“There’s not much to tell. I’m not that interesting,”

“Not true. I think you’re very interesting.” His eyes lowered to my collarbone.

Butterflies flapped to life in my stomach, and I changed the subject. “I like your journal. Is that the new AS410?”

“It is. Thanks. It feels as close to real paper as you can get while still being digital. I like things that are tactile. Touch is my favorite sense.” He inched his cushion closer to me, and my heart quivered. “Do you write?”

“What made you ask that?” I tilted my head to the side.

“I don’t think any girl here would know the model number of my journal.” His eyes glittered.

“Oh.” I flushed. “I probably sound so lame.”

“No, you don’t. I like that you know. It makes you different. That’s hard to come by. Nobody wants to risk having an opinion around here in case it messes up their rankings.”

Liking the warmth spreading through me, I tucked my hair behind my ear. “Well, I guess touch is my favorite sense, too. But I don’t have a digital journal. I have a real one. It’s paper.”

“Paper?” His eyebrows arched. “Won’t you run out of space?”

“Maybe, but I haven’t yet. I only write certain things in it. Secrets that I don’t want anyone to know. Not my parents, not my Life Stream. I like knowing it can’t be hacked. So much of my identity is on screens and in clouds—I like that there’s part of me that only I know. With my Book of Secrets, I hold my identity in my hand.”

“Book of Secrets? Is that what you call it?”

The burning on my cheeks intensified, and I closed my eyes. “Yes… I’ve never told anyone that, and now that I say it out loud, it sounds totally dumb.”

“It’s not.” Laughing, he squeezed my knee, sending a jolt to my belly. “I’m into it. Do you know what I’m thinking?”

“No…” I peeked up at him from under my eyelashes.

“I’m thinking you’re full of surprises, Ella Karman.”

My name rolling off his tongue with that accent took my breath away. That’s when Self-Awareness became my favorite class.

The room took on a hazy glow, and I wanted to know everything about him. “What about you? Tell me something you’ve never told anybody.”

He thought for a second. “I might have to get back to you on that. The Networks make it hard to keep secrets. My investors get antsy if I’m private too long, but if I could sneak away, I’d go surfing…”

Fear shot through me at the reminder I should be live, that I needed Lil and Kylie to make me interesting. My vision cleared, and behind Adam, Lil came into focus. She was watching us, her lips pressed together in a thin line.

I bolted to my feet. “I’m so sorry. I really want to hear the rest, but I just remembered I’ve got to go.”

“Now? But we’re just getting started.”