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“I’ve got to go,” he said.

“Go?” I started, confusion mixing with my unease. “What do you meango? Aren’t you going to walk me home?”

“Yeah, um…” he stuttered, looking off into the distance. “I forgot I have something to do for work. You can get yourself home, though, right?”

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, I can get home from here,” I replied. This was so not like him. I mean, WTF?

“Good.” He walked backwards as he began to leave the alley. “I’ll call you tomorrow.” Then he turned and left me standing there…alone, feeling like, somehow, I was the one who did something wrong. Reaching for my little heart, a shiver flowed down my spine, and I suddenly felt cold in the shadows of the alley.

***

My mind was a whirling mess of thoughts as I sat in my brother’s car. I kept replaying the interaction between Chase and me over and over again, but no matter how often I reviewed it, I couldn’t figure out what went wrong. What the hell happened?

“And that’s it? He just walked away?” Jacob was driving his coup, an initiation gift from our parents. They were so proud when he was assigned a position at the REG two years ago. He was an amazing older brother, but I couldn’t help but feel the sting of jealousy from time to time. Why was it that everything he did was great, and everything I did wascrap?

“Yeah, it was super weird. I mean, did I say something wrong?” I stared at him. With blond hair trimmed short, a powerful jaw, and blue eyes like the sky, he looked so much like my stepmother.

At one point in my life, I held that against him, but it wasn’t his fault he was a spitting image of Belinda. She was his mom, after all.I, on the other hand, was a completely different story. The kind of story no one wants to acknowledge—let alone admit—to anyone else. I was thebastardchild. Raúl de la Puente was my dad, making me the result of a one-night stand. Jacob was the true de la Puente child, the true heir to Raúl’s presidency. Everyone fully expected him to continue Raúl’s legacy when the time came.

“No, you didn’t.Hewas wrong.” Jacob clinched the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles glowing white. His head swayed side to side, barely noticeable, but I knew he was getting angry. It was his tell. Ever since we were kids, whenever he was upset, his chin would shift side to side, almost as if his body was gesturing what he wanted to say—no.

“Don’t get mad, Jacob.”

“I’m not mad.” He glanced my way, but catching my skeptical expression, he cracked a smile. “Damn, Mara. How do youdothat? You always know what I’m feeling.”

“Nah, you just have a crap poker face,” I laughed softly. He chuckled too. “Thanks for picking me up. I could have walked home, but I didn’t feel like going all that way by myself.”

After Chase left me in the alley, I called my brother. Of course, I had to tell him why I needed a lift, which led to telling him about the poster and the argument we had. I left out the piece about the Enforcement Officer and the boy. Although I wasn’t worried about Jacob’s opinion of me, I figured fewer people knowing what happened was better. I hoped the officer would let it go and not mention my intervention in his report.

Concern seeped into his eyes. “Yeah, sure, no problem. You know I’ve always got your back.” I smiled at the sentiment.

Jacob had always been there for me, never holding Raúl’s infidelity against me. Out of everyone in that damn house, he was the only one that told me I was worth something. We were two years apart, but it felt more like we were twins sometimes. He was my big brother, but he was also my best friend.

We sat in silence for a minute. Watching the city pass by as we drove to the Presidential Palace, I was consumed by my thoughts. The memory of the beaten boy filled me, and I could feel the nausea returning in my belly.

“Mara, I’m concerned about you and Chase.”

“What? Why? You don’t have to worry about us. It was just a stupid fight, and he apologized and everything. It’ll be fine.”

“No, I don’t mean like that.” He licked his lips, clearly trying to find the words to express himself. “What you told me today, it sounds to me like…” He faltered, glancing out his window before shifting his gaze to the road once more. “What if he’s a Subclass Sympathizer? I mean, why else would he say those things?”

I froze. “No. No, don’t even start with that,” I said as I twisted in my seat to look at him. “Don’t evenjokeabout that.”

He kept his focus on the road, but his head was shaking again. “I’m not joking, Mara. I’m serious. What if he’s a rebel?”

“Stop,” I warned.

“What if he’s one of them—”

“Stop,” I said more forcefully. I couldn’t handle this right now. I couldn’t go there. The day had been a mess ever since the park, and I didn’t need this on top of everything else. “Chase supports Dad,” I reaffirmed. “His parents arehugewith the Council, remember? The Beckhams are Telvians through and through.”

“I know you like him, but just because—”

“Stop it! For real, Jacob. Knock it off.”

“It’s myassignment,Mara. Remember? I could get into huge trouble—not to mention lose my job—if I don’t report him to the REG.”

I shook my head vigorously, desperate for this conversation to end. “No, Jacob. IknowChase. He’s not a Dissenter. He was just having a bad day.” The tears were welling up in my eyes. I couldn’t do this right now. I just wanted this day to end. “Please, don’t report him. You know how that would look, and…” And they would deny his application to be a match for me. I didn’t want that. “Please,” I begged. “For me?”