The Hues

s e v e n.

The pungent smell of smoke awakens Holland on Saturday morning. She leaps from her bed to search for the source of the smell. Upon walking into the kitchen, she finds it. Her mother stands over the kitchen counter, scraping burned biscuits off of a baking sheet.

"I'm awfully sorry, Will. I completely forgot I had put these in the oven!" her mother says, as Holland enters the kitchen.

"Oh, Holland dear, your friend Will has come to visit. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well to be fair, Mrs. Aspen, I just decided to stop by on my way to the Centre. I thought maybe Holland would like to join me," Will replies politely

"Can I go, mother? I can be ready in about ten minutes."

"Sure, honey. I'll make you two some toast and coffee to take with you. Will you be back by lunch?"

"I don't think so, ma'am. I brought lunch though," Will says, holding up a sack.

"Great! Holland, you should go get ready," her mother says. And with that, she hurries back to her room, changes into her usual clothes, and furiously brushes her tangled hair. After looking in the mirror, she decides to apply a bit of makeup and put her hair into a simple fishtailed braid across her shoulder. Finally satisfied with her look, she pulls on her shoes and cloak and walks back into the kitchen.

"Ready to go?" she asks Will.

"Yep. Thank you for the breakfast, Mrs. Aspen."

"You're welcome! Make sure to be back before dinner."

"Okay, mom. See you later," Holland says. Without another word, the two teens leave the house together.

"So where are we really going?"

"That's a surprise, actually. But we are going into the Centre," Will says, taking Holland's hand and leading her through the portal. They enter the mostly quiet portal circle and head off towards the weekend trains. On Saturday and Sunday, nobody has to work except for the City leaders and cleaning crews. So the weekend trains take the people into portion of the City with shops and restaurants and other entertainment options. Everything, of course, costs credits. Adults earn credits at their jobs, and children earn credits at school. Therefore, those with good grades are not only rewarded with better jobs in the future, but more money to spend as well.

"I can't remember the last time I rode a weekend train," Will says as they find seats together near a window.

"Really? Don't you enjoy the shops?"

"It's better when I have a friend along. I haven't really had too many close friends recently. I'm just.. Different from the others, I think. I don't like the same things, or think the same way."

"Yeah, I feel like that too. Even my best friend, Evelyn, seems to be keeping her distance.

"Really? I've always thought you two were inseparable."

"We were, but in the past few months we've been seeing each other less and running out of things to talk about. She's interested in boys and normal teenage things, and I find myself thinking about books and music and how the world works."

"Fiction is one of the world's worst drugs. It takes you to a different, better world and then forces you back into the normal, shitty one. Whenever I finish a book, it always leaves me thinking about what could be done differently to make a better world."

"Me too. I just love the feeling of being taken away to a whole new world for awhile," Holland says. Before either can speak again, the train halts silently, and the passengers begin to depart onto the main street of the entertainment area.