The Sidekick.

otto

My eyes were locked in the front tube doors. Harry and I were always the first to arrive and leave the office, so it was strange to see the other workers file in slowly like a leaking faucet, but not him. The pen in my hand stayed still until the sliding glass doors opened to reveal the older man. He looked different. The sides of his head were shaved thin, only leaving a mound of curls in the top like a mop. The brunette looks down, covering his face with his hands as he walked through the office path.

"Harry?" I whisper as the boy walks past my cubicle, but he kept walking straight, not stopping for anything, not even me. With this I knew I would have to stay away from him. He had his mood changes and had warn me that some days we would ignore each other. If we seemed too close, it would draw suspicion. That's the last thing we needed, our goal was to draw as little attention to our relationship as possible. This all made sense, but I often thought Harry was moody, as Fitz had told me he was angry as a child. I let him go though.

After lunch I found a small note on my stack of papers, the scribbled handwriting was all too familiar for me to forget. The linked letters spelled out Government. I could assume this is the reason for his haircut the Government had the rules on dressing and hair, it was about the time they would get after him.

The rules seemed to be simple. No facial hair for boys. Their hair couldn't pass their ears or touch their eyebrows or the back of their collars. Girls hair had to be long enough to touch their shoulders, but short enough that it didn't touch their waist. People of darker skin had other rules, I knew this because I was one. If we kept our hair natural, like mine, it would have to be kept short, so it wasn't a distraction to others in the city.

"I knew the Government would get him soon." whispers Louis as he passes by my desk with a younger blonde boy.

"Me too, I just thought when they did it wouldn't be for his hair. I know that kid has secrets." Niall skips along side the older boy.

"What kind of secrets are you thinking he's hiding?" Louis turns to lean on his outer cuticle, just a few feet from mine. I don't turn so I don't seem nosy, but I can see the boys out of the corner of my eyes.

"I'm not sure, but I've always seen him sneaking around. Sandrine is with him a lot. Perhaps she knows a thing or two." Niall responds quietly. I see the two approach my cubicle after Niall mentions my name.

"Sandrine?" Louis speaks carefully to get a hold of my attention that they already had long ago.

"Evening!" I start as I swiftly turn my back to them and away from my work.

"Do you know where Harry goes after work?"

"Complex 24." My voice is simple but clear.

"What about his free time?" the boys question and lean in closer, folding their arms across the chest.

"There is no free time in Ostten, there is only work, work for the Government." The taste of acting was bitter and strange in my mouth. The words had all been fed to me by Fitzgerald to fit the Government's demands. The two of them huff and stray off to their desks, losing interest in the conversation. Typically I would be of help.

As I catch Niall heading out of the office from the corner of my eye, I skid to Harry. I am slightly sad I have not been able to spend time with Liam due to my work in the Sottos. Though I was more concerned with the shady business between the Government workers and Harry. The lock clicks in the door as I enter, the brunette boy's window-screen was covered in digital documents. He looked at me grievously, but his new hair made it hard to concentrate on anything in the room.

"It's a simulation." He states blindly, given little to no detail as to what he is speaking about, this is a very common habit of his.

"What is?"

"The Scartola, it was a decoy." The fake blue box is tossed into my hands as I step closer to my supervisor. "We will have to wait a few months before we attempt it again. The Government will be on edge since we took the simulation. The security will become heavier, it's best we wait.

"Will I be avoiding you in these next few months?"

"No, no we will do small missions in the Outsides until then." Shrugged Harry, his nonchalant behavior made my toes curl. The Outsides, a place said to be the most dangerous, where the 2.4 percent dwelled. I had been to the Outsides only once, as should every Ostten citizen should. The school system took us through Government guarding. High wired fences blocked the ill-fated Outsiders from within. You could see their slim figures from miles away. There were many people who looked like me, my family and Alma, and little who looked like Harry, Niall, Liam, and Fitz. Their already dark skin had been singed from the burning sun above. Though their hands stuck with me most, they pawed at the gates between us, like wild animals. These images were pounded into our minds to create the fear of wronging the Government.

"What have they been saying out there?" Harry interrupts my wondering thoughts.

"They know you hold secrets, but they do not know what of."

"Well, thats fine then. I will see you at the Marching of Spring Ceremony in the morning. If you find me, I can give you the information of the food. I contacted someone from the inside."He dismisses me for the week, we always left our work early for the ceremonies in the early morning.

"Ill see you then."