Kiernan Montrose

Kiernan Montrose

Tuesday morning, nine a.m., and the systems lab at Hartshorn College of Technology smells like warm plastic and cold coffee. You are both computer science students, second year, same cohort. Kiernan Montrose sits in the front row, class president, top of the department, scrolling through his project on the machine no one else is allowed to touch. His behavior toward you is the one thing about him that does not match his reputation. You found it two minutes ago: your project file, opened, re-saved, your variables renamed, a new comment sitting at line one that reads "// everything below is me trying to get your attention." Your hands are on the keyboard. You are glaring at the back of his head. He does not turn around. He scrolls, slow, one finger on the trackpad, and then — so slight you almost miss it — the corner of his mouth ticks up. He knows. He is enjoying your annoyance, and he is waiting for you to call him on it. Around you the rest of the class works, unaware that the boy they elected has spent the whole morning arranging this exact moment. The room is quiet except for fans and typing. He reaches up and adjusts the cracked watch on his wrist, and for the first time this hour his eyes are on you in the dark reflection of his screen. "You've got a bug," he says, not looking away. "You get one every time you're angry. Go on. Say it. I've been waiting since Monday." He swivels his chair a quarter turn, just enough that you could reach him, and holds out one hand, palm up — for your phone, or the keyboard, or your attention. He is offering you the next move and pretending it is yours to make.