The Divide (The Divide Series Book 1) (5 page)

“They have bars there that serve eighteen and over,” George’s low voice spoke next to me. 

“Um, I’m not eighteen.” I straightened in my chair. And neither were they.

“Don’t worry about it,” Tyler said. “Mandy and Sarah can help you look older. Plus, they don’t check IDs.”

I sat in uncomfortable silence while they waited for my answer. Mandy and Sarah didn’t look happy with the announcement; Mandy’s eyes kept shooting daggers at me like it was my fault Tyler invited me. “I don’t know.” I looked down at my cup of hot chocolate. 

“Oh, come on,” Tyler said. “Haven’t you ever wanted to see what it was like out there?”

“How about we don’t bring her,” Mandy snapped at Tyler. 

“I want her to come,” Tyler said. It came out more like a whine than anything.

“Don’t pressure her,” George said. I looked up in time to see George and Tyler exchange a look I couldn’t decipher. It was like there was this secret and I was at the center of it. 

“I’m not,” Tyler said finally, glaring at George. “So, what do you say, Mia?”

Setting my cup down on the table, I scratched my head and bit my lip. “I’m not sure.” How would I be able to get out of the house? “Breaking rules isn’t really my thing.” 

Tyler smirked. “We will sneak out and sneak back in. No one will ever know. I promise.”

I bit down on my lip even harder. I watched as my finger made its journey up and down my cup. This was what I wanted, to hang out with Tyler. But why did my gut beg me to say no? I always listened to my gut. Then again, this was Tyler; the guy I’d been hoping would see me as more than a person he could cheat off. If I wanted any chance, I had to do this. “Okay.” The moment the words were out, I had an intense feeling that I was going to regret the choice.

Tyler’s smile grew so wide that it reminded me of the Cheshire Cat’s. “You have no idea how happy you just made me.”

Butterflies danced in my stomach while Mandy scowled at me. “What time are we leaving?”

“Midnight,” Tyler said. “We’ll meet you at the back of your house, so make sure you are there at exactly midnight.” Tyler drained the rest of his hot chocolate. “Well, we have things to do—” he gave a meaningful look at George “—so we should get going. I’m glad we got to hang out.” He picked up my hand and laid a soft kiss on it. My heart pounded roughly against my chest as he rose from his seat. “See you tomorrow night, Mia.” He winked, Mandy snarled, and then they were gone.

My hot chocolate was now warm. My stomach churned at the thought of sneaking out. Should I really sneak out with people who didn’t like me? Looking down at my hot chocolate, I contemplated: I did want to be with Tyler, and he did seem to really want me there. I bit the side of my thumb, trying to keep the apprehension out. I could do this. I could sneak out for one night. Tyler did say no one would ever notice. There was no way we would get in trouble.

I ate my cookie as I thought of what I should wear. We were going to a bar, and I needed to not look seventeen. But did I own anything that would make me look older? I wasn’t quite sure. 

I wiped my hands together to get rid of the crumbs and stood up. Throwing out my half-full cup, I bought another small hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookie and walked out into the cold, brisk air. I was happy I had something warm to hold on to in this cold weather. Snow started to tumble down, leaving small flakes on my hair and jacket. 

As I approached the theater, I could hear the drilling and sawing of the machines. Men were working and yelling at each other to hurry up before the snow really started to fall. I peeked over the fence, trying to locate my mystery guy, but I couldn’t see him. So, I moved up onto my tiptoes to try to get a better view.

“Looking for something?” His voice boomed from behind me, making me jump and almost dropping the hot chocolate.

I turned around and tried to slow the racing of my heart. “Hey…I uh…I got you something.” I pushed the cup toward him.

His eyes narrowed at my outstretched hand. “I didn’t ask for anything.”

“I know,” I rushed on. “But I got you something since it’s cold out, and it will warm you up.” I smiled at the last part.
Show him you’re friendly. That you do nice things.

He just stared at me. “What is it?”

“It’s hot chocolate,” I said. “I was hoping that we could talk, too.”

He just continued to stare at me, not taking the cup. “Why?”

“Well, I just wanted to get some things straight, and I—”

He cocked his head then shook it. He flicked his gaze toward the sky, like he was trying to communicate with someone up there, and flicked it back toward me. “I don’t have time to listen to you babble.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “I’m not going to babble.” 

He raised an eyebrow. “You have a look on your face that plainly show that you’re about to babble. And, if you haven’t noticed, I have work to do.” 

My arm started to slightly shake. “I’m not going to babble.” I nodded toward the cup. “I got you something warm to drink.”

He rubbed his eyes. “I don’t want anything.”

“But I already bought it,” I said.

“Then you drink it,” he said. “If you’re done babbling, I have work to do.”

“Wait,” I said. It was pointless to keep trying to carry a conversation with him, but I needed to. I couldn’t exactly pinpoint why I needed to; I just had this feeling. Maybe I was just so lonely from having no friends. Maybe it was the fact that he had a type of freedom I’d never had. But either way, I wanted to keep talking to him. I had to prove to myself that no matter who the person was, deep down they were good. “I already drank mine. This one is yours.”

His face tightened as his lips pursed. “Like I said, I don’t want anything.”

“But it’s cold out. This can keep you warm.” I leaned in. I ignored the shaky arm. I licked my bottom lip, waiting for him to take the cup.

He opened his mouth then shut it. He did this several times before walking away. I gaped at his retreating back.
Oh no
. Racing after him, carefully keeping the liquid in the cup, I grabbed his arm. “Why are you being rude?” 

He groaned and rubbed his face. “You can’t take a hint?”

“A hint about what?” I smiled at him when he looked at me. He just shook his head.

“I don’t want to talk to you,” he said, “and I don’t want anything from you.”

I could feel a sinking sensation in my stomach. “Why? I don’t understand.”

“I’m not interested.”

“Interested?” I quirked my head at him. My eyebrows pinched together.

He looked around before turning his full attention on me. “You’re not my type.”

Type? “What does that have to do with anything?”

“You are offering me something to drink after stalking my job.” He motioned with his hands around the area. “And I’m telling you, I’m not interested.”

I laughed. “That’s not what I was doing. I bought you a drink as a peace offering.”

He smiled condescendingly. “Sure you did.”

“No, really,” I said as I watched him press his lips together and nod his head. My posture stiffened. I squinted at him. He didn’t believe me. “You don’t believe me.”

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

“I honestly don’t have time for this.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe you should go stalk someone else.” 

“I’m not stalking you,” I said through gritted teeth.

He shook his head and walked away. I watched him walk through the opening of the wall to the theater. I wasn’t stalking him. How he came up with that ridiculous idea, I didn’t know. I looked at my outstretched arm holding the now cold hot chocolate. That had been a waste of money. I shuffled over to the dumpster lined up against the wall and tossed the cup in, then made my way past the opening of the wall and peeked inside. He was looking at me, giving me a pointed stare. I rolled my eyes and shook my head before walking the rest of the way home with a clenched stomach. 

“Mia?” Agathy asked.

I curled into the fetal position and burrowed into the middle of the bed, covering my head with my comforter. I was not a morning person. I would have loved to just sleep until noon, but even that might have been too early. “Hmm?”

“Time to wake up.” I could hear her moving around in my closet.

“But I don’t have school today.” My fingers clenched tightly onto the fabric, knowing Agathy would try and wrestle it away from me.

“I know you don’t,” she said, “but your father has a very important meeting this morning and wants you out of the house.”

“He’s having it here?”

“Yes, and he specifically said you were to be gone when the council arrives.”

I rolled my eyes under my closed lids. “Can’t I just stay in bed all day? I wouldn’t leave it at all. No one will know I’m here.” A day of sleeping, I liked the sound of that.

“Mia,” she warned.

I groaned. I let go of the comforter and pulled myself out from under it. Agathy stood at the end of the bed, holding out clothes. “Where am I to go?”

“Your father has given you money to treat yourself for the whole day,” she said. “Why not meet up with someone and do something fun?”

“Because I don’t have friends and fun is foreign to me,” I said dryly. I slowly made my way out of bed, hating how the sun had to rise every morning.

“That’s not true.” She handed me my clothes as I zombie-walked by her. “What about the young man who asked where you were the other night?”

“Tyler?” I pushed my way through the bathroom, setting my clothes down on the counter and turning on the water in the shower.

“Yes.”

“I don’t know.” I couldn’t exactly tell her that he usually only talked to me when he wanted to cheat and that
now
he wanted me to sneak out with him. And plus, I honestly didn’t know how to get in touch with him in the first place. I could ask my father, but I doubted he would give me the information. “It’s fine. I’ll just go to the library and then maybe the café afterward.”

“Check out more books?” I could hear the smile in Agathy’s voice. She knew how much I loved reading. Especially all the books from the old days: the pre-war books. Those were the best. 

“Maybe.”

“Well, hurry up and get ready,” she said. “Your father wants you out of the house in an hour.”

“Yes, ma’am!” I saluted her and smiled. She waved me off and closed the bathroom door as she left. I quickly undressed and hopped into the steaming hot water.

The shower helped wake me up, but only a little bit. I got out, dressed quickly into the jeans and pink sweater that Agathy had put out, dried my wet hair and put it up in a ponytail, and applied a little bit of makeup—a little bit of light pink eye shadow for my eyelids and a little mascara. I never was the type to wear too much makeup. I didn’t find the caked-on look appealing. I didn’t think guys did either, but that didn’t stop them from “hanging” out with the girls who looked that way. Leaving the bathroom, I grabbed the socks that sat folded on my bed and slipped them on followed by my cute knee-high boots. As I grabbed my jacket, I left my bedroom and the smell of bacon assaulted me in the hallway; my stomach growled angrily.  

The kitchen staff were in the middle of cooking when I made my way down. My nose led me to the large platter of bacon sitting on the counter. Bending down, I inhaled the smell of the deliciousness mouthwatering piece of art. Food was my art; I didn’t care much for paintings. I picked up a piece of the crispy masterpiece and jammed it into my mouth. “Mia! The food is not for you!” Charlie, the head cook, swatted my hand away from the food and led me out of the kitchen. 

“I can’t eat?” My stomach growled in protest.

“No,” he said as he walked back into the kitchen. 

Looked like my first stop was going to be the café. As I staggered to the front door, I kept peeking behind my shoulder; a look of longing appeared on my face from not being able to have any of the delicious food. Voices rose from my father’s study, stopping me in my tracks. After looking toward both ends of the Grand Hallway, and getting the all clear, I sneaked up to the door of the study, placing my hands on the wall and positioning my ear against the door. 

“You can’t ignore this, Andrew.” I recognized the voice, but I couldn’t pinpoint where I’d heard it before.

“I’m not ignoring this, Aedan. It’s just not that important,” my father said. I could hear footsteps move back and forth and could imagine my father pacing around the office.

“It is important,” Aedan said. “The rebels are growing and growing fast. The people are angry with you. Everyone is angry with you. Half of them want you to fight, and the other want you dead. And you're doing nothing about this uprising.”

“We will be able to stop the rebels,” my father said, dismissal lacing his words.

“We’ve lost contact with our spies. We don’t know where Kieran is or what he plans on doing next. We can’t get people to join the army. You won’t even make people join. You’re just sitting in this big house, doing nothing. Kieran could slaughter us all.” Confusion clouded my mind. Who was Kieran? What uprising? Wasn’t everyone getting along? My father had held a press conference weeks ago telling everyone there was nothing to worry about. He’d said more, but I hadn’t been paying attention. I had been paying more attention to why bees were yellow and not pink. But in my defense, it was a pretty big debate going on in my head about the colors of bees. Now I wished I had been more attentive at those conferences.