I shake my head. How could I be so irrational? Let myselflikesomeone I don’t even know. Then again, I thought I knew Jamie, but he showed his true colors too. They are as bad as each other.
“Why did you do it?” I ask. It’s a question with a double meaning.Why did you kiss me back? Why not just walk out of the classroom and never speak to me again—spare me the hurt.And also,Why are you a part of this? What is THIS?
Belle looks away from me. “It’s not that simple. I need to explain everything—”
“Why did you do it, Belle? What is the point of all of this? I have theories, but I don’t want to believe them. Believe that people could be that sick. But all the evidence doesn’t leave me with much choice. I want you to tell me now,why?”
The floorboards above creak once again.Who else is here?My heartbeat grows faster.
Belle looks up at the ceiling, wiping her eyes. “I didn’t have a choice. It’s been a family tradition for decades. My mom, my dad… my sister. They all went to Niveus. They are all invested in its…traditions, because it’s what my family has always done. We go to camp, we learn more about the past… and about how the future could look just like it if we plan properly. It seemed harmless: get two kids to drop out, move on in life, forget…”
I’m dizzy.
Of course she had a choice. People always have a choice.
“… And it’s not just Niveus; there are places all over the country that… that do this.”
She still can’t look at me.
“What is ‘this’ exactly?” I ask, trying to sound as calm as I can.
Belle is pale, tears flowing down her face. I hate her lies and her fake weeping. She shouldn’t be the one crying here.
This time the creaking comes from the staircase. I look toward it, body tense as I expect to see a masked figure emerge.
“They call it social eugenics.” Her voice stutters out.
The words puncture my chest.
Social eugenics.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you.” She sniffs. “I… As soon as I got to know you, I regretted everything. I wanted to change it, make things better for you, but the system is so complicated. There are so many people involved.”
I wipe my eyes. “You’ll be glad to know you didn’t hurt me. I don’t get hurt by people I don’t care about.”
Belle flinches at that.
“And you can’t ruin my future either. It’s in my hands—not Niveus’s, not yours or your sick family’s.”
The doorbell rings. “That must be my ride,” I tell her, moving away. Her chair scrapes against the floor and her hand grips my arm.
I turn to face her. “Get off me.”
“Please, just trust me.”
Her eyes look like crystals dipped in blue poison, her lower lip quivering, lashes blinking, face reddening.
A white cat is seated in the middle of the stairwell, watching the scene unfold. When it catches me staring, it hops back up the stairs, which creak from its sudden movement.
I look at Belle again.
“Trust you?” I’m breathing fast, chest billowing. “I never want to see you again.”
I yank my arm away, opening the door.
Richards stands there waiting for me. His eyes move past me and over to Belle.
I don’t want to be here anymore. I just want to leave and never have to see or think about her again.
