The city skyline came into view, a canopy of lights and steel. Kai felt more vulnerable as adjacent vehicles disappeared down side streets. Anything seemed possible.

She glanced at her phone. Still no word from Theo. Not even an emoji. She placed the phone on silent and again rolled down the window. The noise and the air were thick and warm, like fresh grits. Kai breathed through her mouth, savoring the taste before exhaling into the night. She wished she had some bud so she could smoke it and see her breath as it floated away. Zed rolled down the remaining windows.

Bankhead terminated at Northside Drive. Zed tapped her fingers on the wheel as they waited for the light. Kai hummed along.

“Left?” Zed asked.

“Left,” Kai confirmed.

“Thanks,” Zed replied.

Kai was surprised when she continued talking.

“Hey, I know where we are! This is the backside of Tech!”

“Yeah, it is,” Kai said. “Right on Tenth.”

The MINI eased onto Tenth Street, cutting through Georgia Tech’s campus. The campus was a little bland, Kai thought. Apollo and Zed could have done better. But ever since they’d gone to orientation, Apollo and Zed had seemed ambivalent about attending, so she didn’t mention it. And Sol wasn’t going anywhere. Kai wasn’t sure what that meant, but her mom had implied it was some sort of tragedy; Kai felt bad when she realized she didn’t disagree.

Kai’s phone received a call as they crossed over Williams Street. The designated image for Theo’s number blinked the screen awake. The picture was a selfie they’d taken on Good Friday. Theo had insisted they listen to Kanye West all day, and she had obliged, but only on the condition that they take a selfie mimicking Kanye at his angriest. It took fifteen minutes of snapping and seven minutes of editing to find the correct combination of disdain and ego, but this picture was the one. Their jaws were rigidly square, their eyes scornful. Kai loved the theatricality of it. They could never be that upset with anything, especially when they were together.

“You can start looking for parking,” Kai might have heard Sol say. Her voice was obstructed by the hot phone pressed against Kai’s left ear.

“Hello? Are you okay?”

“I’m perfectly fine, thank you,” Rick said.

“Who is this? You’re not Theo.”

“I’m not. I’m Rick Herrington, an FBI agent. Theo’s dead, I’m afraid.”

“Fuck you.”

“I have no reason to lie to you, young lady.”

“Fuck you!” Kai shouted as Zed eased into an on-street parking spot on Peachtree Place.

“Ahhh, let it out. It is hard news, I understand.”

Tears began to dangle from Kai’s chin. She felt slighted when she realized she hadn’t even felt them slide down her cheeks.

“What do you want?” she whispered, hoping she was being conned.