I nod.

“Good, now I’m going to ask you a couple of questions. Try to respond the way we just discussed, all right?”

I nod again, settling back in the chair.

It’s at least another hour before Anne is satisfied enough with my responses to let me leave the conference room. She offers to have one of her assistants show me back to the residence, but I decline, wanting some time to myself.

I take a few wrong turns, but eventually manage to find the same hallway I passed through with Viv this morning. The sun is just starting to set. Swirls of pink and orange reflect off the glassy floor as I pass through the hallway and into the residence. I round the corner and almost collide with the queen. She looks startled by my sudden appearance.

“Jace!” she exclaims, holding a hand to her chest. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“I just finished my meeting with Anne,” I explain. “I’m trying to find my way back to Vi—I mean, my room.”

“I was coming to see when you might be wrapping up. We’re planning to eat out on the terrace tonight. The staff is just starting to set things up now.”

“Okay, let me just change,” I say, glancing down at my shorts and t-shirt. Vivienne’s mother is wearing a calf-length silk dress.

“Your attire is fine, Jace,” Evelyn replies.

“Okay, then I’m ready for dinner now, I guess.” I laugh awkwardly.

Vivienne’s mother makes me nervous. I want her to like me, and I can’t tell how she feels about me at all. It’s disconcerting.

I try to come up with something to say as we walk along, but the queen speaks first.

“How did your session with Anne go?”

“She seemed pleased by the end. I just hope someone actually asks me how Viv and I met, since we spent twenty minutes on that question alone.”

“How did you two meet?” Vivienne’s mother asks. I glance over at her, but her gaze is fixed forward, not providing me with any indication of her expression.

“Uh… I was walking to practice. There’s this one central path that runs through the middle of Lincoln’s campus. It’s smooth and flat, unlike the other walkways on campus, so there are a lot of students who like to skateboard there. Anyway, I’m walking along, and a couple guys on skateboards ride past me. All of a sudden, this girl slams into me, trying to get out of the way of another skateboarder.” I smile. “I told her she should watch where she was going. I’ve never seen someone go from confused to indignant so fast. She informed me she would rather get hit by a skateboarder than talk to me again, then strode off. I walked that same route at the same time for the next week, hoping I’d see her again.”

The queen smiles as we turn down another hallway. “And what did Anne instruct you to say?”