“You’re brooding again,” Maja said. She didn’t ask. She simply sat down next to him, close enough that her shoulder almost touched his. She smelled like vanilla and the faint, metallic tang of chlorine from the last swim of the season.

He was just there .

Nika closed his eyes. He felt Maja’s breathing slow. And for the first time since the game began, he wasn’t looking for the next dialogue option.

“Do you remember the night we snuck into the school pool?” Maja asked, pulling her knees up to her chest.

He heard the soft click of the screen door behind him.