Chapter 14 Babysitting
Time Passing
Zeda and Quincy went on a date seven times a week for the next month. Half the dates they sat next to each other on the student study benches while he wrote, and she drew pictures, eating sandwiches, salad, or chicken nuggets for dinner.
Their hearts hung in-between love and attraction, but their beats collided. They hadn't pressed their lips to each other, but they loved each other more than they ever loved before.
*
The Library
Zeda and Quincy finished reading the Christmas Carol to children on a couple of their dates.
This time, Alana-Hope recorded and wrote notes for her articles.
The message of their date is, don't be a scrooge and give of yourselves. The old Earth classic, The Muppet Christmas Carol, is my favorite movie, and listening to the original story is a delight.
Quincy and Zeda give to the community and each other.
It'll be only a matter of time before they marry. Several Board Marked Members have crushes on Quincy, and who can blame them. He has a job, showers regularly, and is a best-selling author.
Alana-Hope stopped writing. "I need to leave." She walked to the door.
Ella picked her, but Alana-Hope took over driving.
"Go over my notes. There are plenty of underground blogs, and print zines that want to carry it, and the school wants to syndicate it, despite Zeda being Marked."
Ella glanced over them. "I love this. Quincy and I might need to use underground blogs because I heard the Mark Board purchased the major papers, and they are trying to bribe the editors because they don't know who we are."
*
At the Library
Quincy touched Zeda's hand as they walked out of the library. "Zeda, I have to babysit tonight, but do you want to come with me since you're off? I usually babysit for a family member when you work the night shift."
"Sure, why not." Zeda grasped his fingers.
They skipped hand in hand by a plastic surgery booth.
Identical women dressed in beige or gray uniforms waited for their faces molded to society's norms if they were lucky. Sometimes their faces resembled abstract art after they exited the green steel booths.
A man in a suit and tie sold Beauty Drugs on the street.
Zeda and Quincy approached his self-driving car, and he yanked off tracking devices from under the hood.
"Are you being spied on because of me?" Zeda held on to his arm.
They climbed inside his self-driving car.
"It didn't help, but no. I might have written anti-Mark articles under pen names." Quincy looked blankly ahead.
"Are you Josh Mort? I know Ella is Lisa, but she refused to tell me who Josh is."
"Yes, Ella and I have nine other pen names. We authored the articles to throw the Mark Board off our trail. I created a fake feud with myself," Quincy said.
Zeda buckled her seat belt. "What else do I not know about you?"
He stared at the road. "I'm a teacher and a writer, but the board is spying on my family, but not me."
YOU ARE READING
Uglier
FantasyCompleted. Zeda lives in a world where a strict but toxic beauty culture isn't the norm, it's the law. But a man named Quincy is offering her a chance at love, and all she needs is a good man and chicken nuggets. This novella is...
