Текст книги "Sunset Rising"

Автор книги: S. McEachern

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 12 (всего у книги 22 страниц)

Chapter Sixteen

Jack was doing sit-ups when I walked into the apartment. I had hoped he would be asleep since I didn’t really feel like talking. It was as if my life had become surreal, and I was nothing more than an apparition walking through it. Although being so disconnected from my feelings wasn’t an entirely unpleasant experience.

Jack stopped exercising when I walked in and jumped to his feet. “I was worried about you,” he said a bit awkwardly.

“There was no need. I was with Reyes.”

“That’s one of the reasons why I was worried.”

I raised my eyebrows. “He wouldn’t hurt me.”

“Really?”

I glared at him.

“You were very upset.”

“Was I? I can’t imagine why. I mean it’s not like my dad was just taken prisoner, or that my best friend is being used by a monster or that I’m on the run from being executed… Oh wait! I am.” I ripped off my hat and threw it on the table.

He spread his arms wide. “You can take your frustrations out on me.”

For some reason, my thoughts wandered to Reyes and his insistent groping a few minutes earlier. It had all gone so badly with him. I knew despite everything that had happened that he still wanted me, but I didn’t think I had anything left to give. My heart was too full of murderous desire.

“In my mood, I might just do some real damage.” I flopped down into a chair. “Tell me now, Jack. Where do you think they would take him?”

“He’s probably being questioned about you. About us.”

“Would they torture him?” I asked even though I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer.

“Maybe. I don’t know for sure. It depends on what he tells them right away.”

I could tell he was being honest with me, but I felt there was something he wasn’t telling me.

“Will they send him back? When they’re done questioning him, will they send him back here?”

He looked at me for a few moments before he answered, as if weighing his answer. “Probably not.” His expression was pained.

I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees and my face in my hands, and tried to absorb this information. Yet somehow my mind couldn’t accept it. I dragged my hands down my face and looked at him. “What will happen to him?” I wanted to know everything no matter how much it tore me up inside.

Jack looked uncomfortable. “I don’t know for sure. Maybe he’ll be Culled early.”

“Culled early.” I rolled the thought around in my head. “There’s no such thing as being Culled early. Fifteen years ago when your people tried to lower the age of the Cull to thirty, we rebelled and the age was kept at thirty-five. So you see, I know there’s no such thing as being Culled early. If my father is killed now, it’s called murder.”

“I’m sorry. Just tell me what I can do for you. I’ll do it.”

“There’s nothing you can do. There’s nothing I can do. The bourge will win like always.”

“So you’re giving up?”

“What else can I do? They’ve taken away everyone I ever loved. My mother and father are gone, my best friend is gone, and pretty soon you and I will both be gone. We can’t win. The odds were always stacked against us.” The lights went out, leaving us in darkness. “See? They even tell us when it’s time to go to bed. Good night, Jack.”

“I’ll take the chair.”

“No, it’s my turn tonight.” I made my tone intentionally dismissive.

He hesitated a moment. “Good night, Sunny.”

I watched him stumble his way to the bedroom, knocking things over as he went, and marvelled at how completely blind he was in the dark.

I hunkered down in the chair even though I was sure I was never going to get to sleep. My head was pounding and my stomach upset. I tried to sort through the mess that was my life, but my brain refused to cooperate. Instead, I found myself thinking about when Summer and I were kids in school and all we had to worry about was getting our homework done. Somehow, I managed to drift off to sleep wrapped up in the memory.

The bong bongs ringing out startled me awake. It felt like I had just closed my eyes. I pushed myself up on my elbows and looked around the bedroom. My bulletproof vest was on the floor beside the bed. I was confused because I was sure I went to sleep in the chair.

I heard Jack moving around in the other room. Although I would have preferred to lie down and pull the blanket over my head, I forced myself out of bed and got dressed. Jack was at the sink splashing cold water on his face when I went into the next room.

“I thought I was supposed to take the chair last night.”

“I missed the chair. It’s comfortable.” I could tell he was lying.

“No, it’s not. And you look exhausted.”

“You could use some cold water on your face, too.”

I realized I must look a mess. My eyes felt hot and swollen from crying so I took his advice. The cold really did feel good even though it was a waste of our water ration.

“Thanks for taking my vest off me last night.” Getting the weight off for a few hours was good, but being half naked in front of Jack was not so good.

Jack turned a little red. “It was pitch black. I didn’t see anything. But I know how much you hate wearing it.”

“I do hate wearing it. It’s a constant reminder of what my life’s become.”

“Ready to go to breakfast?” he asked, his voice falsely bright.

“I’m not hungry this morning.”

“Oh, yes you are. Come on.” He threw my hat at me, and I caught it. “Food will make you feel better.”

I wondered why he was being so nice to me. I figured it was because I was ready to give up and if I did, we would both end up being caught. His survival was inextricably linked to my own. I didn’t feel like I owed him anything, but I didn’t have any desire to see him dead either, so I put my hat on and followed him out the door.

He headed down to the sixth-floor common room for breakfast. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go or not. Reyes would probably be there, hoping for an answer from me, and there was only one answer I could give him. I knew it wasn’t going to be what he wanted to hear.

The lineup for breakfast was still short at this early hour. I looked around the room and almost sighed with relief when I didn’t see Reyes. Maybe if we ate fast enough, I could get out of here before he showed up.

“Sorry to see your boyfriend’s not here yet,” Jack said once we were seated.

I opened my food container and felt a wave of nausea.

“Eat it,” Jack said. He must have seen my expression.

I took a spoonful and forced it down. “Summer’s not here either.”

“You miss her don’t you?”

“Very much.” The food was getting easier to eat and my stomach was feeling better. I finished the container and downed my glass of water. Jack was finished, too. “I guess we should head to work.”

“You don’t want to wait and see Reyes?”

I shrugged. “I’ll see him tonight.”

He raised his eyebrows, but didn’t push for an answer.

We walked silently together to the stairs. He surprised me when he gently took my arm and pulled me toward him and kissed the top of my head. “Stay safe,” he said and then began his descent into the mines. I stared after him, wondering at his act of affection.

When he was out of my sight, I made my way up to the second floor. Crystal was already there, waiting patiently for the room to be unlocked. When she saw me coming, she quickly turned her attention to the floor. Obviously, she didn’t want to socialize, which was fine by me. I didn’t want to either. So we stood together in an awkward silence. She gave me a sidelong glance every once and a while. I probably looked awful.

Supervisor Madi sneered when she arrived. “I see we have another early bird.” Perhaps being early wasn’t a good thing.

She unlocked the door, and I went to follow her in, but she let the door fall back and it almost slammed in my face. I caught it by one hand before it did.

“You didn’t think she was going to hold the door open for you?” Crystal asked.

“I’ll know better next time.”

As I walked into the laundry room, I realized that getting here early wasn’t such a good idea. Di wasn’t here yet, and I still needed pointers on the finer details of doing laundry. I scanned in and went over to the carts of dirty laundry already queued and waiting to be done. I took the first one, returned to the station I had worked at the day before, and started sorting clothes. I was almost done when Di walked in.

“Good morning, Crystal. Good morning, Autumn,” she called out to both of us. Crystal ignored her as she had the day before.

“Good morning, Di,” I said.

“Oh, someone had a hard night last night,” she said when she saw my swollen eyes. “Lover upstairs?”

Crystal perked up and paid attention to our conversation.

“A lover upstairs?” I asked.

“Are you somebody’s mistress? Did he treat you badly?”

Now I understood what she meant. She wanted to know if I was in the same position as Summer was with the president. “No, nothing like that. I just had bad news last night.”

“Someone pass away?”

“My father.” I thought if I gave her an answer she would stop asking questions.

She put a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

I didn’t want her sympathy. It made me want to cry again. “I hope I’ve done this right,” I said, gesturing to the piles in front of me.

She looked over my work and changed a few things in the pile. “You really need to pay close attention to the darks and lights. You put dark clothes in with light and it will ruin them.”

“Thanks for the advice. I really do appreciate it.”

Di left me to go and do her own work. The morning seemed to pass by quickly. I managed to get two carts full of laundry done by the time lunch was brought in. The laundry room seemed infinitely hotter that day. Then I remembered that the day before the room had been closed for half the day due to the lockdown. It really was hotter in there. The bulletproof vest didn’t let my skin breathe, and with every minute it felt like it was getting heavier. I wasn’t sure how long I could stand it.

I retrieved my food and water rations and sat on the floor to eat, thankful to get off my feet. My water was cold and refreshing, and it was all I could do not to guzzle it. Di sat across from me, looking at me curiously.

“It’s hot in here,” I said.

“You can have the rest of mine. I’m not that thirsty.”

I wavered for a moment, not sure if it was polite of me to take her up on the offer, but I was so hot that I accepted gratefully. Drinking it and dumping it over my head to cool me off were almost equally appealing. I drank it, thinking the latter would get me into trouble.

“You don’t look so good,” Di said. “You’re really hot, aren’t you?”

“I guess I’m not used to the heat.”

“Where did you work before?”

Her question caught me off guard. I didn’t have an answer ready. I couldn’t say the kitchen because she would want to know why I would leave such a plum job. And it was hot in the kitchen too, so I would be used to working in the heat. I had to think of something else.

“Sewers.” That seemed like a good lie. It was cold and smelly there and perfectly reasonable that anyone would look for a job somewhere else.

She wrinkled her nose. “That’s a nasty job.”

“Back to work!” Supervisor Madi called out. It had only been twenty minutes since we sat down. When I worked in the kitchen we were given a half hour for lunch.

“She’s a slave driver,” Di said as she hoisted herself off the floor and walked over to return her empty food container. I followed her and put my own away.

My full stomach combined with the heat of the room was making me sleepy. I became slow and clumsy and kept dropping things on the floor.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Jones?” Madi said, coming to stand threateningly close to me.

“I’m sorry, Supervisor. It won’t happen again.” I retrieved a shirt from the floor.

“Be thankful it’s dirty clothes hitting the floor. You don’t want to know what’s going to happen to you if they’re clean!”

She stood there watching my every move, her hands balled into fists just waiting for me to drop something. I didn’t give her the satisfaction. Eventually someone else caught her attention, and she left me to stomp to the back of the room. I heard her scream at another worker and looked up in time to see Madi strike the girl. Blood streamed out of the girl’s nose.

I quickly looked away when I saw Madi scanning the room to see who else she could challenge. If only I had the courage, I would gladly confront her, but like everyone else here, I was too afraid. Some hero I was turning out to be.

Di gave me a stern look. I tried to jolt my befuddled brain into an alert state, but it was difficult. I had a sudden urge to run away and hide in the mineshaft like Summer and I used to do when we were kids. Sometimes we’d stayed in there for hours talking about everything and nothing. Life was so much simpler back then.

I managed to get all the clothes into the washer without dropping any, although the real challenge was going to be when I had to take the clean clothes out and get them dried and folded. I forced myself to be more methodical, concentrating on every detail, and somehow managed to get through the rest of the day without dropping anything else. But it took me forever. When the bong bongs heralded the end of the working day, I still had clothes to fold. I didn’t scan out until twenty minutes later.

“Jones,” Supervisor Madi said when I came up to scan out. “I don’t care what you’re upset about in your life, when you’re here in my laundry room you pay attention to what you’re doing. I can’t say I like you very much. Hopefully, you can change my mind about that.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I wasn’t sure if I could oblige her, though. After today, I didn’t like me very much either.

Chapter Seventeen

Jack was asleep in the chair when I got back to the apartment. I shut the door behind me as quietly as I could, but he awoke. He looked drained. The circles under his eyes were every bit as dark as the coal smudged through his hair.

“You had to work late again?” he asked.

“I guess that’s the way of the laundry room. Ready to go for dinner?”

He nodded groggily and put on his hat. I could tell he didn’t really want to go. He was exhausted and needed to sleep.

I headed toward the sixth-floor common room. Not that I really wanted to see Reyes, but he would wonder why I had disappeared if I didn’t talk to him. I didn’t want him to come looking for me and create a scene on the floor where we lived. It was better to let him down closer to his own home and far from ours.

The common room was already quite full when we joined the line for food. Reyes was there with Raine and Mica. Although Raine and Mica were both married, I rarely saw them out with their wives. They were always hanging around Reyes.

There was an empty seat next to Reyes, and he patted it when he saw me in line. I headed toward him once we received our food rations, and Jack followed mutely behind. I would talk to Reyes privately once we were done eating.

“So is he going to follow you everywhere now?” Reyes asked.

Jack was midway to sitting down and stood back up. “I don’t mind sitting at another table.” He turned to leave.

“Stop it, Reyes! Jack, sit down.”

Jack hesitated a moment, then returned to his seat.

“You can’t expect me to hang out with this bourge and like it,” Reyes said.

“Yeah, your boy got his butt kicked again today,” Raine said, looking at Jack.

Again? I gave Jack a confused look. He was too good of a fighter to get his butt kicked. “You didn’t tell me anything,” I said to him.

“You can’t blame the guards, the way he walks around down there like he owns the place,” Reyes said, never taking his eyes off Jack.

I knew what he meant; Jack reeked of authority. He had a confident demeanor about him that wasn’t common in the Pit. It was bound to get him into trouble with the guards. But I still couldn’t imagine Jack putting up with someone beating him.

“What happened?” I asked Jack.

“We’ll talk about it later,” he said.

Reyes snickered. “The guards like picking on him. He backs down pretty fast. Not so big down here in the Pit, are ya?”

Raine and Mica laughed, too.

I was suddenly overcome with pity for Jack. “Reyes, that’s enough! You’re behaving like a child.”

“What? I’m the bad guy here?” Reyes turned to look at me. I had never seen him look at me that way before. Was it anger? Hatred? “The president wants to kill you because of that bourge, and I poke a little fun at him and I’m the bad guy?”

“He isn’t the bad guy either. The president wants me dead because of a decision I made, so don’t blame him for this.” I was startled to hear myself say all that. But I believed every word.

I was done blaming the bourge and Jack for the mess I made of my life. What I did was foolhardy and stupid, and it was the reason the people I loved most in life were in danger. It was time to stop feeling sorry for myself and start dealing with the consequences of my own actions. And I knew Jack could be a good ally. He could help everyone down here and make a difference.

“Give him a chance. He can help us get organized and push back against the bourge. He knows how they work, and he can anticipate their decisions. He can teach you all how to fight. How to defend yourselves.” I looked from Reyes to Raine and Mica.

They all burst out laughing. Jack rolled his eyes.

“The way he cowers in front of the guards and you think he can teach us how to fight?” Reyes laughed in disgust. “Why are you defending this guy? Why are you living with him?!”

“Reyes, we’ll talk about this later,” I said in a low voice. I should have known his temper would get the better of him. I should have known he would make a scene.

“We don’t need to talk about it later. I see your answer written all over your face,” he said bitterly. “You know, Sunny, I waited four long years for you to marry me. I put up with your excuses when you kept postponing our marriage. I even stood by you when you chose to be a plaything at this idiot’s bachelor party instead of coming to me for help. And then you went and married him! And I’m supposed to be the sympathetic one in all of this. I’m supposed to understand that you married him to save Summer… to save the entire Pit. And up until now, I think I’ve been very tolerant. But I will not sit here while you stand by his side instead of by mine.” With that, Reyes scraped his chair back from the table and stomped out of the room.

I looked around the table. Mica and Raine stared at me while Jack pretended to be interested in his stew.

“He’s just hurt, Sunny,” Raine said.

Mica gave me a deadly glare and made a show of pushing himself away from the table to follow Reyes. A few seconds later, Raine left, too.

“That went well,” Jack said when we were alone.

“Don’t.”

I could feel a headache coming on. I rubbed my temples, trying to hold it at bay. I was stunned Reyes felt that way. He made it sound like I had taken him for granted all these years. He obviously didn’t understand me. But then again, he had always wanted me to be someone I wasn’t.

I was vaguely aware of a shift of mood in the room. The dinner hour was done, and the evening entertainment was starting. Someone dragged a stool in front of the room and started singing. Other people joined in. I used to love staying here after dinner with my parents to hear the songs and listen to the stories. But I hadn’t been here since my mother was Culled. Now my father was gone, too. There was no enjoyment left in it for me.

I wasn’t sure how long I sat there with my head in my hands, but I remembered Jack was still sitting with me. I looked across the table at him. He seemed to be enjoying the song. It was an old one about how we came to be in the Pit. I used to love this song when I was little because there were a few verses only the children sang. The song was a bittersweet one about how we were saved, only to be cast down into slavery. Jack had his chair turned completely around to watch the singers, so I couldn’t see his face. I waited until it was done before I suggested we leave.

“Ready to go?” I thought I saw him rub his eyes before he turned back to me. His lashes were still wet. “Are you okay?”

“The song was… moving.” He stood up and walked toward the door. I followed him.

“How about you? Are you okay?” he asked, once we were back on the stairs headed for the fourth level.

“Yeah.” Lying was easier.

“You want to beat me up again?”

“Sure.” It might just be the thing I needed right now.

As soon as we entered our apartment, I went directly into the bedroom and took off the vest. It felt so good to get the weight off my shoulders and chest. It had almost been the death of me in the laundry room. Jack was lounging in a chair when I returned to the living room.

“So, you and Reyes have been engaged for four years.”

I ignored him and went to the sink to get a glass of water.

“How old are you?” he asked after a moment.

“Seventeen.”

“Seventeen? I married a teenager?” He sounded shocked. “Wait a minute, are you telling me that you and Reyes got engaged when you were only thirteen?”

“Yes. What’s so strange about that?”

“I’m twenty and that’s a young age in the Dome to get married. Usually people wait until they’re about twenty-five.”

“Well, when you face certain death at thirty-five, you speed up your life a little bit.”

“You’re right. That was thoughtless of me.” He had the decency to look ashamed. “Now I really deserve that butt kicking you want to give me. Let’s warm up with a few push-ups.” He fell to the floor and starting doing push-ups.

I joined him. Working out the other night really had helped ease some of my anger.

“Speaking of getting your butt kicked, what happened today?”

He shrugged it off. “Just like they said.”

“I’ve seen you fight, Jack. I can’t imagine you cowered.”

“And what do you think would’ve happened if I grabbed the guard’s gun and shoved it down his throat?”

I thought about it for a moment. Not that I wouldn’t want to see a guard eat a gun, but he was right. All the guards would’ve been on him. “I see your point. You were right about Reyes and his friends, too. They’re not going to cooperate. Maybe we can find someone else who wants to learn your skills.”

I had decided I didn’t want to give up on my plan to help change things. After all the hardship I had brought on my father and Summer, I owed it to them to try to make things right. I didn’t want to fail.

Jack stood up and went into his T’ai Chi stance. I followed. He began the fluid movements and I tried to keep up, but he seemed to be going a lot faster tonight.

“So you want to start stopping people in the hall and ask them if they want to join the rebellion?” Jack asked, his tone light.

“Well, it sounds stupid when you say it like that.”

“Alright, we’re all warmed up now.” Jack faced me in a defensive stance. “Take your best shot.”

“I don’t feel like it anymore.”

“Come on.” He flicked a hand out at me, stopping inches from my face. “Pretend I’m Reyes. You must be mad at him.”

I threw the heel of my hand toward his face, which he blocked easily. I followed with a roundhouse kick at his stomach. He pushed me away.

“That’s weak, Sunny,” he said. “Come on. The other night you just about ripped my head off when you were mad about Summer.”

I had been really mad about Summer. Even the thought of her now in the clutches of that crazy president was making me angry. He had my father, too. My anger snuck out of the place where I thought I’d had it tucked safely away and gripped me again.

I threw a punch as hard as I could at Jack, then another. He blocked them both, but I kept coming at him. First with my right leg followed swiftly by my left. He threw a right punch at me, but I pulled my head back and he missed. I instinctively knew he was going to follow with his left fist, and I ducked. He missed again. He was smiling at me. I came at him to wipe the smile off his face, but he turned, and I missed. He grabbed me from behind.

“I see the boyfriend isn’t the key to getting you mad. Your best friend is,” he whispered in my ear.

I drove my elbow as hard as I could into his stomach. As soon as I made contact, I heard his breath forced out of him. I realized I might have hit him too hard.

“I’m sorry!” I turned around to see if he was okay. He was bent over, holding his stomach. “Jack, are you hurt?”

“I’ll be fine,” he choked out.

I felt a little helpless watching him struggle to get his breath back. He finally straightened up and gently touched a couple of his ribs.

“Nothing broken.” He limped off to sit in a chair. “Maybe I should have told you the first rule of sparring before I started teaching you. You don’t actually hurt your partner.”

“Sorry. I guess I let my frustrations get the better of me.”

“I don’t suppose there’s a hot shower in here?” he asked, even though he must have known the answer.

“No.” I laughed at the thought. “But I can take you to the common bath.”

He got up from the chair. “Take me.”

I found a couple of towels and a bar of soap in a cupboard. “We only have about forty-five minutes left before lights out. We need to be back by then.”

We left the apartment and headed toward the bathroom. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jack changed his mind when he saw where he had to bathe. It wasn’t anything like the private hot shower in his apartment. We reached the bathroom, and I was silently relieved to see that the water had been changed recently. It wasn’t bad at all.

“It’s freezing!” Jack exclaimed when he put his hand in the water. “I’m not getting in there.”

“You don’t actually get in. Soak your towel in the water and wash off that way. You can dry with mine. You go first.” I headed for the door.

“Wait. We’re supposed to be married. Isn’t it going to look weird if we’re taking turns in here?”

“I’m not watching you have a bath. I’m only prepared to take the pretend marriage thing so far.”

He gave me a wry look. “We’ll just turn our backs on each other. It will save time, and we can get back before lights out.”

“I don’t know. It seems a little… intimate.” But there was a guard on duty within view of the bathroom, and he might wonder why we were taking turns.

“I promise I won’t peek,” Jack said, but I wasn’t convinced. “Hey, I’m taking a big risk here, too. You know how many girls would love to see the Jack Kenner naked?”

That made me smile. A week ago, that was probably true. “I can’t believe I’m going to do this. Turn around.”

We both turned our backs on each other. I stripped as fast as I could so I wouldn’t have time to change my mind. I heard his clothes drop to the floor. An image of my hands on his naked chest came back to me, and a feeling of excitement began to grow in the pit of my stomach. If I turned around right now we would both be naked and only inches apart. A warm sensation spread through me at the thought, and my chest tightened, making it difficult to breathe. I wanted to banish the thoughts from my mind. I didn’t want to think of Jack in that way.

I dunked one of the towels into the water and scrubbed my arms. The water was freezing and made me shiver, but at least now I could blame my heavy breathing on that. And I was grateful that the cold water was helping to douse the heat that seemed to be consuming me. I finished washing, and then rinsed the towel. I stuck it out behind my back and passed it to him.

“That was quick,” he said. I heard the water splashing behind me then Jack sucked his breath in. “Oh my god, it’s cold!”

I dried off and put on my clothes. I waited for him to finish and get dressed before I knelt down to wash my hair.

“Not so bad,” Jack said, but I could tell he was lying.

He dipped his head in the water, ran the bar of soap through his hair, and then rinsed. I was still working on my long hair. A lot of coal was coming out, darkening the water. I felt a little guilty considering the water had just been changed. Finished, I wrapped the towel around my head to hide my red hair until I could reapply the coal.

“Ready?” he asked when I stood up. I nodded. We made our way back to the apartment.

“Even though it was freezing, it feels good to be clean,” Jack said when we were back in the apartment.

“I like the cold. It’s refreshing.” Maybe I would have to have a bath every night if my body was going to continue to respond to Jack like that.

I crossed the room, hung up the towels, and took the hairbrush out of the drawer. I pulled it through my long tresses, working out the tangles. I would have to wait until it was dry to reapply the coal. I put the brush away when I was finished and turned around to find Jack flopped in a chair observing me.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing.” He looked away. But there was something about the way he was looking at me…

“Did you peek?” I asked.

“Sunny,” Jack shook his head, but a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth and his cheeks turned pink. “Of course I peeked. I’m a guy.”

I threw one of the towels at him. He caught it in mid-air, laughing.

“Jerk,” I said, trying to look serious, but the whole thing was ridiculous. I knew I never should have trusted him.

The lights went out, and my eyes quickly adjusted. Jack opened his eyes as wide as he could and looked around the room. I could tell he couldn’t see a thing.

“I’ll take the chair tonight,” I said. “You really need to get some sleep.”

“I’m comfortable right where I am.”

“It’s not fair that you have to have the chair every night.”

“How about tomorrow you take the chair. Okay?”

I knew that even if I did get him to go to the bed, he would only put me in it and take the chair once I was asleep. “Thank you, Jack. Good night.”

He yawned. “Good night.”

I found my way to the bed. I slipped off my pants and crawled under the blanket, grateful to have time alone to think. Now that my initial shock at Reyes had worn off, I could think a little more clearly. If I was going to be honest with myself, I was more embarrassed to be told off by him in front of everyone than I was hurt by anything he had to say.

I had known Reyes forever. We were in the same class in the sixth-floor common room and often played together during lunch breaks. At the age of twelve, we finished school and joined the workforce like everyone else in the Pit. Almost a year went by before I noticed him again. He had gotten a lot taller and more muscular from his work in the mines. And he noticed me too. Our attraction grew quickly and within a few months of reconnecting, we swore a betrothal to each other.