Seneca Rebel (The Seneca Society Book 1) (11 page)

I could tell he didn't want to ruin the vibe of the moment, but he had something that he needed to share with me and it was time.

"They listen to everything."

"Who?"

"S.O.I.L. Nothing you say or do is secret. They know everything."

"How can they know it
all
?"

There was that paranoid look he had when I’d first met him, when he thought I was following him. Now, he looked all around, even up through the break in the rock structure, into the sky, scanning our surroundings like a raptor searching for prey.

"Our flexers?"

"Our flexers. Your blood."

"My blood?" I was baffled. How could they possibly listen to me through my blood? It sounded impossible, but then, why would he make this up?

"That shot you got wasn't for a flesh-eating bacteria. There is no such disease as Necrolla Carne."

I was dumbfounded. "How do you know?"

"I’ll show you, but for now, just be careful. Watch every move you make. Don’t trust anyone."

"Okay."

I thought about what Ellen Malone had told me the night before, and I felt conflicted. I had started to trust her as much as I could trust anyone, but here, in this moment, I trusted Dom the same, if not more. He looked back at me with those intense eyes– one hazel and one blue. He didn't blink. I felt him peering into my soul. Searching. Understanding me.

I wondered why he had decided to share this with me.

"You're different," he whispered. His hushed voice was melodic against the howl of the water rushing through the cave and the angry waves that smashed into the rock wall outside.

"So are you."

"That's why we are here together, right now."

I wanted to know everything right then and there, but I could tell that it wasn't the time to press. I was willing to wait, happy enough with this moment being just the way it was.

19

I
DARTED
AWAKE
and grabbed my flexer. It was three thirty-three a.m. I'd slept for just over three hours– the longest stretch of sleep I’d had since right after my Necrolla Carne vaccination– or whatever that thing was. I couldn't wait until the next time I saw Dom, though we hadn't set a specific time. We didn't even have each other's flexer info.

I flipped on B3 and scrolled through the stations. The news was on with the same newscaster I'd seen the other day. She was an America's sweetheart type to a T. Light brown hair, and bangs that framed her lightly freckled face. Soft blue eyes the color of dolphin skin and a button nose people pay good money to have done with plastic. Becky Hudson.

"An outbreak of the VCF2 virus is creating a frenzy in the metropolitan D.C. area and the department of health is warning of its high level of contagiousness. This is on the heels of the third strain of bird flu to cause over two thousand deaths on the eastern seaboard this past summer."

Video images played of people sick in hospitals, wearing facemasks in public places, from the mall to the post office. Kids were being removed from schools on stretchers, crying parents– the whole nine yards.

"Seneca Senate spokesperson, Terence Murray, issued this statement from the capital: It is in the best interest of all Senecans to avoid contact with the American population until the Center for Disease Control has declared this disease contained. Any Senecan who has been in contact with anyone or anyplace these diseases have been present, will be placed in the Quarantine and Cleansing Sector, and potentially removed from the Seneca Society. Rest assured, we are taking these matters seriously to ensure the safety of our citizens."

I flipped the channel. After what I’d heard from Dom I didn't know what to think about all this. I forced myself to push it out of my brain altogether. Nothing good was on B3, so I hopped out of bed and squatted down next to my record player. I pulled my Michael Jackson "Thriller" L.P. from the stack and sat back to crank some Billie Jean– one of my favorite songs of all time. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the warmth of the crackle on the vinyl. It always soothed me, and reminded me of my Mom. It was the one thing we loved doing together while we waited for my dad to get home after work. Sometimes he would come in the door and the two of us would be having the best dance party. We always danced like nobody was watching. Here, it seemed, maybe they
would
be watching. I wondered if I would still dance the same, knowing that. I thought I would.

20

T
HERE
WAS
NO
sign of Reba at our usual meet-up spot when I got off the acoustic carrier on Monday morning, en route to first session. I was starting to think something was up. Was he mad at me for something I’d said or done? For a guy, he was pretty darn emotional.
 

After my first couple of sessions, it was time for lunch so I hit the monster of all meal halls. Pristinely white with long stainless steel tables and chairs, everything was perfectly symmetrical. The ceilings were about sixty feet high and lined in grids of tubes through which food was delivered. You ordered and it popped up directly on the table in front of your seat, and it was removed the same way.

I went to the table where I’d had lunch with Reba almost every day so far. He wasn't there. I walked up and down the aisles of tables hoping I would find him somewhere, but I couldn't spot him anywhere. I was starting to get to know who the cliques were at S.E.R.C. In this one way, at least, S.E.R.C. was just like my school back home in LA.

"Looking for someone?"

I spun around. Reba was there, sitting at a table with his back to me. He was eating a tuna fish sandwich on a French roll. There was a peanut butter cookie on his tray. It's what he had every single day.

"Hey, Reebs. I've been wondering where you've been."

"I've been around."

I eyed the seat next to him. "May I?"

"Please."

I knew by the tone of his voice that there was something going on. His usual peppy inflections were uncharacteristically subdued. He didn't even bother to look at me.

I took my flexer out and connected it to the port on the end of the meal tube. I placed my order for a cheese quesadilla with spicy salsa on the side.

"How was Great Falls?"

I hadn't even seen him since I'd earned the opportunity to go there. He must have heard through the grapevine. I guess the gossip mill is another similarity, between Seneca and my old school. So this was about the fact that I had invited Dom and not him. I definitely didn't want to rub it in that it had been unbelievably awesome, that I’d had the time of my life. That it had been a day undoubtedly I’d never, ever forget. "It was okay."

"You really expect me to believe that?"

"Are you mad at me? Because if you are, just tell me."

"Not at all. Why would I be mad?"

"Exactly."

"Exactly."

My quesadilla arrived. We ate in silence. He was clearly mad, and he shouldn't have been, but for some reason I still felt guilty. I didn't want his feelings to be hurt.

A deep voice boomed from behind me. "Doro from LA."

I twisted around in my seat to see G.W. Wallingsford. His arm was draped around an emerald-eyed brunette who managed to emit a high sense of fashion even though she was decked out in the same blue outfits as the rest of us. On his other side posed a beefcakey guy with dimples and a faux hawk.

"This is my girl, Brittany, and my boy, Mikey. Brittany, Mikey– Doro from LA." Brittany bent down and kissed my cheek, cooing, "Hey. I love LA."

"Thanks, me, too. This is my friend, Reba. He's from Texas via Puerto Rico."

"What up, man?" G.W. put his forearm up to bump Reba's. Reba pepped up, "Nice to meet you all."

Mikey eyed Reba's peanut butter cookie. "You gonna eat that?"

Reba handed it to him. "I can order another one."

"Sweet, thanks bro."

G.W. elbowed Mikey. "Come on, man, you just ate."

"Yeah, but not a peanut butter cookie."

Mikey inhaled the cookie as we all watched. G.W. shook his head, then put his hand on my shoulder. "Listen, Doro from LA, Brittany's parents are headed to South America for two weeks. She and her sister are going to have the place to themselves, and this Friday night we’re going to throw down hardcore. LA style. You should come. Both of you."

Brittany nodded in agreement. "For sure."

"Most definitely, we'd love to."

"How will we get there?" Reba was hesitant. I have no idea why.

"Don't worry, Puerto Rico. I got you covered, my man."

G.W. bent down to my level and tapped on a sleek black headband that was holding his abundant blond hair back. It was his flexer. I pulled mine from the meal port and put it to G.W.'s. My life was no longer my life. I was definitely living someone else's. Even Reba watched in amazement.

"Y'all kids enjoy your grub. I'll flex you with the transpo deets Friday, Doro from LA. Just remember, mums the word on this jam. The only people that need to hear about it need to hear about it from the right place. Know what I'm sayin'?"

"Of course."

Reba motioned that his lips were sealed. G.W. threw him a fist bump. The three said their goodbyes and then strolled off, turning heads all the way down the meal hall like a row of falling dominos. It irked me that their connections allowed them to traverse between Seneca and the Aboves, but I kept it to myself. If Reba felt the same way, I couldn’t tell, because he acted as if it was nothing. He didn’t even seem interested in the party. "You sure you want to go? You don't seem so into the idea," I asked.

"Yep. It's nice of them to extend the invitation."

He didn't seem sure at all. Like something other than the Dom-in-the-Aboves thing was bothering him. I wanted things to feel right again. "It'll be fun. I'm glad that we're going to a party together."

The corners of his lips tilted up. There was a smile breaking through. The freeze was over, thank goodness.

21

W
HAT
WAS
IT
with the men in my life? Or should I say men, dudes and for the most part, boys. They were all so elusive and unpredictable. From my dad's disappearance to Reba's avoidance of me, to the constantly unknown location of Dom, I was always left wondering where someone was physically or where he was at in his head. And if any of it had something to do with me.

I hadn't seen Dom since our surreal Saturday at Difficult Run. It was pretty strange that we hadn't exchanged flexer contacts. Which made it extra strange that I had both Jennifer and G.W. Wallingsford's. I wanted to see Dom more than ever, but I couldn't flex him. The initial crush had blossomed into something so much more. We hadn't even hooked up or anything, but we had such an intense mental connection that my thirst for what could follow was left completely unquenched.

An internal battle began to brew. My curious, determined heart kept luring me to follow it and try to track him down. My logical, but much less persistent, mind, told me to chill. Back-off. Don't chase the guy. Let him chase you. Besides, it would be a tumultuous road that could only end in either eternal love or heartbreak. It was a classic scenario, and my first foray into the trials and tribulations of heart versus mind.

My mind folded; my heart won. I went to Ty's sushi joint. Sessions had ended for the week and I couldn't go on leaving our next meeting up to fate. It was on the early side for dinner and the restaurant was already packed. I wasn't surprised. I made my way to the bar and found Ty, hamming it up for a group of four women in their mid-50's. Beneath the blue they were all ravishing and elegant. Social status bled through their pores. Their laughter was contained, but genuine. They savored this sushi and praised Ty. He soaked up the accolades, and when he caught me watching he enthusiastically waved me over.

"There she is!"

"Hey, Ty, nice to see you again. How's it going?"

"Bad bad bad. American bad. I'm bad, I'm bad, I know it, I know, woo!"

"M.J. Nice. Love the reference."

"Back for the jalapeno lime halibut cheek?"

"I'd love some yes, but actually, I was looking for Dom. I haven't seen him in a while and thought I might catch him here."

Ty leaned in onto the counter with a mischievous grin. "Ah ha. You are here for my friend, not my halibut. I see how it is."

"Well, both. I'm here for both."

"Give me a minute."

Ty spun around like M.J., and disappeared through the back door. As I waited, I did some people watching. Clusters of patrons were eating sushi as if we were all within heaven's gates, where angels sprinkled a little bit of dust on each bite. Welcome to heaven via the Sushi Seneca gate. I chuckled to myself. And then I remembered the main reason I’d come there. Would Ty be able to work some relationship magic just the way he was able to take people to heaven with sushi?

Ty came back through the door with a grin. I liked the look of it.

"Doro Campbell, today is your lucky day. First, come, come."

I darted to the sushi bar and stood just behind the group of women. Anticipation felt so good. Ty moved behind the bar like a mad scientist with a ballerina's poise. In no time, a plate of jalapeno lime-infused halibut cheek was placed on the bar. Glistening and chanting my name like a choir. Two of the important women parted like the Red Sea so that I could reach between them and retrieve my passage to nirvana. I wanted to be polite and sophisticated and savor these two delectable pieces of Ty's food art, but I couldn’t. The moment this sushi touched my tongue, the intense flavor triggered the bliss I had experienced the week before, only this time it was even more potent. I chewed fast, eyes closed, swirled my tongue around to get every bit of flavor onto every millimeter of taste bud inside my mouth. Time stood still. And then I swallowed, and snatched up the other piece from the plate like a toad taking in a fly with its tongue. The intensity amplified with the second piece. I finished. I opened my eyes. Ty was a prophet.

"Come, come." He waved me to follow him and, before I'd even taken a step in his direction, he disappeared into the back.