Project ELE (8 page)

The guy he is talking to says, "I'm not your pal, the name's Zack." He says pal with a disgusted look like he wouldn't touch Connor with a ten-foot pole. Then with a mischievous grin on his face he turns to the others. “Hey fellas, this guy here wants to know if we have anything better to do.” He hikes his thumb back behind him pointing at Connor. They all laugh in unison like it’s the funniest joke in the world.

I hear that hyena laugh and see a tall blonde who looks like a life sized Barbie doll, come out from the bathroom. I catch a glimpse of the bathroom before the door closes behind her. From what I can see, there is a garden tub and a double vanity in there. A small amount of envy creeps up at their luxuries and I try to squash it quickly. The girl must have seen my stare though because she speaks up in a haughty tone, "What? See something you like?"

My cheeks burn with fury at her calling me out. "No." I say and give her my best rolling of the eyes.

She sticks her hand on her hips then looks me up and down with her big baby blue eyes. "I saw you eyeing our place, you must be one of the less fortunate ones." Her voice drips with a false sense of pity.

"First, I'm not less fortunate, I'm Willow. Second, green's not really my color so no, I wasn't ogling your place." My chest aches when I remember how often my mom used to tell us that green doesn't look good on us when we were kids and saw others getting more than we had.

She doesn't respond, instead she lets out another hyena laugh. Wow, how can someone who tries to look so perfect on the outside have such an atrocious laugh? I let out a small giggle at that and she gives me the nastiest look that only makes me giggle more.

Zack smirks at me then turns back around to Connor. “In answer to your question, no, we don’t have anything better to do. Well, unless you count twiddling our thumbs or taking a nap. But hey, now that you mention it, maybe twiddling our thumbs does seem more fun about now. Whatcha think fellas?” They laugh at his banter again and my frown deepens.

Rage is bubbling up deep inside of me at this guy’s blazé attitude. “Seriously,” I pipe up. “You have nothing else to do? No job? No school? There has to be something you guys are good at other than messing up someone’s day here!” I know, it doesn’t deserve an Oscar, but that’s all I’ve got. I keep my eyes focused on him holding his gaze. I notice that he has the same hair color and the same shaped eyes as the Barbie hyena girl. I assume they are related.

Zack sizes me up before answering. “Yeah, we go to school, but only in the morning today. Tomorrow we start our Select classes. Now as to jobs, no, of course not! Well, now that you mention it, you may be able to count what we’re doing now as a job. Teaching you both the art of technological hacking. May do you good someday." He looks back and forth from Connor to me then settles his eyes on me. "And as for you, I can give some private lessons if you ask really nice sugar." He reaches his hand out as if he was going to grab one of my curls and I swat it back down with a smack. He laughs. I don't have a mirror, but I can bet that my face is the color of cherry pie right about now. I'm fuming!

“Now, if you’ll be on your way, we’re late for our appointment.” He says the last part with a note of sarcasm.

As he starts to shoo us out I catch a glimpse of a photo above the girl's bed. The girl and Zack are in it. They are a bit younger and standing next to a woman who I'm assuming is their mom. I try to look a little closer because something's caught my attention. It's strange, in the photo both children seem to have the same golden brown eyes as their mother. Maybe it’s just the lighting or shadows.

Before I can get a better look, Zack blocks my view. Then, in the blink an eye, he’s ushered us out the door and has slammed it in our faces. I blink a few times trying to clear the cobwebs out of my head. “Come on, let’s get out of here,” Connor says.

Claire is still standing in the hall where we last left her. She looks like she's trying to figure us out. "Did you both just defend my honor in there?" Her eyebrows are furrowed in thought.

"Well, we didn't do that great of a job, but I think they got the point. Not that they took it to heart or anything." Connor replies.

"They're just being jerks." I say.

Claire studies us with her icy blue eyes then gives a small smile. "Thanks guys. Nobody has ever really done anything like that for me before. Usually people just act like I don't exist. Sometimes I think I must have a secret layer of camouflage because people often look right through me. I'm not noticeable I guess. " Her smile drops.

Connor surprises me by saying under his breath, "I doubt that."

Claire must not have heard him since she didn't blush at his compliment. I add, "Well that's what friends should do for each other."

"We’re friends?" She says the word like it's foreign and I instantly feel horrible that this poor girl has had to feel this alone in the world.

"If you want to be. I think we can use a support group in here. Especially if we have to deal with people like that." I point back with my thumb towards Zack's room.

She cocks her head at me and studies me for a second then says, "Yeah, I think I'd like that." She smiles which lights her face up in a new, beautiful way. Connor and I catch it like it's contagious and find ourselves grinning too.

****

I spend the rest of the afternoon helping Connor, and mainly Claire, finish up their assignments. It doesn’t take too long because conveniently, Connor and Claire’s routes correlate with each other. Surprisingly, they don’t ask me how I can get from point A to point B without looking at the map.

We get done around 5:30; thirty minutes before our tablets say that supper is to be served. We go together to pick up Connor's little sister Lillie from class, then head over to the cafeteria to secure our places in line.

We sit together at dinner eating our mush. I look around for my dad but don't see him so I assume he got a different dinner shift tonight. I do get to meet Connor's guardian, Sarah, whom I soon realize is only responsible for Lillie. Apparently Connor was allowed to sleep on a cot in their room last night however, effective tonight he will be moved to his permanent room. Apparently teens who don't have parents bunk up together in a mass dorm style room. Connor’s body language tells me that he is very much not happy about this arrangement. I don't blame him because with his new schedule and separate room, he will rarely see his little sister. Sarah assures him though that she is in good hands.

I also find out during dinner that Claire stays in one of those dorm rooms for female teens. Each dorms hold up to ten same sex teens. Claire has seven roommates in hers. Most of them are from the orphanage she grew up in. None of them really talk to her though. They all think she's strange. She doesn't mention how she ended up in an orphanage but we can pretty much assume that she lost her parents to the virus.

After dinner we part ways for the night. I head back to my room to wait for my dad. I pass the time by taking a nice hot shower, which apparently I can only do three times a week per water and energy conservation restrictions. It feels good though to get clean. I hop into bed afterwards. I hadn't realized just how tiring today was and I find myself falling asleep soon enough.

"Hey honey." My dad kisses me on the forehead.

I awake from a dreamless sleep and look at my tablet to see that it's only 10:00 pm. I haven't been asleep for very long. "Hey dad. Are you just now getting home?" I ask, stretching my arms above my head.

My dad looks exhausted and really, really filthy. I don't even want to ponder the dirt he's covered in. "Yeah. I didn't get to eat until nine. It's been a long day." He runs his hand through his greying hair. "How was your day?"

"It was good. Why are they making you work such long shifts?" I ask. We had started at nine this morning. That means he worked for at least twelve hours today. That seems rather long to me.

"The work has to get done." He studies me as if trying to figure out if he should tell me something. Instead of telling me what was on his mind he says, "Try to get some sleep honey."

I don't let him get away that easily. "Dad, what's up?" I rub the small amount of sleep out of my eyes that had formed during my nap.

He brushes back the hair from my forehead and steps back a little. I have to sit up to see him better since the safety railing is now partially blocking my view. He paces the room for a second then starts. "You know honey that your mother and I tried to keep you kids sheltered from the mess that's been going on in our country over the past few years."

I nod.

"I figure that you are old enough and mature enough now to know what's going on." He smiles at me and has a proud look in his eye. "You know that we have never had that much money."

I know that much. We learned in school about economics. There used to be a middle class in our country but for the past decade, or longer even, there has only been two classes: the rich and the poor.

"The government knew that this virus was getting out of hand a few years ago. At that time the plans for a way to stop it began. We were warned that we would eventually have to go into these shelters. Everyone was allowed the opportunity to pay for their space in advance. The prices were outrageous and completely unattainable for anyone other than the wealthiest families." A pent up look of frustrated anger shows on his face. "They told us that those who could not afford to pay for their spaces would still be admitted in, however, they would have to earn their keep. Most of us have no problem with that. We've been working hard just to stay afloat all of our lives, but Willow, I didn't know that they were going to make the children work for their spaces too!" His face turns red with his frustration. "They didn't tell us that! Did they treat you bad?" He comes up closer to the bed again and studies me to make sure he can't see any physical sign of damage.

I shake my head confused, "No Dad, they didn't. It was fine."

He looks at me intensely, "You can tell me the truth honey. Were they mean? How long did you have to work today?"

"I only worked five hours and it was easy work doing deliveries. Nobody was mean...Well, that's not exactly true." My dad's eyes started to show the beginning signs of rage so I quickly continued to settle his fears. "The people at work are nice. We just ran into some spoiled brats who were trying to cause trouble." He calms down at this but still remains interested. "You know it makes sense though now. They have a much nicer place than ours. They are the same age too but they didn't have to work."

"Yes, their parents probably paid for their spot. I heard rumors that the paid rooms were very nice. Just because they don't work doesn't mean they have any right to treat you badly. Do I need to go talk to them?"

I give my dad a sincere smile. His love shows through in his offer to stick up for me. "No, I already spoke to them. They weren't really being mean to me but they were picking on another girl. I went in there and confronted them. I don't think it did much good but they had no right to bully someone just because they were bored."

That look of pride flashes across my dad's face again. "You did the right thing honey. I'm proud of you for standing up to those bullies. Most people wouldn't, especially when it's not their fight."

"Well you didn't teach me to be most people." I sit up taller and grin.

"No I didn't. I love you honey. You let me know if you ever need me to go beat down any snobs for you. Not that I don't think you can't handle your own. It's sometimes good to have reinforcements."

"Yeah, I've got those. I made two friends today." My dad looks interested so I continue. "Connor and Claire. They are both in my class and they are runners too."

"That's awesome. You stick close to each other. It's important for you to have someone that has your back in here. I’ve heard some uproar from some of the other adult workers. They aren't too happy at the way they're being treated, especially with some of their children being forced to work. Also, I think a lot of it has to do with many lower class families getting declined entry. The wounds are wide open right now, so it might come to nothing after some time passes. I just want you to know ahead of time how some people are feeling so that you don't get surprised by any disgruntled behavior around here. Continue to stay close to your friends and make sure to report to me if anything odd comes up or if you feel mistreated in any way. Will you do that for me honey?"

"Of course." I wonder to myself what he means by disgruntled behavior but I don't continue to ponder it too much because I can tell that the day is catching up to my dad. His eyes look tired and his posture went slack. "Hey dad, why don't you go take a shower and get some rest."

He nods his head. "What? I stink that bad?"

"Yep!" I say pinching my nose with my fingers and waving the 'odor' away with my other hand.

My dad gets me in that one tickle spot right under my arm, my Achilles heel. I break out in giggles. He leans in like he wants to give me a hug but then remembers he's filthy and pats my head instead. "I love you. Get some sleep."

"You too dad." I reply and lie back down on my bed.

"Night." My dad turns and starts to head to the bathroom but I grab his arm before he leaves my bedside.

"Wait dad?" I ask nervously.

He turns back, "Yes?"

"Can I ask you a question?" I chew on my nails waiting for his response.