| 004. A Chance Encounter |

  "Good afternoon."

  Neil was just locking up the flat when a voice from behind made them both jump. Xenia's stomach had already been in knots, so the surprise made her lose all composure.

  A boy she would imminently learn was Leo Thorne was blinking owlishly up at them from the stairway.

  “I didn't mean to surprise you," he said. "I saw a lot of moving boxes from the window earlier and wondered what was going on.”

  Xenia leant back around her cousin to see him properly, drawing attention to herself.

  “Hi,” she greeted blandly, only slightly disappointed that it wasn’t Malachi. Leo’s eyebrows inched slightly higher up his overly large forehead. His eyes flicked once to her, then away. She noticed that he was in the habit of talking without making eye contact from that moment on. He had been carrying a beanie and scarf in his hands, and now put them on as he was talking to them. The hat went on first, covering up the thin, straggly hair that barely covered his head. His face was thin and angular, and his eyes were sunken.

  “Hi,” he said, voice soft but unguarded.

  “Sorry, did they make a lot of noise?” Neil asked. His voice was kinder than Xenia had ever heard it before. When Leo didn't reply, Neil quickly made introductions. “This is my cousin, Xenia Ishizaki. This is Leo Thorne; he lives in the flat below us with his brother James.”

  “Us?” Leo echoed, carefully ducking into the scarf. “So you did move in.”

  “Yes,” Xenia agreed, staring at his hat. She recognised his name. That in itself was unsurprising. Everyone in the Hughes Flats came from one of the families, but she knew she recognised Leo’s name in particular. The knowledge was lurking on the edge of her memory.

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  “You two will probably be in the same year,” Neil said thoughtfully.

  “Nice to meet you,” Xenia said, falling back on politeness when she had nothing else to say. Leo nodded once, briefly. His every action was small and deliberate, as if to preserve stillness, to ration energy. He took out an old-fashioned iPod and then set about untangling the headphones with practised quickness.

  “Likewise. I've got an appointment, but you should come say hi when I get back.” Xenia was pleasantly surprised. She hadn't expected him to be so friendly.

  “Is it just a regular appointment?” Neil asked. Xenia thought it was an odd question. Leo nodded and stuck one of the headphones into his right ear, scrolling through the music selection with skeletal fingers that protruded from his fingerless gloves.

  “Yeah. I’ll be back in an hour or so.” Neil nodded, and Xenia heard loud heavy metal music blast out of Leo’s headphones as he walked away from them. Neil looked down at her expressionlessly.

  “What?” she asked. He waited a few moments, until he was certain Leo was out of earshot, despite the deafening racket he'd been playing.

  “Did you recognise him?” Xenia frowned. Usually she had an impeccable memory. Her father had often praised her for it.

  “Thorne…” she muttered, staring up at the staircase in front of her. His deep-sunken eyes seemed to stare back at her from her memory. Neil's question about a regular appointment still bothering her. “Oh.” Her lips parted with surprise and she looked back down at Neil again, who nodded pre-emptively at the question she was about to ask. “The one with Leukaemia?”

  “He’s in remission. He goes to the hospital regularly for check ups. I like him, and now that you’re living here I want you to drop in on him from time to time as well. Especially since you’re in the same year. And be nice.” Neil’s expectations were clear. Leo was to be included. Observed. Protected, if necessary.

  Xenia looked back at the staircase. She wasn’t sure what to think about that. She'd told Neil that she'd researched his neighbours, but in truth she'd gotten far more side-tracked worrying over meeting Malachi Vitto to properly prepare herself for any of the others. Now she felt blind-sided.

  “I can be pleasant,” she said, following Neil to the stairs. “But he may not want to spend time with me.” Neil smiled and had the audacity to ruffle her hair affectionately.

  “If you make an effort, you might make more friends than you expect.”

  Xenia frowned and tried to neaten her hair. Her mind already back on Malachai and wanting to present at her best self.

  She wasn't here to make friends.