“Any questions?”
Hands shot into the air, and Jay chuckled, his kind eyes crinkling at the corners.
“Okay, we’ll pause here and do a quick Q&A for those who want one, anyone who wants to go ahead and get settled, check the user information on your Nexus profile. Pathways and Growth—our version of HR—should have updated your address. You’ll find the street and cube number for your new living quarters, and you can proceed from there. Your NeuroPath rep will be waiting to onboard you. Anyone who’s stationed on Amygdala Ave, you might as well wait. I’m the NeuroPath rep for that street, so you’ll be waiting for me to finish up here anyway.”
I glanced down at my Nexus app and opened my profile to find that,of course,I was stationed on Amygdala Ave.
I shuffled uncomfortably as I realized I would be living on the same street as Jay.
Melanie stayed for the Q&A too, and I realized that she wasalsoon Amygdala Ave, and my discomfort grew.
Jay had been nothing but nice to me since I’d gotten here, but any positive attention he gave me seemed to piss Melanie off even more, and it worried me.
I’d met people like Melanie before.
I shivered as I remembered one of my classmates from MIT—Dylan—and how aggressively he’d targeted me, trying to get me to drop out.
Melanie may not be able toopenlybully me, but I knew that wouldn’t stop someone like her. She would find quiet ways to try to ruin my life until I quit, and I was already dreading dealing with it.
My suspicions proved correct as Jay finished answering questions, and he turned to face us. His eyes lit up when they fell on me, but then he noticed Melanie waiting as well, and his smile slipped.
She immediately started laying it on thick.
“Wow! I can’t believe you gave the founders the idea for the NeuroExtractor as anintern!You’re such an inspiration, Jay,” she cooed, sidling up beside him and boldly looping her arm through his.
He frowned down at her and gently but firmly removed her from his arm. I felt a little bit of satisfaction at his clear rejection of her attempt to kiss up to him.
“I encourage you to read the part of your handbook on appropriate employee behavior, Ms. Larson,” he said dryly. “Typically, we encourage employees to ask for consent before touching colleagues. Many employees—MTRsespecially—are on the spectrum and are overstimulated by unwanted touch.”
“Omigosh! I’m so sorry! Are you on the spectrum?” she asked, making her eyes comically wide, and if I didn’t know any better, I would say Jay looked like he wanted to roll his eyes.
“Please read the manual as soon as possible.”
Her fake smile faltered slightly, but she doubled down.
“Oh yes, for sure! I’ll study it back to front. I want to do well here.”
Jay’s nose wrinkled slightly as he led us past one of the tennis courts and down a lush, green street with large maples growing in front of cube-like white stucco structures.
“Welcome to Amygdala Ave,” he said, changing the subject. He reached into his back pocket, pulled out a small ivory envelope, and slid out two white plastic cards.
“Cube number?”
“Fifteen!” Melanie chirped immediately, and I sighed in relief as Jay blandly handed over her key card before pointing down the shady street.
“Across the street, there.”
“Great! Excited to see you around!” Melanie cooed, and Jay gave her a tight smile, waving her off before turning to me.
His entire demeanor relaxed once Melanie was gone, and it was just him and me standing at the intersection that led onto my new street.
“What number did you get, Milo?”
A balmy breeze rustled through the canopy of greenery overhead, and it sounded like music, carrying the sound of my name along withit.
My-loh.
The way his mouth curled over the syllables when he said my name felt so intimate.
