Arc 3: All That Glisters (Part 10)

‘The letters weren’t explicitly intimate,’ I say, but I concede Scintilla’s point: ‘They were close enough to it, though.’ I pause, considering my words. ‘Of course, I asked him about that, asked him why he never told me. And he—he implied that I never agreed to be transformed.’

‘Oh,’ Scintilla says. There’s a pause in which I think she must be pitying me.

‘So it’s not that I don’t like him,’ I conclude when the silence becomes too much. ‘I just haven’t been able to figure out how I feel about him, and he’s been decent enough to keep his distance.’

I hoped Scintilla might be satisfied with the conversation, but instead she presses on, ‘But what about this week? What changed?’

It’s a much more awkward question, considering the change was Scintilla. ‘This week…’ I begin, hesitating on my phrasing.

Just then, Scintilla returns the brightness settings to what they were before we came, then shuts the laptop and readjusts the position of the wireless mouse.

‘Are we done?’ I check my mo