Cinder ran through sets of jumping jacks as the sky turned from black to pink, indicating another morning waking up in The Dome. She inhaled and exhaled hot, stale air, so unlike the air she had grown accustomed to in Silicon City. She added air to a new list she was making in her mind; a list of things she had never appreciated until she had experienced them fully in the real world.
A nervous energy electrified her entire body, and she was itching for something to do—something physical, and something that could take her mind off Dash. She glanced up at the Blue Line tracks, noting that there were more guards than she had seen before, more guards than she had seen last night. She wondered if Ren had more control over The Dome than she had originally thought.
Her feet pounded on the concrete wasteland that surrounded the tracks above. No one lived all the way out here, so close to The Dome walls, so Cinder had known she could slink around without causing suspicion.
She heard footsteps shuffling behind her, at her back. "You made some big promises last night,” a voice whispered into the musty, decaying wind.
Cinder didn’t have to look up to see who it was. Vaughn.
She stopped jumping, but didn’t turn around. “How did you find me?”
Vaughn didn’t reply back, and she wondered if he had heard her. After a minute of waiting, she resumed her jumping jacks.
“You feel trapped, don't you?"
Cinder sighed, and stopped jumping again. She crossed her arms over her chest and spun around. Vaughn looked the same as always—long, tangled hair that hung across his eyes, broad shoulders, dark features—but something in his eyes had changed. They were brighter and more vibrant, almost the color of violets. His face lit up when he saw her, but as quickly as his vulnerability flashed before her, it left, hiding again in the neutral lines of his face.
Cinder stepped closer to him. “Is it better to have loved and lost?"
"Are you talking about Dash? Cinder, the guy's a—"
"No, not Dash. I'm talking about Silicon City."
“You’re wondering if it’s better to know the truth about your life than to never have known?” Vaughn asked.
“Something like that.”
"In that case, yes. That's the only reason we met." A small smile tickled the corner of Vaughn’s lips. “This is probably hard to believe, but my life wasn’t quite this exciting until you came along.”
Cinder knew he was ribbing her, but she couldn’t find a smile to return to him. Instead, she sat down on the cement next to the bridge where she and Dash had climbed up the railings just a week earlier to board the train where she would meet Vaughn. It felt like years had passed since then, but really, it was just her that had aged. A part of her felt lost, missing. She had never understood how much she truly hated The Dome until now.
“I knew Dash didn't love me."
Vaughn’s eyebrows shot up, and a look of confusion crossed over his face. “So then, Cinder, why did you come back? Why did you give up Silicon City and everything it had to offer you?”
Cinder searched her heart for the answers. "To save him,” she said finally. "To save all of them."
Vaughn grinned. "Then that's what we're going to do."
YOU ARE READING
Socialpunk (Socialpunk #1)
Ifjúsági irodalom"This book would be good for those that enjoyed the Hunger Games!” ~ Cover 2 Cover Blog "When I read the first page, I did not anticipate that I would be finishing the book that night, but I did. I had to. I didn’t care that I was up until 3:00AM."...
