The cafeteria had mostly emptied, the last rays of afternoon sun slanting gold across the linoleum. Veronica was alone at the side table, rearranging the practice silverware back into Mickelson’s kit, when two familiar shadows fell across the tray.

  She looked up mid-motion and froze.

  Isaac Jacob and Mickelson stood there, trying (and failing) to look casual.

  Veronica set the last spoon down with deliberate care. “Okay… did I just hear that right? Thomas goes to our school?”

  Isaac nodded once. “Lives three blocks from campus, from what I’m told.”

  Veronica blinked. Twice. “Where was he last year?”

  Mickelson tilted his head. “Why do you ask?”

  “Because the boys at school are idiots around Shoshana,” she said, words tumbling out faster than usual. “They think she’s adorable, but she’s just different enough that nothing ever lands. And she’s never cared about any of them. Not once.”

  She glanced toward the kitchen doors the three of them had disappeared through minutes ago.

  “But today? She got up. She walked straight over to a complete stranger and basically claimed him before I even finished my sentence. And then—” Veronica’s hands moved as she talked, sketching the memory in the air. “You know how she gets when she’s excited? Thoughts flying like popcorn? Usually even I have to wave my hands and go ‘slow down, rewind.’ Thomas didn’t miss a beat. He kept up. He added to it. Like her brain on fast-forward was exactly the speed he wanted to go.”

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  Isaac’s eyes softened. Mickelson’s mouth curved into that quiet, proud smile he saved for when the kids surprised him in the best way.

  Veronica folded her arms, suddenly thoughtful. “You’re telling me that kid has been wandering the same halls as us this whole time and nobody noticed?”

  “Seems that way,” Isaac said.

  She exhaled through her nose, a decision clicking into place.

  “Then I’ve got work to do.”

  Mickelson raised an eyebrow. “Which is?”

  “Keeping an eye on him,” she said, matter-of-fact. “For Shoshana’s sake first. And maybe a little for mine. He was… easy to talk to. Fun. Like the kind of friend you could just hang out with and not have to perform. When Shoshana’s not around, somebody’s gotta run interference so the usual idiots don’t scare him off before she figures out what just hit her.”

  She paused, cheeks pink but gaze steady.

  “I don’t think she even realizes how different she was today. Or maybe that’s the thing; maybe with him she wasn’t different at all. Just… fully herself. And Thomas? He has no clue we go to the same school. That might’ve been why it worked. Zero reputation. Zero pressure.”

  Veronica looked up at the two men, late sunlight catching the sudden glint of mischief in her eyes.

  “I’ve got some work ahead of me,” she repeated, softer this time, like a promise.

  Mickelson’s smile widened. “That may be so.”

  Isaac just grinned. “Good luck, kiddo.”

  They drifted away, leaving Veronica alone with the tray and the last of the sunlight, already mapping out tomorrow’s hallways in her head.