Harper had wanted to race the West Stair since the first week of school. The rule was simple. Students were allowed to time themselves climbing from the lower residence arch to the upper courtyard only during the supervised year-end stair race. No running on ordinary days. No jumping railings. No magic. No skipping steps. The event existed, according to staff, because students were going to race anyway and Tidefall preferred ambulances not be part of the tradition. Harper considered this the wisest decision the academy had ever made. Ava did not enter.

"Why not?"

"I do not enjoy stairs competitively."

"Weak."

"Alive."

Jasper entered because Harper wrote his name on the list before asking.

"Consent," he said.

She froze. Then immediately crossed his name out.

"Sorry."

Jasper looked at the sheet. He had been teasing. But she had actually stopped. That mattered.

"I do want to race."

"Then put yourself back."

He did. Another small change. The race ran in heats of four. Students started at the lower arch. Two prefects stood halfway. Ward waited at the top with a timing slate and medical kit.

"This says a lot about the event," Ava observed.

Harper bounced on her toes.

"It says they respect sport."

"It says they expect sprains."

Jasper's heat came first. He was not fast. He knew this. Still, the moment Ward called start, something competitive entered his body that had apparently been hiding all year. He ran. The stair curved. Stone steps hammered under shoes. Theo went ahead immediately. Jasper stayed behind Mia. At the halfway turn, Soren tried to take two steps at once and nearly lost balance. Jasper caught his arm. Both slowed.

"Go!" Soren said.

Jasper released him once he was steady. Theo finished first. Mia second. Jasper third. Soren fourth. Jasper bent over breathing hard. Harper met him at the top.

"You stopped."

"He nearly fell."

"I saw."

Jasper waited for her to say he should have kept running. She punched his shoulder lightly.

"Good."

Then it was Harper's turn. The whole first-year cohort knew who would probably win. Harper knew too. That made Jasper nervous for her. Confidence could become weight. She lined up beside Benji, Leila and another girl called Freya. Ava stood beside Jasper with the timing sheet.

"Her best practice stair time is forty-nine seconds."

"Why do you know that?"

"She told me. Repeatedly."

Ward called start. Harper exploded upward. Not recklessly. Fast. There was a difference now. She took each turn close but did not cut the marked line. Used the rail only where allowed. Did not skip. At the second landing Freya was almost beside her. Harper looked back. Ava shouted, "FORWARD." Harper snapped her head around. Jasper laughed. Final stair. Harper reached the courtyard first. Ward tapped the slate.

"Forty-seven point eight."

Harper made a sound heard by most of the western wing. Freya finished half a second later and collapsed laughing.

"You are horrible."

Harper lay flat on the courtyard stones.

"Thank you."

The overall event continued through older years. First-years stayed to watch. A Brannor fifth-year destroyed Harper's time by nearly ten seconds. Harper became obsessed.

"I have four years."

Ava said, "That is not an invitation to train on unsupervised stairs."

"I know."

"Say it like you mean it."

"I know."

At lunch the race times went on a board. Theo's name stood first among first-year boys. Harper's first among first-year girls and overall first-years. Jasper's sat comfortably in the middle. He was pleased. Not every story needed him near the top. Soren found him reading the board.

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"Stair."

"You were fine."

"Would've been less fine if my face met step thirty-one."

Jasper smiled.

"Any time."

Soren looked at him.

"Hopefully not any time."

"Good point."

That evening Harper put her race ribbon in the history box temporarily returned for the final week. The box was becoming full.

"We need a bigger box next year," she said.

Ava stopped folding clothes. Next year. Not if we're together. Not if we end up somewhere convenient. Just next year. Harper seemed to realize after saying it. She looked at both of them.

"We'll still have a box."

Jasper nodded.

"Yeah."

Ava said, "Obviously." Nobody discussed where it would live. For once they let the future wait.