Baz laughed. Maybe this will be fun, he said, sinking the pole into the water and shoving off. Baz looked perfectly comfortable up therea long, dark shadow at the end of the puntas elegant and graceful as ever. He shifted into the moonlight, and Simon watched him take a slow, deep breath. He looked more alive than he had in weeks.
But Simon hadnt come out here to watch BazGod knows he had plenty of other opportunities. Simon turned, looking around the moat, taking in the carvings along the stone walls and the tile at the waters edge. I should have brought a lantern, he said.
Too bad youre not a magician,
Baz replied, conjuring a ball of blue flame and tossing it at Simons head. Simon ducked and caught it. Baz had always been better than he was at fire magic. Show-off.
The tile glittered in the light. Can we get closer to the wall? Simon asked. Baz obliged smoothly.
Up close, Simon could see there was a mosaic that stretched beneath the water. Wizard battles. Unicorns. Symbols and glyphs. Who knew how far down it went. Baz guided them slowly along the wall, and Simon held the light up, gradually leaning over the side of the boat to get a better look.
He forgot about Baz in a way he normally wouldnt allow himself to do outside the protection of their room. Simon didnt even notice at first when the boat drifted to a stop. When he looked back, Baz had stepped toward him in the punt. He was curled above Simon, washed blue by his own conjured fire, his teeth bared and his face thick with decision and disgust.
The door flew open.
Reagan always kicked it as soon as she had it unlocked; there were dusty shoe prints all over the outside of their door. She swept in, dropping her bags on the floor. Hey, she said, glancing over at them.
Quiet, Levi whispered. Caths reading fanfiction.
Really? Reagan looked at them with more interest.
Not really, Cath said, shutting her laptop. Just finished.
No. Levi leaned over and opened it. You cant stop in the middle of a vampire attack.
Vampires, huh? Reagan said. Sounds pretty exciting.
Ive got to finish my biology essay, Cath said.
Come on. Reagan turned to Levi. Plant Phys. Are we doing this?
Were doing it, he grumbled, sliding off Caths bed. Can I use your phone? he asked her.
Cath handed him her phone, and he punched a number in. His back pocket started playing a Led Zeppelin song. To be continued, he said, handing it back to her. Solid?
Sure, Cath said.
Library? Reagan asked.
Hi-Way Diner. Levi picked up his backpack and opened the door. Fanfiction makes me crave corned beef hash.
See ya, Reagan said to Cath.
See ya, Cath said.
Levi ducked his head back at the last minute to flash her a wide grin.
If you wanted to meet other Star Trek fans in 1983, youd have to join fan clubs by mail or meet up with other Trekkies at conventions.
When readers fell for Simon in 2001, the fan community was as close as the nearest keyboard.
Simon Snow fandom exploded on the Internetand just keeps exploding. There are more sites and blogs devoted to Simon than to the Beatles and Lady Gaga combined. Youll find fan stories, fan art, fan videos, plus endless discussion and conjecture.
Loving Simon isnt something one does alone or once a year at a conventionfor thousands of fans of all ages, loving Simon Snow is nothing less than a lifestyle.
Jennifer Magnuson, Tribe of Simon, Newsweek, October 28, 2009
THIRTEEN
Cath wasnt trying to make new friends here.
In some cases, she was actively trying not to make friends, though she usually stopped short of being rude. (Uptight, tense, and mildly misanthropic? Yes. Rude? No.)
But everyone around Catheverybody in her classes and in the dormsreally was trying to make friends, and sometimes shed have to be rude not to go along with it.
Campus life was just so predictable, one routine layered over another. You saw the same people while you were brushing your teeth and a different set of the same people in each class. The same people passing you every day in the halls Pretty soon you were nodding. And then you were saying hello. And eventually someone would start a conversation, and you just had to go along with it.
What was Cath supposed to say, Stop talking to me ? Its not like she was Reagan.
Thats how she ended up hanging out with T.J. and Julian in American History, and Katie, a nontraditional student with two kids, in Political Science. There was a nice girl in her Fiction-Writing class named Kendra, and she and Cath both studied in the Union for an hour on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, so it made sense to sit at the same table.
None of these friendships spread into Caths personal life. T.J. and Julian werent inviting her to smoke weed with them, or to come over and play Batman: Arkham City on the PlayStation 3.
No one ever invited Cath to go out or to parties (except for Reagan and Levi, who felt more like sponsors than friends). Not even Nick, whom Cath was writing with regularly now, twice a week.
Meanwhile Wrens social calendar