Genesis Girl (19 page)

I always knew Seth was a pig. Seeing his apartment proves it. There are half-eaten pizzas, boxes of donuts, and empty liters of soda everywhere. It’s like junk food came here to die.

And don’t get me started on the connections. Seth clicks screens down right and left. Even in the bedroom, where his unmade bed is a tangle of sheets, there are video screens on every wall.

“If I had known you were coming, I would have cleaned up a bit,” Seth says.

If I didn’t know him better, I would think he was embarrassed. “Fair is fair, Virus. You’ve barged in on me before.”

“I thought we agreed you’d call me Seth.” He slides some dirty socks off the couch so I can sit down.

“Oh right. I forgot.” When I sit down on the couch, my hands go straight into a melted bowl of ice cream.

I pretty much freak out.

“I’ve been stained!” Rocky road drips down my arm, ruining my white shirt. I glare at Seth’s smirk.

“Um, let me show you to the bathroom,” Seth offers. There’s an awkward moment where he holds out his hand to help me get up, and I refuse to touch him. There’s been enough touching already.

Ten seconds in Seth’s bathroom and I already know a million more things about him than I would have liked. Most importantly, Seth doesn’t have any soap. So I come out with my hands held up and still dripping.

“Any soap?”

“Sure,” says Seth. “In the cabinet.”

I root my feet to the floor.

“What’s the matter now, princess?”

“I can’t open your cabinets,” I say. “That would be an Invasion.”

“A what?”

“An Invasion.” I try to stay calm. But it’s tough when you’re talking to a Virus. “If I look in your cabinets, it would be an Invasion of Privacy.”

“Again with the Vestal shit,” Seth mutters. He scoots past me into the bathroom and I follow behind. It’s tight quarters in here. “I don’t see what the big deal is.” He opens the cupboard and gets out some soap and a fresh towel. Then he stands there, watching as I wash up.

“It’s a huge deal,” I say. We’re standing so close I can smell him. At least he smells clean. Exactly like I remember.

“Oh yeah?” Seth says. “Why is that?”

I nod at the medicinal shampoo in the shower. “You have dandruff.” Then I look at the floor and counter. “A girl was here, maybe a while ago by the looks of that hairpin on the floor, and you leave weird notes next to your shaving brush. That’s way more about your life than I ever wanted to know.”

“I don’t have dandruff,” Seth says, his voice getting louder. “No comment on the female visitor, and you can blame my mom for the notes under the shaving brush. That’s just a thing we used to do.” His chest moves up and down rapidly like his blood is pounding hard. He always gets worked up when he talks about his mom.

I remember that too.

I turn away and dry my hands off on the towel, trying to stay in the present and forget all of the rest. “My shirt’s ruined. I look like I’m wearing brown.”

“I’ll get you a clean one.” Seth comes back a minute later with a crisp white oxford. It smells like detergent but also like him.

I wait for Seth to leave the bathroom before I strip off my T-shirt and button up the broadcloth.

When I return to the living room, it’s slightly cleaner, like Seth raced around picking up trash the few minutes I was alone in the bathroom. I head back toward the couch, but Seth stops me.

“Don’t sit there! Here,” he says, pointing to a chair. “Sit here. There’s better light.” Then he clicks on the lamp next to my chair and another one on the wall behind him.

“I’m here to deliver a message from your dad,” I say, sitting down. “Cal wants to see you again. He’s upset about how things turned out. He doesn’t want Ms. Lydia to come between you.”

Seth runs his hands through his dark hair, and it sticks up in spikes. “The thing is,” he says. “Maybe I could be cool with this. But Lydia being a Vestal weirds me out.” He leans forward and gazes at me intently. “Maybe I could be more comfortable with the situation if you tell me more about her.”

“Sure.” I try to think what I could say that would make Seth understand how wonderful Ms. Lydia is without giving too much up. “She’s brilliant. She can talk about anything.”

Seth hangs on every word. “Tell me more,” he says.

Something about the way he’s suddenly being so polite makes me suspicious. “We still have our deal, right? What’s said between you and me is private?”

“Yes, Blanca. Of course, Blanca.”

He’s such an ass. I don’t trust him one bit.

“Look.” I rub my platinum cuff for support. “The bottom line is that your dad is super happy, and it’s all because of Ms. Lydia. The only thing missing from his life right now is you. Won’t you give it a chance?”

“A chance? You want me to watch my dad make a fool of himself?”

“What are you talking about?”

Seth grits his teeth. “Do you know what Lydia’s story is? Where does she live? Who purchased her? What do you really know about her?”

“That’s none of my business.”

“And it doesn’t bother you?” Seth presses on. “It doesn’t make you mad that Lydia’s probably going off to another guy who purchased her and then coming home to my dad? I thought you cared about him.”

“I do care about Cal!” I protest. “And that’s not how it is. You’ve got it all wrong.” I’m so angry at how Seth is slandering Ms. Lydia that my words spill out before I can stop them. “Ms. Lydia’s giving your dad
all
her free time. She’s giving him her choice. She’s choosing to be with him! That’s more important than anything else.”

“That’s so messed up I can’t believe you’re saying that.”

“It’s not messed up!”

“It is too!” Seth says. “Look, how do you know that Lydia’s purchaser isn’t
telling
her to like my dad?”

“Because her contract is—” I start to say. But I stop myself in time.

“Her contract is what?”

“Nothing.” I can’t tell Seth that Ms. Lydia no longer answers to her purchaser. Her business is private. I shouldn’t trust Seth at all. Not one bit!

“I know you know something,” Seth says.

“No. I mean, no, I don’t. I’m only guessing. It’s none of my business.”

“Admit it. It’s possible that somebody’s pulling Lydia’s strings.”

But I don’t admit it because I know it’s not true. Ms. Lydia’s contract is up. She’s with Cal because she wants to be with him. She’s the most perfect Vestal there is. She’s everything I want to be.

“I would never let anybody hurt your dad,” I say with sincerity.

“Look, Blanca. I’m never going to be okay with my dad and Lydia being together unless you can tell me some more information about her.”

“That’s not going to happen!”

“Then I guess we’re done here.”

“No. We’re not.”

“How do you figure?” Seth rubs the back of his neck.

“Because your dad told me to make you listen. He said to make you understand.”

“And you do everything my dad tells you to?” Seth asks.

Seth’s mocking me again, and it hurts. I look down at my platinum cuff and try to remember my long-ago lessons from Ms. Corina. First I relax my forehead, then my cheeks, then my smile, until finally I straighten my spine like it’s being lifted from above, and I’m placid. I’m perfectly placid.

“I’ll come back tomorrow,” I say. “I’m going to make you understand.”

“I’ll never understand.”

“Maybe so,” I say. “But Ms. Lydia’s moving in with us anyway.”

Set’s face goes white, the tattoos sitting on his skin like liquid ink. “What?”

“The workers are there right now, lining your dad’s rooms with lead.”

Seth doesn’t say anything. He stands there, stunned. And deep inside, I find the urge to reach out and comfort him. To wrap myself around him in a hug. But I don’t have the courage.

“See you tomorrow,” I finally say.

I’m not sure if he hears me.

Cal waits for me in his office. He purses his lips when he sees my new shirt. “What happened?”

“Ice cream.” I shrug. “I’m sorry, Cal, but I couldn’t make Seth listen to reason. I’m going back tomorrow to try again.”

Cal raises his eyebrows. “I see. Well, here’s something for you in the meantime.” He shows me the miniature solar cells he’s brought in for me to play with. They’re hooked up to an old-fashioned calculator that’s broken.

“This is your new task for today. Figure out how this works.” Cal smiles, encouraging me with his faith in my capability. Then he leaves for some meetings.

The tiny solar circuit is like a little mystery. I look at it from every angle before I open up my textbooks. Then I take the circuit apart, tinkering until it works.

There’s something about the circuit that reminds me of a cloister. A cloister has to be completely secure so your privacy doesn’t escape. All the windows and doors are locked. It’s the same thing with the circuit. One little opening and the electrons run free.

When Cal comes to get me at the end of the day, I’m standing next to the window. “Well?” he says. “Let’s see what you accomplished.”

I hold the calculator to the light, and the solar cells charge after a few seconds. The little calculator fires right up, flashing numbers and ready for work.

“This is only the beginning,” Cal tells me. “If you can do this, then you can do anything.”

And I smile because I know he is right.

I can do anything if Cal tells me to.

The next day Seth’s apartment is considerably cleaner. He must have spent the last twenty-four hours covering the whole place in bleach. Lights are on everywhere, and one of the windows is open, letting in some fresh air. It even looks like Seth brushed his hair.

“It’s a nice place you’ve got here,” I say, “once you finally cleaned it up.”

Seth shrugs. “I decided to give the maid a call.”

I throw down my jacket on an armchair and make a turn around the room, fingering the bookshelves like I’m examining his knickknacks. Really, I’m looking for hidden cameras, just in case. I’ve been thinking about Seth turning on all those lights yesterday and hoping it wasn’t some sort of nefarious move.

“We still have a deal, right?” I try to sound friendly. “You promised to keep our conversations private?”

“Of course, Blanca.” Seth grins. “Don’t you trust me?”

“About as much as you trust me.” I sit on the edge of the couch. Maybe I’m being paranoid.

“In my defense, you did try to trick me. That night, under the tree, in my room, the rest of it … ” Seth comes to the couch and sits next to me. “You really messed with me. For a couple of days there I thought … But then it turns out you were under directions from my dad.”

I shouldn’t feel guilty, but I do. Because maybe I did like Seth—for a few minutes, at least. But there’s no way I’m admitting that I ever liked a Virus.

“I’m sorry.” It takes a lot to say that.

“To be clear,” Seth says, “my dad didn’t tell you to mess with me now, right?”

“No,” I say, instantly defensive. “But he wants you to understand. Cal’s happy, and he wants you to be part of that.”

“Maybe I could be … Maybe if you told me a little more about the Vestals, I’d understand.”