Dance till I die

Max - 2

It's 3 in the morning and I can't sleep at all. I can't stop thinking about the Theatre, the lights, Elizabeth, everything about it gives me goosebumps. I make the decision to talk to Pryia, our Dreg servant. 

Heading downstairs, I'm instantly hit by the fresh smell of bread dough. The kitchen floor is cold but I creep over to the green stool by Pryia. She sees me and smiles. I watch her fingers neatly lift the dough and form it into dough balls. "What is keeping sir up this time?" She pretends to be cross, but she's grinning. "It's the Theatre," I tell her. She stops smiling and begins to punch the dough, puffs of flour rising with each hit. The atmosphere has never been this awkward. We usually talk for hours. "I'm looking forward to seeing all the acts." She is smiling at me through gritted teeth. "It seems really cool." I look at her and tilt my head. She is murmuring to herself. "Max, do you want to know the truth?" I nod eagerly. "The Theatre isn't some magical wonderland Max, it's a prison camp. Most of the performers are younger than you. Do you think the kids choose to be there?" I never thought about it that way. I notice that Pryia now has tears forming in her eyes. "But maybe they like being away from their Mums and Dads. Besides they're only..." Pryia starts crying for real now. "Only Dregs. Is that what you were going to say? Of course! They're only Dregs. They have no feelings!" Just go, Max!"

I walk up the stairs feeling awful. I completely hurt Pryia. Her words burn in my brain. I've never seen her like this before. She always buries her feelings, except when she talks about her children Nila and Nihal. Her eyes glow with pride whenever she talks about them. I envy Priya's children: these two people I've never met. It's obvious she cares about them with every bone in her body. I don't suppose Mother's eyes shine like that when she talks about me or Jamie. I reckon we don't come up in her conversations much. She's too busy discussing dreg control numbers or other political problems that need dealing with. We don't see much of her anymore, with another General Election coming up, she is doing all she can to stay in power. The main reason we're going to Theatre is probably so she can get more public appearances. She'll blame us if she loses. Being the PM is all she cares about nowadays. 

I take one last look at the Theatre home page, at Elizabeth before turning off my iPad. I start to cry. I don't know what hurts more: Losing Pryia as a friend or the thought of Elizabeth.