The Revealed (9 page)

Kai breaks through just behind me, and I can hear him stop.

Silence fills the space between us.

“What?” I ask, not opening my eyes, though I can feel his gaze.

He shakes his head. “Nothing,” he says, and sits down beside me. “Out of all the places you could go … ?”

I shrug. “I feel comfortable here.”

In fact, lying here in the dirt, I feel better than I have in a long time. I stretch out and know that these fields continue for as far as the eye can see. No fences in sight. The sky above me has no limits. All the stress about The Revealed and the unknown seems to melt away in the middle of this field with Kai.

Really, I shouldn’t think like this. I don’t know him. I haven’t even spoken to him since high school. Even then we didn’t hang out. Ever.

If you had told sixteen-year-old me that two years later I would be lying in a field with Kai Westerfield, I would have called you crazy. But I guess if you’d told me that I would be in these fields because he gave me the only way to escape my house, I guess that would have made sense. I was never made to stay in one place. I always had dreams for bigger things, faraway places.

“Someday I’m going to leave this city,” I tell him, “and never come back.”

“You say that now,” he replies lazily, “but you’ll miss it.”

“Maybe I will, but I won’t come back. Isn’t that why you joined the military? To get away?” I open my eyes and turn my head to look at him.

He’s staring back at me. His eyes are glinting with curiosity. He scans my face and I realize how close we are. My nerves hit me.

“I guess that’s part of the reason,” he admits, his voice low, “but I also want to be part of the new nation. I want to help it grow, be the best it can be.” His cheeks curl as he smiles. “Kind of cheesy though.” He looks back up at the sky.

“It isn’t,” I shake my head.

I have this urge to reach out to him. As if a tangible connection would make him see I understand.

But I keep my hand at my side.

The truth is he scares me. He never had any interest in me before. Not that I tried to get his attention. I didn’t want it. I wasn’t one of those girls who needed it because I had to feel wanted. And he left me alone, just like the others. Because I’m the spoiled rich girl.

The memory pricks in my throat and tears spring to the corner of my eyes.
Of course Lily’s fucked up.

I stand.

All you have to do is look at her face.

I pull my hair from under my ear, letting it fall across my face, almost into my eyes.

“I have to get home,” I say, feeling the need to get out of here as soon as possible. My eyes sting, and I swallow against the tightening in my throat.

“What?” Kai looks up at me as I scramble to get the stray grasses and grains off my back. “We just got here.”

“Can you take me home?”

“Why?” Confusion clouds his features while he gets up.

“Because I don’t want to be here anymore.”

He’s taken aback. “Did I say something?”

“Yes,” I blurt, then quickly correct myself. “No. I mean, why do you care? Why did you even bother taking me from my house? I’m just a spoiled little rich girl right?” I cover my face in my hands, frustrated that I said that last sentence. Infuriated that I care. I shouldn’t care what Kai Westerfield thinks.

He takes a step back, baffled. “What are you talking about?”

It makes me even angrier that he doesn’t remember what he’d said. It was bad enough the words came from his mouth. But he’d said them so passively they didn’t even matter to him. It wasn’t a big deal to him at all to talk badly of someone that way.

“Forget it. It doesn’t matter.” I begin pushing through the stalks of grain. “I just want to go home.”

“Whoa,” he says, chasing after me, “Lily, just hold up a second.”

He grabs my arm. “I don’t think you’re a spoiled little rich girl.”

“Please,” I jerk away from him.

He holds fast. “I don’t know where you even got that idea.”

“I got it from you!” Now I’m just embarrassed. I never should have brought this up. I should have ended it before it began. Coming out here with him was a mistake.

“Me? I—” he stammers, and realization fills his features. “Shit.” He runs a hand through his hair, pushing it back only to have it fall messily around his forehead. “That’s how you knew about the smoking. Are you talking about high school? How did you even hear about that?”

“I heard you and Micah talking after the election announcement,” I grumble.

“God, Lily.” He grips his neck as if he’s straining to find a way to justify his words.

“I really don’t need you to explain.” I step back away from him. “It’s not like you were the only one with that opinion. But you’ll excuse me if I don’t want to be your friend.”

“I had no idea what I was talking about,” he says, “I’m sorry, Lily, I’m really sorry. It was such a stupid—I just let myself get caught up in that shit in high school—all the gossip and the attention. It was wrong. I was wrong.”

“High school wasn’t that long ago.”

“It was for me,” he says. “It feels like a lifetime ago. And you’re right to hate that guy, but this one now, in front of you, wants a chance. A real chance.”

“No.” I can’t help the suspicion. I can’t just let it go. “You could have any girl you could possibly want. Hell, you’ve had quite a few. I won’t just be the next in line because you’re charming.”

Okay, that was a rude comment. And it makes him mad. I see the spark ignite in his eyes.

“You’re the most-stubborn person I’ve met!”

“You’re the most arrogant!” I fire back. “I see the way people look at you. More importantly, I see the way you look back.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about. Who are you to judge how I handle the attention around my family?”

“I think out of anyone on this planet, I’m the most qualified, actually.”

“Oh, right, because you handle all of this so well. You hide inside of yourself so afraid of people actually seeing you.”

“Seeing me? Not everyone can be as good-looking as you, Kai. Not everyone gets to prance around the streets and be adored. You have no idea what it’s like to be—”

I falter, not just because I can’t say the word.
Ugly.
But because our faces are so close it’s dangerous. The tips of our noses are a breath away. I can see every small fleck of gold within his irises. My breath hitches.

I want to reel back inside myself, unable to believe I lost control like that. I’ve never lost control of myself around someone besides my parents.

His gaze holds me tighter than any embrace. “You have no idea.” He swallows roughly, his jaw stiff and clenched. His words become strained. He’s barely keeping his cool like he wishes he could grip my arms and give me a good shake or two. His eyes register every inch of my face. “You have no idea how I see you. Everything I said about you was a lie. I was lying.”

I can’t move. So much as a twitch and I think our shoulders would collide. I’m not sure what would happen if we touched. My handle on control is so slight as it is.

And he’s imploring me with his eyes to let go and break. He’s begging me to snap and give in to him.

I don’t snap. I don’t allow my guard to fall entirely. But I do lower it an inch or two. “One more chance,” I breathe.

He nods, and it sends butterflies rattling around in my stomach.

Cars.

I hear cars pulling over the dirt.

“Great,” I mutter, snapping out of the trance that is Kai’s gaze. I can tell by the sound of the engines that the cars are Escalades.

Kai hears them, too. “Stay next to me, okay?”

He takes my hand and puts himself protectively in front of me. All I can focus on for a moment is his hand on mine. His fingers curl around mine, strong and warm. He doesn’t know who is coming through the field, but I do.

“It’s okay,” I say and walk around him, through the grasses.

There’s a line of five SUVs parked next to Kai’s car. No surprise there.

Jeremy is standing in front like usual.

“Oh, your parents are just thrilled about this one,” he says, and shakes his head sarcastically.

“I’m sure they are.”

Kai stands with his arms crossed over his chest. “I can take her home.”

“Oh, I think you’re well past done,” Jeremy says, leading me away.

I get in the backseat of the car without an argument. What’s the use?

I glance over my shoulder at Kai once more before Jeremy closes the door. My head sinks against the seat as we begin to drive back to the house. I push my palms against my temples, resisting the urge to smile. What am I getting myself into? Kai was so close to my face that I could feel his breath dancing across my cheek. Heat rises to my face. And all I do is think of him until we arrive back at the house.

Then reality sinks in along with the chill of dusk.

My father is standing at the base of the stairs with his arms crossed tightly over his chest. My mother is next to him. She takes one look at me and makes a dramatic exit up the stairs, looking resigned.

My father lets the silence hang over us for a few more moments. He’s waiting for me to speak, but I won’t give him the apology he seeks. I don’t have anything to apologize for.

“Do you have any idea what you put us through when you run off like this?” he finally says. “And only a day after The Revealed break into our own home? Jeremy said you were with Kai Westerfield? What were you thinking? Not only did you leave the house, leaving yourself completely vulnerable to The Revealed, but you are seeing that troublemaker? How long has this been going on?”

“Nothing’s going on.” I shrug off his questions. “We’re just talking.”

“It’s one thing to make small talk at events. It’s another to fraternize with the competition. You are not to associate with that boy. For your own good. You think I don’t see him in the papers? I would have thought Roderick would have raised him better. Clearly, losing his mother has done bad things for that boy. You think you’re old, grown up? You think you know so much, but you have so much to learn. If I could make you understand, I would. I know that family better than anyone in the North American Sector. Kai Westerfield is bad news.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. But there’s a chance you’re wrong about him, and I’m willing to take that chance to find out.”

“I’m not! And neither is my campaign.” My father throws his hands up in exasperation. “I have too much to worry about regarding the election to be concerned about you and that Westerfield boy. You are not only making a fool out of this family, you are risking your life when you leave like that. I forbid you from seeing him.”

“Not happening,” I snap back.

“It doesn’t matter. You don’t get a say in this.”

“Like hell!”

“You do not want to test me,” he warns. My father has never talked to me like this before. Ever.

“I’m not testing you, I’m living my life.”

“You don’t have the luxury of making mistakes like other girls, Lily. This Kai Westerfield will hurt you. It’s only a matter of time.”

It doesn’t take long. Less than twenty-four hours, in fact.

My mother slams one of her old-fashioned newspapers down in front of my breakfast plate. I look up at Jeremy, who is standing in the corner. His eyes stare blankly through me. No help at all.

I glance from my mother to Jeremy before looking back down at the tabloid.

I read the headline:
Lily Atwood Plans to Vote for the Other Side
, and practically spew my cereal all over our cherrywood table. I grab the paper and my mouth falls open. On the front page is a picture of Kai and me at the fields. We’re in the middle of the stalks, and he’s so close to me it almost looks like our lips are touching. Our lips almost
were
touching. My eyes are completely connected with his as though I’m in a trance.

I inhale sharply and quickly begin to sputter when a cornflake gets caught in my throat.

Fear and embarrassment shoot through me. Please let this be a joke. I can’t look away from the picture. I cover my mouth with my hand, afraid I’m going to be ill. I feel the urge to run, but there’s nowhere to hide. Everyone will see this picture. Something meant to be intimate and personal. I can only imagine this image splashed across every home page in the colony.

Where did this photo come from?

“I hope you know how much trouble you’re in young lady,” my mother scolds. “First you try to steal your father’s car on Friday, and then you just run off without a word yesterday! While your father and I were worried sick about you! What’s gotten into you?” Her voice is rising haughtily.

I shake my head, too stunned to verbalize an answer.

“And now this story?” She smacks her hand across the paper, “This is the result of your reckless behavior.”

“There has to be an explanation,” I stutter unconvincingly. “We didn’t do anything.”

I read over the column. Whoever wrote this story definitely had some inside information. They know how terrified I am that The Revealed might take me. They know I don’t want to be in the spotlight anymore. They wrote about my escape attempt and the resentment I harbor against my parents.