Recording Three
I don’t know. I’m not in a mood for recording today, but that kind of defeats the point of recording in the first place, I guess. This thing is supposed to be for when I’m moody. Now, it’s not like I’m in a bad mood. Actually, things are kinda good right now. Allison found a CD somewhere. It’s got some real wicked crazy dance music on it. Good stuff. You don’t hear a lot of music like that because the music on our computers is… well, let’s call it limited. We network and share everything we find, but still, it’s not like we have a lot of musicians producing new music these days. If you’re hearing it right now, they were probably listening to it whenever the hell many years ago, before we got stuck in here.
Still, like I said, music’s a high-demand kind of thing.
Especially dance music. Now I hate dancing, because I’m terrible at it, but it’s nice to pretend as if I can do it once in a while. So yeah, me and Allison had a dance-off. The thing is, I’ve seen this happen in some of those terribly cheesy movies about besties I’ve watched on Blu-Ray. I didn’t think it was real, but… somehow it felt okay to let off some steam and just… dance. Like an idiot.
God. How typical. I’m too ashamed of my own silliness to even keep recording.
Recording Four
Have I talked much about Floor 3? I don’t think so. Anyway, one of the solar panels on the roof cracked today. We really can’t afford that. This tower doesn’t have the materials to fix solar panels, or at least not enough to fix many of them, so that’s why there are a lot of rules about how to behave when you’re on the rooftop. Danny was goofing around, and he accidentally launched his spade through the air. It’d have been okay if the thing had gone flying over the edge, but instead, it’s like it had a mind of its own because it went straight for that solar panel.
The thing cracked, and you just knew, just knew, how bad the situation was the moment you heard the glass splintering on the ground. Might as well have thrown a kid over the edge by the way we all just… stared. It took Security exactly one minute to get to the roof and haul Danny off. I don’t know when we’ll see him again. I mean, he’ll be back. These things happen. But one of Security’s jobs is to reinforce the rules to you whenever you break them. They make sure you really know how important it is to follow the laws of the Tower. Sounds totally creepy, right? Glad I’ve never had to go in for Reinforcement.
Anyway, Dad showed up on the roof with them. Guy’s funny, you know? Still looks like he’s in his twenties when I know he’s, like closing in on fifty. Those glasses he wears are way too big for his head, and his hair is kinda, I don’t know, uncombed. It works for him, though. Some girls think he’s handsome. Allison’s actually told me she has a crush on him. Yeah. That’s gross.
Well, him and his team scraped up all the pieces. Somehow they’ll figure a way to repair the panel, since that’s pretty much what Floor 3’s all about. Story goes that it was one of the first floors they made safe in the Tower. Makes sense, really. People couldn’t live here if guys like my dad weren’t busy doing stuff for Science and keeping us alive. We’d have no solar panels for power, so, no movies, lights, stuff like that. Not to mention it’d be impossible to maintain the garden. The vegetables we grow up there are from seeds created in the labs. Dad says that once upon a time, vegetables needed a lot more light and rain to stay alive. These vegetables can survive on less, and last longer. That’s cool. We’d have no food without them.
Oh. Allison’s here. I think she brought the dance music again. God.
Recording Five
I freakin’ hate Allison.
Ugh.
No, I don’t. I love her. I hate her, then I love her, or the other way around. One minute we’re just sitting around, laughing it up. The next thing I know, we’re arguing. She just doesn’t get it, you know? She doesn’t get that I’m not okay with living here. Living like this. Not knowing why we’re in this tower. I ask questions, a lot of questions, and she acts like I’m the one with a problem when I’m just being me. Why can’t she get that?
I mean… it’s her fault, right?
Then again, it’s not like I’m rolling deep with a crowd of friends. And when you piss everyone, the problem might not be them so much. Problem might be you.
At least that’s how I feel right now.
But it’s seriously hard standing out for being what you are. And the thing is, I get it. I’m annoying. I get on people’s nerves because I don’t like the answers I get, and not just about the Tower, but, like, life. Both my parents are freakin’ scientists, so of course I want to know the “why” of everything. It’s not as if I want to be a thorn in everyone’s butt.
God.
So she gets here and waves that CD of hers, flashing it while she smiles like a huckster. Before I can slap her hand away, she stuffs it into the radio and starts doing that stupid dance of hers. She does this thing where she kinda points to the sky. Repeatedly, like she’s trying to poke holes in the roof. Allison always follows it up with a fist pump. That doesn’t change today as she switches into her awkward hip thrusts. I’ve said I’m not a dancer, but Allison can make you go blind with her moves.
Still, it’s funny, you know? I can dig it. Kinda. I don’t mind embarrassing myself as long as it’s just her, so I go to my signature move, this sort of walking head bob. Hey, it’s the best I can get done with these stumpy legs of mine, okay? Anyway, the situation… it’s fine. Good, quality embarrassment between friends. If you can’t make a shameful sight in front of your best friend, who else are you going to embarrass yourself in front of?
So we wrap it up after the sweat on our foreheads makes it abundantly apparent we’re not in the sort of shape to be dancing erratically for more than, hm, five minutes. Not that I complain when we switch the CD off. Still, we’re laughing as I collapse into the chair across from her. “Pretty good stuff,” I say as I bury my face in my hands. “Just as long as nobody else sees it.”
“Nah, you know me,” she replies with that almost patented grin of hers. Allison’s always had this freakishly large smile, and it seems to stand out even against her light skin and blonde hair. God, that hair of hers is so straight. Every time I try to do my best to flatten mine, it’s like fighting against a jungle. Anyway, she gestures at the radio. “Hand it over, will ya?”
“Yeah, sure,” I say as I reach back, ejecting the CD and tossing the radio like a weapon.
She lets out this banshee scream as she slaps her hands around it. “Jackie! You know how rare these things are? It’s not like we can just get another one.”
“You’ve already backed it up to the network, haven’t you?” I ask, nodding to the computer.
“Of course, I have, but that’s not the point. These things are one of a kind. Not like the Scavengers find these every day.”
“Yeah, seems like the farther down the Tower they go, the less we see of this stuff.”
She shrugs. “Hey, they’ve been bringing back a lot more food lately. Not going to complain about that.”