The Rule of One (The Rule of One #1)(6)

My heart still beats like drumfire in my chest as I recharge on the floor, my back against the foot of our bed.

“E-book database,” I say to the empty room. A hologram pops up before me, and I cross my legs, settling in. I raise my forefinger in the air and swipe through the long list of nonfiction e-books Ava and I have purchased over the years. We both share a childlike fascination for the landscapes and cultures of the outside world. Places that seem to only exist in the three-dimensional images in front of me. Or in my imagination.

We’ve never met someone from outside the United States, of course. And it’s as unaffordable as it is unthinkable for an American citizen to travel to the few countries that still allow foreign visitors. The threat of death—or worse, of being taken captive for a ransom the US government simply can’t afford to pay—is a risk not many take. It’s funny. Just when technology shrank the world, making everywhere and everyone accessible, it’s all never felt more out of reach.

4:43 p.m. Ava’s late.

“Hologram off,” I say as I head up the stairs. I pace the polished concrete floor, my gaze fixed on the security camera projections in the corner of the room. Eight turns around the landing later, my heart rate picks back up when I see Ava appear on the monitors.

She lowers her umbrella and swipes her fingerprint to unlock the front door. My eyes shift to the second monitor to follow her progress through the living room. Her lips move in a quick, silent command, and the clear glass wall behind her darkens to gray, sealing the room in privacy. She approaches the false wall and knocks twice.

I wait the ten seconds it takes for her to move through the passageway, then the wall slides open and Ava stands before me.

“Why are you so late?” I know from the haunted look in her eyes that something happened.

As she moves past me down the steps, I see the stain on her right lower leg. The scuffs and small tears on her right elbow. It’s difficult to keep a white uniform white in a polluted, bustling city. We’ve always achieved it, of course, because it is expected of us. But Ava seems calm. So I keep calm.

“Did something happen?” I say, as tranquil as I can manage.

Ava plops down hard on the bed, sliding off her shoes with her toes. “Just let me appreciate the AC for a moment.”

I join Ava on the bed and catch the sharp scents of sweat and sunlight. The lingering traces of being in the open air. I scoot closer to her, feeling nearer to the sun by proximity. Five hours and sixteen minutes until it’s my turn above ground.

“I finished our English paper,” I finally say.

“I saw. Why do you insist on correcting my drafts in red? It makes it look like our assignments are covered in blood.”

I smile, amused.

“I’m just going to get this out of the way,” Ava says, sighing heavily. “I got an A minus on our Spanish oral.”

“That’s all right . . .” I wonder if this is really the most damning news of the day. “I’ll make up for it on the exam next week.”

Ava nods, thoughtful. She lies down across the bed, her head finding the corner of a pillow. She pops the knuckle of her thumb, and I fold my hands in my lap and wait for her to speak. I should give her time to decompress.

“A girl caught me in the bathroom stall with the unapproved makeup,” she says, finally. “I looked her up—her name is Tifani Cheng.”

My mind goes straight to the worst-case scenario. We’ve been expelled.

“But Tifani just laughed it off and let Jocelyn Wood slap a patch of Tape on her skin right in front of me. Morgan Vega was there too,” Ava continues. “I recorded more details about what was said in the journal.”

I roll my eyes, annoyed at the girls’ arrogance. “Stupid. They’re going to get arrested. Your last name only goes so far.”

The government takes the war on drugs very seriously. If Tifani gets caught using, she faces a minimum ten years of hard penal labor in a local prison farm.

“Halton was creepier than usual today,” Ava continues. “He would not stop staring at us in choir and again in the cafeteria.”

I jerk up, sending Ava bouncing on the mattress.

“Shit!” I say. “He’s going to ask us to the Gala!”

Instantly realizing I’m right, Ava lurches forward. “Disgusting!” She shakes her body in exaggerated distaste. “I hope he asks when it’s your day at school!”

With a mischievous smile, I shove Ava back down on the bed, and we both erupt into the same deep laughter.

I swallow a few muffled snorts, already strategizing how best to avoid Halton’s advances, when I suddenly register that Ava has gone quiet. She stares stiffly at the ceiling above, her mind faraway. My smile disappears.

“What else happened?”

“A woman was tasered on my walk home. For stealing water.” Ava pauses and slowly turns her head toward me, her bangs a tangled mop on her forehead. “It nearly caused a riot.”

My heart sinks. Not for the woman, but for us. “They’ll increase security on campus now. Father won’t be pleased.”

Ava attempts to shove her bangs behind her ears and sits bolt upright.

“Mira, she stared right at me while it was all happening. The crowd started screaming ‘Enough’ to the Guards, and I just stood there,” she says rapidly, locking my hand in hers. “I can’t shake seeing the fear in her eyes. The absolute fear.”