“I’ll do it dad.” Riley set the step-ladder on the table.
“No. You’re going to be late.” He shooed us out.
Riley shrugged and opened the door. I hoped Logan had the sense to scoot away from the vent and to keep quiet. Jacob reached for the air shaft as Riley escorted me into the hallway. The door clicked shut.
“Let’s hope Logan doesn’t give himself away.” He strode down the corridor. “Does he know where to go?”
I hurried to follow. “No. I’ll have to go back and get him. Isn’t this dangerous?” I swept my arm out, indicating the hallway.
“Not really. Just act like you belong here. Walk with confidence. No one knows who you are. Since you’re wearing a student jumpsuit, they’ll assume you’re from another sector.”
“Don’t you know everyone up here?” My vision of the upper levels as one big happy family was being shredded strip by strip.
He laughed. “No. Do you know all the scrubs?”
“There’re ten times as many of us.”
“Well, up here everyone keeps to themselves. I have a few aunts and uncles, some cousins, a friend or two, and I know my fellow workers of course, but that’s about it.”
“What about the real Ella? What if she sees me?”
A few uppers walked toward us, I braced for their cry of alarm. They nodded at us and continued past. Riley was right.I relaxed a bit and looked around. There wasn’t much to see. Doors and plain white metal walls, the same as in the lower levels. The only difference was the thin strip of gray carpet on the floor.
When the uppers moved out of hearing range, Riley said, “Youare Ella.”
“I am?”
He gave me a don’t-be-stupid look. “How do you think I justify all my time spent in our store room? My father likes to know what I’m doing during my off hours, so I tell him I’mtraininga student. Actually, his unexpected arrival helped me. Now he has met Ella and knows she’s a real person. It should keep him happy for a while. Although…”
“What?”
“He might start bugging me to bring you around more.”
Confused, I asked why.
Riley’s stride slowed as he stared at me. “You really don’t know anything about families do you?”
“Scrub remember? We have Care Facilities not families.” I believed I did a good job of keeping the bitterness from my voice, but he still frowned.
“Well parents want their children to grow up, earn important positions and find mates. According to them, that’s the key to happiness. My father, being no different, wants me to find a mate. It’s the reason why he was grinning so much. He’s hoping I have found someone.”
I considered his explanation. In the lower levels, scrubs waited until after their tenure in the care facility to become couples. Care mates didn’t hook up. It was frowned upon.
“Don’t you already have someone? Another upper?” I asked.
“No.”
“Why not?”
He stopped and searched my expression. I tried to let my genuine interest show. He had been right about my lack of curiosity and my assumptions of upper life. I was determined to learn more.
“I haven’t met the right woman yet. Guess I’m waiting for someone to…surprise me.” He continued walking.
“Surprise you how?”
“Oh the usual way, I guess. Suddenly appear out of nowhere and completely change my life. You know, boring stuff.”
He increased his stride so I wouldn’t see his expression, but I thought he might be joking with me.
