Ordinary (Anything But) (11 page)

She wanted to say more, her mouth burned with the need to say all she was thinking, but Honor knew it wasn’t the time. Not now, not when there was an audience. Burns
would get his due, eventually; if not from her, then from someone else. It was only a matter of time before he pissed the wrong person off.

“Everyone, back to your rooms,” he said in a louder voice, turning his back on her.

Honor frowned, wondering who he was talking to. She turned and saw the cluster of four or five teens huddled near the hallway, watching them. They were quiet, unmoving, their eyes saying all their mouths couldn’t.

“That means you,” one of the clones told her, nudging her when she didn’t move fast enough.

She obeyed, marching for the hallway. Nealon had said she was one of them, that they were all the same. They weren’t. Honor was nothing like them. She didn’t want to be. Ever. When you lost compassion for another human being, regardless of how
human
they were or weren’t, you lost yourself. Honor would never turn into a clone, a robot. She made a vow to herself, right then, that she would never lose herself. The kids parted as she approached. She didn’t want to know what they thought of her, but her eyes had other plans. She took in each of their expressions, confused by what she saw.

Honor saw respect.

***

The common room was a loft above the large room that was once used for worship. Honor liked it up there. It had white walls, red carpet, and comfortable brown furniture. High windows let her know what the weather outside was like. Today it was gray and overcast
, but just being able to see it cheered her up immensely.

There was a refrigerator stocked with fresh fruits and veggies, cheese and meats, sports drinks
, and bottles of water. A counter with a sink was beside that. A microwave and coffeemaker was next to it, the cupboard above it containing all the makings for coffee. The scent of it lingered, like it had been made sometime that morning. One other person was up there, a girl with short black hair and glasses. She was slightly overweight and appeared to be timid. Other than a fleeting smile at Honor when she’d entered the area, she’d kept her eyes on the book in her hands. She sat on a recliner on the other side of the room. Honor didn’t remember seeing her anywhere in the facility before that moment.

Honor sat on the far end of the couch closest to the partial wall so she could see everyone from below and knew if anyone was coming. She’d caught a glimpse of Ryder earlier talking with Nealon and had quickly turned away, not wanting to draw Ryder’s attention to the loft and her.
She’d always thought she could read him, that she’d had him easily pegged. Now Honor knew that wasn’t so and it unnerved her. Ryder wasn’t obvious; he was instead multifaceted.

Sundays were free days. There was no testing or training (Nealon had informed her yesterday that was to come), no information overload, al
though Nealon had dropped a large, thick book in her arms when he’d flagged her down after breakfast. “Read it,” was all he’d said; turning away before she’d had a chance to comment.

She
hadn’t known what she’d expected from Nealon. He’d spent the better part of Saturday with her, explaining things to her, showing her around the place. Then Sunday…he gave her a book. She felt a little lost, a lot alone. Honor had no one to talk to. She wanted to tell him about what she’d seen last night, about how Burns had handled things, about the boy Honor hadn’t seen at all today. He probably knew anyway and didn’t care. Honor kind of thought he would though.

“Shouldn’t you be reading?”

She started, the heavy book sliding from her lap and landing on the floor with a small
thump
. Honor took in Ryder’s black tee shirt, faded jeans, messily styled hair, and lastly, his slightly swollen nose. The bruises had gone from purple to greenish-yellow. “I was informed Sundays are
free
days, and anyway, shouldn’t
you
have a life?” Honor leaned down to pick up the book, but one large boot stopped her. She looked up at him. “Really?”

“
So you just carry that hefty book around for fun? You must be a tortured soul, intent on self-torment. And I
have
a life. A spectacular one, in fact.” Ryder removed his boot from the book with a quick lifting of his lips.

Honor picked the book up and set it on the stand next to the couch. “Yeah, that’s why you hang out here when you don’t even have to.
Great life.”

Ryder plopped down on the couch close enough t
hat his leg was touching hers. She could smell his expensive cologne. It smelled good, kind of fruity, but masculine too. His body heat seeped into her thigh. She moved away.

“You’ll be happy to know I came here specifically to see you.”

She went still. “Why? Revenge?”

He
leaned toward her, his eyes studying her face. “That starts tomorrow.” He flashed another quick lifting of the lips that wasn’t really a smile. Her insides churned in response. He looked and sounded much too cheerful about whatever it was he had planned for her the next day. “You and I, we have some unresolved issues to discuss.”

“Such as?”

“Your obsession with me. It’s beginning to worry me. You can’t keep following me around everywhere. I mean, school was okay, but here?” He shook his head. “A line has to be drawn.”

“You are hilarious.”

“I know. Don’t be jealous.”

Shaking her head, Honor decided a change of subject was needed. Too much of charming Ryder and it was easy to forget all the other parts of him.
“When did the UD virus kick in for you?” she asked, carefully watching him.

Ryder’s face went implacable. “Two years ago.”

“Two years ago. When you were sixteen.” Honor’s eyes studied his face. “About the time you moved here.”

“You’re fast,” he mocked.

“Is that why you moved here?”

“No, it was the beautiful scenery.”

“You know, I liked you better when you were trying to woo me.”

“Is that what you thought I was doing?” Ryder laughed.
“
Please.
”

Honor shifted uncomfortably, her face burning. Well, that’s what she’d
suspected
anyway. Not always, but some of the time.

“I was
watching
you. Big difference between wooing someone and watching someone. Maybe you should trade that textbook in for a dictionary. I’m sure there’s one around here somewhere.” He pretended to search the area, shrugging as his eyes came to rest on her.

She swallowed and looked down at the brown book on her lap. Ryder had been spying on her, waiting to see if she’d turn into a UD or a UDK. Natasha had been as well. The last two years, Ryder’s interest in he
r, it had all been a big joke on Honor. Not that she cared, but the duplicity of Ryder’s intentions was more than a little aggravating.

Straightening her shoulders, Honor met his expectant eyes.
“If your nose wasn’t so close to already being broken, I’d break it for sure this time,” she said evenly, staring at his profile.

Ryder smiled at the shy girl across the room. She jumped to her feet,
her book clutched to her chest, and hurried from the loft. “Yeah, about that. That won’t be happening again.” Cold eyes were narrowed on her and Honor fought to keep a shudder in. “Don’t ever try something like that again. I mean it.”

“
And if I do? Does bad Ryder come out?” She didn’t know why she was taunting him. No good would come of it. But when they tossed words back and forth, she felt, somehow,
alive
, in a way she otherwise never did.

He looked at her so intently and for so long that Honor wiggled in the seat
. Ryder leaned forward; near enough she could see the gold flecks in the green of his eyes. “You don’t want to see bad Ryder. Trust me,” he said silkily. Ryder straightened, smiling. Honor didn’t know how he couldn’t her heart pounding, but he didn’t comment, so he must not have. “I wasn’t prepared last time. I will be from now on.” He got to his feet and looked down at her. “See you tomorrow after school. I’ll be sure to remember your schoolwork.”

He started for the stairs.

“Wait!”

Ryder turned
with a quirked eyebrow.

Honor slowly stood. “
When did you…when did you know…what you were?”

“
On my sixteenth birthday. It was epic. Happy Birthday to me and all that. Most kids get to drive. I got to find out my art teacher was a freak.” His tone was carefree, but there were lines around his lips. Honor didn’t believe it was epic, not in a good way, at least. And seeing that for the first time? It wasn’t easy to accept, not for anyone.

When he moved to leave again, her pulse picked up. She didn’t want him to go and she didn’t understand why. There was so much she didn’t know about him. “Why did you
really
come here today?”

A grin hovered on his lips as he turned his head to the side. “I just wanted to make sure you were still in one piece so I can exact my revenge on you tomorrow.”
He faced her and winked. “Be seeing you, Honor.”

She stared at the spot he’d stood long after he was gone. Honor was confused. She
hated
feeling that way. What Ryder said and did contradicted one another on a daily basis. Could it be he had been worried about her? Honor shoved the thought away, but it lingered, giving her doubts. Ryder was good at that, making her doubt herself, and him. She never knew where she stood with him, which Honor kind of thought was what he intended. Honor picked up the book titled ‘UD Handbook’ and headed for her room. He’d basically just said he was not and never had been interested in her. She walked down the steps, one hand against the wall to keep her from losing her balance. Then why had he gone out of his way to interact with her so often?
Why do you care?
She didn’t. Honor needed to understand, that was all.

Plus he’d asked her to have dinner with him.
But that was after the UD virus had affected you.
Honor stopped at the bottom of the stairs, her gaze lifting as she felt eyes on her. Four kids watched her from the benches, three boys and one girl. Honor would have kept walking, but one of the boys called out, “Hey, you.” She stopped and looked at him. He had wavy brown hair, brown eyes, and straight, even teeth. The boy flashed a smile. “Come here.”

Nerves jumbling in her stomach and palms dampening, Honor approached them, the book held tightly in her arms. She recognized them from the night before. They were spread out over two benches like they weren’t infected with a body-changing virus, like they weren’t being kept from their homes, like their lives hadn’t recently been completely reworked. They were good actors.

“I’m Zach,” the talker of the group said. “This is Rose.” He pointed to the blond-haired girl sitting next to him. She was pretty, but there was an inflexible edge to her face, an unforgiving element. Honor thought she would fit right in with the UDKs. “Max.” A boy with shaggy brown hair and pale blue eyes nodded. Zach smiled. “And James.” James had glasses, short dark brown hair, and kept his eyes down as Honor looked at him.

Out of all of them, James stirred her interest the most. He looked so despondent and either wouldn’t, or couldn’t, hide it like the others. They were all scared. Honor had seen it in their faces the night before. She of all people knew things always seemed better during the daytime hours, even when it wasn’t. It was easy to forget the incident from the other night when it wasn’t staring them in the face.

“I’m Honor.”

“Everyone knows who you are,” Rose said. She didn’t say it nicely either.

Honor chose to ignore her comment. “Where are you from?”

Zach answered, “We’re all from different parts of Wisconsin.”

“So all UDs and UDKs in Wisconsin are registered through here?”

Rose laughed, but again, it wasn’t a pleasant sound. “This is the third facility
in the state, the newest one.”

Honor swallowed. “I thought…I thought the chances of being born with the virus have lessened. Why are they opening more facilities?”

James finally looked at her then. She took in his young features and felt a twinge in her heart. Something about him reminded her of Scarlet; the innocence he had yet to lose. “The chances have lessened, but the population of people is always multiplying. There are over seven billion people in the world right now. An eighth of that carries the virus,” he said in a quiet voice.

“How old are you?” Honor asked him. It was important to her that she got all the information on James he was willing to give. She didn’t know why, just that it was.

“I turned sixteen five days ago.” He clasped his hands together in his lap and looked at them.

“He’s been here four,” Max answered, jumping to his feet and startling Honor.

“James was a quick turner,” Zach said. “Most kids don’t turn so soon after their sixteenth birthday. I’m seventeen. Tomorrow is my eighteenth birthday. Tomorrow I also get to go home. Rose is going to be seventeen in a month and she’s been here six days too.”