I looked over at him and narrowed my eyes. “Are you a twin? Do you have a twin who is all brooding and you’re the jerk?” I said. I forced my legs to pick up the pace, but he just continued along with me. “Why are you walking with me? You just called me a loser, by the way.”
He threw his hands up in front of him. “Hey, I didn’t say loser. That came out of your mouth. I was just telling it like it is. And maybe because I’m walking to the same place you are.”
I rolled my eyes. “You don’t even know where I’m going. Shouldn’t you be working?”
“We just got canceled for the day, something about the weather,” he said. He motioned around to all the snow.
I peeked over at him. Maybe this was his happy stage. I think I might have preferred his grumpy stage.
My stomach growled loud enough for the other regions to know I was hungry. I grabbed my stomach with my hands. We are almost to food—just hold on.
“Hungry?” he asked.
Damn. I had hoped he hadn’t heard that. “Yes, I’m actually on my way to get something to eat.”
“What, no food at your big house?”
“Shouldn’t you be leaving?” I didn’t want to be around him anymore.
“I should.”
I slipped my hand out in front of us, animated two fingers as legs, and made the walking motion. He pushed my arm down and away from him.
“Are you trying to kick me out?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “All I’m saying is that you brushed me off yesterday. You took an innocent hot chocolate event and made me into some creepy, lovesick child who would stalk her prey.”
He laughed. “Did I hurt your feelings?”
“Look,” I said. “We could argue all day whether you did or didn’t. I have a feeling no matter what I say you won’t believe me. So move along. Go home. Leave me alone.” I hurried my steps, leaving him behind.
I opened the doors to the café and inhaled all of the wonderful smells that were drifting through the place. The café was enormous. On one side were all of the food vendors and on the other side was the seating area. I got in line for pizza and felt a little drool trying to make its way out as two delicious slices of extra cheese landed on my plate. Picking up the tray, along with an orange soda, I checked out and picked a table next to the window so I could watch the snow drift down. I slipped my bag and jacket off and set them on the chair next to me. I closed my eyes and moaned as I took a large bite of the pizza; letting the mozzarella sizzle in my mouth.
A chair scraped across the floor, and my eyes popped open. Oh, come on! He picked up a burger and took a bite. He chewed while staring at me. I kept my eyes on him, not wanting to break this staring contest we seemed to be having. I took another bite of pizza as he took a sip of his soda.
“Are you going to moan like that again?” He pointed to the pizza that I was currently holding. “Or do you moan for more than just pizza?”
I rolled my eyes. I was not going to let him get to me. He took another bite of his burger as I took another one of my pizza. It was like some weird, food-eating stare down. It was a pity that he was such an ass, because he was striking. Dropping my pizza on my plate, I licked my fingers. “So, why are you here?”
He stared at my fingers and then at my face. He shrugged his shoulders. “Because I’m hungry.”
“I mean why are you sitting with me?”
He smiled and I couldn't remember how to breathe. It was a beautiful smile. The kind of smile I doubted he showed very often. His smile reminded me of a rainbow, very seldom seen, but when it appeared, it stopped you in your tracks. “There's nowhere else to sit.”
His smile disappeared as he took another bite of his burger. I cleared my throat and looked around, there was barely anyone here. Most likely because of the weather, not a lot of people liked the cold. I raised my eyebrows. “I’m pretty sure if you looked around, you might find an open spot. Like anywhere.”
“Nah, I’m good here.” He finished the rest of the burger, the whole time keeping his eyes on me. I rolled mine and returned to my pizza.
I would just ignore him. He could sit there all he liked, but I wouldn’t have to think he was here. I could do this.
“So why are you out on a day like this?” His voice sent fingers of warmth up my spine. I loathed that my spine decided to work against me.
“Because I decided I didn’t want to stay in bed all day and do nothing. I wanted to spend my Saturday wandering around with an annoying voice in my ear,” I said dryly.
He smiled again. “You know, if it weren’t for the fact you live on this side of the wall, I might like you.” I cocked a brow at him, and he shook his head. “And don’t let that get to your head. When I said like, I meant more like of an acquaintance like. You are definitely not my type.”
“I believe we covered this yesterday.” I tried to keep the sting of his words from hitting my esteem and kept my eye on my pizza. “Anyway, you’re not my type either.”
He laughed. It was full and masculine and gorgeous. So, of course, I hated it. “Whatever you say.”
I looked down at my second piece of pizza. My appetite disappeared. “Well, I think I’m done here.” Picking up my tray, I dumped its contents into the trash and grabbed my jacket and bag; putting it on before I walked out in the freezing cold. If I ever saw him again, it would be way too soon.
As I opened the door, the cold wind hit me in the face and I winced and felt tears pounce in the corner of my eyes. Tears were always pouncing in my eyes from the cold. Burrowing further into my jacket, I headed in the opposite direction of my house—moving slowly as the wind shoved up against me. I slipped a few times on pieces of ice but was able to catch myself each time—except for the last one. When I moved one foot forward, it slipped out from under me, my body landing hard on the ground. Not only was my butt sore, but my pants were now soaked by the snow. I would be walking around with wet pants, and I wasn’t allowed to go home.
“You’re kind of a klutz,” he said, coming up from behind me.
You have got to be kidding me. “You’re kind of a stalker.”
He stood in front of me. “Nope. The gate's this way.” He held his hand out to me. I stared, wondering what trick he was going to do. He tilted his head at me. “Do you need any help?”
Probably. But would I accept his? With my luck, I would try to get up on my own and end up slipping the whole time, never finding traction. I would make myself look like an even bigger fool than I already had. As I slipped my petite hand into his large calloused one, he hefted me up without any trouble. Quickly, I took my hand back.
I looked at the ground as I started to move. “Thank you,” I mumbled.
He came up beside me. “What? I didn’t quite catch that.”
I groaned. “Thank you.” I made sure I said it loud enough, so I wouldn’t have to repeat myself again.
“You’re welcome.” He shoved his hands into his front pockets. “So, where are you headed?”
“The library.” I really wanted to drop my pants. The water from the snow was so cold on my butt I would have given anything to dry off.
“Why?” he sounded genuinely confused.
“I like to read.”
“Why?” I glowered at him, and he smirked. “You’re such a grouchy person.”
“I am not. You make me grouchy.” I focused back on my feet: one foot in front of the other.
“So, what’s your name?”
“Why would I tell you my name?” I asked suspiciously.
“I could just call you Grouchy.” He smirked again. “That could be your nickname. You’re Grouchy and I’m Gregory.”
Gregory was a nice name. Too bad it didn’t fit with his personality. “You can call me whatever you like.” I smiled bitterly up at him. I pushed past him and up the steps to the library. My hand was on the door when he yelled out behind me.
“Try not to stalk me tomorrow.”
I turned toward him, flipped him off, and
made my way inside the library.
I woke with a start drenched in sweat—clothes clung to my slimy body. I couldn't remember much of the dream, mostly that I had been running from something. Trying to clear the sensation of the dream, I shook my head and noticed my alarm clock had been blaring; so that had woke me up. My fingers skated over the buttons until the I hit the right one, and the alarm went silent. It was still dark out. Looking at the time, the red numbers blared eleven thirty. I groaned. I wanted nothing more than to stay in my warm bed. Why had I agreed to sneak out to the poor sector?
As I turned on the lamp next to my bed, I stared down at the three library books I had checked out earlier. When I arrived at the library, I had spent the rest of the afternoon reading, and finally, around five, I had checked out three books and made my way back home. Agathy never told me how long I was supposed to stay out, but I’d figured I could just sneak in through the back way and up to my room without anyone noticing. Though, when I’d arrived home, my father and the council were gone, out to dinner. Agathy made me a sandwich for dinner and then left to go home while I ate in my room and continued reading before taking a nap. And now I was staring down at my books, wondering if it was even worth sneaking out. Probably not.
I sighed and slipped out of bed. Throwing on jeans, a white tank top, and a black sweater, I put my black boots back on and wrapped a scarf around my neck. Making my way into my bathroom, I brushed my teeth, applied makeup to my face, and fixed my hair. By the time I was finished, my clock showed I only had three minutes to get to the back alley. Slipping my bag around my shoulder and my jacket on, I turned off the lamp and the room plunged into darkness. It took a few seconds for my eyes to focus in the dark, before I was able to tiptoe over to the door and open it as quietly as I could, sliding out, and shutting it just as quietly. Treading softly down the stairs and out the back door, I kept it unlocked so I could sneak back in. Snow was no longer falling, but there was still enough covering the ground.
As I opened the gate and walked out, I pulled my hood up to cover my ears from the biting wind. I planted my hands in my pockets and looked around. No one was here. Were they even coming? I let out a breath, watching the white cloud form in front of me. My nose started to run from the cold, so I kept sniffing so it wouldn’t leak. It was so cold out that I had to bounce up and down to keep myself warm.
It felt like I’d been standing there for hours, but it had really only been ten minutes when I figured they weren’t coming. They were probably playing a trick on me, and I had been stupid enough to fall for it. Just as I turned to open the gate, I heard voices floating down from the end of the alley; squinting over, I could see four bodies walking this way. Mandy and Sarah's laughing floated closer to where I stood frozen outside of my house. As they got closer, I could see Mandy draped around Tyler and Sarah leaning close to George.
“Mia!” Tyler yelled as they came within ten feet of me. Wincing, I peeked up at my house, but no lights came on, thank God.
“Hey,” I said, trying to pull of being nonchalant. It didn't work with Mandy giving me a nasty smile as indication.
Tyler pulled himself free of Mandy and put an arm around me, walking us down the alley. “I’m glad you decided to come with us.”
“I wasn’t sure you guys were coming,” I said. It felt awkward walking with his arm around my shoulders. I’d always thought I would love it, but I didn’t. Maybe it’s because of the nerves?
“Mandy and Sarah took forever getting ready,” he said, “but we’re here now. Are you ready to explore the outside?” He said the “outside” like it was some mystical place.
“Tyler, I want a drink!” Mandy whined behind us.
Tyler laughed. “Don’t worry. I’ll get you one as soon as we get there.”
“Where are we going?” I asked. I didn’t want to be too loud, even though they were being loud enough to wake up the dead.
“To this little bar that I’ve heard all about.”
“From who?” I was almost a hundred percent positive these four would never make friends with anyone from the other side.
“Don’t you worry about that,” he finished with a wink.
As we moved farther and farther away from my house, dread began to bloom in my stomach. My gut kept telling me to go back home and get back into bed, but I didn’t want to look like a little kid to them. Especially not to Tyler. We walked for about fifteen minutes—the four of them talking so loudly that I was sure we would get caught before we even made it out—before we made it to the brick wall. Tyler stopped in front of it, and I looked up. The brick wall was twenty feet high to prevent anyone from climbing it.
Tyler pulled his arm from my shoulders and dragged his hands across the wall, following it all the way to the right. Mandy and Sarah followed him while George and I just stood there. I looked over at George, and he mirrored the same expression that was on my face: doubt. There was no way we could get over the wall.
“George, Mia, come on,” Tyler yelled from somewhere to our right.
George looked at me and shrugged his shoulders, and then he started to walk over to where the others were. I took a deep breath and walked after him. I should go back. They won’t miss me if I go back. But if I go back, Tyler will think I’m a chicken.
“What do you think?” Tyler beamed as George and I made it over.
Looking down toward where Tyler was pointing was a rather large hole, big enough for each of us to crawl through to the other side. I glanced back up at Tyler; he had such a satisfactory smile on his face. “I, uh, I don’t think we should be doing this.” I did not want to crawl through a hole in a wall.
Tyler’s smile never dimmed. “Mia, don’t worry. We’ll be fine.”
I watched as Tyler, Mandy, Sarah, and George climbed through the hole. I took a deep breath and let it out. If I went through that hole, I was officially breaking rules. “Okay,” I said, ignoring the warning signs that were bouncing around my head. Bending down, I got on my hands and knees and crawled through. After I came out on the other side, Tyler hid the hole with a trashcan. I got up from my knees and wiped the dirt off my pants.
“Okay, listen up,” Tyler said. “We're only a few minutes away from the bar. Act like you belong here and we'll be fine.”
Everyone nodded their heads, including reluctant me, and we were off. Rounding the corner of the alley, we made it onto the streets and I stopped moving. My mouth gaped open as I stared around at my surroundings. I never knew how bad this side looked. Debris littered the ground from the collapsed buildings, wood planks covered the broken windows to keep either the cold or people out—most likely the latter—some people stood around a large trashcan, where a fire was burning, while others were huddled up against the building to stay out of the wind, tattered blankets covering their bodies. The smell hit me the most. It smelled like garbage, sewer, and death mixed together. How could people live like this? How could my father let people live like this?
“Mia!” Tyler yelled. I turned toward the sound of his voice. The four of them were nearly at the end of the block. Quickly, I took one more glance around before I ran to catch up with them, ignoring the glares from Mandy and Sarah.
“You okay?” Tyler asked. I nodded my head and followed them as they started walking.
I wasn’t okay. I was disgusted. I was disgusted with my father. I was disgusted with how the poor had been left to fend for themselves, and this was how they found warmth.
“There it is! There it is!” Mandy squealed. Looking up from the broken road, a dilapidated building stood in front of us. This was it? This was what all the fuss was about? It was not impressive. Why they wanted to go there was beyond me.
“Mandy, Sarah, make Mia look older,” Tyler said. “And hotter.”
I winced at that last part while George gave me a sympathetic smile and Mandy rolled her eyes. Sarah pulled out a ridiculously low-cut shirt and threw it at me, at the same time Mandy took out her makeup.
“What am I supp
osed to do with this?” I asked, holding up the shirt.
“Put it on,” Sarah said.
I looked around. There was nowhere to change. I turned my back to the group and took off my jacket, which I regretted immediately as the cold wind whipped through my sweater. Unbuttoning my sweater, I sadly took it off but made sure to keep my tank top on; there would be no way in hell I was taking it off. I slipped the low-cut shirt over my head and pulled it down; the tank top just showed at my breasts, keeping them hidden. Slipping my jacket back on, I held on to my sweater, not sure where I was going to put it, and turned around. Sarah snatched the sweater out of my hands and deposited it in the bag she was holding while Mandy pulled my face toward her so she could apply the makeup. I’m going to look like a whore. After she prodded my face for what seemed like hours, she pushed my face away and put the makeup back in the bag. Looking in the only glass window I could find, I took in my appearance: I looked older, but definitely not in a good way.
“Let’s go,” Tyler said, walking away and toward the bar. Everyone followed. This is it. I bit the inside of my cheek as I followed after them, trying to keep up.
Stopping in front of the rundown bar, the walls made of brick with some of the littering the ground, Tyler turned around and smiled. “This is it. Let’s have some fun, shall we?”
Mandy and Sarah beamed, and George grunted. I felt sick to my stomach. The smell was once again the first thing that hit me as we walked in; alcohol and smoke filtered through the air. Wood tables were scattered throughout the room with mismatched chairs. The place was packed and we had to push our way over to the only empty table in the place. There were way too many people in here. Music blared through the room, and conversations were being yelled. Tyler, Mandy, Sarah, and George looked like they were about to have the time of their lives. Scooting closer to me, Tyler draped his arm around the back of my chair.
“What can I get ya?” an old scraggly voice asked. I looked up to see an old man with shaky hands holding on to a small notepad.
The Divide (The Divide Series Book 1) Page 5