The Immortals

by Mary Hallberg

“What about him?”

  “What’s his name?”

  I shook my head and little pieces of hair fell out of my ponytail. My hair was a mess; why hadn’t I bothered to fix it today? “I don’t have a boyfriend. What about you?”

  He pouted. “No, I don’t have a boyfriend.”

  I felt my face heating up again. “Aren’t you the comedian.”

  He smiled. “So, I was thinking about going for coffee later today. Since you apparently drink it and you don’t have a boyfriend, would you like to join me? We could go after your class.”

  I stopped myself from telling him I had another class after bio. What the hell. It was just coffee. Other than keep me up all night and stain my teeth (which could be fixed by a no longer expensive trip to the dentist), what harm could it do?

  “Coffee sounds great, actually,” I said.

  An hour and a half later, we ended up at a little coffee shop ten minutes from the high school. For the first five minutes, I couldn’t stop staring at all the people. It was almost ten, so I figured the rush of people coming in before work was over. But at least a dozen people sat at the tables or leather couches. Some made calls on their tiny phones, some talked amongst themselves. A group of women sat on the couches in the far corner, leaving lipstick blots on the rims of their cups as they sipped. Three businessmen sat at a table beside the couches, their knees propped up and the sleeves of their collared shirts rolled up.

  Gage must have noticed me looking because he said, “This is one of my favorite things about the city. The people watching. Well, I like people watching in any city, but especially here.”

  “I’ve never seen anything like this,” I confessed. We had one or two coffee shops back in Rochester, but they didn’t have nearly this amount of traffic or tables. And most of the customers were kids coming in to grab white mochas after school, not businessmen or old ladies. “Are all of these people Immortal?”

  “Some of them. A lot are in the Underground.”

  We took a table near the couch ladies, across from a man with his gaze glued to his laptop screen. “How do you even use those little computers? They can’t possibly hold that much information, can they?”

  “You’d be surprised. Even in the four years I’ve been here, the advances in technology have been amazing.”

  I took a sip of coffee; it burned my tongue, but I ignored it. “So, tell me about your family. Matt because Immortal first, right?”

  He nodded. “Matt was first. We all moved here together and the rest of us got in later.”

  “How did he get in?” I had only heard vague versions of the story, and never bothered to learn it from Matt. Somehow I got the feeling that he would try to downplay it out of modesty.

  “A few years ago, we lived in Atlantic City, but Matt really wanted to go to New York City to see a Broadway play. So we scraped together enough money for us to all make a big trip here. My dad and Matt both really love theatre.” He smiled, and I thought he might want to include himself in that, but he continued. “Anyway, we saw some musical, I don’t even remember which one, and during intermission my dad and Matt got into a conversation with some audience member. Apparently Matt said he was a writer, and even though he was only eleven, he said the play was stupid and gave all these suggestions for how it could be improved. And this guy was really impressed. He said Matt had more creativity in his pinky finger than most writers had in their entire bodies. And of course he turned out to be a panel member and submitted Matt’s name right there. A week later were were packing our bags and moving here. But doctors and social workers aren’t really in demand here, you know, so my parents weren’t doing much work. So we all started doing tons of charity work just to pass the time. About a year after we got here, that same panel member submitted our names and we got in. They told us we were one of the only families that managed to get in intact.”

  Even though I already knew a lot of the story, I smiled wide. “That’s amazing. My family would never join. Well, my mom wouldn’t.”

  “I didn’t think my family would either. My mom’s always going on about how corrupt this place is.”

  “My mom too!” I said.

  “What a coincidence. They like it, but…well, Matt’s not that much younger than me, but I still feel like he’s just a kid, you know? I don’t see how he’s done it.”

  “Done what? Become a child prodigy?”

  I mean it as a joke, but Gage didn’t respond right away. He seemed lost in his thoughts. “I don’t know how he’s managed to stay here and not get a big head. Everyone here takes it for granted and they act sort of entitled. Sometimes I wonder if we could have all this taken away and still be happy.” He sighed. “Well, that was a depressing topic. So Jacey told me you went to The Lab a couple of weeks ago. How did you like it?”

  I tried to forget about what he said. But for days, even weeks, I couldn’t help but think about it every time I saw a luxury or electronics store. The rest of the world wasn’t exactly scraping together pennies just to eat, but nobody was as well off as Immortals. And all of us had pre-Immortal lives. Could this really be taken away from us so easily? And, if it was, could we ever be okay with that?

  chapter five

  Gage dropped me off at the door to my apartment complex just before noon. “I’m sorry I can’t walk you up,” he said. "I promised I’d meet my parents for lunch in…” he looked at his watch, “Ten minutes ago.” But I had a great time.”

  “So did I. Thanks for the coffee.”

  “No problem. We’ll have to do this again sometime.”

  I nodded and headed for the door, but he took my arm and turned me back around. “Bye Kenzie.” He bent slightly forward and kissed my forehead. “I’ll call you later.”

  “Bye,” I whispered. As I opened the door, I turned away from the glass panel inside so he wouldn’t see the reflection of me smiling.

  Not only was Luke in the apartment’s lobby when I walked in, but he had brought friends. Several guys and a few girls about his age stood around the kitchenette. One or two of them were holding beers. I saw unwrapped seaweed on the counter and rows of prepared sushi. I sure had been eating a lot of sushi lately.

  I had no idea that Luke had company or that they had decided to hang out in the lobby. From the smirk on his face and the fold in the window curtain, I knew they had been spying on me.

  “I’m so happy right now, I’m not even going to get mad at you guys.” I headed for the sushi and was bombarded with questions.

  “Who is he?”

  “What’s his name?”

  “Why did he leave so fast?”

  “When was the last time he cut his hair?” That one, I knew, came from Luke.

  “Guys, I’m not even going to talk about it right now. I don’t want to jinx it.”

  “I think you already have,” one of the girls insisted. “The moron didn’t even kiss you.”

  “Sure he did,” one guy said. “Just not on the mouth!” They roared with laughter and slapped hands as if they’d come up with some genius one liner.

  I opened the refrigerator and took out a water bottle. “I just met the guy a week ago, okay? We went for coffee. I hardly think that’s grounds for a make out session at noon.”

  “He’s cute though,” one of the girls said. “Does he have any brothers?”

  It occurred to me that there was a chance none of them knew who the Cavanaghs were. Sure, a lot of people kept up with Immortals like they used to keep up with actors and musicians, but not everyone knew all their names and faces. Or maybe they knew about the Cavanaghs and didn’t like them for some reason, so they never bothered to memorize what they looked like. It was hard to imagine people disliking the Cavanaghs; they had been so nice to me the previous week. But some people didn’t like any Immortals simply because they were…well, Immortal.

  “Yes, he has a brother,” I said. “But he’s way too young for you.” There was no way they’d figure it out now. Half the people in the country had you
nger brothers.

  She pouted. “That’s too bad. You guys are cute, though.”

  “I really don’t want to talk about this.”

  “Oh come on, at least tell us his name,” Luke insisted. “I want to know the guy who’s taking out my baby sister."

  I bit my lip. I wanted to tell them everything: That his name was Gage Cavanagh, that he was an Immortal, and that he was cute, smart, sweet and every other damn cliche in the book. But I couldn’t. I would never hear the end of it from Luke or anyone else. But I would never hear the end of it now if I gave them nothing.

  “Okay, fine!” I threw up my hands in mock surrender. “His name is Gage.” I grabbed several rolls of sushi and went upstairs.

  Several years ago, I heard a wise intellectual philosopher — okay, I actually read it in an old magazine — say that at the end of a first date, you’ll know if there’s going to be a second date. And sure enough, Gage called me two days later to arrange the second date I knew would come.

  It was torture waiting for him to call. I zoned out through my morning classes, making a mental note to never again condemn Elizabeth for doing the same thing. I tried to put on a normal face for Luke so he wouldn’t badger me. I even took a vague interest in one of his crime shows. Not the one with the Gage look-alike, of course, because it would have been a dead giveaway when I started giggling every time he came on screen. A few times I looked up his number in my phone and almost his the ‘talk’ button, but resisted. If I’d learned anything from Luke about dating (other than the unwritten rule that older brothers pester their sisters constantly about their boyfriends), it was that if a guy wanted to call you, he would call. And he did. That Friday night, we went to party at his house.

  The kitchen was filled with people when we walked in. Matt greeted us at the door, his arm loosely around Paige, who I vaguely remembered from The Lab. She greeted me casually and Matt didn’t look at her as he pointed us to the kitchen island, filled to the edges with plastic cups and half eaten bowls of chips.

  I spotted Elizabeth almost immediately. I had barely talked to her that week, but hadn’t thought much about it; she wasn’t my favorite person to talk to, so I didn’t exactly miss it. She was talking to a girl I didn’t recognize and fixing her long bangs with one hand while she held a plastic cup and cigarette in the other. She whispered something to the girl and they turned their eyes to me, giggling. Elizabeth took a long drag on her cigarette and blew smoke in my direction, laughing. I should have been worried, but I was too happy that I was here with Gage. They were probably just making fun of my hair or something, one of those silly things girls do.

  In the opposite corner of the room, I saw a woman named Corrina Girard. She was only a few years older than me and a member of the Underground. She was a TV reporter from the main Necropolis news channel; I had seen her on a few broadcasts when Luke left the TV on after his crime shows. He left it on because he said the news was important, but I think it was mostly because Corrina was hot. And she was very pretty, with pale skin and dark brown hair. In addition to the news, she was also some sort of tabloid writer, famous for making the Immortals even more famous and, in some cases, actually making people Immortal. She was looking at another girl's purse label; they were probably discussing name brands, something I didn’t know much about. I was still wearing bargain bin jeans, the kind that have holes in them not because holes used to be trendy but because the jeans were old.

  Gage laced his fingers through mine. “Come on, let’s get something to drink.” He led me to a table on the other side of the island, which held a large punch bowl probably filled with a lot more…well, punch than I felt comfortable drinking. After my experience at The Lab, I wasn’t eager to have another drink, but it seemed like I was the only one. Elizabeth and Jacey both had plastic cups in their hands, and drank from them often. Elizabeth especially. Did she not remember that night? She drank twice as much as I did, and couldn’t have felt much better afterward, even with all those extra doses of TNV.

  Corrina joined Gage and me by the punch bowl. “You must be McKenzie,” she said. It wasn’t really a greeting, just a fact. “Hey Gage.”

  “Hey Corrina. How’s the new book coming? Who’s it on again?”

  She poured herself a glass of punch. “William George, the guy who invented the EED.”

  “The what?”

  “Electronic Eavesdropping Device.” She chuckled. “That’s the real name for it, not even kidding. It’s an app that lets you record conversations from up to a mile away. It’s not coming out until next month, but he let me test one. They’re pretty cool.”

  “Wow, that’s amazing,” I gushed. “I can’t believe how much technology has progressed lately.” I realized after I said it that it probably sounded silly to someone who had seen this technology on a daily basis for years. But if Corrina thought so, she didn’t show it.

  “So what’s this George guy like?” Gage asked. He picked up a handful of chips, but didn’t pour himself any punch. I was subconsciously relieved that I wasn’t the only one not drinking.

  “He’s a character, that’s for sure. Never a dull moment.” She took a sip of punch. “But enough about boring work crap. Did your parents decide to make an offer on that house on Fernandez Street?”

  He shook his head. “Nah, we decided not to buy a new house. I think we’re going to stay here for awhile.”

  “Sucks. That house is twice as big as this one. I don’t see why you don’t just move out anyway. Get your parents to co-sign for an apartment or something.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t really want an apartment right now. I want to save for a really nice house of my own. Anyway, I don’t mind living at home. Free laundry and meals.”

  Corrina rolled her eyes. “Typical guy.”

  I poured some of the punch-with-punch into a plastic cup and took a sip. It tasted like wet concrete.

  I got in late that night (or, rather, early the next morning), but woke up surprisingly early. I found out what had woken me up when I stepped into the kitchen. The sliding glass door was open, leading onto the porch, where mom and grandpa sat in deck chairs. Their chairs, along with two more, were arranged in a circle around a table with a full coffeepot on it.

  I stepped outside. “Hi mom…grandpa. Is there anything going on that I should know about?”

  Mom shook her head. “We just thought that since you and Luke decided to visit last weekend that we’d return the favor. I had the day off today, so I figured, why not? I’m sorry we didn’t call beforehand, though. Luke tells me you had quite the party yourself last night.”

  I was attempting to think up a proper response when Luke walked outside with mugs and began to pour coffee. “Morning Kenzie,” he said. “Did you have a good time last night?” He lowered his voice. “Should we talk softer? Would you like some coffee and aspirin?”

  “Shut up,” I groaned.

  Grandpa stretched in his seat. “I remember my first big high school party.” He was talking much slower than usual, but I didn’t think much of it at the time. “Went with my buddy William. We lived down the street from NYU, and he had this bright idea that we’d go down to sorority row and…well, I’ll tell you when you’re older.” He snickered and took a sip of coffee. “I’m probably hurting your head anyway.”

  “I am not hung over!” I said, maybe a little too loud because a couple of people in the courtyard turned and stared. But it was true. The night before, after that cup of whatever it was that tasted like I had picked it up off the sidewalk, I had opted for water and soda. I yanked the remaining mug out of Luke’s hand and took a sip, but swallowed it quickly when it scalded my tongue. I realized then that, despite the chill in the September air, I was burning up. As I sat in the empty chair beside Luke, I realized why — I was wearing a huge black sweatshirt I knew didn’t belong to me. I vaguely remembered being cold the night before and Gage offering me his jacket. I must have forgotten to give it back. Or maybe he told me to keep it. I smiled at
that thought as I slowly worked my arms out of the sleeves.

  “Nice jacket,” Luke said. “Were they out of quadruple extra small?”

  “I borrowed it from a friend.” I felt my cheeks growing hot, and it wasn’t from the warmth of the jacket or the coffee.

  “Oh, it’s from this new guy isn’t it?”

  I was too tired to argue. “Yes, it’s Gage’s. I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Why not?”

  “I told you, I don’t want to jinx it.”

  “Come on Kenzie, that’s what you said Wednesday and then you guys went out again. I think we’re past jinxing it. What is it about this dude that you don’t want to tell us? Is he broke and living in his mom’s basement? I bet all he does is play video games all day.”

  “That’s pretty much all you do when you’re not working,” I said.

  He scoffed.

  “You know, Luke,” mom said, “You do badger her an awful lot about her boyfriends."

  “No I don’t,” he said, “Because she’s never had any boyfriends before.”

  “Well, he has to badger her, doesn’t he?” grandpa said. “He’s got to make sure this boy is good enough for his little sister. I used to do the same thing to your aunt Ida all the time.”

  Thankfully he changed the subject after that and I sunk down into my seat. Mom and grandpa could joke about getting drunk with me, so why couldn’t I tell them I was dating an Immortal?

  chapter six

  Back in August, I had promised Luke I’d go to one of his exhibits. The last week of September rolled around, the last week it would be open, and I decided to stop making excuses and go. Then I decided to invite Gage. I still wasn’t sure if I was ready for him to meet Luke, but he had been bugging me for weeks about this new guy I was seemingly in love with. He didn’t seem to realize how slow things were going; we hadn’t kissed, had barely even touched outside of him giving me his jacket. Of course, Luke didn’t tell me until the night before that mom and grandpa would be there too. Great.