Take Me Tomorrow

by Shannon A. Thompson

  In the two years I had known Broden, I hadn’t seen his anger, but he had snapped in seconds under Noah’s presence. On top of that, they had both used tomo, a drug I hadn’t even seen.

  But I did know one thing. Noah wouldn’t stop himself from talking to me. He had my address for a reason, and whether Broden told him to leave me alone or not, I doubted that Noah would keep his word. If anything, I needed to know who Noah was in order to protect myself from him, but Broden wouldn’t tell me. If Broden hadn’t told me anything, he wouldn’t start now. I would have to learn it on my own.

  “I promise,” I spoke, knowing I wouldn’t be able to keep any promise at all.

  I Know You’re Trouble

  “Thanks for taking care of these for me,” Lily thanked me as she shoved the pink Homecoming fliers into my hands before sprinting off. She was volunteering at the girls’ correctional institute again, so I had the responsibility of taping the posters around campus. “Just to remind everyone of this Friday,” Lily explained it as if anyone could forget. The school was revolving around the Homecoming dance, yet Lily somehow managed to convince herself that students would forget. I would never understand her intensity.

  I held the last flyer in between my lips as I tied my long, brown hair into a ponytail. It was hot as usual, and I felt as if I were mentally asleep somewhere else. By this time, I would’ve already been home, checking the acres, but my dad was home. He had to take over the task, and Argos would accept him as a temporary fill-in while I was absent.

  I let my ponytail fall against my neck, and I breathed as the wind blew by, cooling my heated skin. It had been a long day, and I had a feeling it was about to get much longer.

  Closing my eyes, I listened to the familiar sounds of the town, hoping to feel normal, but I couldn’t forget the night before. Broden was involved with tomo. On top of that, Miles was somehow involved, and I wondered if Lily was, too − if everyone in my life was. The question made me nauseous.

  I shook my head, kicking my backpack lightly. I desperately ignored my memories as I lifted my hands to grab the last flyer, but the flyer was gone.

  The wind pulled it out of my grasp, and it flipped into the air, twirling and spiraling. The glossy color glowed like pink fire as it soared and swooped to the ground, smacking into the leg of a tall man dressed in a sage uniform. I rushed after it, apologizing as the military student leaned down to grab it from the ground.

  “Do you need this?” he asked as he straightened up. His voice was as deep and calm as his eyes. When I looked into them, I froze.

  The man was a boy close to my age, and his stare haunted me. At first glance, his eyes appeared as a deep, brown color, but the sage color of his uniform brought out the green color that hid behind colored contacts. His skin was tanned, burnt at the cheeks, and his dark hair matched the color of his eyes too perfectly.

  Hair dye.

  I squinted at his familiar features as I stepped back without the flyer. This boy had brown hair, brown eyes, and a sage uniform. Not blond hair, green eyes, or a black t-shirt. But I was positive. Absolutely positive.

  “Noah?”

  The boy squinted back. “Nate,” he corrected, glancing down at the pink flyer. “Nate Harper.”

  I was right. It was him.

  “Right. Nate,” I breathed, trying to control my nerves. At the sound of his fake identity, my heart pounded, but I could conceal that. “Where’d you get the uniform?”

  “Stole it from the lumberyard,” he answered nonchalantly. He was too focused on the flyer. He was probably memorizing it.

  Our situation had completely flipped. In the forest, I had stolen his information. Now, he had mine, and I wanted to attack him just as much as he probably wanted to hurt me. Still, I remained calm. I couldn’t do anything dramatic with everyone watching, not when Broden was involved, but I could do something.

  I took advantage of his lack of attention, and I sprung forward, snatching the flyer from his hands. He didn’t even budge when I moved back. “What do you want?” I asked, the paper crumbling in my shaking hands.

  He glanced up, his fingers still spread out like he was holding it. His eyebrows shot up, and I recognized the expression. For the first time, he was thrown off guard.

  “I’m looking for Broden,” he said, pulling at the front of his sage jacket.

  “Why?”

  Noah lowered his eyes to meet mine. “Because I am.”

  “I would think he’d be in military school,” I answered, knowing he had obviously been there already. I didn’t know who gave him the uniform, but I did know it was real, down to the sideways stitches and gold buttons.

  Noah moved as if he could prevent me from studying his clothes. “He wasn’t there.”

  “Oh, and he didn’t tell you where he’d be? That’s weird,” I mocked. “I really would’ve thought he would be waiting for you.”

  “I hope you’re not testing me,” Noah’s voice danced on the edge of intensity, “because I really wouldn’t appreciate that, Ms. Gray.”

  My grip tightened from the sound of my last name. I had never told him my name, first or last, yet he knew both now, and he knew where I went to school. Whether I liked it or not, he knew more about me than I knew about him.

  “I don’t have to help you,” I said, hoping he would walk away but knowing he wouldn’t.

  “And I don’t need your help,” Noah retorted, lingering at the school’s gate. If he wouldn’t leave, then I would. Even then, I had to respond.

  “I don’t need your trouble.”

  “Trouble,” Noah repeated, his mouth cracking open. “You think that I,” he pointed to his chest. “am trouble?”

  “I know you’re trouble,” I corrected, turning on my heel. If he wouldn’t attack me in the forest, he wouldn’t attack me now. The only safety I had was that his fake identity was all he had.

  I grabbed my backpack, so I could head home. Thinking he would at least have the decency to allow me to walk away was my first mistake. He took one stride and stood right next to me. When I started walking, he walked with me.

  “What makes you think that?” he asked, acting as if following a stranger wasn’t taboo in the slightest.

  My anger turned to annoyance. “Well, aside from two nights ago,” I spoke as I contemplated the best way to retrieve my knife from my backpack, “how about you explain why Broden got beat up?”

  Noah’s demeanor fell before he switched to his default emotion − severely stern and indecipherable. “You think that was me?”

  “No,” I said it before I realized I felt that way, “but I bet it had to do with you.”

  His fingers tapped against his black watch. “How long have you known Broden, anyway? I’ve never even heard of you.”

  I glared at him. “For your information, I haven’t heard of you either.”

  His eyes widened, and for once, he looked like the teenager he was. “So, when exactly did Broden and you become such good friends?”

  “When did Broden and you not?”

  He stopped walking with me, and I began leaving him for the second time. I didn’t dare look back, and my frustration encouraged me to stride forward. I didn’t dare head in the direction of my house. Noah knew where I lived, and the last thing I wanted was for him to meet me there. I would go to the hospital and watch Falo while Lyn worked.

  I concentrated on the sounds of my heels as they tapped across the ground, shifting my backpack to my other shoulder. At least, I had the comfort of my knife. The roads were quiet, and the shops seemed to be emptying for the evening. For a few seconds, I was relieved that it was over, and then, I heard his boots as he ran up behind me. He strode up next to me, perfectly calm. In fact, he smiled.

  I rolled my eyes. Unbelievable.

  “You have no conscience, do you?” I asked.

  “You have no filter, do you?”

  “I have no fear,” I corrected, hearing the arrogance in my voice. Who was I kidding? In many ways, I was afraid o
f the stranger walking beside me. “I think there’s a difference.”

  “No fear,” Noah repeated, his words dancing with amusement. He looked at me with twinkling eyes, as if to laugh at my lies, but I nodded, and he shrugged it off. “Must be easy when you’re never faced with something you’re afraid of.”

  “I’ve had to face things,” I snapped.

  “I’m sure you have,” he chuckled.

  I glanced over to watch him. He was walking with his arms propped behind his head, relaxing in the summer sun. His childish demeanor was almost impossible to combine with his predatory one. The only times I had seen him he had been serious, yet he was now laughing like an everyday teenager. I was witnessing something impossible. His skin was lighter, happier, and his eyes were alive and awake. I couldn’t believe I was staring at the same boy from the night before. It was as if a different person had replaced him, like Nate Harper had literally taken his place. I had to consciously remind myself that I wasn’t walking with a carefree friend. It was probably one of the reasons he could fall into his fake identity so easily.

  The buildings spaced out, the road stretched on, and sunlight burned against our skin as it closed in on evening. We were silent for a while, and I wondered how he was walking around so freely without question like Broden had yesterday. Clearly, the two boys understood the system well enough to escape. He obviously understood the border patrol enough to sneak through it.

  When he looked around, his eyes darted about the road, and he looked up at the horizon where enormous, gray buildings sat. “The hospital,” he commented, turning to look at me. Every time he watched me, I felt exposed. “You were with Broden at the hospital.”

  Memories from Broden’s injuries flashed through my mind. “Yeah,” I said, but Noah’s soft expression stopped me from continuing.

  His smile seemed genuine as his face tilted. “I should have recognized that hair,” he mentioned casually.

  I turned away to hide my blushing cheeks. “You weren’t there,” I squeaked.

  He couldn’t have been. He was in the forest when I heard the news, and Lyn had to drive me. It would’ve been impossible for Noah to follow on foot or car. The cop would’ve stopped him just as he stopped us, but he wouldn’t have been let go. We would’ve seen him.

  As my mind raced, Noah leaned over and flipped his palm open toward me the way he had to Broden last night − for another handshake. “I think we got off on the wrong foot, Sophie,” he spoke, continuing to use my nickname he enjoyed. My heart was pounding again, but this time it wasn’t out of fear. “I want to start over.”

  I stopped on the sidewalk, and he mirrored my movements. Under the sunlight, his brown hair darkened, but my memory would not forget how his blond hair had glistened. Even as the sky blackened and his brown eyes deepened, his green eyes were impossible to neglect. He morphed into Nate Harper, but he was still Noah, and Broden’s warning echoed in my ears.

  I knew I couldn’t keep my promise, but I hadn’t realized how quickly I would have to break it. If I could help Broden get out of trouble by helping Noah, I would, but Broden wouldn’t see it that way. He would never see it that way.

  Noah flickered his hand so that the face of his watch flashed. “What do you have to lose?”

  I wanted to say, “Everything.” I had everything to lose. My reputation. My record. My friendship. My family. Probably even parts of my life I hadn’t considered yet. But my gut instinct told me that I could also save everything by shaking his hand. Even though I wanted to scream, smack his hand away, and pretend he never existed, I didn’t.

  I smiled back, reached out, and took his hand. When I shook it, his skin was warm and consoling, not cold and ruthless like I had expected it would be. “Nice to meet you, then,” I said, starting over. Nothing felt wrong, but there had to be something. Broden didn’t want me a part of it − whatever “it” was − but I wanted to be, and now, I would be.

  “Nice to meet you, too,” Noah responded.

  I dropped my hand, but his palm remained exposed, and I couldn’t look away.

  When I was a child in Albany, a fortuneteller pondered over every line on my palm. The reading was only a game then, but his palm didn’t seem to be. I stared at the tiny lines his skin formed as if I were staring at the future face-to-face, as if I had taken tomo and completely lost my mind.

  I forced myself to look away, so I could say, “I know where Broden is.”

  Call the Police

  Lily had short, dark, and curly hair. While one part clung to her face, another section sprung out. Her wide eyes were brown, and a blush skimmed across her round cheeks. She hugged me before I ever knew her name.

  “Sophia,” my father had spoken uncomfortably as he watched his seven-year-old dive into the social realm. “This is Ms. Beckett,” he explained as he pointed to Lily’s mother, a woman who looked identical to her children. “She’ll be your nanny while I’m not in the Topeka Region.”

  I didn’t speak. I couldn’t. With Lily hanging onto me, I really didn’t know what to do.

  “We’re going to be best friends,” Lily squealed, seeming younger than me even though I was told we were the same age. I couldn’t say anything to that either.

  “You’ll really like it here,” Ms. Beckett said, giving a slight push to a young boy standing next to her. He had stumbled forward, but his gaze never left the ground. His curls were matted with gel, and his shirt had a collar. He looked like a child dressed in an old man’s suit.

  Miles managed to tell me his name, while Lily exclaimed that he was her brother. Twins. I had never met twins before.

  “I’m Sophia,” I said, glancing up at my father for social direction.

  “You’ll like it here, kiddo,” he repeated Ms. Beckett’s words, playing with the glasses in his pocket. I nodded mechanically, knowing that his new job would keep him out of the State most of the time. I was stuck here, and everything was about to change.

  My life had shifted almost every year since then, but so did everyone else’s. The clairvoyant drug, tomo, was released five years later. I was twelve, but I understood true fear. Topeka fell into absolute madness, and the Phelps’ Massacre happened within one year. Hundreds of people were arrested, and it was still unknown how many people died, but it was all in the name of safety. The drug was successfully confiscated and outlawed, and it wasn’t long after that the curfew was put in place. Lyn moved in weeks later, and a year passed without much trouble, but life didn’t seem normal until I befriended Broden one year later. Now, at sixteen years old, I was looking at a boy I had never even heard about.

  I stared at Noah whenever I was able to do so without being noticed. I wanted to know where he had been all of this time, what he saw during the massacre, or even if he were in Topeka during it. Granted, there were plenty of kids in the Topeka Region that I hadn’t met yet, but they weren’t friends with my best friends. I couldn’t understand how Noah knew Broden or Miles without having met me, but here we were − complete strangers with the same friends.

  It didn’t make sense.

  As we walked, I searched for any part of him that I recognized, but I failed over and over again. He was much taller than me, maybe an inch taller than Broden. His face was relaxed, but the little shadows that hung from his eyes revealed how tired he was. His sage uniform and dyed hair suited him naturally, like the sudden change of identity was an everyday thing. It was otherworldly, seeing a stranger, Noah, as another stranger, Nate Harper, and questioning whether or not I had met him before under another name. For all I knew, Noah wasn’t his name at all, but another identity altogether. For all I knew, Noah didn’t even know his own identity. It would explain how he was so comfortable playing dress-up. He never had to be himself.

  I had seen him three times now, and his black-faced watch was the only consistent part. He even used it with Broden, and I recalled Miles wearing one a few years ago. That was the only information I knew meant something. The question was what it meant.
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br />   Noah broke my concentration when he turned to me and winked. “Are you getting a good enough look?”

  My face scrunched up. “I’m not looking,” I said, gesturing to the sun. “The light’s just in my face.”

  “Whatever you say, Sophie.”

  I made sure not to look back at him as we continued forward. The hospital loomed over the city, and shadows began to crawl over the sidewalk. We remained silent as I checked the town’s main clock tower. Curfew was approaching, but we still had time. Walking was our current enemy. It took an hour to walk across town, if not longer, and we had almost burned up our sunlight. I would have time to get home if I left Broden’s immediately, but I doubted Noah would. Military students had a sunset curfew, one that would happen within thirty minutes, but Broden had obviously found a way around it, and I had to bet Noah did, too.

  When we entered the neighborhood behind the hospital, Noah spoke up, “Why are we going to Broden’s house?”

  “How do you know where Broden lives?” I asked.

  Noah’s stoic expression faltered. “We lived down the street from one another as kids.”

  My eyes darted around the large cul-de-sac, looking at the homes as if I could guess which one used to be his. Since he had talked in the past tense, I knew he had moved, but I needed as much information as I could get, even if it were just a house he no longer resided in.

  “Quit trying to figure me out, Sophie,” Noah warned in a half-whisper. “My life isn’t something that you want to be a part of.”

  My throat clogged as I stopped at the end of Broden’s driveway. Before I could question him, Noah marched up the driveway. The old house − a large, beige home with a roof made of dark clay tiles − looked empty from the street. There were no lights on, nor were there any cars in the driveway, but I knew he was home. When Lily gave me the fliers, she explained why Broden had stopped by for his usual high-fiving ritual with Miles. Broden had permission to watch his parent’s house while they were working late night shifts at the hospital. Tonight was one of those nights. Even so, Broden didn’t seem to be home, but Noah didn’t question me.