man’s son.”
Wilder traced my lower lip with his finger. “I like your mouth.”
“I’m not that girl,” I reminded him, but I wondered if may-
41
Shannon Hale
be I was.
So much knowledge gained in the past two weeks, I
couldn’t contain it all. I started to organize it into a tidy list:
1. Turbulence is characterized by chaotic, random prop-
erty changes in air flow.
2. The most dangerous part of scuba is the buildup of ni-
trogen molecules in your body and those gases expanding if you
rise up through the water too quickly.
3. You can like a person’s mouth.
4. You can feel your heart beat not just in your chest, but
everywhere at once.
“Let’s skip the next session,” he whispered, his hand finding
my lower back. “We could find an empty room and talk about
microscopes.”
I shook my head. “No. No way.”
“You’re a good girl.” He frowned. “Your middle name lies.”
I didn’t want to be rude like his father. So I took his hand
and said, “Jonathan Ingalls Wilder, you have become one of my
top five favorite people in the world. Now come on.”
We found seats and watched a documentary about the build-
ing of the Beanstalk . . . sort of. Wilder kept holding my hand,
rubbing the backs of my fingernails over his lip. I was field testing
a theory that a person’s skin emits a scent, and if you’re attracted
to that person, his scent enters you and releases hormones in your
brain that make you disoriented and apt to grin.
After the movie, Bonnie Howell hopped onto stage, dressed
in florals and stripes. She pulled three green balls out of a bag
and juggled. The uncomfortable silence became twitchy.
Howell caught all three balls, pulled the podium’s mi-
crophone lower with a grating squeak, and spoke with her lips
42
Dangerous
touching it. “I learned how to juggle this year so I could be
more entertaining.”
She didn’t seem to have any other reason for being on
stage. Dragon nudged her away from the podium.
“We have the fireteam results,” he said.
My stomach made friends with my shoes.
“Congratulations to Fireteam 36. Jacques Ames, Maisie
Brown, Mi-sun Hwang, and Ruth Koelsch.”
I had never known before that you can smile so hard your
cheeks hurt. But I couldn’t stop. It was like my body was on hap-
py mode. My first ever trip out of the country would be jetting
to the equator and getting a front-row seat to a Beanstalk launch.
“In addition, the student with the highest individual rating
is invited to join Fireteam 36 as its fifth member. Congratula-
tions to Jonathan Wilder.”
Could this moment get any better? Dragon dismissed us,
but I couldn’t seem to move.
“We’re both going.” Wilder’s words were as heavy as bricks.
“I know it, but I can’t get myself to believe it!”
“But . . .” He didn’t look at me. “I wasn’t expecting this.”
Wilder’s eyes seemed darker, his whole mood blacker. His
gaze slid off me as if I were too lowly to contemplate, and he got
up and walked away.
43
C h a p t e r 7
I hurried after Wilder, running into Jacques, Ruth, and
Mi-sun in the hall. Wilder stood apart from us, his gaze locked
on the ceiling. Ruth and Jacques were celebrating by shoving
each other.
“Jacques, you’re the man!” I said. Our last couple of victo-
ries had been thanks to his awesome strategies.
“Yeah, I know,” he said, fake-buffing his nails on his shirt.
“You’re not half bad yourself, tiger.”
“I’m very proud of all of us,” said Mi-sun, smiling with lips
stained blue.
“That slush can’t have enough nutrients for you,” I said.
She had it for every meal.
“At home I only eat saltines and pickles,” she said, “and I’m
fine.”
She started to talk about the meals she made for her broth-
ers, but my attention kept clicking back to someone and his si-
lence. I walked closer.
“Wilder,” I whispered, “what’s wrong?”
His expression was blank, yet it affected
Wilder traced my lower lip with his finger. “I like your mouth.”
“I’m not that girl,” I reminded him, but I wondered if may-
41
Shannon Hale
be I was.
So much knowledge gained in the past two weeks, I
couldn’t contain it all. I started to organize it into a tidy list:
1. Turbulence is characterized by chaotic, random prop-
erty changes in air flow.
2. The most dangerous part of scuba is the buildup of ni-
trogen molecules in your body and those gases expanding if you
rise up through the water too quickly.
3. You can like a person’s mouth.
4. You can feel your heart beat not just in your chest, but
everywhere at once.
“Let’s skip the next session,” he whispered, his hand finding
my lower back. “We could find an empty room and talk about
microscopes.”
I shook my head. “No. No way.”
“You’re a good girl.” He frowned. “Your middle name lies.”
I didn’t want to be rude like his father. So I took his hand
and said, “Jonathan Ingalls Wilder, you have become one of my
top five favorite people in the world. Now come on.”
We found seats and watched a documentary about the build-
ing of the Beanstalk . . . sort of. Wilder kept holding my hand,
rubbing the backs of my fingernails over his lip. I was field testing
a theory that a person’s skin emits a scent, and if you’re attracted
to that person, his scent enters you and releases hormones in your
brain that make you disoriented and apt to grin.
After the movie, Bonnie Howell hopped onto stage, dressed
in florals and stripes. She pulled three green balls out of a bag
and juggled. The uncomfortable silence became twitchy.
Howell caught all three balls, pulled the podium’s mi-
crophone lower with a grating squeak, and spoke with her lips
42
Dangerous
touching it. “I learned how to juggle this year so I could be
more entertaining.”
She didn’t seem to have any other reason for being on
stage. Dragon nudged her away from the podium.
“We have the fireteam results,” he said.
My stomach made friends with my shoes.
“Congratulations to Fireteam 36. Jacques Ames, Maisie
Brown, Mi-sun Hwang, and Ruth Koelsch.”
I had never known before that you can smile so hard your
cheeks hurt. But I couldn’t stop. It was like my body was on hap-
py mode. My first ever trip out of the country would be jetting
to the equator and getting a front-row seat to a Beanstalk launch.
“In addition, the student with the highest individual rating
is invited to join Fireteam 36 as its fifth member. Congratula-
tions to Jonathan Wilder.”
Could this moment get any better? Dragon dismissed us,
but I couldn’t seem to move.
“We’re both going.” Wilder’s words were as heavy as bricks.
“I know it, but I can’t get myself to believe it!”
“But . . .” He didn’t look at me. “I wasn’t expecting this.”
Wilder’s eyes seemed darker, his whole mood blacker. His
gaze slid off me as if I were too lowly to contemplate, and he got
up and walked away.
43
C h a p t e r 7
I hurried after Wilder, running into Jacques, Ruth, and
Mi-sun in the hall. Wilder stood apart from us, his gaze locked
on the ceiling. Ruth and Jacques were celebrating by shoving
each other.
“Jacques, you’re the man!” I said. Our last couple of victo-
ries had been thanks to his awesome strategies.
“Yeah, I know,” he said, fake-buffing his nails on his shirt.
“You’re not half bad yourself, tiger.”
“I’m very proud of all of us,” said Mi-sun, smiling with lips
stained blue.
“That slush can’t have enough nutrients for you,” I said.
She had it for every meal.
“At home I only eat saltines and pickles,” she said, “and I’m
fine.”
She started to talk about the meals she made for her broth-
ers, but my attention kept clicking back to someone and his si-
lence. I walked closer.
“Wilder,” I whispered, “what’s wrong?”
His expression was blank, yet it affected
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