The Divide (The Divide Series Book 1) (7 page)

I woke with a start drenched in sweat—clothes clung to my slimy body. I couldn't remember much of the dream, mostly that I had been running from something. Trying to clear the sensation of the dream, I shook my head and noticed my alarm clock had been blaring; so that had woke me up. My fingers skated over the buttons until the I hit the right one, and the alarm went silent. It was still dark out. Looking at the time, the red numbers blared eleven thirty. I groaned. I wanted nothing more than to stay in my warm bed. Why had I agreed to sneak out to the poor sector?

As I turned on the lamp next to my bed, I stared down at the three library books I had checked out earlier. When I arrived at the library, I had spent the rest of the afternoon reading, and finally, around five, I had checked out three books and made my way back home. Agathy never told me how long I was supposed to stay out, but I’d figured I could just sneak in through the back way and up to my room without anyone noticing. Though, when I’d arrived home, my father and the council were gone, out to dinner. Agathy made me a sandwich for dinner and then left to go home while I ate in my room and continued reading before taking a nap. And now I was staring down at my books, wondering if it was even worth sneaking out.
Probably not.

I sighed and slipped out of bed. Throwing on jeans, a white tank top, and a black sweater, I put my black boots back on and wrapped a scarf around my neck. Making my way into my bathroom, I brushed my teeth, applied makeup to my face, and fixed my hair. By the time I was finished, my clock showed I only had three minutes to get to the back alley. Slipping my bag around my shoulder and my jacket on, I turned off the lamp and the room plunged into darkness. It took a few seconds for my eyes to focus in the dark, before I was able to tiptoe over to the door and open it as quietly as I could, sliding out, and shutting it just as quietly. Treading softly down the stairs and out the back door, I kept it unlocked so I could sneak back in. Snow was no longer falling, but there was still enough covering the ground.

As I opened the gate and walked out, I pulled my hood up to cover my ears from the biting wind. I planted my hands in my pockets and looked around. No one was here. Were they even coming? I let out a breath, watching the white cloud form in front of me. My nose started to run from the cold, so I kept sniffing so it wouldn’t leak. It was so cold out that I had to bounce up and down to keep myself warm.

It felt like I’d been standing there for hours, but it had really only been ten minutes when I figured they weren’t coming. They were probably playing a trick on me, and I had been stupid enough to fall for it. Just as I turned to open the gate, I heard voices floating down from the end of the alley; squinting over, I could see four bodies walking this way. Mandy and Sarah's laughing floated closer to where I stood frozen outside of my house. As they got closer, I could see Mandy draped around Tyler and Sarah leaning close to George. 

“Mia!” Tyler yelled as they came within ten feet of me. Wincing, I peeked up at my house, but no lights came on, thank God.

“Hey,” I said, trying to pull of being nonchalant. It didn't work with Mandy giving me a nasty smile as indication.

Tyler pulled himself free of Mandy and put an arm around me, walking us down the alley. “I’m glad you decided to come with us.”

“I wasn’t sure you guys were coming,” I said. It felt awkward walking with his arm around my shoulders. I’d always thought I would love it, but I didn’t.
Maybe it’s because of the nerves?

“Mandy and Sarah took forever getting ready,” he said, “but we’re here now. Are you ready to explore the outside?” He said the “outside” like it was some mystical place. 

“Tyler, I want a drink!” Mandy whined behind us.

Tyler laughed. “Don’t worry. I’ll get you one as soon as we get there.”

“Where are we going?” I asked. I didn’t want to be too loud, even though they were being loud enough to wake up the dead.

“To this little bar that I’ve heard all about.”

“From who?” I was almost a hundred percent positive these four would never make friends with anyone from the other side.

“Don’t you worry about that,” he finished with a wink.

As we moved farther and farther away from my house, dread began to bloom in my stomach. My gut kept telling me to go back home and get back into bed, but I didn’t want to look like a little kid to them. Especially not to Tyler. We walked for about fifteen minutes—the four of them talking so loudly that I was sure we would get caught before we even made it out—before we made it to the brick wall. Tyler stopped in front of it, and I looked up. The brick wall was twenty feet high to prevent anyone from climbing it. 

Tyler pulled his arm from my shoulders and dragged his hands across the wall, following it all the way to the right. Mandy and Sarah followed him while George and I just stood there. I looked over at George, and he mirrored the same expression that was on my face: doubt. There was no way we could get over the wall.

“George, Mia, come on,” Tyler yelled from somewhere to our right.

George looked at me and shrugged his shoulders, and then he started to walk over to where the others were. I took a deep breath and walked after him.
I should go back. They won’t miss me if I go back. But if I go back, Tyler will think I’m a chicken.
 

“What do you think?” Tyler beamed as George and I made it over.

Looking down toward where Tyler was pointing was a rather large hole, big enough for each of us to crawl through to the other side. I glanced back up at Tyler; he had such a satisfactory smile on his face. “I, uh, I don’t think we should be doing this.” I did
not
want to crawl through a hole in a wall.

Tyler’s smile never dimmed. “Mia, don’t worry. We’ll be fine.”

I watched as Tyler, Mandy, Sarah, and George climbed through the hole. I took a deep breath and let it out. If I went through that hole, I was officially breaking rules. “Okay,” I said, ignoring the warning signs that were bouncing around my head. Bending down, I got on my hands and knees and crawled through. After I came out on the other side, Tyler hid the hole with a trashcan. I got up from my knees and wiped the dirt off my pants.  

“Okay, listen up,” Tyler said. “We're only a few minutes away from the bar. Act like you belong here and we'll be fine.”

Everyone nodded their heads, including reluctant me, and we were off. Rounding the corner of the alley, we made it onto the streets and I stopped moving. My mouth gaped open as I stared around at my surroundings. I never knew how bad this side looked. Debris littered the ground from the collapsed buildings, wood planks covered the broken windows to keep either the cold or people out—most likely the latter—some people stood around a large trashcan, where a fire was burning, while others were huddled up against the building to stay out of the wind, tattered blankets covering their bodies. The smell hit me the most. It smelled like garbage, sewer, and death mixed together. How could people live like this? How could my father let people live like this?

“Mia!” Tyler yelled. I turned toward the sound of his voice. The four of them were nearly at the end of the block. Quickly, I took one more glance around before I ran to catch up with them, ignoring the glares from Mandy and Sarah.

“You okay?” Tyler asked. I nodded my head and followed them as they started walking.

I wasn’t okay. I was disgusted. I was disgusted with my father. I was disgusted with how the poor had been left to fend for themselves, and this was how they found warmth. 

“There it is! There it is!” Mandy squealed. Looking up from the broken road, a dilapidated building stood in front of us. This was it? This was what all the fuss was about? It was not impressive. Why they wanted to go there was beyond me.

“Mandy, Sarah, make Mia look older,” Tyler said. “And hotter.”

I winced at that last part while George gave me a sympathetic smile and Mandy rolled her eyes. Sarah pulled out a ridiculously low-cut shirt and threw it at me, at the same time Mandy took out her makeup.

“What am I supposed to do with this?” I asked, holding up the shirt.

“Put it on,” Sarah said.

I looked around. There was nowhere to change. I turned my back to the group and took off my jacket, which I regretted immediately as the cold wind whipped through my sweater. Unbuttoning my sweater, I sadly took it off but made sure to keep my tank top on; there would be no way in hell I was taking it off. I slipped the low-cut shirt over my head and pulled it down; the tank top just showed at my breasts, keeping them hidden. Slipping my jacket back on, I held on to my sweater, not sure where I was going to put it, and turned around. Sarah snatched the sweater out of my hands and deposited it in the bag she was holding while Mandy pulled my face toward her so she could apply the makeup.
I’m going to look like a whore
. After she prodded my face for what seemed like hours, she pushed my face away and put the makeup back in the bag. Looking in the only glass window I could find, I took in my appearance: I looked older, but definitely not in a good way. 

“Let’s go,” Tyler said, walking away and toward the bar. Everyone followed. This is it. I bit the inside of my cheek as I followed after them, trying to keep up.

Stopping in front of the rundown bar, the walls made of brick with some of the littering the ground, Tyler turned around and smiled. “This is it. Let’s have some fun, shall we?”

Mandy and Sarah beamed, and George grunted. I felt sick to my stomach. The smell was once again the first thing that hit me as we walked in; alcohol and smoke filtered through the air. Wood tables were scattered throughout the room with mismatched chairs. The place was packed and we had to push our way over to the only empty table in the place. There were way too many people in here. Music blared through the room, and conversations were being yelled. Tyler, Mandy, Sarah, and George looked like they were about to have the time of their lives. Scooting closer to me, Tyler draped his arm around the back of my chair. 

“What can I get ya?” an old scraggly voice asked. I looked up to see an old man with shaky hands holding on to a small notepad. 

“Five whiskeys,” Tyler said. The old man lifted an eyebrow but just wrote down the order and walked away.

My eyes followed the old man to the back of the bar. He started taking out glasses and pouring the drinks. As I started to look away, my gaze locked on to a pair of angry green eyes. Gregory. He returned my stare, but he was not happy to see me. Raking my eyes over him, I took in his black jeans, black boots, and black t-shirt. Someone liked black a little too much. He needed some color splashed in there. When my eyes made their way back up to his, a tall brunette girl caught my attention. She was leaning in on his side, his arm wrapped around her waist. How had I not seen her before? I looked back up at his face and narrowed my eyes at his raised brow. 

“Hey,” Tyler whispered in my ear. I jumped and broke the staring contest Gregory and I seemed to have been having. “I’m glad you came along.”

“Yeah,” I said. “How long are we staying?” I tried to keep my attention on Tyler and not look over at Gregory with his slut.
That’s very rude to say.
But if it’s true, it’s true.

Tyler smirked. “Relax. It’s going to be a fun night. I promise.” His voice sent chills scattering up my spine, and not the good kind. “You have really pretty eyes. I’ve never noticed them before.” I could feel the heat coming from Mandy's glaring hitting my body.

“Thanks,” I whispered. Tyler was so close to me that I could see tiny spots of gray in his blue eyes. I tried to swallow, but my mouth was too dry.

Tyler leaned all the way in until his lips touched mine—I was so stunned I didn’t move. His lips were soft and kept moving, trying to encourage mine to move with them. As I pushed his shoulders back, I moved my head back until the kiss ended. Swiftly, I turned my attention to the bar and let out a sigh of relief when I didn’t see Gregory. Of course, I didn’t end the kiss because of Gregory. He just happened to be here. I ended it because we were in a bar, and I didn’t want my first real kiss to be in a bar. Though, it was kind of too late. I turned my attention back over to Tyler. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” He smiled. “I’m not.”

I tried to smile back but was saved when the old man came shuffling back. He set the drinks down on the table, five cups filled with brown liquid. “Twenty.”

“Twenty what?” Tyler grabbed one and started drinking.

“Twenty dollars,” the old man said, placing his hand out and waiting for the money to be put in his hand. Tyler reached into his pocket and gave the man a fifty.

“Keep the change,” Tyler said, smirking. 

“Where’s the bathroom?” I asked before the guy could move on to another table.

He nodded his head in the direction toward the bar. “Back there.”

“Thank you,” I said. As he walked away, I stood up and walked in the direction of where the old man had nodded. I tried to pass people without touching them, not wanting to accidentally bump into the wrong person. I could see two doors to the right of the bar, and as I got closer, a rough, calloused hand grabbed on to my upper arm and dragged me further into the back. Turing toward the hand, I ran right into a solid, muscled chest. I slowly moved my head up, my eyes roaming up from his chest to his strong neck, and then finally resting on those deep green eyes.

“Why are you
here
?” Gregory asked.

Instantly, I narrowed my eyes at him. “I’m having a drink.”

“I can see that. But why are you here?” His hand tightened on my arm. I winced, but he never let go.

“Because they serve drinks here.”

Gregory moved us even farther back, where no one was around. I wondered if I screamed if anyone would come and help me. “Okay,
princess
, why did you leave your sector?”

At least he didn’t call me Grouchy. I didn’t know which name I hated more. “Because they don’t serve ‘special’ drinks to people my age there.” I smiled at the look he gave me when I used my fingers to quote the word special.

Gregory shook his head. “Do you know how unsafe it is for you to be here?”