Zara wanted to get ahead in school. She wanted the cute guy. She wanted to win the game. Trouble was, everybody else had expensive brain implants, augmented muscles, and those pretty tailored bodies. She had none of those things. Of course, she work...
The beautiful boy lay on his back, eyes closed, breathing softly. The defined lines of his skeleton formed such bold angles. His muscles were stretched lean over his arms, his chest, and his narrow stomach. His hair lay like a floppy mess all over the sharp angles of his face, as if he didn't have a care in the world.
"Why aren't you afraid?" she said softly.
After doing the energy, she had spent the night with him. His room sat underground, nestled like a condo beneath the plasma reactor, its warmth radiating through her. She could still feel the energy pulsing through her body, stimulating her, feeding her anxiety.
She was a junky. What would happen to her now?
When he woke, he turned to her with peaceful, sleepy eyes. "Squark?" His morning voice sounded hoarse. He sat up, swept his hair back from his face, revealing clear, bright eyes.
He reached out to hug her, but as soon his arms touched her bare skin, the invigorating energy sparked between them like electricity. She could feel the warmth radiating from his body. When he pressed up against her, a strong masculine aroma enveloped her.
"How long does it last?" she said.
"I don't know. A few days, maybe a week."
"So what will happen to us?"
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
He let go of her and slid his legs over the edge of the bed. She watched as he rose, mesmerized. She thought he floated across the room.
She smelled food being cooked, or rather, being burnt, and spotted a spider huddled over a stove in the far corner of the room. Spiders weren't known for their culinary skills.
The spider took a break from cooking and fetched Finn's clothes, five silvery metallic legs much like a daddy-longlegs, except about waist high. It carried his green and gold jumpsuit with two legs as it scurried across the floor on the other three.
The room spread out larger than her dormitory cubicle. She could make out sharp angles and a shiny metallic ceiling. Shadows hung from remote parts, their fingers reaching into the dark corners. Holos of star systems and moving representations of starfighters in combat glowed from the distant walls.
"Axion sees everything," she said, raising her voice. "You heard the teacher. We did what was forbidden. We're worthy of death. Shouldn't you be a bit worried about that?"
Finn instructed the spider to lay Zara's clothes out on the edge of the bed—her school jumpsuit, the pukey green unisex uniform with lemon-gold trim and stripes on the sleeves, matching Finn's and everybody else's in their grade.
Once she had dressed, she joined him at a square metal table with a smooth machined surface. Her stomach felt twitchy and finicky. She struggled to choke down the food. Partly because the eggs were burnt, the pancakes rubbery, and the wakame overcooked. But also, partly because of her clenched stomach.
