Were you anticipating an emergency? he asked, still smiling. Or maybe summoning one? Like a rain dance?
You dont have to do this, Cath said.
Do what?
Try to make me feel better. She felt the tears coming on, and her voice wobbled. Im not one of your little sisters.
Levis smile fell completely. Im sorry, he said, all the teasing gone. I I thought maybe youd want to talk about it.
Cath looked back at her coffee. She shook her head a few times, as much to tell him no as to shake away the stinging in her eyes.
His corned beef
hash came. A whole mess of it. He moved Caths coffee cup to the table and scooped hash onto her saucer.
Cath ate itit was easier than arguing. Shed been arguing all day, and so far, no one had listened. And besides, the corned beef hash was really good, like they made it fresh with real corned beef, and there were two sunny-side-up eggs on top.
Levi piled more onto her plate.
Something happened in class, Cath said. She didnt look up at him. Maybe she could use a big brother right nowshe was currently down a twin sister. Any port in a storm, and all that
What class? he asked.
Fiction-Writing.
You take Fiction-Writing? Thats an actual class?
Thats an actual question?
Does this have something to do with your Simon Snow thing?
Cath looked up now and flushed. Who told you about my Simon Snow thing?
Nobody had to tell me. Youve got Simon Snow stuff everywhere. Youre worse than my ten-year-old cousin. Levi grinned; he looked relieved to be smiling again. Reagan told me you write stories about him.
So Reagan told you.
Thats what youre always working on, right? Writing stories about Simon Snow?
Cath didnt know what to say. It sounded absolutely ridiculous when Levi said it.
Theyre not just stories, she said.
He took a giant bite of hash. His hair was still wet and falling (wetly, blondly) into his eyes. He pushed it back. Theyre not?
Cath shook her head. They were just stories, but stories werent just anything. Simon wasnt just.
What do you know about Simon Snow? she asked.
He shrugged. Everybody knows about Simon Snow.
Youve read the books?
Ive seen the movies.
Cath rolled her eyes so hard, it hurt. (Actually.) (Maybe because she was still on the edge of tears. On the edge, period.) So you havent read the books.
Im not really a book person.
That might be the most idiotic thing youve ever said to me.
Dont change the subject, Levi said, grinning some more. You write stories about Simon Snow.
You think this is funny.
Yes, Levi said. But also sort of cool. Tell me about your stories.
Cath pressed the tines of her fork into her place mat. Theyre just, like I take the characters, and I put them in new situations.
Like deleted scenes?
Sometimes. More like what-ifs. Like, what if Baz wasnt evil? What if Simon never found the five blades? What if Agatha found them instead? What if Agatha was evil?
Agatha couldnt be evil, Levi argued, leaning forward and pointing at Cath with his fork. Shes pure of heart, a lion of dawn.
Cath narrowed her eyes. How do you know that?
I told you, Ive seen the movies.
Well, in my world, if I want to make Agatha evil, I can. Or I can make her a vampire. Or I can make her an actual lion.
Simon wouldnt like that.
Simon doesnt care. Hes in love with Baz.
Levi guffawed. (You dont get many opportunities to use that word, Cath thought, but this is one of them. )
Simon isnt gay, he said.
In my world, he is.
But Baz is his nemesis.
I dont have to follow any of the rules. The original books already exist; its not my job to rewrite them.
Is it your job to make Simon gay?
Youre getting distracted by the gay thing, Cath said. She was leaning forward now, too.
It is distracting. Levi giggled. (Did guys giggle or chuckle? Cath hated the word chuckle.)
The whole point of fanfiction, she said, is that you get to play inside somebody elses universe. Rewrite the rules. Or bend them. The story doesnt have to end when Gemma Leslie gets tired of it. You can stay in this world, this world you love, as long as you want, as long as you keep thinking of new stories
Fanfiction, Levi said.
Yes. Cath was embarrassed by how sincere she sounded, how excited she felt whenever she actually talked about this. She was so used to keeping it a secretused to assuming people would think she was a freak and a nerd and a pervert.
Maybe Levi thought all those things. Maybe he just found freaks and perverts amusing.
Emergency dance party? he asked.
Right. She sat back in the booth again. Our professor asked us to write a scene with an untrustworthy narrator. I wrote something about Simon and Baz. She
didnt get it. She thought it was plagiarism. Cath forced herself to use that word, felt the tar wake up with a twist in her stomach.
But it was your story, Levi said.
Yes.
Thats not exactly plagiarism. He smiled at her. She needed to come up with more words for Levis smiles; he had too many of them. This one was a question. They were your words, right?
Right.