Sameen's phone buzzed and she reached out blindly. She read the message and typed out a quick reply. Root watched her throw her phone back down and close her eyes again.

"I don't think I could kill anyone," Root said, running her hand over the grass. "I don't like people, but I don't know that I hate them that much."

"Would you kill your dad?"

Root frowned. "Not anymore. If I was going to kill him, I think I would have already done it."

Sameen snorted. "Fair. You just prank him with pizza."

Root raised her eyebrows, sniffing delicately. "There is more than one way to exact revenge. I could do much worse."

Sameen smiled softly. "Do you always get revenge?"

"Usually," Root answered. "Why? Need some help?"

Sameen finally opened her eyes. She turned her head to look at Root. "Would you ever take revenge on me?"

Root considered her carefully. She couldn't tell if Sameen was giving her an opening to ask about all the time she'd been spending with someone else. Root had gone to bed alone most nights for the past couple of weeks. Sameen was always there when she woke up, but she never told Root where she'd been.

"Depends on what you did."

Sameen looked away, frowning. She stared up at the trees as the wind blew, rustling leaves and blowing through her hair. She didn't say anything else and Root sighed, looking away.

She'd never had a problem finding something to talk about, with anyone really, but especially with Sameen. Now, she didn't know what to say. Every topic she could think of circled back to 'why are you lying to me?'

Sameen's phone buzzed again and she picked it up, frowning at the message. She dropped the phone onto her stomach, not answering.

"The perfect date," Sameen mused, nose scrunching.

"What?" Root asked her, surprised by the change of topic.

Sameen looked at her. "The perfect date. What is it?"

Root shrugged and pulled her legs up, wrapping her arms around her knees. "I think it's different for everyone."

"Mine," Sameen started, glaring at the sky, "would probably be seeing a sports game, or hiking, and then a steak dinner. Maybe something fun at the end, like swimming or star-gazing."

Root bit her tongue to keep from mentioning they'd done all of those things but the steak dinner. She wanted to joke and flirt like she used to, but she couldn't. She watched Bear try to chase a squirrel up a tree.

Sameen looked at her. "What's yours?"

Root thought for a moment, tapping on her chin. "Hmm, I think there are so many ways to have a good date. I'll say…Working on a computer project, or going to a Science Museum with a Planetarium, and then…dinner in the park and ending with a movie at home."

Sameen scoffed. "That sounds boring."

Root leaned away from her. "Hey. Don't be mean."

"I'm just saying, you describe the perfect date like a normal weekend. You should pick something new."

Root crossed her arms, turning to face Sameen. "You picked stuff we do all the time. Maybe you should re-evaluate your date, too."

Sameen rolled her eyes. "One, I don't mean school sports. I mean an actual soccer game, or football or basketball. Second, we have never had a steak dinner. Third, swimming and star-gazing are different if you do it with someone you like. Not that you'd know that."

Root sucked in a breath and turned away, trying to keep herself from screaming. Root had never dated anyone, but she knew what it was like to do something with the person you liked. Sameen knew that. She was just rubbing it in Root's face.

Root grabbed her phone and shoved it into her pocket. "I'm going inside." She picked up the book and started to stand, but Sameen's hand stopped her.

"I'm sorry. Root, sit back down," Sameen said, apologetically. "Please."

Root huffed, but let Sameen pull her back down. She threw the book onto the ground next to Sameen.

"You don't have to be such a bitch," Root mumbled, trying to calm down.

Sameen stared at her. "I know. I'm just…not feeling well right now."

Root rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

They sat next to each other in silence. Sameen lay back down, staring at the sky again. Root didn't know what to say to make this less weird. She'd spent almost the entire summer so far unsure of where she and Sameen stood and it was wearing her out. She was exhausted and she just wanted her friend back.

Root's phone rang, startling them both. She pulled it out of her pocket.

"A Corpus Christi area code?" she said, confused. She answered the call. "Hello?"

'Is this Root?' a girl asked on the other end of the line.

"Yes," Root asked hesitantly, exchanging a glance with Sameen. "Who is this?"

'It's Claire! From the radio!'

Root grinned, excited. "Claire! Hello!" She saw Sameen sit up out of the corner of her eye, frowning. "I'm so glad you called. I was beginning to think you weren't going to."

'Sorry,' Claire apologized. 'I started a new project and got distracted.'

Root laughed. "I know the feeling. What's up?"

'You built your HAM Radio, right? By yourself?'

"Yeah," Root answered. "Why? Are you starting a new project?"

'I have a Nomad-7 and – Wait, do you know what that is?'

Root rolled her eyes, smiling. "Of course, I do. Portable solar battery."

'Great! I need to make some upgrades to mine and I could use some help.'

"I'd love to help! When do you want to do it?"

'Are you free tonight?' Claire asked, sounding hopeful.

Root looked at Sameen, who was frowning at her. She smiled. "Yeah, I'm free tonight."

Sameen rolled her eyes and looked away. They had had plans to go to the hill, but Root didn't care. Sameen wasn't the only one who could cancel plans.

'Yes!' Claire cheered. 'I live in Corpus Christi. We could hang out at my place?'

"Sure," Root said, climbing to her feet. "It'll take me a while to get there by bus, though."

'I can pick you up! I'm heading south now. I assume you live by my stand?'

"Yeah, I'm in Bishop. I can text you the address?" Root asked, picking up Ender's game and starting towards the house, Sameen and Bear following her.

'Definitely. See you soon!'

"Bye!" Root hung up the phone and opened the front door.

She started up the stars as Sameen closed the door. She could hear Sameen stomping up the stairs behind her and rolled her eyes as she texted Claire Sameen's address. Root was going to have fun tonight with someone new and Sameen couldn't stand it.

"Who was that?" Sameen asked, reaching passed Root to open the bedroom door for her.

"Claire," Root answered, tossing the book and her phone onto the bed.

Sameen raised her eyebrows. "And who is Claire?"

Root unbuttoned her shorts and slid them down her legs. She pulled her shirt over her head. "Claire Mahoney. She's that intern we always listen to."

Sameen crossed her arms, still standing by the door, scowling. "How did you meet her?"

"We met by our clubhouse. She's the one who sold me that wolf carving," Root explained, moving to the closet.

She looked through her clothes, trying to pick a dress. Since she'd started working at Greer's Ice Cream Store, she'd had some disposable income. She'd bought herself some new clothing. Pants that came all the way to her feet. Shirts with no holes in the armpits. Shoes that fit.

Root ran her hands across the dresses hanging in the closet. She looked great in all of these. For tonight, she wanted something that was casual enough to hang out in, but nice enough to impress Claire. She didn't even know if Claire was gay or if this was a date, but neither did Sameen.

"So, you're going out with a girl you met on the side of the road?" Sameen scoffed. "Sounds safe."

Root shrugged and pulled down a dark blue wrap dress. "I can text you her address in case I disappear into the void."

"Just don't go," Sameen ordered.

Root raised her eyebrows and turned around, looking Sameen in the eyes. She put her hands on her hips. "Tell me who you've been hanging out with and I'll stay here."

Sameen stared into her eyes for a moment before looking away.

"Yeah," Root said, pushing her arms through the sleeves of her dress, "that's what I thought."

She quickly tied her dress shut and pulled her nice sneakers out of the closet. Sitting on the bed, she glanced at Sameen while she slipped on her shoes.

Sameen had turned her back to Root and was leaning against the desk. Root felt bad just leaving like this, but Sameen had been doing it for weeks. She had to teach Sameen a lesson and show her that Root wasn't just going to sit around while Sameen did whatever she wanted. Either they were friends and honest with each other, or they weren't friends.

Root really hoped Sameen chose to stay friends.

Root's phone buzzed and she snatched it off the bed. Claire was outside. Root stood, smoothing the front of her dress down.

"I'm going," she told Sameen.

She waited a minute, but Sameen didn't look up. Root rolled her eyes and stormed out of the room, hurried down the stairs and out the front door.

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Sameen looked out the window of John's car at the stars. They were headed to Corpus Christi to go to Dairy Queen. The one in Bishop closed at ten o'clock and they hadn't come up with the idea until eleven. John and Lionel were talking, but she tuned them out.

Sameen couldn't believe that Root had just left to hang out with someone else. She didn't even know that Root had other friends. Sameen crossed her arms. She probably shouldn't be as upset as she was. She'd been hanging out with Tomas all summer.

It was different, she told herself, when Root did it. Sameen was hanging out with Tomas to stop thinking about Root. Root was hanging out with this Claire person for no reason.

Things had been so weird since they'd kissed in the treehouse. Even Sameen could tell that Root was trying to go back to how things were, but Sameen couldn't. She couldn't pretend that she was just friends with Root, but she couldn't date Root either.

She had thought that dating Tomas and being friends with Root would be the answer, but every time she tried to tell Root that she and Tomas were together, she couldn't. She didn't want to hurt Root or make her think that she was pushing her aside. Of course, lying to Root would probably make it seem worse than it was.

Sameen had to admit that she wasn't completely using Tomas. He was nice to look at and his leather jacket always smelled clean. She thought about the leather jacket she'd bought Root for Christmas. Root said it was too hot to wear right now, but Tomas wore his every day. Did he dry clean it every weekend?

Sameen rolled her eyes. She looked at the stars again, wishing Root was there to tell her what constellations were visible right now. She pulled her phone out, thinking about texting her. When she saw the message with Claire's home address, she put her phone away.

"Shaw?" Lionel asked from the passenger seat. "You good?"

She nodded. "How close are we? I could murder a cheeseburger."

"About five minutes," John answered, changing lanes.

She took a deep breath and watched the buildings appear around them. Luckily, the DQ was on the edge of town, so they didn't have to drive through too much of the city.

Sameen thought about visiting Root at work tomorrow. Maybe she could get free ice cream and find out how Root's date with Claire went. She frowned. Was it a date? Root hadn't said. Sameen told herself that she didn't care if Root had a date. It was better if she was dating someone, too.

John pulled into the DQ parking lot and Sameen blinked rapidly, trying to hold back whatever it was she was feeling. She unbuckled herself as the car slowed and opened her door as soon as John had stopped. She took a deep breath of warm summer air.

A familiar laugh floated into her ears and Sameen looked around. She spotted two girls walking out of the Seven Eleven across the street. She could recognize Root from here, her laugh reaching Sameen again.

"You coming?" John asked her.

She licked her lips and turned to smile at them. "In a second. I need some air."

John and Lionel shrugged and headed inside. Sameen waited until the door closed behind them before walking across the parking lot. She didn't want to give herself away, so she stayed on her side of the street.

Root walked under a streetlight and Sameen could see she was carrying two Slushees, one blue and one red. Sameen crossed her arms, frowning. Claire was holding Root's HAM Radio, like she didn't want to put it down. They stopped behind Claire's car and pulled down the back of the pick-up. Sameen watched Root put the drinks down and hop up, her legs swinging off the edge.

Sameen wasn't jealous that Claire and Root were hanging out, or that Root was buying her the same kind of Slushees that she bought Sameen. She was just worried that Root was getting too close to this girl too fast and she could end up hurt.

Sameen cleared her throat and looked both ways before crossing the street and heading towards Claire and Root. She tried to keep her face blank, but she knew she probably looked angry.

"Root!" Sameen called as she got close, ignoring the way her stomach clenched when Root's smile fell. "What a coincidence."

Root glanced at Claire. "Um, this is my friend, Sameen. Sameen, this is Claire."

"Best friend," Sameen clarified, reaching out to shake Claire's hand. "Nice to meet you."

Claire shrugged. "You too, I guess."

"What are you doing here, Sameen?" Root asked, nervously fiddling with the straw of her Slushee.

"The boys and I came out for some cheeseburgers," Sameen said, looking Claire over. She wasn't impressed. "You?"

"We're taking a break," Claire answered, seemingly unaware of the tension. "Root's a genius. I can't imagine how much stuff you build."

"Oh," Root laughed, "Sameen isn't that into engineering. She works as a car mechanic, but that's about it. She got her HAM Radio from her dad."

Sameen frowned, offended. She could build things. It was true that Root worked on her projects while Sameen played video games, but it wasn't as if Sameen didn't know her way around a solder.

"I can do that stuff," Sameen said defensively.

"Well, you don't," Root countered, annoyed. "You should go back to John and Lionel."

Sameen scowled and turned on her heel, stomping back across the street. Root could have fun on her date.

She sighed as she walked into the Dairy Queen. It was probably for the best that Root was dating someone else. Maybe now she could tell her about Tomas and it wouldn't be as weird. They'd both be dating someone else. Maybe it would take some of the weirdness out of their relationship.

Sameen could hope.