glitched | ✔️

t w e l v e

Chelsie POV

Olivia was waiting for me in the mall, an expensive-looking purse slung over one shoulder.

Once she saw me her eyes lit up and she ran over, embracing me.
I hugged her tightly back, taking a closer peek at her purse.
Coach.
Not bad.

"What should we do first?" She asked cheerfully, looking around the huge mall.

I smiled to myself, thinking of how me and Amara used to like hiding in the clothing racks than popping out to scare people... or staying and eves-dropping.

I never wanted to but Amara had always insisted.

"I don't know, this place is huge."

I liked huge indoor places. They calmed me.
It was like being outside, but with more of a sense of security.

Suddenly Olivia gripped my arm tightly. "Gracie!" She hissed, eyes wide.

My whole body tensed. Had the HH come for me?

"What? What is it?" I whispered in her ear, to scared to turn around and look at what she was gesturing too.

"Theo! Theo and some of his friends!"

I instantly relaxed, rolling my eyes. "You almost gave me a heart attack, Olivia!"

She elbowed me. "Look, there's some girls in the group."

I turned to look and sure enough there were quite a few girls in the group of teenagers.
Did Theo have a girlfriend?!

Olivia saw my expression and snorted. "None of them are his girlfriend, I think he's smitten with a certain new girl."

I looked sharply at her. "Who?"

She laughed a little. "That's for me to know and you to find out. Come on, let's go say hi."

Theo noticed us first.

"Oh! Gracie! And-" he paused for a split second, "-Olivia! How are you gals?"
He grinned at me.
Or us.
Because I guess Olivia was right next to me.

"Oh. Hey. I'm doing okay, I guess," I said as cheerfully as I could, mustering a smile.

Olivia laughed, elbowing me. "Cheerful as ever," she said sarcastically.

"Hey!"

Theo laughed a little. "Why don't you girls join us?"
Olivia nodded excitedly. "That would be wonderful, right Gracie?"
I inwardly groaned.

"Mmhmm that would be great!"

Olivia smiles cheerfully, linking her arm with a cute dirty blonde guy in Theo's group, and Theo held out his arm for me.
I looked at it in confusion.
Realization dawned on his face.

"I forget you're not from around here. There's a whole social code. You take a guy's arm if you're his friend, and it is a signal for other guys to kinda stay away. You hold his hand if you're together and dating. If a girl isn't holding an arm or a hand, than she's single."

I slowly took his arm, still baffled.
"But what if she can't be with her significant other at the time,"

"Than she can take the arm of a friend."

"What if she's all alone?"

"Than she can flip off any guy that approaches flirtatiously."

I laughed, before realizing Theo was being serious.
"District Three-Eleven is weird."
He smiled. "I know."

Olivia called from behind us.
"If you lovebirds are done the rest of us would like to get matching tees from Store Eleven."

I decided to ignore the lovebirds comment and turned to Theo with a questioning look.

"Store Eleven is just a clothing store, but they've got some nice stuff there. We are coming up on it now."

I looked, and saw a store with neon signs. Inside it was lit only by blue light, and had a cool grunge aesthetic.

"Sweet." I whistled.

"Yup." Theo popped the 'p'.

The store was just as cool on the inside.
"You can follow the different colored tape on the floor to the part of the store that carries the color for your ethnicity."

I inwardly cringed.
The whole ethnicity thing again.

Outwardly I smiled. "Cool."

I ended up picking out a super soft form-fitting white t-shirt with the Store 11 logo on the front in a watercolor-looking rainbow.
It was cute.
The only problem was that she t shirts were twenty dollars apiece, and I didn't want to spend that much.

But Olivia was a saint and paid for mine, shrugging it off like it was nothing.
But considering her mansion it probably was nothing in the grand scheme of things.

As we continued to walk through the mall I noticed the doorknobs all flickering, being replaced with older models.
The Machine at work again.
Ticking things back.

Nobody in the group noticed. I was alone.

•••

I got home and shoved Bolt out of my room, not caring he had chewed up another one of my socks.

Those in liberty of the bounded, those of us who were not safe from the HH... what was so special about us?

We scorned the system, and would disobey if we get it was right (or in Amara's case if we wanted to). We could see the changes the Machine made, and we constantly question the system.
Underneath it all it was almost like Liberty for the Bounded had a plan.
A goal.

I wonder what it was.

To dethrone the HH?
To free the world?
To turn off the Machine and start society moving forward again?

I groaned, banging my head against my desk. This was all exhausting to puzzle about and I was getting nowhere.

I opened my window to get fresh air and some leaves blew in, along with the fresh scent of autumn air.
It would be winter soon.
And with winter came chick flicks at Amara's with heated fuzzy blankets and apple cider... but most importantly- our birthdays.

What would winter bring this year?
Ice? Snow?

I really didn't know.
My sweet sixteen wouldn't be sweet without Amara.

I just wanted my bff there.
And my mom there. 
And my dad.
And brother.

I punched my pillow's as hard as I could, which admittedly wasn't very hard, and snuggled into bed, under the covers, and shut the world out as sleep overtook me.

•••

Sorry I updated later than usual today. I went and saw a movie and got a cute pair of overalls, so that was really fun.
I hoped you enjoyed the chapter, it was sorta all over the place lol.
But you get Amara next, and with Amara comes Peter and so comes....

What was their ship name?

I can't remember, but anyway. XD