My Girlfriend, Boyfriend

ty in

flowers bloomed defiantly on walls, lampposts, and the sides of abandoned buses, their golden petals glowing under the flicker of emerg

WE BLOOM." Mateo nodded, his eyes scanning the chaos.

Sent

xed on the sunflower she'd scratched into the wooden bench. Eric

five years imprisonment for char

. "Liar!" someone s

he noise, calm and resolute

. She's protecting us.

eye, mouthing,

ives of R

a cracked wall. Grainy images flickered: Eric's father shaking hands with corrupt officials,

vera whispered. "The Laure

r's face in the photo.

era said. "They're voting on Eric's

's Si

a's laptop glowed in the dark, its screen fractured from a fight

eteran, slipped inside, blood staining his sleeve.

the screen: blueprints for "Project Phoenix"-a plan to privatize the enti

burner phone. "Wa

uncil C

Eric stood at the podium, charm oozing.

gged it into the auditorium's system, and the archives flooded the scre

cracked. "Secur

lowers in hand. "Enough lies!" Ms. River

t not before locking eyes wi

e

By the time Mateo smelled it, flames w

," Jax growled, us

he'd painted the night they met-hung

it!" Ja

ng the canvas free as e

he L

ed, stood propped in the hall. Mateo uncurled his fist, revealing a slip of p

at

to last. It's

bur

C

repainting the streets. Su

: The Ne

spray can in hand. The city buzzed with uneas

burner phone: "Project Phoenix i

cing at Clara's mural one la