She dreamed that Saul hadn’t cornered her. She dreamed that he hadn’t told her about being a one-per. The dream was so real that it was almost boring, except for how good it felt to wake up thinking it hadn’t happened. But then it was almost as if it truly hadn’t. Saul acted as if he hadn’t told her. Maybe he regretted telling her, or maybe he wasn’t sure what to say next about it. Either way, Phoenix didn’t care. She’d just as soon put it out of her mind anyway. At school the next day he didn’t even say hello, and after when they all went to the mall he didn’t talk to her. Usually she and Saul competed at Mortal Kombat, but he stayed on the other side of the arcade with Tariq, playing NASCAR with Nadia hanging off him the way a prep wears a sweater draped over his shoulders. A couple of times, once when he headed for the bathroom and then again when he was standing at the concession buying hot dogs for him and Nadia, Phoenix thought he might come up to her and say something.
