Chapter 14: The Open House

The dean held the proficiency exam's open house the next evening, in the testing hall on the Marlow State quad.

Families of the Bridge Cohort filled the lobby.

The man in work boots had brought his wife and both her sisters.

The girl with the baby had brought half her apartment building.

Eli and I stood by the coat rack at the back.

He hadn't slept.

He had the photograph in the inside pocket of his blazer, and every few minutes he touched the pocket to check it was still there.

"You don't have to do this part," I said.

"Yes, I do."

"She's your sister."

"She's the one I'd pick again," he said. "I told you that. I want to hear her say whether I was right."

Across the lobby, Chloe was handing out name tags at a folding table.

She wore a gray cardigan and her pearl studs, and she was smiling at the baby's grandmother.

She looked up and saw the two of us together.

Her smile stayed on half a second too long.

Eli crossed the lobby and said something to her, and she nodded and came with him, still smiling.

I followed them down a side corridor to an empty testing room with forty desks in rows.

Eli pushed the door shut.

It didn't latch, and he didn't notice.

"What's this about?" Chloe said. "I'm supposed to be at the table."

Eli took the photograph from his blazer and laid it face up on the nearest desk.

She looked down.

I have seen people take a punch to the face.

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