Take Me Tomorrow

by Shannon A. Thompson

  My eyebrows shot up. Regions hardly received transfers, and the government refused to hire students so young unless there was an exception like Miles. Whoever this transfer was, he was skilled.

  “What does this have to do with Sophia?” Miles interjected.

  Lily rolled her eyes at him. “Because I don’t have time for a boyfriend.”

  My stomach lurched. “Boyfriend?” I squeaked, shaking my head back and forth at my friend. “I don’t—”

  “You know you’re interested.” Lily used her sweet exterior against me. A blush burned my cheeks, but Miles grunted in disagreement. Lily glared at him. “And you’re just jealous.”

  Miles straightened out his blue jacket. “Jealous? He sounds like a pompous jerk or a jailbreak,” he joked, but the words were harsh.

  Phoenix revolved around the region’s jail system. It was the biggest of the six regions. If teenagers committed small crimes, they relocated to institutes or the military school like Broden was. With special permission, the military students could go into town, but if their actions worsened, they were sent to the lumberyards to work. If they got even worse, they went to Phoenix for jail time. Sometimes, and no one knew how rare it was, the criminals were even executed. With Broden’s record, he was lucky to be in the military.

  Lily glowered at her brother. “Phelps wouldn’t hire a jailbreak,” she said. “He’s probably done more than you.”

  Miles placed his hand on his breast pocket, showing off an array of achievement badges he had earned through the Traveler’s Bureau. “I’ve done plenty.”

  “With Dwayne’s help,” Lily pointed out. “Some of us have to achieve things on our own.”

  Miles’ hand dropped. “What? Like hosting a party?”

  “It’s a big deal,” she argued, turning her attention to me. “Anthony will be attending.”

  “Anthony?” I repeated. The common name was heavy on my tongue.

  Lily nodded. “I met him today. He’s cute.” Now, my face was reddening. “And he wants someone to show him around.”

  “So, you’re picking Sophia?” Miles’ sarcastic tone was impossible to ignore.

  “Give it a rest,” Lily brushed him off before flashing a brilliant smile at me. “You’re beautiful.” The way she switched her expressions intimidated me. “And it’s about time you date someone. I never see you with anyone.”

  “Because she’s always with Broden,” Miles teased.

  “They’re friends,” Lily’s voice wavered with warning. “Anthony is an opportunity.”

  I stopped her. “I don’t know, Lils.”

  “See?” Miles stepped between us. “She’s not interested in your matchmaker scheme.”

  Lily stuck out her bottom lip. “Will you please meet him?” she exaggerated her vowels. “Puh-lease?”

  As if Lily had coaxed the gesture out of me, I nodded. Before I could argue it, Lily danced around in a small circle, spinning so fast that her braid wrapped around her petite torso. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she chanted, grabbing my hands and jumping until a deep voice interrupted her.

  “What’s with all the estrogen?”

  Lily broke away from me and turned around as Miles arched his neck to look over. Standing on the sidewalk was a tall boy with short, brown hair and copper-colored eyes. A sage uniform identified him as a military student, but the jagged cut split through his eyebrow identified him as a troublemaker.

  “Broden,” Miles acknowledged our injured friend.

  Broden high-fived Miles ritually, but no one seemed to care about his clothes. The twins didn’t react, and I had to remind myself that Broden had been a military student only three years ago, before I became his friend. The twins had seen him in the uniform before.

  I couldn’t stop staring at the green clothes. It was as if I was staring into his previous life, the one I had ignored upon getting to know him. When I met him, he was studying biology, and he laughed more than anyone I knew. Now that he was in military clothes, it was weird to see him laugh.

  “So, what’s going on?” Broden asked.

  Lily twirled around in her gray skirt. “I’m setting Sophia up with the most promising political student in the State.”

  Broden’s eyebrows rose, and his stitched brow burned red. “Really?” Broden looked at me, but I averted my eyes. “And who would this be?”

  Miles shook his head. “Some jerk from Phoenix.”

  “The Phoenix Region?” Broden laughed. “You mean, jailbreaks?”

  Miles threw his hands into the air. “That’s what I said,” he seconded. “The guy is a jailbreak.” The slang referred to the rare criminals who were released on good behavior. Almost every one of them was sent back within a year. It was that reason everyone looked down on them.

  “He can’t help that he’s from Phoenix,” Lily argued, grabbing my arm to pull me next to her. “He’s a great guy. We’ll show them.”

  “I’m sure you will,” Broden continued to chuckle, but he ended the conversation. He gestured to Miles, and the childhood friends walked a few yards away to talk.

  Being ostracized was something I was accustomed to. Even though I knew Broden for two years, the twins had known him since childhood. Miles was the only reason I met Broden, and he had only introduced us in the hopes of making Broden more comfortable with transferring from the military school. Like jailbreaks, most students ignored those who had been military students. It was one of the reasons I thought the kids always ended up getting in trouble again. No one even tried to help them.

  “Sophia,” Lily spoke up, bouncing in front of me. “Are you even listening?”

  I nodded at the thin girl as she began chattering again, but my eyes fluttered to the guys every few seconds. Broden’s face lowered, his lips moving quickly as he spoke to the curly-haired boy. Miles was frozen, petrified even, and his tan skin had paled.

  Even then, Broden didn’t seem to be comforting his disheveled friend. Instead, he was causing it. Whatever he was saying wasn’t good news. Lily’s voice might as well have been further away than the conversation I couldn’t even hear. Whatever the boys were talking about was something Broden didn’t want us to hear. Not yet, anyway.

  “We should go,” I interrupted Lily and ignored her chirps of complaints as I dragged her toward them.

  She stumbled behind me, and Broden’s eyes flickered to mine as I neared. Before we got too close, Broden muttered one last thing, and both of them straightened up.

  “How’s the blind date going?” Broden asked with only a hint of annoyance in his tone.

  Miles avoided my eye contact as he touched Lily’s arm, “We need to go home.”

  “See you guys tomorrow,” Lily dismissed, completely accepting her brother’s shaken demeanor.

  I waved, and the two walked off without ever looking back. The hot air couldn’t have been more suffocating. My bag couldn’t have felt heavier.

  “What were you two talking about?” I asked, adjusting my backpack.

  Broden rolled up his sage sleeves to reveal his splinted hand. “Nothing.” His forehead was sweating, and he touched his torn brow as if the salt bothered his stitches.

  I glared at the school grounds. Everything burned under the summer sunlight. The redbrick buildings. The trees. The bushes. The dying grass. The cracked sidewalk. It was all so hot, and I couldn’t help but anticipate autumn.

  Broden spoke up, “Thank you for helping me the other night.”

  In one gesture, I pulled a small bag out of my backpack and threw it at him. It was full of food, water, and the knife he had asked for. I hated it, but I did it because I held onto one hope, “Are you out of trouble now?” I asked.

  Broden’s lips bent into a frown. “I don’t know. I—” he paused. “Miles,” he stopped again.

  “What were you two talking about?” I repeated. I wasn’t one to play games. “Just tell me.”

  Broden glanced at his watch. “I,” he began slowly, and then, he changed the subject. “
Lyn drove you to the hospital that night, right? After curfew?”

  My heart lunged into my throat. “What’s this about, Broden?”

  He sighed, shifting his weight around. He did this every time he said something I didn’t like to hear.

  His eyes darkened as he spoke, “I need to go tonight.”

  “After curfew?”

  “Do you think she’d drive me?” His question told me that my guess was right.

  “Where?” I asked.

  “The forest by the lumberyard.”

  “No,” I answered, and Broden’s gaze dropped to the ground in defeat before I finished my sentence, “but I can.” And I would if it meant I could understand my friends. “And you’re telling me everything.”

  Run If Anything Happens

  “This,” Miles complained, “is the help you got?”

  Broden nodded proudly, but I crossed my arms. “You two could walk,” I threatened. The black Jeep, which now had a night pass sticker, rumbled behind me, the orange fog lights allowing me to see in the dark.

  Miles and Broden were dressed in black sweaters and pants. While Broden kept his short hair free, Miles covered his long locks with a beanie. “I’m not walking,” he muttered, “but you shouldn’t be here.”

  I tensed. “I thought we were friends.”

  “We are,” Miles clarified, but Broden interrupted our mediocre argument.

  “I asked her to be here,” he explained before looking at me. “Miles doesn’t want you involved because it isn’t safe.”

  “I didn’t invite Lily for a reason,” Miles grumbled. His right eye twitched, and he rubbed it. “If you’ve already forgotten, this is illegal.”

  Broden tilted his head toward the Jeep. “We won’t get caught.”

  Miles looked at the parked vehicle. Even he understood that the government sticker allowed us to travel without question. “How did you even get that?” He knew my father took his Jeep with him everywhere. The car I had was Lyn’s.

  “Tell him you stole it,” Broden whispered, and I laughed, knowing Miles would pull his hair out if I increased the list of laws we were breaking.

  Miles glared. “Seriously, guys,” he whined. “I’m risking my entire reputation on this. I should know everything that’s happening.”

  “Don’t worry so much,” Broden stated, walking right past us. The orange lights illuminated his face before he got into the Jeep. He waited.

  Miles wouldn’t move, but I made him, “You two won’t even tell me what’s going on,” I defended. “Stop complaining.”

  Miles was taken aback. “Broden didn’t explain?”

  I shook my head, and Miles stared at the car, “Tell me how you got the car, and I’ll explain everything when we get in.”

  I smirked at our deal. “It’s Lyn’s,” I reminded him of her nurse job.

  Miles looked at me as if he had never seen me before. “You stole her car.”

  “Borrowed.” I winked. “She won’t notice. She’s resting for her double shift.” In reality, Lyn had given it to me willingly. She was practically a Gray, and Gray’s broke the rules. Our only rule was simple − if you get caught, no one else knew about it. We wouldn’t take one another down with our own actions, but we would try to help each other out of the repercussions if we could. That’s where my dad normally came in handy.

  Miles pointed toward the night pass. “You’re sure this will work?”

  “Positive,” I remarked as Broden stuck his head out of the passenger window and tapped the roof of the Jeep.

  “Are we going or not?” he asked loudly. He ignored the fact that Miles’ mom, Ms. Beckett, might hear him in the street.

  “Coming,” Miles hissed as we ran to the Jeep, ready to drive toward the lumberyard.

  …

  “There’s really nothing to know other than we’re meeting an old friend,” Broden stated, his eyes locked on the dark streets outside the window. It was a rare occasion for a minor to be able to witness Topeka’s streets at night.

  The Jeep swayed with the road. We passed the correctional institute for girls that Lily often volunteered at, and I wondered if Miles’ twin was aware of her brother’s actions. As far as I knew, we would drive to the offices outside of the lumberyard and enter the forest that way. The parking lots would be closed off at this hour, but the boys were unfazed by that fact. They, apparently, had a plan. Somehow, I wasn’t surprised.

  “So, you’re meeting an old friend after curfew, and that’s it?” I asked.

  “Broden is under the impression that Noah is in town,” Miles informed me as I dug through my memory for any mention of the name. I had never heard of Noah before.

  “Noah is back,” Broden said, pulling a square object out of his sweater to cradle it in his hands.

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  Miles sat up from the backseat to lean between us. “An old tape recorder,” he said. “It was in my mailbox this morning.”

  I concentrated on the road as we neared the corner of town. “Why your mailbox?” I asked, “and who is Noah?”

  “An old friend,” Broden repeated the same information over and over again.

  “But why the tape recorder?” I interrogated, expecting more. “Why wouldn’t he just call you?”

  Broden ignored my question and pressed the play button on the recorder. A rough voice floated out, “Meet me under the birds. 2:36 p.m. Park inside the fence.”

  Before I could ask about the birds or the horrible timing we had, Broden glanced at Miles. “He wouldn’t joke.”

  Miles stared out the window. “You know I’m not going in there, right?”

  Broden didn’t respond. We remained that way, silent for only a few moments. The road curved, and the streetlamps flickered, brightening as we passed them. If the lights weren’t motion censored, the entire street would have been enveloped in darkness. Even with the dim lights, the area near the lumberyard felt deserted.

  “Sophia,” Broden whispered, his body suddenly rigid. Miles sucked in his breath, and instantly, I knew what had them panicking. A cop was parked at the edge of the lumberyard, and he was watching the road only a few yards ahead of us. Last time I had been in this situation, Lyn and I were pulled over, questioned, and lucky enough to be let go. This time, I was confident we were fine.

  “Sit back,” I instructed.

  Broden bent over, and Miles hit the floor, covering himself like a child. The boys didn’t know what to do, and I wanted to laugh at them as I drove past the patrolman without red or blue lights following us.

  “You can sit up now,” I said as we passed the cop.

  Broden’s eyes widened as we continued to drive, and I laughed as Broden spun around to hit Miles’ shoulder. “We did it, man,” he cheered, his nerves expelling with his shout. “We got past him.”

  “What?” Miles perked up like a prairie dog, turning his head to look around in all directions. His jaw dropped. “How—”

  “I told you, I am good help,” I said, wiggling in my driver’s seat.

  Broden’s cheering stopped as he pointed a few yards in front of us. “There, Sophia,” he ordered. “We need to go in there. You know what to do, Miles.”

  I squinted at the building in front of us, my breath leaving my lungs. “But it’s closed—”

  “I know it is, Sophia,” Broden consoled me. “Keep driving.”

  My hands shook as I pulled the turning indicator, steering the Jeep toward the gated off parking lot. The copper gate was normally shackled shut, but tonight was different. The red bars were pushed apart, and one silver chain wrapped around the metal spring. My heart stopped as I pulled the car in, rolling past the open gate. Broden instructed me to park, and I did, unable to believe what was happening.

  Miles, as quick as I had ever seen him move, darted out of the Jeep and sprinted toward the gate.

  “He’s locking the gate behind us,” Broden explained, revealing what I should’ve figured out. They knew the gates would be open.
Miles was here to watch over it.

  “Who’s this Noah kid?” I managed through my panic.

  Broden opened the car door and swung the black bag I had given him earlier over his shoulder.

  I followed him. “Is that stuff for him?” I did not think my father’s weapon was going to a complete stranger.

  Without answering me, Broden walked around, checking the bag like he was afraid the objects would escape him. His eyes flickered at me, but then, he stared into the darkness of the trees. Before I could demand an explanation, footsteps rushed toward us.

  Miles spoke before I saw him, “It’s locked,” he breathed as his features dissolved out of the blackness. With his black clothes, the dark turned Miles into a shadow. To see him standing in front of us made my stomach twist. Miles, the hard-working student, was a natural at trespassing, and Broden didn’t look surprised at all.

  “You coming with or not?” he asked.

  Miles shook his head. “There’s a cop right there,” he said. “It’s too risky, even for me.”

  Broden checked his arm’s splint. “Wait in the car, then,” he ordered blankly as if he had expected Miles’ reaction. “Run if anything happens.”

  Miles didn’t budge. “You’re going by yourself?”

  Broden shrugged. “I didn’t come this far to leave Noah standing there, now, did I?”

  “I’ll go,” I volunteered before the boys could argue. Both of them gaped at me, and I repeated myself. “I drove you two here. I think I have the right to go to − wherever you’re going.”

  “Sophia,” Miles sighed. “You don’t want to.”

  Broden lifted his hand to Miles, “She can come if she wants.”

  “What if you guys get caught?”

  “Then, we’re all in trouble,” he pointed out, “whether she’s waiting in the car or not.”

  Miles mumbled curses to himself. “I can’t believe this.”

  “Believe it,” I stated, marching over and pulling the black beanie off his head. “Now, give me your jacket.”

  You Have to Jump First