Zero

8 : Little Changes

P A R T 8

I stare at the once again blank screen, trying to fathom what I just watched. Shir must have made the video soon after I was born.

That night, I go to bed with all sorts of mixed up feelings in me.

▲

The next morning, Paige knocks on my door, then opens it.

"Time to go shopping!" She declares.

I look at her groggily. "Shopping?" I say it like it's an alien word. Needless to say, I've never been on a shopping trip before, though I've heard girls in my class talking about it often enough.

"You can't keep wearing my clothes, they're too big for you!" Paige says.

So after a bath, I take a roll of the money and slip it into the pocket of the pair of shorts I am wearing. Paige winds a scarf around my neck to cover my number and we're ready to go.

"Won't my hair be suspicious?" I ask.

Paige laughs. "Of course not. We're going to the mall that only allows Nines in. And Nines like to dye their hair all sorts of colours," she assures me. "If anything, your hair will be like a entry ticket."

And she's right - when we reach the exclusive mall, the guard allows us in without giving us a second glance.

The shopping trip, I admit, turns out to be pretty fun. I never knew there are so many different kinds of clothing styles and colours.

The clothes are pretty pricey, though. One shirt I bought can pay to feed all the twenty or so kids back at the warehouse.

When Paige and I finally return to her apartment, I collapse on the sofa. Who knew shopping can be so tiring?

Paige insisted on paying for my purchases but I wanted to settle the payments myself. In the end, we split the amount to be paid.

I do not have too many purchases - in fact, they only take up a corner of the walk-in wardrobe Paige tells me I can store my clothes in.

By the next day my new clothes are washed and I can wear them to school. I try to remember what the girls at school usually wear, but I never focused on that before.

In the end I give up and put on a white shirt tucked into a blue pleated skirt, along with black mary-janes.

At school, I receive more curious looks than usual. In class, Jet looks me up and down and smirks.

"Well somebody's in a nice preppy getup today," he comments.

I roll my eyes at him but am not really annoyed. Then I tune in to the teacher who is emphasizing on the importance of Zeros never having kids with each other. It is the law.

Instantly all eyes turn to me as I am the only Zero in the class. (The only Ten, actually, and not just in class but in the whole world. Ha!)

As the teacher continues to ramble on, they all look away except for Fleur, a blonde Eight who leans over and sneers, "What's up with being so squeaky clean today, huh, Zero? And what's with the new clothes?"

I don't answer, but Jet does. "Hey, leave her alone, babe," he says, grinning cheerily while Fleur smiles sickeningly at him.

Needless to say, almost all the girls in school are smitten with Jet Nigels. On another hand, I am not sure if I am even interested in him.

After school, I head to Zero. The school is in between Four and Five, so I have no trouble getting there.

When I reach the warehouse, Elli is the first one to see me. She gasps at my changed appearance. I shush her, then peer around the warehouse door to see a couple of Zeros making out in a dark corner.

I try not to gawp at them and turn back to Elli. "What's with the lovebirds in there?" I demand.

She shrugs. "Malcolm and Allison? They've been together since months ago," she replies.

"I knew that. I'm asking why they're suddenly being so obvious about it," I say, but she just shrugs again.

"Hormones in teenagers, I guess," she snickers.

Malcolm isn't even a teenager anymore- he's twenty and Allison is nineteen, but I don't ask any further.

After all, who am I to accuse a couple for breaking the law when I do the same by stealing?

Or even, merely by existing as a Ten?