Bodhi nodded, removing his arm from her shoulder. "Are you going to school tomorrow? Same time? Sometimes I miss you. You must do the morning session."
"Why? We can't talk about any of this through the Sims anyways, can we?"
"No, we can't. But now, I really want to hold your hand there, too, to see if it feels different," he replied, smiling a lazy smile.
"So I'm a science experiment?" Eri pretended to be indignant.
"No! I just, I want to know what you mean is all." Bodhi tried to look innocent. She laughed at him. "Honestly, though, it might not be a good idea for us to connect through the Sims. It might be too risky," Bodhi said.
"Yeah, I get that, and…I don't want to taint this little bit of reality with the weirdness of the Sims. But, we have already talked in the Sims. It might be even weirder if we avoided each other." Eri shrugged, thinking about seeing him in the Sims. It would be hard to pretend she didn't know him.
Bodhi nodded, and then yawned. "Maybe it wouldn't hurt to have lunch together or maybe study for that history test." He smiled at her and this time she smiled an easy smile in return. Bodhi looked up at the sky. "And…I would guess it's about two in the morning. We should probably head home. I think we both have enough to think about."
He smiled. She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Thanks for…for welcoming me to the outside. And saving me. I will be happy to keep you company as long as you will have me."
Bodhi touched her face briefly, dropping his hand as suddenly as he raised it. Eri noticed a mixture of emotions in his eyes as he lowered his gaze. "I'm more than happy to have you," he responded carefully. "Now, let's figure out how we are going to break you back into your house."
She smiled and then her stomach tightened as she thought of descending down the building. Somehow, that risk didn't seem nearly as large as the one she had just taken.
Chapter 7
Before the Sims
Eri carefully placed her feet on the solid floor of her bedroom. She turned on her light and took off her muddy shoes and dirty pants and threw them in her clothing trunk. She took off her t-shirt, damp with sweat and smudged with dirt, and laid it on the ground next to the trunk to dry. She needed to figure out when laundry day was.
She pulled on her pajamas and tapped her lamp, laying down on her bed as quietly as she could. In the ten seconds before her lamp would shut off, she heard a rustling downstairs. She held her breath. She had not done a good job of reattaching the tarp to the window-since she planned on escaping again soon-and realized too late she needed to cover her tracks better.
She glanced at her bedroom door, thankful it was shut. She rolled onto her side, facing the wall. She breathed deeply when her lamp shut off. Seconds later, she heard her door creak open, softly, and then silence. She held as still as she could, and tried not to jerk away when a beam of light found her face before quickly shutting off.
From the hallway, she heard her mom say, "I told you she was asleep. What did you think?" Eri prayed they would stay in the hall.
Her dad muttered, as they retreated down the hall, "I don't know…I just had a feeling."
Eri opened her eyes in the blackness and tried to control her breathing as her heart raced. She would need to be more careful. Much more careful.
* * * *
Eri had never had a vivid dream in her life. Mostly, her dreams were hazy and grey, about school or her family. Once in a while she would dream of something bizarre and unreal, but would forget it quickly upon awakening. Tonight, however, she could not escape the strong images lurking in her subconscious. The dream started easily, as she found herself sitting in a sunlit field of soft, pink flowers. She knelt on a white blanket, taking in deep breaths of warm, sweet air.
As she sat, she could see storm clouds rolling in from a distance. She felt a moment of fear, realizing she was outside, but the fear quickly disintegrated into joy. She was going to feel rain on her skin. She had always wanted to stand outside in the rain. But as the clouds grew closer, she grew uncomfortable. They looked different somehow. Rather than large, smooth edges, the clouds looked dimpled and had dark spots throughout them. She peered up as the clouds came upon her and realized the clouds were made of faces, with pale grey skin and dark grey, empty eyes. They were staring at her, all of them, but there was no life in them. She cowered back towards the blanket, a shock of fear and confusion rolling through her stomach as she found herself surrounded by these pale, distant faces.
Where is the rain? Maybe that will make them go away.
Instead, a hot, dry wind pushed against her, driving the pink flowers to the ground. Eri looked for a path to get away, to get out of the center of these clouds, and then she saw them. Hidden amongst the bare, bored, empty faces were other faces, half-hidden, with mouths that would distort periodically, opening in silent screams. Their eyes, when she could see them, pleaded with her. Make it stop, she saw one of them mouth at her silently, its face contorting. Make it end.
Eri grew frantic as the flowers around her turned grey and began to dry up, withering at an impossible rate. The sun was blocked out completely and the clouds had begun to descend on her like a thick fog. As the clouds descended, her feelings became numb and she was calmer, cooler. A hand grabbed at hers, and she could see Bodhi, mouthing at her that she needed to run, to get away, but she stood rooted in the fog, an emptiness filling her mind. The emptiness was easy and painless. She no longer felt vulnerable. She sat down on the ground and found herself floating, whirling into the cloud. She looked back at Bodhi, knowing her face was now one of the hundreds of thousands he could see in the clouds. Too late, she knew. She was one of them, one of the bored, empty faces.
She jerked awake and lay on her bed, panting, the dream still upon her. She rubbed her hands over her face in the darkness, reaching over to tap her lamp. It was just a dream, she told herself. Just a dream.
She sat up in bed, an odd feeling settling into her chest. She was anxious after the dream, but as it faded from her consciousness, a new feeling took its place. Happiness? Curiosity? She thought of Bodhi and her stomach flipped. She could clearly remember his smile in the moonlight if she shut her eyes. She could see his dark hair, always moving with the wind, and his eyes, flecked with the colors of the earth.
She stood up, feeling exhausted. She wondered what time it was.
Eri changed her clothes and slipped into the hallway, moving quietly past Ezra's room. She stopped and turned back, pushing his door open farther. She could see him, sleeping on his bed, in his clothes. His hair stuck to his head with sweat and one leg dangled off the bed. Even in his sleep, he had purple smudges under his eyes. Eri stared at him for a minute before moving to the stairs. Something wasn't right. She would talk to him later.
Downstairs, she glanced at the clock and was startled to see it was almost noon. She inhaled a quick breakfast and washed up as quickly as she could before scrambling down the stairs to get onto the machine. She settled into the familiar process of hooking up her attachments, gloves and headgear.
Eri waited for her stomach to ache as she entered into the familiar world of the Sims. Her open eyes saw the slow transition from black eye gear to a brightly lit world filled with smells and sights and sounds. She had never appreciated exactly how nuanced the Sims were. There were breezes and butterflies, and perfect 75-degree weather. She could feel the warm sun on her shoulders. Just a few transmitters to my brain and I could feel anything, she thought. It could all feel real.
Eri entered her classroom and sat in her normal seat, just as her laptop appeared in front of her. She glanced back at Bodhi's seat; it was empty. She felt a drop of disappointment, as Ms. Fritz began describing a new "collaborative project" they would be working on. Eri tried to look happy, but was irritated with having to work with someone she didn't know. She glanced back again and saw that this time, Bodhi occupied his seat.
"Today," Ms. Fritz went on, "you will be assigned one of several topics on which to create a presentati
on. The options are: History of The People's healthcare system, History of The People's education system, History of The People's economic system, History of The People's social and interpersonal safety initiatives and History of The People's protections and security measures. So long as more than two groups aren't doing the same topic, I will allow you to pick your topic. Please see the assignment description downloaded on our class webpage. You can work with one to three people of your choosing."
Eri sensed a presence at her desk and glanced up to see Bodhi looking at her with a forced look of seriousness. His lips twitched.
"I know we haven't worked together before," he started, to which she hid a small smile behind her hand, "but I wondered if you might want to partner with me?"
Eri regained her composure. "Um…well…are you a good researcher? I don't want to be weighed down."
Bodhi coughed. "Yes, I believe I will be an asset to the team."
Eri shrugged. "Okay." She stood up to join him as they moved to sit at a table in the back of the room. The room had doubled in size, with tables throughout the back. Each table held "print" resources. She wondered why they bothered giving them digital material that they could pick up and "read" with their simulated hands. No one read anything on paper anymore, really, so it seemed silly to even bother simulating it.
They sat down next to each other, careful to keep a normal distance.
"Which topic would you like to research?" Ms. Fritz asked brightly. Her persona was interesting, with big blonde hair and black cat-eye glasses. Bright coral lipstick colored round, pouty lips. Ms. Fritz was curvy, and wore a modestly tailored blue suit with white polka dots. Eri was deeply suspicious that Ms. Fritz looked nothing like her persona in real life.
"History of education, if we could?" Bodhi looked so sweetly innocent, Eri's mouth dropped open. Stunned at his unilateral decision, she turned her eyes from him to Ms. Fritz as she recorded his request.
"That's fine, you two. No one else has requested that topic. I can't imagine why!" Ms. Fritz winked at Eri as she walked away. Eri wrinkled her nose in confusion.
"I can totally imagine why. Um, what was your name again?" Eri asked, smiling sweetly at him.
Bodhi pursed his lips. "Bodhi. And, trust me, it is interesting."
Eri raised her eyebrows. "Well, I don't trust strangers."
"I'm not sure that is true. Shall we get started? It looks like she has provided five sources to start with." Bodhi thumbed through them and as he paused, he read out loud: "all provided by The People, general editor, Robert Boyd. Well, at least we know our source is trusted and complete." He rolled his eyes.
"How about you take two and I take two and we highlight the important information. The written part of the project has to contain a timeline as well as a pertinent map or physical layout of important locations and buildings. I am not sure what that means for us…maybe a sketch of a classroom? The timeline might be an easy place to start." Bodhi watched Eri's face as she developed a plan.
"So…is that what you do, then?"
"What? What do I do?" Eri asked, confused.
"You make plans."
"Yeah….so? How do you execute projects?" Eri sighed at Bodhi's dramatic interpretation of her actions.
"I don't. I'm just the researcher." Bodhi said this as if she would know what he meant.
"Well…you seem like you would be pretty good at coming up with plans to me." Eri glanced at him, sifting two of the resources out of the pile that looked interesting to her.
"No…I have ideas, but…I have trouble figuring out how to put it all together. To actually accomplish the thing I want. I like working with someone who makes plans naturally." He averted his eyes from hers and pretended to be deeply interested in the remaining articles.
Eri stared at him. She wished they didn't have to talk in code.
"Um, I am happy then to, uh, complete your team. I am sure we will be successful in…whatever endeavor you envision us…pursuing." There, she thought. He looked at her and smiled. She squinted at him. "Hey, your eyes are hazel. I thought they were blue…" She trailed off, remembering what he had said last night about their personas looking more and more like they did in "real life."
He looked down, his eyebrows knitting together. "Okay, let's get to it," he said as he read.
Eri read dry, encyclopedic writing with small font and few graphics, with little philosophy and everything stated as fact, no room for conversation or questions. She hated reading things that left no room for creative thinking. She looked over at Bodhi and he was looking at her.
"Are you done reading already?" she asked.
"Yeah. It's pretty straightforward."
"Mmmm… Okay. I think it might make sense to try to pin down five or so major turning points and explain why they were turning points rather than trying to list every random event. What do you think?" She raised her eyebrows.
"Um, sure. That makes sense. Should we make a list and then try to cross some off?"
She shrugged. "Give me what you have and we will see what happens."
"Okay… How about when all of the states adopted a K-12 public education model where students were given vouchers, or money, which they could use to pay for going to a traditional public school, purchasing hardware and software for online school, or attending private schools?" He read this verbatim from his article.
"Mmmhmmm," Eri typed and nodded.
Bodhi continued. "Most public school institutions were legally privatized 17 years after that…leaving only a few public institutions that students could elect to be shuttled to…and 10 years after that the Achievement Exam and college-slash-career placement program was fully adopted."
"Okay," said Eri. "We should probably add that after schools became privatized, the early Sims machines were made available with grant money from the state and then became a staple in many households within five years."
Bodhi nodded. "Should we say anything about college access? Or about the software available for enrichment and acceleration?"
"Nah, those don't seem that important. Here, how about this as an endpoint," Eri read from an article. "The new national system, in utilizing state tax dollars to access privatized systems, has produced an efficient and effective education system. All young adults, ages five through seventeen, participate in an educational system that allows them to attend when it is convenient for them at a pace that works with their learning." She looked at him, hands poised to type.
He shook his head, his elbows on the table. He put his face in his hands, trying to think of a response. "Okay," he said finally.
Eri stared at him, feeling sadness and frustration emanate from him. What did he know that burdened him so much?
Bodhi cleared his throat. "Have you ever read Lord of the Flies?"
Eri paused to think. "Yes, last year. I think we are all required to read it."
Bodhi blinked thoughtfully, choosing his words carefully. "Can you remind me what happens?"
She humored him. "Um, they kind of lose their minds with all the freedoms they encounter upon being shipwrecked and end up killing someone. They grow more violent as the book goes on and then they get rescued. Right?"
Bodhi nodded. "What do you think is the most important thing about the story?"
Eri scratched her forehead absently. "That within our society is the capability for great destruction. Therefore, we need a political structure in place to prevent us from self-destructing."
Bodhi took a slow breath. "And how does it end?"
"Um…jeez, is this a quiz? Okay, I think I remember. They end up on the beach where there is a British officer and then they fight him, not wanting to leave. They laugh when he gets hurt. A group of men finally sedate the boys and take them back to civilization, where they all learn to be civilized once again. How did I do?" Eri was impressed with herself.
Bodhi sighed. "You did great, Eri. You remember things you are taught pretty accurately."
"So, why the quiz?" she asked.
>
"I don't know, I was just thinking about that book. Maybe we can talk more about it later." He sat back in his chair, putting his hands on the table. He looked up at her from under his dark eyelashes and she wondered what he worried about.
"Okay," she said, reaching out and touching his hand absently.
He looked at his hand, covered partially by hers. She withdrew her hand slowly, uncertain if she had broken protocol.
"You're right," he whispered. "It is different."
They stared at each other in silence for a moment before going back to taking notes. They stood when class ended, walking out together without speaking.
He turned towards her, shoving his hands in his pockets. She looked up at him, squinting at the sunshine coming through the tips of his messy hair.
"Later then?" he asked, his words weighted.
"Later." She nodded as she turned to go. She fought the urge to look back at him, giving in and glancing over her shoulder. She was not surprised to find him still staring in her direction.
Chapter 8
Sickness
Eri untangled herself from the simulator, her stomach gurgling. She had spent extra time after class with her literature teacher trying to figure out what was expected out of their first literary analysis.
Eri emerged from the basement, looking around at the dim, warm dining room. Her mother dug through a cupboard. Eri could hear her muttering something to herself about fresh ingredients. Eri looked into the living room and saw her dad staring vacantly at the TV. He caught her eye and gave her a half-hearted wave.
She walked over to her mom and leaned back against the counter, arms crossed in front of her chest. "Mom?"
Empty Streets Page 5