Sleeping Jenny (10 page)

“Because we have something in common, something no one else on Earth has.” I walked up and gave her a hug before turning toward the door. She smelled like mothballs and lilac perfume, just like a normal grandma from 2012. I soaked it in. “See you next time.”

I turned to leave so she couldn't see the tears welling in my eyes. The door sensed my presence and opened automatically. I walked into the hallway, smelling oil and burnt circuits again. It was like I'd taken a time machine back to my world and stepped into the future once again. It crushed me to leave.

“Bye, Jennifer.” The sides of her door closed behind me before I realized she had remembered my name.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Confession

I
rushed back to my high-rise, afraid Valex and Len would arrive before I got back. If they did, I'd have to answer a slew of questions, and C-7 would be in trouble. He'd put himself out on a limb for me, and I still had no idea why. Whatever the case, I didn't want his memory erased. What if we got one of those crazy, world-domination robots in his place?

The hoverbus sped towards my high-rise, and I watched the GPS on my miniscreen to be certain I didn't miss the stop. People took so long to get on and off at each stop, I almost stood up and shouted at them to hurry up. When the driver reached my platform, I stood by the door, ready to go. He gave me a suspicious look while I bounced on tiptoe.

I shrugged. “Gotta make curfew.”
Hopefully he knows what curfew is
.

The driver pressed a panel and the doors parted. I jumped onto the platform and rushed to my level, pushing by anyone who got in my way. I buzzed the door with shaky fingers, feeling so guilty at skipping out, I was sure my face was as red as the multiplication pixie in Pell's game.

C-7 flashed on the screen. Did his eyes blink in relief, or was it my imagination? “Prompt arrival, Jennifer.” The door opened and I scurried inside. Plopping down on the plastic couch, I finally breathed.

Gears turned as C-7 walked over and stood before me. “Did you find everything you were looking for?”

“I did. Thank you for giving me the information.” I closed my eyes, trying to block out the world.

“If you truly found everything, why do you seem so sad?”

I sighed, opening my eyes slowly. No rest for me. You'd think I wouldn't need it after all those years spent sleeping, but my body weighed me down and weariness grabbed hold of me. Three hundred years were catching up.

“I miss two-thousand-twelve. In today's world, I'm a freak.”

C-7 stood in silence, as if what I said didn't compute.

Why was I telling my problems to a robot? I shook my head and stood up. Talking to Martha had made me tremble with homesickness. I needed to watch those videos, give myself a little normalcy.

“We are all freaks in one way or another.” The corners of his mouth turned up. “You have to be who you are.”

Philosophy advice, no less, from a computer with a head? “Whatever.” I'd had enough lectures for one day. I turned toward my room. “Tell Valex and Len I've gone to bed early.”

“What about dinner?”

I showed him the soywafer Valex had given me. “This will do.”

“Jennifer, that meal does not meet nutritional standards.”

First he gives me advice, and now he's my new cyborg mom?

“Thanks, C-7. I'll try to remember that.”

The stack of videos sat in my room like a shrine to the past. I pulled the next one out and popped it into the adapter Valex had connected to the wallscreen. Guilt pinged my gut. Valex had found time to set this up in his busy schedule and I hadn't even thanked him.

Red and blue balloons floated through the air. A podium sat on a stage, and people cheered in the audience. Had someone taped over my precious memories? Rage swelled up until my mom took the stage. She wore a bright pink suit, and a perfect conglomeration of curls covered her head. Flawless rose lipstick highlighted her smile.

She did it. She won the vote for mayor
.

Mom started her speech and I turned up the volume. “Dear townspeople, I am extremely honored and humbled to have been voted as your new mayor. I'm excited to accept the responsibilities your vote has entrusted me with. I am endlessly grateful to receive the majority of votes and your empowering confidence in my abilities. I can't wait to start.”

The crowd cheered, throwing up programs, roses, and hats. I never felt more proud of my mom.

She took in a deep breath, as if her next words required extra courage. “Many people have helped me along this journey, and I'd like to thank my husband, my son, Timmy, and my dear daughter, Jennifer. We are all waiting for you to wake up, my sleeping beauty, and we all love you.”

Mom wiped her eyes and sniffed. I did the same, mirroring her.
I love you, too, Mom
.

For a second she paused, almost as if she heard me and my heart caught in my throat. Could I send a mental message across the years of time? The connection jump-started my hopes.
Mom, can you hear me?

She blinked, continuing her speech, and the moment was gone. “Without your support, I wouldn't be here today.”

The rest of the speech blurred as the tears welled in my eyes. People from all over town came up to congratulate her, then the picture faded to gray static. She couldn't hear me. She was gone. I was looking at an image made from pixels, an image that was not my real mom.

I was so frustrated that I almost turned the video off, but Angela came on the screen, crying almost as hard as I was. I sucked up a sob and listened, more concerned for my best friend than my own miseries.

“I'm sorry, Jenny. I can't keep it from you any longer.”

What? Was she sick like me? Did she have to be frozen? Being a scholarship student at Ridgewood, I knew she couldn't afford it. I leaned in, watching from the edge of my bed.

Angela wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. “Since you've been gone, I've missed you so much. I wanted to have something that reminded me of you.” She laughed and her face brightened. “Something besides the scuff on my gym sneakers.”

I scratched my head. She had plenty of my stuff. She never gave me back the books I lent her, and she still had my red sweater from the day she came to school wearing a see-thru T-shirt by accident. I gave her jewelry for her birthday, and if she could find it, I made an art project for her in sixth grade. What was she talking about?

Angela sniffed and rubbed her nose with the palm of her hand, like she always did. “I'm just going to have to tell you point-blank.” She blinked. “Jenny, I'm going out with Chad.”

I fell off my bed, hitting my bony butt on the floor.

Angela sighed, running her hand through her curls. They bounced back into place perfectly. “I'm sorry. We just started getting to know each other after you fell asleep. We talked all about you. He asked about you, and I told him stories…”

I got up and flicked the screen off. I wanted to eject the disc and stomp all over it, but my mom's speech was on there and hearing her talk about me made all the nasty stuff in this futuristic world go away.

Betrayal burned down my throat to my guts. How could she? She knew I'd liked Chad. Hopelessness came over me with the thought I'd been forgotten, passed up, sold out for a guy. Somehow our friendship seemed cheapened, thrown out all over a hot guy and hormones.

I hit the wall with my fist, and a sharp pain jolted up my arm. Tears rolled down my cheeks and I collapsed to the floor as guilt stabbed my heart.

Oh, Angela. Why?
I missed her too much to be angry. Really, who was I kidding? I couldn't have Chad. He'd never really liked me, anyway. Was everyone supposed to put their lives on hold forever, waiting for me to wake up? It was uber-selfish of me to even think that way. Still, knowing Angela went out with Chad put a sour taste in my stomach. I had missed out on everything good and was left with high-rises, soywafers, and C-7.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Just One Dance

I
stepped off the hoverbus, wondering why I was bothering to attend the Autumn Ball. Valex and Len had pushed me, of course, and Len even bought me a sea-green tunic with a gold-embroidered hem.

I wasn't here because of them. I needed to get out of my room and away from those videos. Ever since I learned about Angela and Chad, I just couldn't bring myself to watch any new discs. I played the old ones over and over, and that had started to rot my brain. Was this self-induced torture? I refused to admit life had gone on without me, and I was afraid of what came next. The old videos were what I remembered life to be like. They were safe.

Couples walked by, holding hands, dressed in matching tunics. I shivered in the twilight breeze, feeling so alone. Autumn used to mean long horse rides and changing leaves. Now it meant colder wind rushing on top of the high-rises and a molten color added to the smog.

I rushed into Ridgewood Prep, wanting to get the night over with. Tubes of light lit the corridors, some blinking in patterns and others solid colors, making a rainbow. The colors reflected off my skin, making me look like a mermaid underwater.

“Look at her marvel at the lights. Born before electricity, were we?”

Giggles erupted at my back, and I didn't want to turn around. I knew Exara's lush alto voice anywhere. It gave me nightmares.

Sucking my lower lip in frustration, I took a deep breath and turned. Exara shone like a giant diamond, her tunic glittering with hundreds of tiny mirrors. She'd tied her auburn hair up in a bun of twisting braids. Surrounded by her Barbie lackeys, I was outnumbered, so I just seethed in silence.

“Come on. Let's party.” Exara wove her arms around her two closest friends and pushed by me. My silence worked. At least I hadn't provoked another embarrassing burn.

I stopped at the entranceway, disbelief and hope jolting through me.
Wait a second. Where's Maxim?
Weren't they going to go together?

I specifically remembered Exara and Maxim talking about their matching outfits at lunch. Maybe Maxim was already inside? I stepped into the cafeteria. Lights flashed from the floor to the ceiling and techno music blared. Apparently music hadn't evolved much in three hundred years. In this case, it had even gotten worse.

Holographic images of geometric designs were strewn everywhere, reflecting on people's foreheads, cheeks, arms and legs. I raised my arm and watched a parade of triangles stream by. Definitely an alien world.

If I'd gone to the old Ridgewood Prep Autumn Ball, the theme would have been underwater with streamers. No, I had to be here in trigonometry hell. Already my brain hurt thinking of all the equations they could form. What happened to a normal autumn theme? Like pumpkins, falling leaves, or ghosts and goblins? Had they lost touch with nature completely?

The techno music grew to a crescendo and then disappeared, silence ringing in my ears. People applauded, then all heads turned to a stage at the back of the room where Shizznizz had sat the other day, banging his head to his music in his earphones.

Maxim walked onto the stage, along with some other students. He wore a silver shirt tucked into tight, black plasticky pants. Strapped in front of him was a red guitar.

I almost fell backward. Holy crap, he was hot.

Exara stood in the front row, her multifaceted prism dress catching the light in all the right ways.

Earth to Jenny. He's already taken
. By a beauty queen of a young woman, no less.

Shizznizz started banging on the drum set, and the techno beat resumed in time with his beat. The lights flashed in pulse with the music, and my heart sped in primal beats. Maxim strummed an electric chord that made my knees weak, then opened his mouth and sang.

People started dancing, but I just stared. For a second Maxim's eyes met mine across the room and his lips curved up as he sang. I blushed and looked away, disappearing behind a group of giggling girls.

Why was I so drawn to him? Was it because he was the only person at Ridgewood to pay attention to me, to talk to me like I was a person? Maybe. It went deeper than that, though, and I didn't know why. I was missing a piece of the puzzle.

I plopped down onto a chair in the back. Nothing was going to happen, so I needed to stop dreaming in the clouds. I scanned the room for someone,
anyone
to talk to. I had to get my mind off Maxim and his wonderful voice resonating deep inside my gut.

I tried to picture what Angela would do, but all I could see was her dancing with Chad in an alternate Autumn Ball three hundred years ago. I pushed all the half-empty plastic cups away and put my head on the sticky table. Closing my eyes, I wished I was at the old Autumn Ball instead, even if I had to watch Angela and Chad together.

She would never have gone out with him had I still been awake
. The truth dawned on me, and I felt like the stupidest baby to ever walk the halls at Ridgewood. Angela had had a thing for Chad the whole time. She stayed away because of me. The realization hit me like a hammer in my stomach, and I blocked the party out, missing my best friend more than ever.
Oh, Angela, I'm so sorry
.

I cried until I fell asleep on the table. I didn't know how long I was out. All I remembered was hearing a disappointing shift in the music. Maxim's voice wasn't singing any longer. There was a deeper, bass voice rumbling instead. I rubbed my eyes and went back to sleep.

“Hey, Jenny, want to dance?”

I glanced up. Maxim stood in front of me. I wiped my eyes, making sure I wasn't hallucinating. There he was in all his hotness, hand extended.