I felt Sun's absence. I didn't want to, but I did. Despite my best efforts, the founder girl had wormed her way into my life, and now that she was suddenly gone without so much as a goodbye, I felt the emptiness.
She blackmailed me. I had every right to hate her guts. I should have hated her, just like I always had with the founding families.
But all I could think of was whether or not she would survive. Sure, she was tough for going through what she had to train herself, but she was still a wispy little thing like most of the founding girls. According to the Endellion rumor mill, the founders starved their daughters throughout their early lives in order to keep them thin and attractive until they married. I had never considered it much before, but now the thought made me unfathomably angry.
Luckily, cooped up in our garage, there was no one to notice how distracted I was. At least, no one besides Fio. He kept stealing glances at me, his brow furrowing in concern. I tried to ignore it the best I could, but between that and the mental war I had waged about my feelings for Sun, I certainly couldn't concentrate on my work.
My elbow bumped into a wrench at the edge of my work table, and it clattered loudly to the floor. Fio poked his head out of the bot he had been tucked inside.
"Dude, what's going on with you?"
I groaned, retrieving the wrench and scowling at the wall. "Nothing."
"Is this about that founder girl?"
My lips curled as I tried to restrain myself. Only a few days ago, I too had spit the word "founder" like it was profanity of the most disgusting kind. Noting a person's founding status with contempt was one of the only ways people like us could feel like we were striking back against the system.
Things had changed, though. Or maybe I had. That "founder girl" wasn't just a founder girl.
"Look, Fern, I didn't tell anyone. I'm sure she's fine," Fio assured me, noticing how on edge I was, but clearly not realizing the true reason.
I leaned against the table, drumming my fingers on its surface. "It's not about that."
Fio's boots thumped as he stepped out of the bot. "Do you... have feelings for her?"
"It's not like that," I snapped.
Holding up his hands in submission, he began to slowly wander toward me. "What's it like?"
"Fio—"
I stopped before I could say anything I would regret. Sure, it felt like he was meddling, but if I was honest with myself, I knew that he was my only friend on the planet. If there was anyone who had the right to meddle in my business, it was him. I sighed, trying to let the tension and resistance out of my shoulders.
"We spent a lot of time together in the last couple weeks," I explained, revealing as much as I was comfortable admitting to myself. "I know she's a good person even though she's a founder. All she wanted to do was survive, and even with that on the line, she never tried to hurt me."
"She threatened you, right?" Fio asked, raising an eyebrow. "Didn't she say she would make up a story to get you deported or worse?"
I cringed at the lie I had fed him. "I mean, yeah, but—but that was in the beginning. She could've done whatever she wanted to ruin me. She has the power. But she didn't. And besides using the garage, she never asked for anything else."
"If that's your criteria for a good person, I'd say most people are clear." I glared at Fio, and he sighed, continuing. "Look, Fern, you're a nice person. I know you try to hide it, but you're soft. You just felt bad for her situation. There's nothing wrong with that. And you did everything you possibly could to help her. You don't have anything to feel bad about. You couldn't have prevented her from enlisting."
