Pop.
The crisp snap of a beer can tab being pulled broke through the night.
Lucian handed Annie a beer trailing cold mist. They had just shaken off the pack of crazed paparazzi outside the restaurant. After Annie bought a few beers at a nearby convenience store, they climbed over two rusty wire fences and hid in a run-down park on the edge of Queens, where even half the streetlights were broken.
Annie took the beer, tilted her head back, and drank deeply. The night breeze had tousled her blonde hair.
They walked slowly along the park's dim paths, their shadows stretching long across the ground. Around them, there was only the chirping of insects and the faint sound of distant traffic.
Lucian took a sip of beer, the cold liquid sliding down his throat.
He glanced at the girl beside him. Annie walked very slowly, her usually straight back slightly slumped. Something seemed off about the mood.
Annie suddenly stopped and kicked a pebble by her foot. It rolled a long way across the asphalt before tumbling into the grass.
"Pivot, the great hero." Annie took a long drink, seemingly drawing courage from the alcohol, and stared at Lucian's profile. "What exactly are we now?"
Lucian stopped.
This was a dangerous question.
"Lovers?" He offered the word with a shrug, trying to defuse things lightly.
"I heard," Annie said very softly, "you have a very close... female friend at Godolkin University."
So this was what she had been waiting to bring up.
This wasn't some attempt to test the waters with liquid courage. This was a long-planned ambush.
He could deny it. He could describe Cate as an ordinary classmate, a poor girl who needed help. Annie might believe him, at least tonight.
But Lucian turned to face Annie,