For a second Ben had no idea why Hutch would be asking him this—Hutch’s face showed no vulnerability in not already knowing where to go—but then Ben remembered about Teddy, and he searched his memory for the places Teddy had talked about.

“Escobar’s is good. Um, the Lamplight has buffalo wings—”

“Buffalo wings, yes!” said Kyle.

Hutch nodded quickly, as though he had decided on this beforehand and was glad they had arrived at the correct choice, and then they saw that they were going to be late to Seated and pulled the speakers out of the window, tying their ties as they hurried down the stairs.

*  *  *

Coming back from Seated, Ben felt pulled down into a trance of fatigue, and he was almost on top of a person sitting on the Hawley stoop.

“Whoa, slow down there, pard.” Alice was sitting at the bottom of the entry steps in the late dusk wearing this time a green fleece jacket over a lemon-yellow dress from Seated Meal. They looked at each other, and Ben wanted so badly to step close enough to smell her. She really was so close to being pretty, especially here in the departing light, but some balance in her face just wasn’t there. She was hugging her knees again.

“What’s up, not-Teddy?”

“Ha, right. Um, not a lot. What are you up to?”

“Waiting.”

“Ah, okay.”

“You seem perturbed, Ben.”

He laughed. “I guess I’m a little perturbed.”

“What about?”

A few kids were walking behind them across the little stretch of grass, and Ben tried to come up with something that could unspecifically sketch what was going on. Again he saw the silhouette of the Dragon there across the slope. “My dad’s just being a pain in the ass.”

“How so?”

He hadn’t planned on her caring to the point that he would have to make up anything significant. “Well, he doesn’t know if he wants me to stay here.”

“Really. Lucky you.”

“He says he thinks it’s a bad influence.”

“A bad influence how?”

“Um, I guess things were a lot more strict when he was here? He thinks it’s too far away from being like a Spartan training ground for young men.” He wondered if his dad had read “Decision-Making.”

“Oh, right, girls will corrupt the boys.”

“I’m not agreeing with him.”

She laughed. “Oh, no, I’m sure you’re not.”

“It’s just, you know, the Spartan part.” Ben didn’t know if he could keep this going. “He wishes we all showered in cold water or something.”

“How much does he know about Sparta?”

“He was a classics major…”

Alice shifted around on the step as though to face Ben even though they were already facing, and the breast closest to him pulled against the jacket for a moment. “I heard this story about a Spartan warrior.”

Ben nodded.