Out There (7 page)

“Why do you ask?”

“No reason,” I said with as straight a face as possible.

She stared at me curiously for a moment then turned and walked away.

I sighed and untangled my arm from behind me then slid down the wall to sit on the floor. I hoped she didn't suspect anything.

Finally I was alone to read the leaflet that had caused so much anxiety. I stared at it and took in a deep breath. First I checked round the corner and I saw an older lady looking in my direction. Paranoid, I slid the leaflet under my leg and drummed my fingers on the floor, waiting for her to leave.

A few minutes later she was gone, but just as she left a few more women walked over to inspect the magazines section I was in. I snatched a book off the shelf and pretended to read it.

After what felt like forever, they left, but there were still several people milling around in the area. I was losing my mind over not knowing what the leaflet was. I tried to concentrate on the book I was holding, but it was just a story by a woman about how men had treated her and her children with cruelty when she asked for refuge.

The clock on the wall read 12:30 and I knew I had to leave to go to the café soon. I bit at my fingernail and peered around to see if anyone was looking. No one.

Excitement filled me and I placed the book back on the shelf and slid the leaflet out from under my leg. I held it in my hands and closed my fingers over the cover page when the loudspeaker beeped. I groaned as the voice rang out:

“Attention guests. Today we are closing early due to our weekly spot checks of the artefacts. Please be so kind as to put everything back where you found it and make your way to the exit in the next two minutes. Thank you.”

Great. I looked around and saw people walking towards the exit. I began to panic and desperately wanted to open the leaflet, but feared someone would see. Reading it was like a forbidden act that I had to complete.

I considered putting it back on the shelf, but something in me didn't agree and, without thinking about it too hard, I shoved the leaflet in my bag, stood up, and made my way to the exit. My heart was thumping in my chest, harder than on the night of Mother's Election.

I was about to walk out of the door when I heard someone behind me say, “You dropped something.”

I froze. I thought my heart froze too. Slowly I turned around and that lady – Hannah? – was bending down to pick something off the floor. It was concealed by her body, but I feared the worst.

“Here.” She held it out to me.

I relaxed; it was just the electronic document she had given me about the archaeology profession.

“Thanks,” I said, taking it from her.

“No problem, Ava.”

I gave as calm a smile as I could manage and quickly walked out of the archives and towards the nearest tram stop. On the tram I sank into one of the seats and checked my bag to make sure the leaflet was still there. Thankfully, it was. I smiled to myself, but as I looked back up I saw a woman staring at me. There was no way she could have seen me take it, but I still felt a cold hand of fear run up my spine.

As I peered around the tram, it felt like everyone was staring at me. They all looked like those wild animals I had seen in a text at school once. They called them owls and they had huge eyes that stared right into you.

Finally the tram reached my stop and I jumped off and found myself running to the café. I screeched through the door and spotted the others sitting at a table. I rushed over to my seat and sat down, panting.

“Ava, what happened to you?” Lexi asked.

“What? Nothing. Sorry I'm late,” I said while placing my jacket strategically over my bag.

“You look like you've been running,” Bri said with a concerned face.

“Running?” I tried to stifle my panting. “No, I was just worried about making it here on time.”

“You're only fifteen minutes late you know,” Lexi said, pointing at the clock.

I looked up at it and she was right. “Oh right.”

“So we were just talking about graduation,” Jade said.

“Cool.” I caught Katelyn's eye and she was looking at me with a concerned expression.

“Are you OK?” she mouthed.

I nodded at her and picked up one of the electronic menus. I slid my finger across the screen to open it and flipped through the list of dishes. Finally I decided on a tomato and mozzarella panini, something I hadn't tried before, and gave my order to the server.

“It's so unfair that you all graduate a year before me,” Bri sighed.

“Don't worry Bri, we'll all come cheer you on when you graduate,” Lexi said, squeezing her hand.

“But soon you'll all be receiving houses and applying for professions and I'll still be in school.”

“It also means we get higher incomes,” Jade said with a grin.

“Listen Bri, your last year of school is one of the most fun

and you can laugh at us when we all get barely any weeks off

compared to you,” Katelyn said.

“I know and I'm really happy for you all, it's just such an exciting time and I wish I could be part of it with you.”

“You are part of it.” Katelyn reached over and hugged her. The others continued to discuss graduation, but I was too fixated on the tiny blue corner poking out of my bag to hear exactly what they said.
What if someone saw me take it? What if it
was
registered and I had taken it when I shouldn't have? What would happen to me? What if it wasn't registered? Was it important? Or was it just a mistake?

“Ava.
Ava?
”

“Yeah, what?” I turned back to the table.

“Has your mother said anything about the Repopulation Phase?” Lexi asked.

They all stared at me expectantly.

“Umm… no, not yet.”

“Ava said her mother can't tell her anything before they announce it to the whole community,” Katelyn explained to the others.

“That's a shame. I wanted to know if we would be part of it,” Jade said sulkily.

“Yes, how wonderful would that be,” Bri sighed dreamily. “I just want to know what it would mean,” Lexi stated.

“Like how?”

“You're right, I do kind of want to know how it would work,” Bri agreed.

“Everyone is super excited for it anyway,” Katelyn said. “Mother said that it's exciting for the women that were alive pre-Movement because they never thought it would be possible until Sylvia Carter came around.”

“She's a legend,” Jade declared. “I plan to work in the technology field after graduation, like her.”

“It's so weird to think back to the way things used to be and how different it is now,” Lexi said.

“Like what would you do without the tram?”

“Or intercoms?”

“Or electronic documents?”

“Or the Bubble?”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“All I can say is that without Sylvia Carter we would certainly be on the road to extinction,” Jade stated, leaning back in her chair.

“Don't you agree, Ava?”

My head snapped up and I tried to find the voice that said my name. They were all giving me different looks: some puzzled, some expectant, others concerned.

“Yeah, I totally agree.” I nodded at them all in general.

“Do you even know what I said?” Jade asked through narrowed eyes.

“Of course I do.”

Jade raised her eyebrows. “What was it then?”

They all waited for my answer. I just stared at them.

“Here's your sandwich.” The server bent down and placed the plate in front of me.

She went round handing everyone else their meals as well. Jade was still looking at me challengingly.

“Oh Jade, you have to let me try some of your soup,” Katelyn said, taking Jade's attention elsewhere.

She turned. “Fine, but then I want in on your salad.” She reached over to grab a forkful of greens.

The two of them began talking about something to do with food and Bri and Lexi were very engaged in a discussion about houses.

“I hope they give me one with a garden like yours and Ava's.” “I would love a cute little house like the one we pass on the way to school.”

What if I lost the leaflet?

“What? No, vanilla over chocolate any day.”

“You're crazy, chocolate is the best thing that ever happened to this place.”

What if someone saw it fall out of my bag and they told the archives?

“And we can visit each other after work.”

“And use our own intercoms.”

Would I get in trouble?

“Seriously, your mother's chocolate cake is way better than her vanilla.”

“No, vanilla! Either way her banana toffee is the best.”

“I have to agree with you on that one.”

Would my mother get in trouble?

“I just realised, soon Ava won't be my neighbour any more, because she'll have her own house.”

“Yeah, but then you can visit her there.”

“True.”

Would they let me get my own house?

“Remember that time we had that cherry pie at your mother's bakery and we ate the whole thing?”

“How could I forget? I was so full at the end that my

stomach was growling all through school.”

Would my friends ever talk to me again?

“It's all so exciting, isn't it?”

“I know, we only have a few months left till we graduate.”
Would they let me graduate?

“I remember you telling me that your teacher asked you to go calm your digestive system because it was so loud.”

“Oh yeah, she did, didn't she?”

Maybe I should've taken it back.

“How strange that there are no years below us.”

“I know we'll always be the youngest in the community.”

“Not for long…”

But then I would never know what's in it.

“Whoa, you're eating all of my salad, get your own.”

“But it's so good.”

Maybe I should read it. Just in case.

“Do you think it'll work?”

“The Repopulation Phase?”

“Yeah.”

“How could it not?”

I better read it fast too. Just in case someone saw something.

“Why don't you eat Ava's sandwich instead? She's barely touched it.”

“Yeah, that's weird of her.”

But, I couldn't read it here.

“Hey Lexi, can you tell Ava to pass down her sandwich if she doesn't want it?”

“Sure, wait, why hasn't she eaten any of it? That's weird.”

I could read it at home.

“I thought she was always hungry.”

“Me too. Ava, are you OK?”

But, I couldn't just leave.

“Ava? She looks pale.”

“Ava, snap out of it.”

Would they notice if I left?

“What's got her?”

“Someone splash water on her face.”

“Jade! We can't do that!”

They might suspect something… maybe.

“Here, I'll do it. Pass the water.”

“Anything to break her trance.”

But, then again, I was very discreet.

“Thanks. Don't worry Ava, this is for your own good.”

I did have nerves of steel, maybe if I…

Something cold and wet washed over my face. I gasped and rubbed my eyes trying to see past the blur. Everything sounded so much clearer than a second ago. It was so clear it almost hurt.

“Ava, what happened?”

Soon things looked almost normal, but my eyes felt sore.

“Ava, don't you make me splash you again.”

I looked up. Jade was holding an empty glass of water and the others were all staring at me in shock. I stared down at my lap and saw I was completely drenched in water.

“What's with the water? You couldn't have just said I needed a shower, you had to go ahead and give me one yourself!”

Everyone sat back and sighed with relief.

“What?” I asked confused.

“At least you still have your sense of humour,” replied Lexi with a laugh.

“Oh…” I stared down at the floor and saw the leaflet poking out of my bag.

Then I had an idea.

“So are you going to eat that?” Jade pointed to my untouched sandwich.

“Actually you can have it, I think I'll go home and dry off, if you all don't mind,” I said, standing up to leave.

“Sorry about that,” Jade said while leaning over to grab my plate.

“It's fine, I know you have trouble controlling your impulses, Jade.” I picked up my bag and jacket. “I'll see you all soon, OK.”

Everyone waved me goodbye. I strolled towards the door, but just as I reached out to grab the handle, I stopped and turned to walk back to the table.

Leaning over, I snatched my sandwich out of Jade's hands. “I think I'll keep it actually.”

She stared at me with her mouth still open and about to bite. Then she laughed and said, “That's the Ava I know.”

I turned and winked at her as I walked out of the door and towards the tram.