Mentor Roberta taps her fingers on her clipboard. "Yes, there is some strong cough medicine in the doctor's office. I'll have to go get it. You go back to bed and I'll be right back with the medicine."
"Oh good, thank you, Mentor Roberta." I head back to my room, glancing back to make sure she leaves. I run into my room and stuff all of my clothes and my gray duffel bag under my blankets, so it looks like I'm sleeping with the covers over my head. Avra is sound asleep; I hope everyone else is too. Quietly, I speed walk to the school room, just in the nick of time. Click. Mentor Roberta unlocks the door to the dorm. I hear her walking toward the bedrooms.
I do a happy dance as I walk around the ladders and paint cans to get to the glass wall. I stop dancing as I get to the hole where the grate should be. Jefrey isn't there. No one is. I touch the paint on the wall. It is white like everything else in this dorm, and it is drying fast, it's just a little tacky. Hmm. I sit down in front of the hole. Both grate covers are off. I take the sound barrier out and look straight into the boys' school room. What a waste! Where is Jefrey? I look at the clock propped up against one of the ladders. It says 10:15. Did I miss him already? Are they guarding the door more heavily on his side? I don't dare leave my note for Garth. The workers would find it when they put the vent plates back on in the morning. I stick my hand through the hole and wave it around the boys' school room. I bet no other girl in the complex has ever done this! Just like the garbage chute door though, I won't have the opportunity to tell anyone. I touch the wet, white paint on the boy side with my fingers. Their paint is wetter than ours. My two middle fingers look like white eyeballs on the tips as I look at them. I bet I've left finger prints on their side. Oh well. I'm sure the painters will think they did it and the grate cover will hide it.
I stand up to leave when I see Jefrey's handsome figure walking across his school room. Hooray! I sit back down and smile through the hole. Jefrey plops down on the other side, but his face doesn't smile back at me, which lessens my excitement.
Jefrey opens his mouth but pauses for several seconds before saying, "I almost got caught sneaking in here, Elira. This is a bad idea. One of the painters asked me what I was doing as he left and I was coming in. I told him I was sleep walking. Somehow, he believed me. I had to go back to my room and wait for 15 minutes before trying again."
I can't help but laugh. "Ha ha! That is funny! I'm glad you came back."
Jefrey's scowl turns into a smile. He reaches through the hole and takes my hand. My fingers tremble as I feel his warm skin against mine. Why does this feel so different from when I touch Avra's hand?
"I'm glad I came back too. Wow. Your hand is so small and soft. It's just like I imagined it would be."
I try hard not to blush and will my hand to stop trembling as he holds it. "I am breaking out of the complex in four days. Will you come with me?"
Jefrey's smile turns back into a scowl. He lets go of my hand and pulls it back into his school room. I put my hand back into my lap dejectedly.
"What if Rocky is wrong and it's toxic outside?"
"He's not wrong. Mentor Maxine told me that this whole complex life is a lie. They lie to us so we'll happily stay in here, with our undesirable deformities, away from the rest of the world, and make goods for free."
Jefrey shakes his head silently.
"My best friend Avra is too sick for a job, and they are going to kill her. I have to go. Now." I sigh and look at him with pleading eyes. "Will you come with me or not?"
Jefrey looks down at his hands. I see that he has a purplish spot between his middle fingers. He rubs it in a nervous way and then looks at me. His beautiful blue eyes are stormy and agitated.
"I think it's a bad idea. We know nothing about surviving out there. We've never even skipped a meal before."
"Speak for yourself." My stomach growls louder than ever to back me up. "You don't have to come, but Avra, Rocky, and I are leaving in four days through the laundry and garbage chutes. I've been communicating with Rocky's mom who's outside, through my window. She's going to help us. I want you and Garth to come too."
Jefrey clenches his fists. "I know Garth will go anywhere Rocky and you go. I can't stay here and let you leave with him. I—I'm coming too."
I let out a sigh of relief. "Good. I have written down my plan in full. I've addressed this to Garth, but all of you should read it, then destroy it."
Jefrey recoils. "Why did you write it to Garth?"
"I am here holding your hand through the hole, Jefrey. I was trying to be fair, that's all."
Jefrey reaches through the hole and takes my hand again. This time he kisses it. My hand flinches as his warm, wet lips touch my skin. I am so shocked that I just stop talking and stare at him. We can hear a loud voice say, "Mentor Jim, I have a terrible stomach ache. I can't sleep; will you get me some medicine?"
Jefrey releases my hand. "That's the sign from Garth. Mentor Jim was about to come in here. I have to go. I will come with you Elira. I'll talk to you later and... hold your hand again soon." Jefrey holds up my note in salute and then gets up and leaves the room.
I sit there in shock for a moment. I look at the hand he kissed. It looks the same as it always has, but it feels different. It feels like it's alive for the first time. I smell my hand and then hold it against my cheek. What am I going to do when I'm outside with both twins, able to talk and touch them whenever I want? That thought sends goosebumps up my arms. I put the sound barrier back in, stand up, and walk to the door. How am I going to get out of here? Mentor Roberta is probably back on the sofa. I peek out the door, yep, she is.
Is there anything in here that can help me? I spot a random red button on the ground under the plastic protecting the carpet. I pull it out from under the plastic and peek out the door into the dining area. Mentor Roberta has her back to me. I walk as close as I can to her without being heard and then throw the button at the far-left door that leads to the bedrooms. Mentor Roberta looks up from her clipboard and walks to the left side door and picks up the button lying there. I run through the open right-side door and slip into the right-side bathroom. I press my back to the door and catch my breath. I flush the nearest toilet and turn on the sink. When I open the door, Mentor Roberta is standing face to face with me.
"Did you throw this button at the door, Elira?" she asks as she shows me the red button in her hand.
I rub my eyes like I've just woken up. "Be serious, I don't have any red buttons."
Mentor Roberta is not convinced. "No one else is awake except you."
"I haven't been awake long. I had to go to the bathroom."
"Why didn't you use the bathroom right next to your room?"
I fake a yawn. "Good question... I guess I was sort of sleep walking."
Mentor Roberta gives me a skeptical look. "So where do you think this button came from?"
"I really couldn't say. Shasta is notoriously feisty in her sleep, and she has red buttons. Maybe she chucked it in her sleep."
Mentor Roberta closes her fingers around the button and squeezes it, making a fist. "Go back to bed, and don't get out again. I don't care what your excuse is."
"Yes, Mentor Roberta," I squeak as I swerve around her and head straight for my room. I throw all my stuff out of my bed onto the floor and climb in. I pull the blanket over my head and try to calm my thumping heart. Man, that couldn't have been any closer.
Chapter 23
I am learning to deal with my hunger better now. Splitting my victuals with Avra is harder on me than it is on her. She doesn't eat much anyway. Stuffing her medicated food in my pockets, I go to the bathroom to flush the medicated food down the toilet after each meal. I feel like a genius until someone notices.
Mentor Roberta corners me when I come out of the bathroom after morning victuals. "I have noticed that you spend a large amount of time in the bathroom, El
ira."
"Uh, yeah. Sorry."
"Especially after meals. You look skinnier to me. Are you throwing up after you eat?" I laugh but quickly turn it into a cough. "That is called bulimia and it can kill you. Being thin is not worth throwing away your health for."
I try to keep a straight face. "No, Mentor Roberta. I hate throwing up; I would never do that on purpose. I just have an upset stomach."
"I've had several people say that lately. I hope the flu isn't being passed around. I will get you some medicine to take with your noon victuals."
"That would be very helpful. Thank you, Mentor Roberta." The things I do to cover my tracks...
My boy gang is looking at me through the glass a lot this morning. I think they've read my plan and are eager and anxious about it. I take the medicine Mentor Roberta gives me at noon victuals. I hope it doesn't upset my empty stomach too much.
When exploration time comes, none of my boys approach the glass. Garth signs to me, They are watching us; we'll talk tonight. I try not to let my apprehension get to me.
At evening victuals, Mentor Maxine gives Avra her own normal colored tray. "Josephine is sick and can't eat hers. You two need to get your strength back."
"Thank you, Maxine. You're a lifesaver." I shovel a few bites into my mouth in appreciation. "I need to get into the school room tonight. Will you help me?"
"Yes, I'm doing a double shift tonight. Do what you need to."
"Perfect, thank you."
I eat every bite of my chicken-vegetable soup, roll, and oatmeal cookie like it's my last meal, then slip the squarish spoon into my pocket.
I whisper my plan to Avra. She nods, but isn't feeling well enough to help me. I tell her to lay down and not to worry about me. I need to go to the bathroom before my meeting with Garth, so I go into the closest bathroom and lock myself in a stall. As I do my business, I hear the door open again and several shuffling feet enter.
"I already told her that she couldn't have four boys all to herself. She said that those boys only like girls who do extra credit problems." Yay. It's Vanessa.
"That's ridiculous. I think she has cast some kind of spell on them. Who in their right mind would like a girl with a big purple blotch across her eye? I don't get it. They won't look at anyone else but her." Great. I'm pretty sure the only person who would say that in this dorm is Julie.
"Rocky has given me some attention before."
"Yeah, but that was before they hauled him off, right?"
"Yeah."
"He's nothing compared to those twins. I would give up my dessert for a month to have one five-minute conversation with the yellow button twin." Ahh! Julie better stay away from Jefrey.
I've had enough. Flush. I strut from the stall to the sinks. "Hello, Vanessa, Julie, and Mara. It's nice to see you three having such a positive bonding moment together in the bathroom."
Julie glares at me. "You are the most smug, annoying human being I have ever met. If I could get away with it, I'd slap that smirk off your face right now."
I look in the mirror at myself. "Yeah. I believe you. Unfortunately for you, Mentor Bridget told me that if you do one more thing to anyone, she'll charge you as a dissident." Julie growls like a wild animal, but she doesn't say anything to me.
Mara flips her white-blonde hair at me. "I don't get it. You aren't even pretty. What do those gorgeous twins see in you?"
I take my time drying my hands. I pat Vanessa on the head. "Brains." I say sweetly and shut the door in their faces.
•
At ten o'clock, I make sure Avra and everyone else in my room is asleep before I sneak out of my room and into the common room. I see a mentor-issued flashlight sitting on the edge of a table on the way to the school room. Mentor Maxine is sitting on a white chair with her back to me, reading a book. She does not turn toward me as she says, "They are trying to keep the cost of electricity down in the complex. We have to shut off all unnecessary lights from now on."
I grab the flashlight as I slip quietly into the dark school room. I click the flashlight on as I walk through the door.
The empty classroom is kind of creepy in the dark. I see someone on the other side of the glass with a flashlight. I feel my pulse quicken as I walk to the glass wall hoping I'm not about to face off with a mentor... Nope, it's Garth in all his handsome glory. Good, this is going to work. I smile at him as I rush to the corner of the room and unscrew the screws with the stolen spoon. I try to pop out the sound barrier, but it's stuck. I focus on the corner that seems stuck when I feel something warm on my other hand. I look up to see that Garth has unscrewed his side of the vent cover too. He takes the sound barrier through his side and then takes my hand in his deformed one. I am in awe that he would do this. It's so rare to have someone help me out. His hand is a little bit bigger than Jefrey's. It's strong and warm. I love it.
"Elira, are you ready to escape with me?" Oh, that voice.
My quivering lips smile. "Y-yes. I have it all worked out, but you'll have to hide your hand when we're out there." Garth glances down at his hand with the stuck together fingers, no self-consciousness showing. I touch my raccoon-eye scar. "I'll have to stay indoors all the time. I obviously can't hide my face very well."
He reaches his empty hand toward me and pushes my hair behind my scar-framed ear so he can see the purplish line better. He takes his thumb and gently traces my scar from my eyelid back to my ear. It is such a gentle and intimate gesture; I feel myself melting into a puddle. I want to climb through the vent hole and wrap my arms around him. But that is inappropriate. I need to keep my unmedicated emotions in check.
I clear my throat. "Is Jefrey going to come with us? He seems unsure about it."
"Yes. He says he is. I'm glad. I would hate to leave my brother behind."
"I hope I don't have to leave Avra behind. She says she'll go, but she is weak, and I don't know if she can survive on less-than-ideal food and shelter."
Garth looks into my eyes and voices what I'm not revealing. "Would she rather die free with us, or die here in a few weeks when the death doctor is told to finish her off?"
His words fill me with emotion. "I'm sure she'd rather die free, but she thinks I'm crazy."
Garth rubs my hand with his less-than-perfect fingers. "You're not crazy. You are smart, brave, and beautiful. I wish I could leave with you right now."
I smile and blush at his compliment. "I wish we could too. It won't be long. Three days will be here before we know it."
Garth gives my hand a squeeze as he starts talking business. "I've been thinking about the logistics of what we're doing. We should wear three jumpsuits each when we leave. Who knows how we'll get clothing out there." Wow, he is so different from his brother.
"This kind of clothing may give us away though. Rocky's mom doesn't wear these. I'll ask her to find us some clothes like hers if she can. Plus, food and everything else we'll need. Is that too much to ask of a complete stranger?"
Garth laughs. "Ha! Usually yes, but since she's Rocky's mom, I'm going to guess, no."
"I hope you're right."
Garth looks at my fingers, memorizing every detail. "I'm so excited to leave this place with you."
My cheeks grow warm and my heart speeds up. "You probably won't feel the same way when you see the beautiful girls with no deformities on the outside, Garth."
"No, I won't. You'll see. I only have eyes for you."
I worry that the blush on my cheeks will become permanent. "Speaking of eyes, your eyes are my favorite thing about you. They are so breathtakingly blue. I feel like I could fall into them and never come back."
Garth tilts his head to the side. "Do you feel the same way about Jefrey's eyes?"
Ice cold water hits me in the face with that remark. "I—I am so sorry Garth, but I like you both. I'm sure when we'r
e on the outside, everyone's feelings will become clearer."
Garth nods his head. "I knew this day would come. I really didn't want my brother and I to fall for the same girl, or have the same girl fall for both of us. We look the same, but we are very different people."
I feel my heart racing. "I know. Please don't make me decide right now. I'm just barely getting to know you both."
Garth looks at me with compassion mixed with a touch of jealousy. "You're right. I won't make you decide any time soon. Just know, that I knew you were special. I told Rocky that we should write to you that first day. I think of you as a beautiful angel and our liberator. I believe in your plan and I'll help you in any way I can."
"Uh, I-I just know how the laundry system works. I'm not special. If you want to help me, gather as much food as you can and anything else that will help us on the outside."
"Okay, I will."
"Thank you."
"I would do anything for you."
"Ha-ha, I'll keep that in mind. We should go. I need to sign with Rocky's mom still tonight."
The light in Garth's eyes dims a bit. "But I don't want to say goodbye."
Aw. If only we didn't have to. "I know what you mean, but we'll see each other soon." I try to memorize his face just like this in the few seconds I have left. "Goodbye, Garth."
"I love hearing your voice say my name. Goodbye, Elira."
I am frozen to my spot as I watch Garth put the sound barrier back in the cold air return. He keeps his eyes on me as he works. I'm amazed at how easily he uses his hand with the fingers stuck together. He smiles at me one last time before he puts his grate cover back on. Now that I can't see him, my body unfreezes. I take a deep breath and let it out as I screw my metal cover back on. He's already standing with his flashlight and watches me stand up. I see his mouth form the words ‘good night.' The silence of the thick glass wall is loud to my hungry ears. I force a smile and mouth ‘good night' back. I force my feet to move away from the glass wall. I can't let myself turn around again at the door or I won't leave.
The Complex Life (The Complex Trilogy Book 1) Page 13
