SLIDING INTO YOUR DMS

CHAPTER 3: DEBATE FLOOR

Mrs. Haines said Jace Whitmore's name, and Maya felt her jaw tighten.

She stared at the assignment on the board and considered walking out of the room. She could stand up, grab her bag, and leave, and deal with the consequences later. Mrs. Haines had paired them up for the debate unit, and the whole semester grade hinged on it. She had been dreading this since the first day of class, and now the universe had decided to make it worse.

"Figures," she muttered.

Priya leaned in from the seat next to her. "You could ask for a switch."

"And give him the satisfaction? No."

"He doesn't even know you hate him."

"Good."

Priya gave her a look, the kind she had been giving her since eighth grade, the one that said girl, you are not fooling anyone. Maya ignored it.

The assignment was simple. Each pair had to argue a position, and Maya and Jace had been assigned social media regulation. Maya was supposed to argue for it and Jace against it, naturally.

She met him at the back of the room where the debate table was set up, and he looked at her like he was surprised she had shown up.

"You're my partner?" he said.

"Apparently."

"Lucky me."

She couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or sincere, because his face was hard to read. He had a way of looking at people like he was seeing through them, and she hated it.

They sat down and started planning, and that was when the first problem surfaced.

"You're arguing for regulation," he said, reading the notes. "That's a losing position."

"It's not losing if you argue it right."

"People hate being told what to do."

"They hate it more when they're being manipulated by algorithms they don't understand."

He raised his eyebrows. "That's your argument?"

"That's the beginning of it. People think they're choosing what they see, but they're not. They're being fed content based on what will keep them engaged, not what's true or important."

"Okay," he said slowly. "And who decides what's true or important?"

The conversation didn't stop after that. They argued for the entire class period, not in a friendly way and not in a flirty way, but in the way two people argue when they actually care and can't stand the other person's position. He was smart. She hadn't expected that. He didn't throw out easy points and let her knock them down. He thought about what he was saying and he listened.

"You're wrong about the regulation part," he said as the bell rang. "But you're right about the algorithm thing. That part was good."

"I know."

He huffed a laugh. "Do you ever give people credit?"

"Do you ever admit you're wrong?"

He looked at her for a long moment. "More than you think."

She didn't have a response for that, so she gathered her things and left.

---

After school, she walked to the library for their first tutoring session. He was already there, sitting at a table in the back corner with a notebook open in front of him. He looked up when she approached and gave her a small nod, not warm and not cold, just neutral.

"You're late," he said.

"I know."

She sat down across from him and pulled out her notes. They worked in silence for a while. She explained the assignment and he nodded and asked questions. He was paying attention. He was actually trying.

"You're not what I expected," she said without meaning to.

He looked up. "What did you expect?"

"I don't know. Someone who didn't care."

"I care."

The way he said it made her pause, because it wasn't defensive. It was simple and honest.

"Why?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Because it matters."

She didn't know what to say, so she went back to the assignment and tried not to think about it. When they finished, he stood up and gathered his things. She thought he would leave without saying anything else, but he paused at the door and looked back at her.

"Same time tomorrow?" he asked.

"Yeah."

He nodded and left.

She sat there staring at the empty chair, then pulled out her phone.

Nova: first session done. he's still annoying.

@lit.with.jace: But?

She stared at the word. But. She didn't want to admit there was a but, and she didn't want to admit anything.

but he's not as bad as i thought, she typed.

@lit.with.jace: Good.

Nova: good?

@lit.with.jace: You should give people a chance.

Nova: maybe.

@lit.with.jace: I met someone today.

She frowned. who?

@lit.with.jace: A girl. She hates me. But I can't stop thinking about her.

Maya read the message again, then again, then typed: what do you mean

@lit.with.jace: Exactly what I said. She hates me. And I can't stop thinking about her.

Maya set the phone down on the table and pressed both palms against the cold wood. Her pulse was loud in her ears and she couldn't tell if it was from the message or from the quiet of the library, and she didn't know what to think. Across town, Jace was probably staring at his own screen waiting for her reply.

The person on the other end of the conversation was sitting twenty feet away from her in the same room, and the person he couldn't stop thinking about was the same person he couldn't stand.