I Fell in Love with Hope - Lancali

Neo steps forward. A solid annoyance weighs down his face.
“You look fine to me,” he says through his teeth.
“Neo.” I frown, pulling at his sleeve, but he ignores me.
Coeur must’ve not caught Neo’s tone because he just laughs, relief
in its wake.
“Neo,” he says again, enamored by his presence. “I can’t tell you
how happy I am to see you.” The longer Coeur remains in his
lighthearted fit, the more Neo’s anger grows. Coeur turns to Sony
and me to explain. “We have literature together. Our teacher can’t
get enough of him, he’s a genius–”
Coeur doesn’t get to say anything else. Cutting him off, Neo pushes
right past him and storms down the hall.
—
The last time Neo had an outburst like that was when he flipped the
food tray over in my arms. I open the door to his room warily.
“Neo?”
“I wanna be alone, Sam.” Pulling himself back into bed, he winces till
he’s surrounded by pen, paper, and the safety of his paper and ink
sea.
“Will you come to dinner with us later, then?” I ask. “I already stole
you an apple.”
“Is he gonna be there?” Distaste plays on his tongue. He avoids eye
contact, rummaging through pages he isn’t actually reading with
more force than necessary.
“You don’t like Coeur,” I point out.
“What makes you think that?”