Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

“Seiji sighed again and surrendered himself to his fate. He finished his breakfast, and then rose.

“You go on to class without me. I want a word with Eugene.� Seiji hesitated. “You can save me a seat. If you insist.�

Nicholas paused, then smiled. His face was a lot more tolerable when he did that. “I will.”
― Sarah Rees Brennan, Striking Distance

“Seiji was not having a good day.

He felt he’d been horribly misled by Eugene. He’d trusted him to be correct in his reading of social dynamics, but as it emerged, him was an imbecile, Nicholas hadn’t even been upset, and the whole prank had been an exercise in futility. As the illicit brown sugar sprinkled on this oatmeal of horror, he’d been hauled around like a deeply shamed sack of potatoes by weight lifters.

Seiji wasn’t sure he could look anyone at Kings Row in the face right now. Any escape from their watching eyes and embarrassing congratulations was welcome.

The last time Seiji’d been in the woods, he’d gotten lost in them. Seiji headed into the trees now, hoping he could again.

Perhaps by the time he found his way back, everybody would have forgotten about the prank.

He feared not.”
― Sarah Rees Brennan, Striking Distance

“You seem a bit quiet, bro,â€� Eugene remarked in a low voice. “Not that you’re what I’d describe as chatty, but normally you’d have accidentally insulted someone by now. Something wrong?â€�

He was tempted to snap, but Eugene was a teammate, too.

Seiji cleared his throat. “Nicholas is angry with me. I’m not sure why. Do you know why? I know you two socialize frequently.�

Eugene paused. “I don’t think Nicholas is angry with you.�

“No, he is,� said Seiji. “He told me to go away.�

“He probably just meant that you could go practice in the salle if you’re hating the midnight feast, dude,� said Eugene. “Your face went all grumpy cat when we broke out the marshmallows.�

Seiji opened his mouth to protest that Nicholas never cared when Seiji made faces, and never told him to go away, but Eugene continued.

“I think there’s something else going on.�

Seiji gave Eugene his full attention. “What?�

Eugene turned his protein shake in his hands for another moment. “We went to town Saturday, and some Kings Row guys there were awful to him. It’s been bothering me all weekend, actually. They acted like they were so far above Nicholas. They made it seem like he was going to shoplift! Which he wasn’t!� Eugene added hastily, as though Seiji might imagine Nicholas would.

The burner’s blue flame hissed. Harvard was talking about how delicious the pasta sauce smelled. Their captain was very good at making conversation.

Seiji frowned. “Why would people from our school represent Nicholas as a common thief?�

“Right? It sucks!� said Eugene. “You might know them? They were the first two guys to wash out of fencing tryouts. They think they’re so much better than Nicholas.�

“They think they’re better than Nicholas?â€� Seiji asked sharply. “But they can’t fence at all!”
― Sarah Rees Brennan, Striking Distance

“It seemed as though there was something going on here that Nicholas didn’t understand. Nicholas felt grievously injured. He’d become Seiji’s friend first, but here Seiji was having secrets with Eugene.

On the other hand, Seiji didn’t train with Eugene, so that was sort of like Nicholas having a secret with Seiji. And going to the fair with Eugene would be fun, though obviously it would be better if Seiji were there, too.”
― Sarah Rees Brennan, Striking Distance

“As they walked together down the halls and the back staircase, Nicholas studied the ceiling, which was all white with twirly bits like a wedding cake. He had a troubling thought.

“You hate fist bumps?� he asked. “But you’ve fist-bumped me and Eugene.�

“I don’t mind if it’s you,� said Seiji. “And I don’t mind much if it’s Eugene. But not Chad!�

“Okay, not Chad,â€� Nicholas soothed, and grinned at the back of Seiji’s head as they entered the dining hall.”
― Sarah Rees Brennan, Striking Distance