“Looks like sunsets are growing on you,” he says with a laugh.
I don’t look up at him, or the setting sun. I don’t even move.
“Well, look who it is!” Yttria Coal’s voice echoes out over the square. I push Adam back from me immediately, my face already flushing with anger and embarrassment. I’m angry at myself for callously letting my guard down; I’m embarrassed for getting caught.
“Good evening, Terra,” she says as she approaches, Juniper at her heels. I can’t even remember the last time she addressed me by my actual name. “You look… well.”
“Uh, thanks,” I say awkwardly, taking a sidestep away from Adam.
Yttria smiles uncharacteristically and runs a hand back through her jet-black hair. Her locks flow over her bare shoulders, drawing emphasis to the cut of her green sleeveless top. “We were just on our way to your place. Junie wanted to stop by and see Mica.”
Juniper squirms as she plays with the yellow ribbon belted around her hips. The color lights up the thin gap of honey-brown skin that shows between her shirt and pants.
“Right,” I say. “Well, I guess we can all head back then.”
I deliberately avoid Adam’s gaze as I start walking, not completely sure if I’m resentful or grateful for Yttria’s intrusion.
“I’m Yttria,” I hear her say behind me. “And this is my sister, Juniper. We saw you at the Assembly the other night.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Adam replies.
I quicken my pace.
Resentful. Definitely resentful.
Adam waits outside with Yttria and Juniper once we reach the apartment building.
“Mica!” I shout the second I get inside the apartment, my legs burning from racing up the stairs. “Micaaaaa!”
“What?” he says. He’s still buttoning his pants as he emerges from the bathroom. “Yeesh, what is it?”
“You have a visitor. Juniper’s outside… with her sister,” I say. Yttria lets out an over-the-top laugh so loud I can hear it from inside the apartment.
“Seriously?” Mica flies out the door without another word. I follow him out just in time to see him wipe the stupid grin off his face.
“Hey,” he says coolly to Juniper.
“Hi,” she says back.
“Want to see something cool?”
Juniper nods and Mica disappears around the side of the building. He returns a minute later with the transport in tow.
“Whoa,” she says in a low voice. “Is this yours?”
“Yep.” Mica’s chest swells with pride and I can’t help but roll my eyes. “Want to go for a ride?”
“Er, Mica, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. It’s getting dark,” I say.
“You can’t be serious,” Mica says.
“Of course I am,” I reply. “It’s not safe.”
“Terra,” he says pleadingly.
“I say go for it,” Adam interjects.
Mica looks at Adam with optimistic excitement and my eyes narrow into a glare. “Well, fortunately, your opinion doesn’t really matter in this situation,” I tell Adam.
“Come on, Terra, let the kid live a little,” he continues.
“Yeah, don’t be such a downer,” Yttria chimes in. “They’ll be fine. Let them have some fun.”
Mica looks from Adam to me with wide, hopeful eyes. “Fine,” I say irritably. “But just a quick spin.”
Juniper squeals as the bike comes to life. She wraps her arms around Mica’s waist and they speed to the end of the street. My anger starts to dissipate and I laugh when he stalls out. It’s only a second before he kicks the bike back to life and they disappear around a corner. When I turn back to Yttria, she’s batting her eyelashes at Adam.
“Looks like they’re off,” I say quickly. “Thanks for bringing Junie by. Mica will make sure she gets home. You’d better head back, before it gets too dark.”
Yttria’s eyes narrow slightly as I dismiss her. “All right,” she says slowly. I can tell she’s trying to come up with a reason to stay. “Well… see you later. It was
wonderful
to meet you, Adam.”
“Likewise,” he says pleasantly.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I say to Adam once we’re back inside.
“What?”
“You just undermined me in front of my own brother!”
He sighs. “I wasn’t trying to
undermine
anyone. I was trying to help you out. I mean, you didn’t want Mica to take that girl for a ride because it’s too dark? I’m sorry, but that sounds kind of ridiculous.”
“This is not your family. I think I know what’s best for
my
brother.”
“Look, I told you how my brother was to me growing up,” he says, his voice gentler. “Babying him like that is only going to strain things between you two, especially if you do it in front of a girl. One he obviously likes.”
“Of course he likes Juniper!” I say shrilly. “But if you think that any of the Coals would ever actively encourage her to reciprocate…” I let out a hollow laugh. “I just don’t want him to get hurt. The Coals aren’t exactly our biggest fans.” I flop down on the couch.
“Why?”
“Oh, nothing,” I say dismissively. I certainly do not feel like airing out our family’s dirty laundry in front of him. “It’s just…
her.
”
“Who, Yttria? She seemed nice enough.”
“Sure, she was falling all over you. Of course you’d think she’s nice. She only came by in the first place because she wanted to meet you,” I explain, rolling my eyes.
“So,” Adam says as he sits beside me. “I’m a commodity, huh?”
“Don’t go getting a big head,” I say, still annoyed but starting to soften.
Adam grins lopsidedly, but says nothing else. With no distraction, awkwardness quickly settles in. I switch on the TV to fill the silence. Adam pulls out his tablet computer and starts poking around on the screen. He sits lazily beside me on the sofa as he concentrates on his work, and I try to engross myself in the moving figures on the screen. I sit up unusually straight and alert; the sofa suddenly feels very small.
Less than an hour later, Mica returns, goofy and elated.
“What’s up?” he asks from the kitchen. I hear him open the pantry and rustle through the packages of food again.
I don’t answer. I can’t even recall the name of the show I’ve been staring at in Mica’s absence. While the TV droned on, I’d replayed my argument with Adam in my head, over and over, trying to make sense of my emotions. Why does this guy get under my skin? Why do I even care about his opinion of my makeshift parenting skills? Why does
he
even care enough to offer his opinion in the first place? And why, the entire time Mica was gone, couldn’t I concentrate on anything else? My mind was held hostage by Adam’s proximity to me as we sat side-by-side on the couch. How he was so close I could feel the heat radiating from his skin. And how I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anything as badly as I wanted him to move just two inches closer.
Chapter 15
The next morning, Adam doesn’t bring up what happened in the square, or our argument, so I follow suit. Since our tour of the West Q had been cut short and I’m not eager to talk about why, I don’t object when he insists on tagging along to school with Mica. He spends two hours conversing with Principal Conifer about lesson plans, teacher assignments, and test scores, while I create a mental countdown clock until the next Collection. Four days. If I can spend the next four days personally—and quickly—guiding him through whatever research points he has to hit, hopefully I can send him on his way without him ever finding out about the second machine.
After school, we make our way to the town center, where Adam wants to sit in on a public forum. I hate attending these things, so we hide in the back, where no one can notice me sulking while Adam scribbles down more notes. I quickly decide there has to be some kind of gene that allows you to become a Tribunal researcher, because there is no way that a normal person could find such mundane things so unremittingly fascinating.
The next day we spend the afternoon walking the docks in the East Quadrant. I don’t understand how Adam can possibly spend so much time inspecting the structure of each building, but he continues to take notes relentlessly. Blatantly disregarding my request to lay low, he converses with almost every person we come across. At first, I think the constant conversations are his attempt to quell the stares we receive, though I’m never sure whether those looks are for me, for Adam, or for our odd pairing.
Regardless of the reason, Adam introduces himself to anyone who gives us the side-eye. From there, the conversation goes anywhere, though more often than not it goes somewhere boring. Sometimes he barely says five words, and gets someone’s entire life story in response. The most interesting thing Adam asks about is Loran Underwood’s raider accident, and even that gets old quickly.
I try chiming in on the conversation when we run across a very cheery Mrs. Kuipers, but as soon as I open my mouth she shoots me a look so devastatingly cold that I immediately shut back up.
If only I were so charming,
I think, watching Mrs. Kuipers smile sweetly at Adam. At least my bruises have faded, so I look like I belong in decent society again. Though, it’s not like that counts for much these days.
* * *
“So I thought you might want to check out the Marketplace today,” I say. I’ve been racking my brain all through breakfast, trying to figure out what’s left in Sixteen for Adam to see. Collection Day is tomorrow, and the Marketplace is pretty much the last place left of interest. Hopefully, it’ll be packed with people he can prod for data, and he’ll have gathered enough research to move on. I frown as I consider this. I should be elated to be so close to getting rid of him, shouldn’t I?
I glance over at Adam, seated at the kitchen table, and shake my head. “The forecast calls for rain a little later, so we won’t want to be out too long,” I continue, peeking up at the sky through the living room window. “But it should be more than enough time to hit up the Market. Doesn’t sound like it’ll be a big storm, anyway. We should be all right.” I can barely contain the glee in my voice. Rain forecasts usually mean being stuck inside for 24-hours or more. Predictions for short showers are few and far between.
“Oh,” he says. “I was kind of hoping to stop by to see the Underwoods.”
“Why are you so interested in Loran’s accident anyway?” I ask. In addition to whatever Hess told him that day in the North Q, he’s already asked several other people in town about the incident as well. I figured it was only a matter of time before he wanted to go straight to the source, but I still don’t know why. “It was a raider attack. They happen. You practically saw one firsthand with me, remember? I hear he’s healing up just fine. Slow, but fine.”
Adam shrugs. “You go ahead to the Market then,” he says, avoiding my question. “I’ll just meet up with you later.” His evasiveness does nothing to quell my curiosity.
“Nah, it’s okay. There should be time for both,” I say casually, lacing up my boots. What does he want with Loran? He collected samples from Ryk and his cronies back in the ruins, so I don’t know what else Loran can tell him about the raiders that I haven’t. And now that pretty much everyone in town knows Adam has been staying with us, I can’t say I’m crazy about him chatting with other scavs on his own. Something’s bound to come up about my payout and the quarantine restrictions, and I’d prefer to be there to squash the rumors when it does. “Besides, you don’t even know where they live.”
Frustration flashes across Adam’s face. “I’ve gotten a pretty good idea of where things are by now,” he says. “I don’t need a chaperone every time I leave the house. I’ll figure it out.”
I raise an eyebrow at his defensive response. If I wasn’t determined to figure out the reason for his interest in Loran Underwood before, I certainly am now.
“You’re not the only one with business at the Underwoods,” I say, thinking up an excuse on the spot. “Hess has been having some difficulties since she’s taken over Loran’s scav duties. I feel bad that I haven’t even visited since his accident, so I figure this is a good chance for me to offer to help. In any way I can.”
Adam sighs. “All right,” he says resignedly. “Let’s get going then, Miss Humanitarian.”
We hop on the motorbike and I direct Adam south to the Underwoods’ apartment complex. They live at the very edge of the West Quadrant, right on the border of the South Q. People on the street stare longingly at our transport as Adam parks it around the back of the building.
“Look, it’s really important that I speak with Loran today,” Adam says as we enter the building. “So can you keep your business with Hess until I’m done?”
I rap my knuckles on the Underwoods’ first-floor apartment door. “Yeah, yeah, sure,” I say. “Yeesh, I hope your obsession with him helps you nab that Most Spirited Researcher trophy you’re clearly gunning for, or something else that makes all of this worth it.”
I hear the shuffle of footsteps from inside the apartment. Adam says something under his breath. It sounds sort of like, “Me too.”
Hess Underwood opens the door wearing slippers. Her raggedy cloth bathrobe hangs open over her pajamas and she looks at me with a curious expression. “Yes?” she says warily.
“Hi, Mrs. Underwood. I’m Terra Rhodon and—”
“I know who you are. Can I help you?”
“Hello again, Hess,” Adam says, before I have a chance to respond. Her eyes dart to Adam and she immediately breaks into a large smile.
“Oh, Adam! I didn’t realize it was you. Please, come in!”
I have to keep from rolling my eyes as we’re ushered inside. I recognize the apartment as based on Floor Plan #7. All the rooms are connected to a long hallway that runs through the center of the apartment; very different from the open layout of my own home.
“Thanks very much,” Adam says kindly. “I thought I might take you up on your offer to speak to Loran about his accident?”
“Of course, of course,” she says eagerly. “I’ll go wake him, he’s just been resting.”
“That’d be great,” Adam says.
“We don’t want to disturb him,” I say, looking at Hess’s open robe and then pointedly at Adam. “We can come back another time.”
Adam’s expression darkens as I speak, and I feel a chill run through the room.
“Nonsense,” Hess says brightly. “I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to have a visitor. The house is rather quiet these days.” I remember what Emery told me about her son, Trip, and the Black Traders, and I feel a pang of sympathy in my chest. Regardless of whether Trip joined the Traders or was taken by them, it can’t be easy for Hess to have both her husband injured and her son gone.