XXXV
Sandy called first thing next morning. “So what time are you coming this weekend? I can’t wait to celebrate my birthday with you! I have my appointment for my tattoo already, and I know exactly what I’m going to wear—”
“Sandy—I… I can’t come see you this weekend. I fell last night, landed right on my face.”
“But, Nina, it’s my birthday!”
“I’m sorry, it’s really bad.” I winced, and gently touched my cheek. “Here, I’ll send you a digi so you can see. It hurts like you wouldn’t believe”
I heard her fumbling with her PAV. “Nina! What’d you do? Skivs, you can’t go out looking like this! Anyway, I’m coming to town next time Derek plays.” She gushed on about how great he was. “Oh, yeah, and Mike called. I said I’d go help him at the zoo when I’m in town. It sounds like fun. Besides, I won’t have to worry about losing my virginity to him, and I’ve gotta stay virginal for FeLS. Do you have any idea how hard it’s going to be? Guys are already betting on who’ll be my first.”
She rambled on this way for about five minutes, until I couldn’t take it anymore. “I gotta get ready for school,” I mumbled, clicking off.
Things were becoming way more complicated than I wanted them to be. I didn’t see how I could keep Sandy and Wei from clashing over Derek. And I sure didn’t want Sandy to lead Mike on; that would be so unfair. I wasn’t sure I could handle relationship drama on top of everything else, but I figured I’d come up with some kind of plan. After all, these were my friends.
Before we were out the lobby door, Dee spotted Sal. “What are you doing here?”
“Waiting for you.” He winked at her.
“I like that. Kind of like a big brother. I always wanted a one.” She quickly looked at me. “But I love having a big sister, too. See Nina’s face? She fell down yesterday.”
“Yeah, I know,” Sal said.
I wished I could hide the purple-black bruise that spread upward from my jaw to my eye, but there was no way. It covered my whole cheek.
“I was there—sort of,” he said.
“You should’ve caught her,” Dee said. “Then she wouldn’t look so awful and hurt so bad. She’s really grumpy when she’s in pain. She couldn’t even eat breakfast this morning. Gran had to make her a protein shake. I hate those. Ugh!” She wrinkled her nose.
“Was it awful?” he asked me.
“Better than nothing… maybe,” I muttered. It hurt whenever I opened my mouth. Gran had suggested going to the medical clinic in the building. But I didn’t want stitches in my lip. I said I’d keep my mouth shut; not an easy thing for me.
Derek met up with us at the usual place, but Mike was nowhere to be seen.
“He’s running late,” Derek said. “His dad got real sick from the last batch of meds. Mike had to help his mom get him to County General.”
“Hey guys!”
We all turned around at the same time. Mike was running down the sidewalk.
He was out of breath by the time he reached us. “What the hell happened to you? Kiss a trans?” he asked me.
“Long story,” Derek said.
He started to explain, but I managed to catch his eye and shook my head vigorously. Not the smartest thing to do when every muscle in half your face is bruised and swollen. I nodded toward Dee, who was busy telling Sal about her class’s upcoming field trip to the Museum of Science and Industry.
I’d worked out a way to speak by keeping my lips still and talking very slowly. “She thinks I fell,” I whispered as best I could.
“Huh?” Derek just stared at me.
I repeated myself, just a little louder.
He still didn’t get it.
“Fell?” Mike said. “You fell?”
I nodded.
“Klutz.” He grinned at me. “I hope it doesn’t hurt too much.” I knew he felt bad for me, but that was the best Mike could manage for sympathy.
After we dropped Dee off at school, Wei said, “I scanned the news last night. There was a six-transport pileup with a bus on the south side of the Loop. No one was seriously injured.”
“Too bad,” Sal said. “If I get ahold of Ed, he will be seriously injured.”
“Will you stop with the threats, already? It’s not helping.” Wei said, “Dad’s not back from Amsterdam yet. I think we need to figure out what to do if something happens before he returns.”
Sal inclined his head toward a group of approaching students. “We can talk about this later. At your house, Wei?”
She nodded.
“I don’t know what you guys are talking about, but I can’t come,” Mike said. “Zoo duty.”
“Me either,” Derek said. “Practice with Riley. I’m really sorry, Nina. You know…”
“’S okay,” I murmured. “Your music’s important.”
“We’ll be fine,” Wei said.
After homeroom, Wei was waiting for me. “Come on,” she whispered. I followed her down the hall.
We went through a door, down some stairs, and ended up in a corridor in the basement. I followed her to a small room at the end. “This is the old detention room. It’s DZ, ’cause they never wanted anyone to know what really went on in here.”
Sal was inside.
“We’ve gotta be quick—here are some hall passes to get you back to class.” He handed them to us. I noticed Miss Gray’s signature at the bottom. “I can’t make it this afternoon. John’s got something going down; I have to be there to back him up.” He squeezed my hand. “You understand, don’t you?”
I nodded. There were obviously things going on all around me that I knew nothing about. I was more than a little nervous about finding out what they were.
“Wei, talk to your dad, okay?” Sal said. “I think there’s only one way to take care of this.”
“You don’t mean…” I left the awful conclusion he was leading to unsaid.
“Nina, if Ed gets you he’ll go straight to the Governing Council—or worse. You wouldn’t stand a chance with GC interrogators.”
Icy shards of fear shot up my spine. “Are you saying it’s him or me?”
“Of course not.” Wei gave Sal a withering look. “We just can’t let anything happen to you. Your father needs you; the Resistance needs you.”
“But I don’t know anything about the Resistance. How can they need me?”
“We don’t have time for this now,” Sal said. “First things first. We have to take care of Ed, or you’ll never be safe.”
“Can’t we just scare him? Or capture him and take him to, you know… uh, someplace…” My voice trailed off. I meant the Lodge, but wasn’t sure if it was all right for me to mention it.
“Look, hopefully my father will be home after school,” Wei said. “Nina and I will talk to him. We’d better get going or we’ll have a hard time explaining these passes and we don’t want to get Miss G in trouble.”
I left first; Wei and Sal followed. I peeked through the door on the main level. It was all clear. I didn’t look back as I hurried down the hallway to my next class.
XXXVI
Wei and I hardly said a word on the way to her house. She seemed preoccupied and my jaw hurt too much to make small talk. When we got inside there was a message from her mom. While Wei was listening to it, I tried to call Gran, but my PAV wouldn’t work. Of course, Wei’s house was DZ. I caught Wei’s eye and motioned that I’d be outside.
I was able to get reception at the sidewalk. “I’m at Wei’s, Gran. I’ll be home by dinner.”