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25

AMITY

“Oh my goodness,”I gasp and spring up, rushing down the stairs. I throw my arms around Zeph and we hug. He squeezes me tight and I try not to choke up. I was so worried about him.

I pull back to look at him. He has dark rings under his eyes, and he’s paler than I remember from Baltimore, but he looks okay otherwise. A little thin. Tired. I probably look the same way.

“Amity,” he mutters with a glance up at the porch to where everyone is sitting, watching with interest. “What are you doing up here?”

I glance back and everyone looks down, Ren clearing their throat and asking Moira a question about the mural she’s painting.

“Let’s, um, walk around the block,” I say, taking Zeph’s hand and dragging him.

“We’ll be right back,” I call to the others.

“Everything okay?” Eli’s standing now, watching me.

“It’s my friend Zeph, from Baltimore. It’s okay,” I say, then glance around, not wanting all the neighbors to hear my business.

Zeph looks wary and starts walking. I hurry to catch up.

“I can’t believe this,” he says to me. “I can’t believe you came up here, Amity.”

“Ami,” I correct him. He looks like he’s suppressing a smile. “Ami? That’s what Vale was calling you. Trying out something new?”

I shrug. “Trying to stay under the radar a little bit. My mom and my family… you know.”

“Yeah,” he agrees, and I feel his eyes sweep me as I am searching for signs he’s okay.

“I can’t believe you refused your oath,” he says quietly.

I guess he can’t believe any of this. It’s starting to grate a little. This is when I need to lie. Maybe I can skirt the truth a little bit.

“I can’t believe it either. But also, Zeph, there’s so much I didn’t know about the world. We never left Maryland after the Integration, you know.”

“Yeah.” He nods. “It’s pretty different up here.”

“Everything is different. Canada is…crazy.”

“Did you drive through the Midwest?” he asks.

I shake my head no.

“That part was pretty nice, actually,” he says. “Everyone’s on UBI. And all the citizens are treated…equally.”

When I think about how men are treated back in the PS, I cringe. I was always told there were good reasons for it. Historically, men committed the most murders and acts of violence, and men had biological reasons to bemore aggressive and less in control of their emotional state.

I expect Zeph to say how much better it is up here, but when I turn to him there’s worry creasing his brow.

“Maybe you should head there. To the Midwest,” he says.

That’s not what I was expecting him to say.

“Why?”

“It’s not safe for you here. They don’t treat women well at all. The Forge, the other group, the Brotherhood. Women are second-class citizens. And you don’t have anyone looking out for you.”

He doesn’t say “any man” but I know what he means.