Solstice (5 page)

The Asian girl who’s walked into the room smiles. Her head is shaved, and Polynesian tattoos cover it. Tikis of all sizes and shapes. I can see the top of it because she’s probably under five feet tall. But the strangest thing is that for just a second she seems to be covered in patchy mold. It’s mostly got an orange hue, but spots of dark fill in gaps here and there. I watch it shift and grow on her skin because it’s among the oddest things I’ve ever seen.

When I blink, it’s gone.

She doesn’t make eye contact with either of us. “Good. Tattoos are easy,” she says. “They heal fast these days. Used to be they caused all sorts of scabbing and infection. But now we seal each puncture once the ink’s inserted.”

I nod and decide the orange mold was just the lights flickering. It had to be.

Chloe’s brother once told us that tattoos had been used to mark slaves, and that they were used now to barcode criminals. I wonder if my dad got tattooed when he was in prison.

“So who’s first?” the girl asks, turning and walking into the next room. The red tiki on the back of her skull watches me as she goes, daring me to follow.

I look to Chloe, who smiles. “Piper is.”

I
am right. My mom wants to kill me. As soon as I walk into the Botanical Haven, I know she knows. The Botanical Haven is enormous, with glass walls and ceilings that reach so high entire trees grow straight into the air, and the entire lower level is filled with growing things: flowers, fruits, and herbs just to name a few. But my mom’s anger finds me, even amid all the vast space, and focuses. A dampness settles into the air around me, and the Easter lily next to me seems to wither as if even the plants can sense her anger. She’s still in the back near the rows of sinks we use to water the plants, and I have a last minute urge to try to cover my newly tattooed left arm before she gets to me. But I know she’ll still find out, so I don’t bother.

I start for the stairs to the apartment we live in above the shop. One step. I feel her getting closer. Another. She’s about to turn the corner. The tile floor echoes with her footsteps. Deep breath. I take another step. I’m almost to the cash register.

“Piper.”

Her voice sounds calm. Too calm. Like it’s water that she’s placed inside a copper pot, but it hasn’t yet boiled.

“Hi, Mom.”

She comes around the corner and smiles when she sees me. But it’s not her normal smile which makes me feel safe and secure, although a bit smothered. This smile is thin. Calculated. School only let out a half hour ago, but she definitely knows I’ve skipped.

“How was school today?”

I shrug, keeping my left arm away from her. I can’t help myself. I sling my backpack so the strap hangs over the tattoo and lick my lips. My freshly inked skin protests against the strap, but I hold my position. “Fine. Aren’t you supposed to be at your meeting?”

She looks to one side, and another plant seems to wilt under her gaze. I swear when she’s mad my mom can kill plants with a glance. Apparently, it offsets my eternal green thumb.

My mom catches my eyes with hers and holds them. I can’t tear them away, and I think of Tanni from the Drag, taking me captive with her empty eyes. I force myself to maintain my mom’s gaze.

“Did it hurt?”

Her voice is still calm, but the anger is inside, seething just below the surface. She walks closer to me, brushing past a fern, and brown leaves fall to the ground.

“You’re going to kill all the plants.”

Another leaf falls from the fern, and purple flowers on a nearby iris crumple.

“I asked you a question. Did it hurt?”

I nod and tears spring into my eyes, but I fight to keep them back. “Yeah. It hurt. It hurt like hell.” But it also felt blissful. Like every stick of the needle was setting me free. Giving me hope for a new life.

“I’m glad,” she says.

I look around. Dead leaves litter the floor. “It’s a mess in here,” I say.

My mom undoes the clip holding her long black hair. It falls around her shoulders, and she smoothes it down. “You can clean it up. I’m already late for the council meeting.”

I don’t bother arguing, and I don’t reply. I’ve gotten through the worst of it, and once I hear the front door shut, I look down at my arm and smile. The black ink smiles back at me. I actually did it. My very own tattoo. Complete rebellion. I sweep some of the leaves out of my way and move behind the register, dropping my backpack. I think about Shayne and how he’d singled me out in class. Not some other girl. Me. Talking to him was total rebellion, too. I want that rebellious life.

I brush my tattoo with my hand. The skin’s raised underneath the black ink. The tattoo artist, Morgan, told us the skin would stay that way for months. Maybe even forever. She also mentioned the pain would persist at least a week, but mine’s diminishing with each minute that passes. I move my hand over it and close my eyes. It’s like having Braille stamped into my skin. I decide I like the bumps, and I hope they never go away. Even in the dark, I’ll be able to see my tattoo. My first sign of freedom. And a permanent reminder of my friendship with Chloe.

I turn on the news so I can listen to it while I clean. The team of global weather experts is predicting another heat bubble. They flash to an image of the city council chambers where a press conference is just starting. Councilman Rendon is up front, and in the background are the other members of the council including my mom. They must’ve waited for my mom to get there. She sits just to the left of Rendon, and even though it’s impossible, I feel like her eyes find mine across the broadcast.

Councilman Rendon calls for the first question.

“Is it true that the domes are now inoperable?” a reporter asks.

Rendon looks equal parts charm and concern. My mom’s told me he plans to run for the state Senate next term. “The glass within our dome structures needs eighteen days to regenerate between activations,” he says.

“That means the domes can’t be used for the next eighteen days, correct?” someone calls out.

“Yes, that is a correct statement,” Rendon says. “Next question.”

I grab a bottle of soy juice off the shelf and sit down to watch the broadcast. As long as I can see my mom on the tube, it means she won’t be home.

“We’ve heard rumors the disperser missiles are negatively impacting the environment. Is this true?”

This is the same rumor that came up in Social Sciences today. The one about the chemicals inside the missiles tearing layers from the atmosphere.

Councilman Rendon tries to laugh. “Who here in the audience felt relief from the heat on Friday? Raise your hand if you felt the bubble disperse.”

Everyone in the audience raises his or her hand.

“If we relieve the heat, we are helping the environment,” he says.

Behind him, I see my mom stiffen. She glances away from the eye of the camera, and the council leader takes the next question. But as he talks, green the color of seaweed seems to ooze down him, starting at his head, until it covers him in a sheet of blackish fungus.

He pauses and shifts under the lights of the council chambers. Can he feel it? Can no one else but me see it?

I tap on the tube, thinking it’s a problem with the reception, but the color remains.

“How many missiles is the city equipped with?”

Rendon is about to answer when he presses a hand to his ear to listen to a private message. Then the greenish-black color oozes off him, sinking into the ground, and he returns to normal. Rendon smiles out at the crowd. “I’ve just been updated with a new count. The city of Austin has produced five fully loaded missiles. And as we speak, three more are under construction. We will use missiles as needed to keep the threat of the heat bubbles away. And I can guarantee you when other cities around the world see the success we’re having, they’ll be begging for our technology.”

Once the press conference is over, the tube cuts back to the global experts who rebut the use of the missiles, claiming the chemicals create instability and will cause a global disaster. It seems to me we’re already in a global disaster in every way possible. Shortages of crops are causing starvation on colossal scales, and most coastal cities are now underwater. Half of the population of Africa now lives in subterranean cities, growing food in massive underground hydroponics bays. But the experts claim the missiles will bring the end faster, if in fact the end is coming, and destroy all life on Earth, not just in Austin. I make a mental note to talk to my mom about it when she gets home.

The bell on the door rings, signaling someone’s come into the warehouse, and I snap my eyes away from the tube. I didn’t lock the door behind my mom, and she didn’t lock it either, which reminds me of how distracted she must have been. Still, I’m not expecting any customers. We do most of our business through mail order and corporate accounts. Except for the rare customer like Melina, who brought me the box yesterday. But at the door now is most definitely not Melina. A blast of heat pushes through the door when it opens, and the fans cut on to spread the heat evenly across the plants.

My heart gives a few extra beats when I see the guy there. I know even before he reaches the counter who he has to be. He’s just like Chloe described. No, even better. His blond hair is rolled into tight curls which fall around his sculpture-worthy face, and from the way he’s staring at me, I’m guessing he’s not here to ask about any plants.

He smiles when he reaches the counter, sets his elbows down, and leans toward me, swiping some dead leaves out of the way. “Hey, Piper.”

I’ve never seen him before, but when Chloe talked about him nonstop during our tattoo sessions, she swore he’d been here all year. I decide to pretend I’ve known him all along because I don’t want him to think I’m crazy. “Reese, right?”

He nods, and his arm muscles flex as he pushes against the counter. “I saw you and your friend talking in the library.”

I hold my hands at my side and attempt to remain composed. “Chloe was talking about you earlier today.” And Chloe had been the one going on and on about how awesome he was. But I don’t think he’s here to talk about Chloe either.

“Yeah, we have some class together.” His response totally matches his attitude.

“Physics,” I suggest.

Reese nods. “Physics.”

I dare myself to meet his eyes, and when I do, I find I can’t read anything about him. His irises are like ice; all I see in them is myself reflected back.

I inhale, and even above the fragrance of the entire Botanical Haven surrounding us, I can smell Reese. It reminds me of the thick, red wine I drink with my mom, dry with just a hint of sweetness, and it’s so strong I can just about taste it.

“Is your mom here?” Reese doesn’t bother looking around.

I shake my head, but at the same time realize maybe I shouldn’t admit to being alone. Reese looks like he could devour me. “She’ll be back any time.”

He seems to let his guard down. With his fresh smile, his scent fades until the plants in the Botanical Haven take over again. “She’s pretty controlling, isn’t she?”

“Maybe a little.” I manage a nervous laugh. When I hear it come out, I realize I’m kind of shaking, so I sit down in the chair behind the counter and try to get ahold of myself.

“My mom used to be like that,” Reese says. He pulls a stool up to the counter and sits on it, facing me.

Everyone always tells me this, but no one really understands. “I doubt it.”

Reese crosses his arms over his chest. “Seriously. There was this one time I was out with some friends, and when I got home, she grounded me for like ten years.”

His voice is helping settle my nerves, even if he is exaggerating. But I can’t get over the fact that we’re actually having a conversation. That for the second time in one day, a gorgeous guy has shown interest in me. A gorgeous guy that everyone else seems to know except me.

“Ten years?” I give him the obligatory eye roll which makes him laugh.

“Fine. Not quite ten years. But she flew off the deep end. Told me never to see those friends again. She threatened to have them impaled if they ever showed back up.”

It’s like he’s telling me the male version of my own life, and, for a second, I think he might actually be able to relate. “So what’d you do?” I ask.

Reese uncrosses his arms and sets his hands down on the counter, and he leans closer which makes my nerves start up again. “I ignored her. Snuck out behind her back.”

“I’ve never been quite that brave,” I admit, though the word
quite
doesn’t seem adequate.

“You should try it sometime.”

I shake my head. “You don’t understand—”

“With me.”

My breath catches at his words.
With him
. He’s suggesting sneaking out with him. And I’m the worst friend in the world because even though Chloe told me she likes him, a horrible part of me deep inside wants to do it.

Reese hops off the stool and walks around the counter so he’s right next to me. The rest of the Botanical Haven seems to vanish around us until there’s only me and him and an intense silence, which increases with each passing moment. Yet I don’t pull away, even when his arm brushes up against mine and I feel the slick sweat on his skin. I don’t want to move.