Rise (3 page)

Just as I think that, Miss Evelyn looks up from staring into her tea and her small fake smile blooms into that full-out grin, transforming her back into Evie.
With just that one smile
—the one reserved only for me—I know that Eli is wrong, and that if the roles were reversed, she
would
tell me. And that she’s just as human as we are. She feels like we do. Hurts like we do. Loves like we do. Loves
me
as I do her.

How else could just a smile from her light an entire room with its radiance and start a fire in my blood? My mind blanks and the apology sitting on the tip of my tongue swims right out of my head.

When another of her Suitors clears his throat, Evie blushes, and the pink tint sits prettily on her milky cheeks before she tones the smile down, transforming back into Miss Evelyn. She gestures to the empty seat I normally occupy.

“So good of you to join us.” No matter how composed and serene her posture and poise has become, the joy in her voice is obvious.

I bow slightly. “I apologize for my rudeness in being late, Miss Evelyn. I brushed against something on my way here and smeared grease on my pants. I would rather have been late, than to dishonor you by showing up in soiled clothing.”

Miss Evelyn's smile widens. “A perfectly reasonable excuse.” She gestures again to the empty seat. “Please. Join us.”

I take my seat, trying to keep my eye on the Enforcer without looking like I'm watching out for her. It is then that I realize, this week, I am one of
four
Suitors. A new adversary has entered the competition.
I can’t help but wonder what danger this represents to my position.

My eyes do a quick study of this new rival. I am pleased to see that, in looks, at least, I believe I am victorious. I fit Mother's ideal better than this newcomer. He's built like a Guard
. Big and bulky. His slightly droopy eyes are a watery blue. And his hair is a shade darker than my own.

Miss Evelyn must notice my appraisal, because she waves toward him and says, “This is a new Suitor. He's a Guard and Mother was quite insistent he join us this afternoon.”

So I was correct. Good. He won't be competition for me after all. My jealousy wanes as quickly as it came. I already know Evie’s feelings on Guards.

I incline my head toward him, forcing my smirk under a polite smile. “Nice to meet you.”

He repeats me, but I've already dismissed him in my mind.

Miss Evelyn goes back to talking about her gardens. For the next half an hour, the other
Suitors and myself bide our time and wait for the hour to be up. It's awkward, being here, listening to her speak and ask questions of us, while we try to convince her that she should spend more time with one over the others. I've been here the longest, and I know how the game's played—even if lately, especially after last night, I don’t want to play it anymore.

When the clock in the corner chimes the hour, Miss Evelyn stands and all the Suitors rise as well, one-by-one going up to her to wish her a good day until the next time, e
ach of us hoping that she'll chose one of us as her favored.

When everyone else has gone, and I'm the only Suitor
left, I bow and wish her good day, but she doesn't return the greeting. Instead, she glances over to the Enforcer, then back at me.

Then she smiles that smile again, but her eyes reveal a worry I hadn't seen before. “I'm so glad you came today, Timothy. I was worried you'd decided not to be a Suitor anymore.”

The intimacy in her tone makes me lick my lips and look to the Enforcer to see if she's noticed it as well. But the girl is as expressionless as before.
“No, Miss Evelyn. Of course not. I would never decide that.”
I curse
Eli and my own mom for their meddling this morning and for causing me to be late, and—I admit grudgingly—my hasty retreat last night.

Miss Evelyn grins at me and I can't help but return it as an irrational amount of relief and excitement buzzes through me when she says, “Excellent. Then I shall see you again?”

I know what she's really asking, and my heart skips. “Of course. As per usual,” I say, letting her know to meet me at our usual time and meeting place.

“Wonderful.” She smiles again.

“Until then, Miss Evelyn.”

Hours later, I slip into the maintenance tunnel of my apartment and quietly follow the path I've walked a dozen or more times to our rendezvous spot. A spot only the two of us know about and even dare to enter. It should be perfectly safe, and far from the prying eyes of the Enforcers. I doubt that even they dare to enter the complete darkness of this spot.

Even still, I listen as carefully as I can to ensure it's safe and no one is hiding, then settle myself into a corner to
wait.

This time she doesn't keep me long, and soon I feel her hand on my arm. Immediately, her touch causes goose bumps to pop
up all over my skin. I'll never get over how quiet she is.

“Hi!” she whispers. The grin is clear as day
in her voice, even if I can't see it. Just hearing her makes my insides jump all over the place.

“Hi back.”
My heart beats an unsteady
rhythm and I can't deny it any longer. Evangeline was right—at least about this one thing. That I’ve gone completely mad. This wasn't supposed to happen. I was just supposed to get her to choose me for her Suitor, so we would Couple, which would get me into the Palace Wing and—better yet—
into Mother's trust. Then the Underground would do the rest.

It was supposed to be simple, but I’ve complicated it by falling helplessly and hopelessly
in love with the enemy.

She settles herself beside me, her thigh pressing against mine. My fingers have the sudden itch to run over it, knowing I'd be able to touch the skin her skirt has left bare.

“I love this part of the day,” she says with a sigh.

I love you, I think, but only say, “Me, too.”

She leans her head on my shoulder and her fingers find mine, interlacing them together. A jolt of
the same electricity from yesterday shoots throughout my body and I have to take a deep breath to relax myself.

We don't say anything. Tension is thick in the air, different from yesterday, but there still the same
.

I need to ask her. I'm supposed to wait until she chooses
me. There's protocol to follow, but I need her in my life. The whole of it. Not just during these stolen moments together.
And hang Eli and his cold, unfeeling heart. He wouldn’t know love if it bit him.

“Evie?”

“Hmm?”

My heart trips in my chest. Relax, Timothy, I tell myself, and then square my shoulders and blurt out, “What would you say if I asked you to Couple with me?”

Her body tenses against mine and her hand trembles, but she doesn't say anything. I wish I could see her face. See the reaction. But I only sit, waiting for her answer.

Finally, she answers calmly, as if I’d asked her about the weather in the Agriculture Sector, “Well, I would probably say yes. That is, if you asked me correctly.”

The corners of my mouth creep up into a smile as relief pours through me.

I nudge her head with my shoulder so she sits up, and I turn so that I'm facing her.

“Miss Evelyn Winters, will you Couple with me?”

This time there is no hesitancy in her answer.
“Yes. Absolutely.”

Even though I can just barely make out her outline, I push her hair over her shoulder, letting my fingers drag through the silky strands. Then, savoring the feel of her skin against mine, I trail my knuckles up her throat, over her chin and lips, before cupping her cheek in my palm.

Wonder fills me when she tilts her head, so that it fits nicely into my hand. I trace my thumb over her cheekbone. Mine, I think. She'll be mine and I'll be hers.

My clothing rustles as I lean forward. She shivers when my breath tickles her neck as I whisper,
“I love you, Evie.”

“Timothy…” She starts to say,
and I know she's going to say it back, but I'm filled with so much joy and want that I don't let her finish before I press my lips to hers. Her breath catches and her heart stutters under my palm.

My body is at odds with itself, a
nd I know hers is, too. The part screaming at us to stop. To be more cautious, because an Enforcer could be hidden nearby and if we're caught, we're both dead. But there's a louder part of me that's making my blood boil with need and want. A part that says hang the consequences.

U
nfortunately, the saner part of me prevails, and I pull back, moving my mouth to kiss just below her ear.

“You'll ask Mother?”
I ask her. This part worries me, but
she
has to be the one to initiate this. It
has
to seem like it was her idea.

“Of course,” she says, her voice breathless. “The minute I get back.”

My lips curve against the skin of her neck. “Excellent.”
I trace more kisses across her skin before, finally, sighing.
“We'd better get back before anyone misses us.”
We're so close; it would be devastating to get caught now.

She shivers delicately, but doesn't stop me from pulling away. She does keep my hand in hers. I squeeze it tightly. My clothes whisper as I stand, pulling her with me. She leads the way back toward the light, but I tug on her hand, pulling her into me.
She falls into my chest, and I find her lips with mine again, m
y stomach twisting deliciously before I finally release her.

She wobbles, and I chuckle, but say, “Come on. We'd better go before your feminine charms become my undoing.”

When she laughs, the sound echoes throughout the space, and I want to stop time in this moment. I want to savor it forever. Because whatever happens after this, it will change everything. Nothing will be the same again.

She’s the first to go
back into the light, looking to verify the Enforcers aren't around and watching. My heart pounds a little faster, but this time it has nothing to do with
Evie—and everything to do with worry that Enforcers will grab her.

Normally I’d breathe easier when she hurries off the way she came, without even a glance back at me, hurrying without seeming to hurry toward the Palace Wing. Toward safety. But dread pours over me like a cold shower.
The certainty that I’ll never see her again weighs heavy in my gut. I want to chase after her, drag her back to me so we can find a way to escape here. I don't care what the teachings say about the Surface. Evie was probably right when she said they were nothing close to the truth and even if she were wrong, I’d put up with all of the Surface terrors if that meant Evie was safe and with me.

But I don't.

Because I’m a coward.

And I only watch as she disappears around the corner.

Slowly, I make my way back to the Residential Sector, my head crowded with images of the night.

The most wonderful night of my life.

Still, I can’t shake this feeling of dread that weighs heavier and heavier on me. I know if I don’t do something
right now
something more horrible than I can imagine will happen.

I try pushing myself forward. I need to tell my mom the good news. She’ll be pleased that the Underground is finally gaining some traction. Even if I’m doing it for my own reasons and not theirs anymore, I’ve still accomplished what they wanted me to.

Evie chose me.

But not just chose. She loves me. At least I’m pretty sure she does. If I’d let her say it, she would have. I grin like the fool I am.

She loves me. And I love her.

It hits me like a brick wall. She loves me, and the feeling that something horrible is going to happen because she does, feels like a punch to the gut. I almost literally can’t breathe from the tension around my chest pinching tighter and tighter with every breath I take.

Maybe I should go and check on her. Make sure it all went according to plan. I turn and walk toward the Palace Wing.

I shake my head. No. I don’t want to make it worse. It’s too close to curfew and I shouldn’t be in the Palace Wing without an invitation. If I go, I will ruin everything.

This is what’s supposed to happen, I remind myself. She’s supposed to pick a Suitor. I’m a Suitor. She picked me. Mother isn’t going to care the reasons why.

I’d been deemed acceptable before, or I wouldn’t be a Suitor. I’ll be acceptable now. Granted, there may be more pomp and stance than I know about. Maybe there’s a waiting period once it’s announced that Evie has chosen me, but that’s all right. That’s what’s supposed to happen.

But that horrible feeling digs deeper under my skin. I can’t shake it. I’m sick with dread, hung up on the thought that things changed when I wasn’t paying attention. That everything I know is no longer true. And that even the Underground doesn’t know what’s
really
going on.

I finally give in and turn and
head toward the Palace Wing.
Just one more look. It won’t hurt.

Nerves making my heart kick in my chest, I pass the Guard again. This one doesn't even look up from his podium at all and I slip into the tube.

The water is dark outside the tube, and the lights off. No pretty fish to calm my nerves this time. Curfew should be starting soon, but I find that I don't care.

I take the stairs instead of the elevator. It’s
entirely too noisy and I don't want the whole Palace to know I'm here. At the top of the stairs, I
carefully twist the handle and slowly push the door open while sneaking a quick peek to make sure no one's around. When I'm sure the coast is clear, I sneak out and into the hallway.

I'm not sure where Evie's rooms are, but I do know where her gardens are and I'm sure that's where she is. Or at least that's what our intel says she does at this time of the day, and our intel hasn't been wrong yet. Of course, Evie and Mother could still be talking about our Coupling. I’m sure it isn’t just a simple two minute conversation, but I have no idea where else to go and I know she’ll head there eventually.