Page 4

Chapter two

Forest

“C an you imagine everyone still driving on the roads like they used to?" I question, passing our father's car in the driveway.

When the resources for gasoline began to dwindle and emissions from the vehicles began impacting the air quality, the need and want for vehicles in New Haven slowly died out. Most material used for transportation vehicles was then utilized for building the trams. A few key personnel, like my father, were awarded the luxury of cars for their commutes to keep their affairs to themselves. For everyone else, vehicles aren’t needed as there’s nowhere a tram can't take you.

Unfortunates run all the trams, and, in return, they are occasionally housed for short periods in our section of New Haven.

Not that they deserve it.

"Did you know it was sort of a rite of passage for children to be given a car when they were sixteen? Imagine first years driving one of those things," Kai says with a small gasp. I try to picture Academy first year students behind the wheel of a car.

"I think anyone today would see it as nothing more than an Unfortunate's job. Even Dad has Unfortunates drive him in his car sometimes," I say. Kai lets out another laugh.

"You think you could drive it if you had to?"

I reflect on the intricate interior of our father's car, with buttons and controls that are all foreign to me.

"If I had a light sensor prod to my back, then maybe."

We both rub our arms, walking in an unspoken unison. Leaves line the street in piles. The trees have shifted from luscious green to the burnt oranges and yellows of fall. I hear crunching beneath my feet with each step. Despite all the fallen leaves, the street is clean and orderly. Not one crack can be found in the sidewalk's smooth, concrete surface.

"Was it weird today at breakfast, with Mom, I mean?" I question after a few moments of silence. The contents of our bags clink together as we walk. The air seems chiller, almost like the question lingering between us has only cooled our bodies more.

"Like Dad said, lines between the Unfortunates and the Untouchables blur at times because of her work," Kai says. His words echo like a voice box for my father. I sometimes wonder if he’s ever had an individual thought that wasn't meant to satisfy others.

"That's not what I asked, Kai."

My hands are shoved deep into my pockets. My fingers toy with a small thread for some sense of distraction. Once more, silence is all I hear.

"Yes, it was weird," he says, speaking like he is only now processing the abnormality of the situation.

"Blackburn!" a familiar voice yells in a sweet tone.

A pair of blonde twins wait at the tram stop, looking straight toward us. I see the other students linger by the stop in waves of black and gray. Each one wears their customary gray tie and bleak uniform. Raegan’s manicured pastel pink nails wave in the air toward us. Her long blonde hair is wound into a bun, and her uniform is in perfect condition, just like Kai's. I see her large bag bounce with each step toward us. Her hands clutch a thermos similar to Kai's. Her blue eyes lock onto mine with a scrunch.

I watch her brother's smile grow bigger the closer they get to us. Max’s taller stature and perfectly white teeth only add to his attractiveness and, given his athletic build, it's hard not to look at Max a little closer. His tie loosely hangs from his neck. His bag stays partially open. Both twins radiate an unshakable beauty neither my brother nor I can look past. My brother's eyes remain on Raegan like a moth to a flame.

Max and Raegan Vega have been with us for as long as I can remember. Their father got promoted around the same time my father did, and because of it, our housing has never been far apart. From childhood to now, they’ve been consistently in our lives. The twins are twenty and in their fifth year at New Foundation’s Academy. Kai is almost exactly a year older and in his sixth and final year at the Academy. It's bittersweet to see his last year finally approaching. I can already see him in a position like my father's, decorated with several awards for his academic merit. His Judgment Day will be something impossible for me to compete with. He and the Vega twins have years of accomplishments under their belt.

I have nothing.

"To think I almost thought you two were going to be late," Raegan says, her arms wrapping around my neck. I embrace the hug with a squeeze. Her lavender and vanilla perfume fills my nose with a sweet singe. I feel her soft hair press to the side of my face while her arms pull me close. Her thermos brushes over my hands. I can't help but shoot her a pleading look.

"Can I steal some?" I ask.

Before she can answer, Kai nabs the thermos, giving himself yet another opportunity to try his horrid flirting tactics on the girl he has been infatuated with for years.

The worst part is that she sees right past it.

"You still don't need the caffeine," Kai says with a shake of the thermos. I feel Raegan pull away, trying to grab her drink. My brother holds it high, watching as she jumps up to try and reach it and doing her best to get it away from him. Both of their smiles devour their faces the longer they mess around. I can see it now – Kai getting his cushy Official job and Raegan moving into the nursing program, living together in a perfect house, only a few blocks from the home we have now.

"Here," Max mutters from next to me. I feel him press his thermos in my hand, both of us turning away from the pair. I give him a slight side eye. His smirk pulls over his perfect teeth so casually.

"I won't tell if you won't."

I happily take three long swigs from his thermos. I’m relieved to feel the coffee run down my throat. I let it warm my stomach before handing Max back the much lighter thermos.

"Thank you."

He smiles, raising his hand to wipe the minuscule drops of coffee that linger on my lips. I feel my face fluster at the motion. His hands dip back into his pockets like the touch never happened.

Max has done something like that before. Over the years, he’s gotten braver than Kai when showcasing his crush. Sadly, as hard as I try, I can never reciprocate whatever feelings he has.

"To hide the evidence," he shrugs, justifying the action. I nudge his arm with a smile listening to Rae's small grunts. Her hand is on Kai's face, forcing him to lower her drink with a pinch on his nose. Like an obedient dog, he lowers his arm. Rae's face is blanketed with a look of pure satisfaction while she pats my gentle giant of a brother on the head.

"Good boy," she mutters, her twin crossing his arms. Max and I can't help but laugh at Kai's look of utter defeat.

The group of students lingering around the tram stop begin to murmur. The gaggle, once fully dispersed, now becomes condensed. Students stand shoulder to shoulder. It resembles that of a wall. My laughter dies down as I process the scene unfolding before me. Students whisper, their faces changing from curiosity to disgust. Two boys in my year, Colton Stark and Josh Seal, gravitate toward the group with sinister grins. If there is one thing those two are good at, it's causing problems. This year alone, Josh has had four meetings for the number of violations he has gotten. The only reason he’s avoided community time is because of his dad's position on the Council. Being a seat below the Commander can get you away with many things.

Josh's brown hair is pulled back into a loose bun on his head. His olive skin and golden eyes only add to his popularity amongst the women at school. He stands a foot or so shorter than Kai. He does many athletics with Max and, as a result, has an ego higher than even the stuffiest Untouchable. His counterpart, Colton, is no better. Although considerably less eye-catching with his straight red hair and pale skin, his friendship with Josh has only aided his sociability. The two of them together is nothing short of maniacal.

I move past Kai and Rae in the wake of the growing tensions amongst the group. Spit begins to physically leave the student's mouths. I can’t see what they're staring at. Max stays close to me. His face contorts as he processes an escalating situation. Rae and Kai hesitantly follow behind us. They are more worried about jeopardizing their positions on the Student Council and their involvement in radical affairs rather than the gravity of a situation an angry crowd like this might create. I grasp Max's sleeve the closer we get to the group. Nudging a few students out of his path, the clearing finally opens up for us to observe what's happening.

Her tattered clothes and work-worn hands embrace her like a beautiful mosaic. The veins in her hands and brown spots on her skin show her age and the maltreatment of her already frail figure. Dirt-ridden shoes and shaky hands support the older woman's figure, her hands grasping a cane for dear life. Her body is almost concealed entirely by her sorry excuse for a robe. Straggly threads and patchy holes coat the clothing from head to toe. Her skin is dark, partially because of genetics but also from her time in the sun. Her hair is nothing but a gray mess atop her head. Dirt clings beneath her broken nails. Max feels rigid beneath my touch. Colton and Josh pull away from the group, beginning a taunt toward the woman.

"Why is she so far from her sector's tram stop?" I question, observing the situation with a pit in my stomach.

"You're a long way from your people's pigsty of a sector," Josh beckons with a casual walk toward the woman. The woman's head remains down, her foot tapping in a way I know is meant to ease her own anxiety. I look around for any sign of why she may be standing here. Her frail arm holds a bag filled with nearly rotten fruit. Her eyes squint, masking her line of vision from the two students towering over her. Her legs shake beneath her weight out of pure adrenaline. I move a little more past Max, letting my grasp fall away from him until my body now stands within the group's inner circle. Kai has already managed to shove his way to the front as well. I feel Max's hands linger on my back, ready to drag me back at any moment.

"I-" the woman begins, reaching in her bag, quickly regretting the decision to defend herself with words.

I have to stop my body from physically recoiling as Josh's hand strikes the woman across her feeble face. She lets out a gasp, her palms colliding with the concrete. Her soot-filled cane rolls away several feet from her. Josh and Colton smile. Both men are filled with nothing but happiness at the sight in front of them.

"You were not permitted to speak to me," Josh hisses. His foot drives down on the woman's cane, shattering it instantly. Once more, I feel my stomach drop the moment her scuffed hands begin to paint the ground with streaks of red. With two steps, I am backed into Max, letting my shaky hands press to his forearm that has found its way around my front.

"It's just an Unfortunate. Look away if you need to," Max whispers coldly.

An Unfortunate who has done nothing out of regulation.

The woman's head stays lowered. Her hand covers her mouth in an attempt to hide her sobs. The other students laugh, mocking her with varying wailing tones. Her bag of fruit is sprawled on the ground. Understanding why she is in our sector doesn't take a genius.

I pull away from Max's grasp, feeling clarity wash over me. The fruits are older, meaning she picked them up from the Untouchable market before they were tossed in the garbage. Sometimes Unfortunate business owners come into town to collect what we discard and then utilize it in their sector. The hand-crafted logo for her bakery is stitched into the front of her apron, now streaked with her blood. Colton walks around the woman, resembling a crow stalking its prey before it dives.

"Should I kick her again to remind her why we don't let Unfortunates into our sector?" Colton asks Josh. Colton is just another one of Josh's henchmen doing his bidding because he’s too self-obsessed with the look of his own hands to deliver another blow.

Josh nods, signaling Colton to raise his foot.

My hands nudge the front of Colton without thinking. The soft material of his uniform meets my fingertips with a gentle touch. My push turns into a full-blown shove the deeper I lean into the movement. Colton has nothing to grab onto, falling backward with the instability of his one leg. The other was already in the air, ready to deliver a blow I knew the woman couldn't take. Colton's red hair sprawls on the ground. Josh's hand raises, readying himself to give me his next slap. He pauses once he notices who is standing in front of him. People whisper, signaling Kai to make his way next to me. Max's hand now rests on my lower back, his eyes dead set on Josh.

"Cute gesture, Blackburn. Now get out of my way," Josh says, paying little attention to his friend angrily pulling himself off the ground.

"She owns a business over there. This was part of her produce route," I begin, lowering myself to the woman. Her eyes are away from my own as I look her over. I grab the small paper poking from her pocket. The Unfortunate's market logo is displayed on the slip in a black stamp. I hold it up to Josh, ignoring the sound of her small groans behind me. "She was trying to tell you about her voucher for this sector." My hand presses the slip to his chest and his eyes narrow more.

"You beat an Unfortunate and nearly hit me just to feed that extremely big ego of yours," I finish. His narrow look becomes a full-fledged scowl. He steps toward me, ready to drag me down like the Unfortunate woman.

"Lay a hand on her, Josh, and I will make sure you pay for it during combat class," Max says with a snap. Josh backs down, moving away from Colton's flustered figure out of annoyance.

"I didn't realize you were a dirty, Unfortunate lover," Josh spits. I shake my head at him, pressing my finger into his chest.

"I hate every part of their existence. What I don't like is you delaying the tram because you don't know when to piss off and leave an Unfortunate alone," I spit back. Although I can't see him, I can feel Max's smile rise on his face. Rae looks flustered in the back of the crowd. Everyone around is staying silently neutral. The tram is at a standstill at the stop. Minutes have passed, waiting for someone to enter its open doors.

"The school's Officials would not like to hear you threatened an Unfortunate and delayed a good portion of students from getting to class on time just for your own amusement. I suggest you choose your next words wisely and get on the tram," Kai finally says. His large hand grasps Josh's shoulder. Josh swipes away Kai’s hand. All of his anger surrounds him like a wild animal with no restraints.

“Your authority only extends to picking a theme for the Academy's Social, not out here, Kai. Remember that."

Josh wipes his mouth, backing away, leaving his words for all of us to take in. The bus driver's head is lowered in the same fashion as the women's.

Slowly but surely, Josh and Colton's lead in entering the tram causes more to follow. One by one, students make their way through the wide doors. The bus driver can't help but glance at his fellow Unfortunate with a look of hurt. The driver doesn’t voice his concerns. He remains planted in his seat, not once getting up to help the woman. Regulations say he must stay at his posted job. Her knees are pulled into her chest, her painful cries still prominent. Our group is the last left outside before filing onto the cramped tram. My touch pulls away from Max the farther he moves up the steps of the tram. I allow all my companions to file on, taking a step back to give them some space.

My hand flies to my torso, a dull heat filling my lower stomach. I feel a sharp pain in the same spot I had this morning. My neck tingles with anticipation, the hair on my arms rising like the coldest chill has entered my bones. My heart races in ways you only get if you survive on nothing but coffee for days. I grab my chest, pausing to force out a full breath. The smell of cedarwood and soap wafts past my nose

Aggressively, a body collides with my own, sending my shoulder flying back, narrowly avoiding a collision with the side of the tram. I force my body around, ready to scream at the Untouchable willing to be so careless with me. A tall figure, taller than Kai, crouches down to the older woman. His back is to me. His raven-colored, curly, black hair is nothing but a wild mess atop his head. I watch his shoulders move as he coaxes the woman up. My stomach drops as I see his willingness to be near her.

"Your legs still work, don't they, Dove? Get out of my sight," his deep voice snaps. I look him over repeatedly, trying to process what the hell he’s doing. His voice is unfamiliar.

Quickly, I pull myself up into the tram, letting my eyes pass over the bus driver as he gives me a nod. Per usual, I ignore the gesture, feeling shaken by the man's blatant rudeness. Maybe Josh will have another person to drag around to torment people with.

Max is taking a seat right as I get on. His hand waves me over next to him. Rae is already talking Kai's ear off, nearly leaning into him. Kai's brows raise the closer I get. Max's hand drags me down, almost sitting me in his lap. His hand stays placed on my lower back.

Max's touches have grown bolder and more frequent over the past few months. I sometimes wonder if feeding into them would be all that bad. Max sits with a certain confidence that I know Kai wishes he had when it comes to wooing Raegan. Max knows how to address everyone in the room while making your conversation with him feel entirely intimate.

There's a reason my father thinks he’s perfect for me.

"Did that Unfortunate touch you?" Kai questions with a disgusted expression. I pause, pulling my mind away from Max's looks.

"What Unfortunate?"

All I can think of is the woman's worn and battered figure. My mind draws blanks at my brother's question.

His boots hit the tram floor with loud thuds. The goosebumps on my arms return. Sweat collects on my back, my shoulder still throbbing from his collision with me against the bus. I now see the patches working up and down the man's worn uniform. His deep blue eyes scan his surroundings with a hike of his old backpack up his shoulder. His hands are calloused from manual labor. A deep scar is set on his cheek, his curls falling forward to frame his face. His body is larger than any Unfortunate man I have seen at our age. His mouth is downturned, his face painted with a stoic expression. He clasps the bus driver on the back with familiarity, ignoring Josh's scoff once he pulls away from the man—my heart races once he moves past me. There are no words to describe the pit in my stomach that forms once he moves past the Untouchable section of the bus and seats himself beyond the red tape into the Unfortunate area of the tram.

An Unfortunate told me what to do.

An Unfortunate touched me.

His legs are spread where he sits. He slings his arms over his neighboring chairs, letting them drape.

He cranes his neck back, his head still held high. He’s utterly indifferent to being stared down by this many Untouchables.

Not once have I seen an Unfortunate hold themselves like this.

Not once has anyone made me this nervous.

My birthmark continues to run hot with each passing moment. The tram doors close, only making my legs shake, knowing there is no quick way to escape. I lean into Max, letting his steady heartbeat soothe my anxieties.

"Did he, Forest?" Max questions.

My friends wait for an answer, impatiently. I swallow the lump in my throat, readying myself to answer. With one glance, I see he’s watching me, and my rational thinking stops His blue eyes pierce through my soul with a look of pure hatred. His brows furrow, his arms crossed. I can see the veins work through his arms, a scowl nearly consuming his face. Even this far away, it feels as if he could take me and drag me across the space. Even worse, it feels like he wants to. There is no fear in his expression, no cowardice.

All there is, is hate.

And he’s looking at me like prey, wanting to rip me apart. My lip quivers in my attempt to force out the truth. My brother's eye contact is still not enough to shake his watchful eyes.

"No," I say without thinking. "He didn't. He just moved past me," I finish.

It's a lie that left me like it was second nature. In every scenario, the Unfortunate’s behavior would lead to him receiving a high-level violation. But I can’t bring myself to tell them the truth.

"See? Everything is fine!" Raegan chirps. I give her a half-assed smile, leaning into her twin with a grunt. My hand reaches into my bag, finding an empty space where my mother's Cure-All once resided. My hand frantically searches other parts of my bag, feeling around for any sign of the small vial. I only find dead ends with each touch.

"You okay?" Max asks.

All I can do is nod before looking at the Unfortunate once more.

He looks out the window, not once pulling his gaze to me like he had before. My eyes strain to look for a small vial shoved deep within one of his pockets. The thick, black material of his pants shields anything from showing through. I narrow my eyes at him with a great deal of frustration.

Never in my life have I hated a pair of blue eyes like I do the ones on the Unfortunate seated at the back of the tram right now.

The question is, who is he?

And what is he doing in the Untouchable sector?