Next Up

Chapter 42

Looking through the glass into the small room, Neph saw Ivy sitting on the ground, bouncing a tennis ball off the wall and catching it. It was a grey windowless room; only a few colorful posters hung on the walls.

Someone had stripped her of her usual clothes; now she was barefoot, wearing long purple pajama pants and a white t-shirt. On top of that, she wore a heavy green smock.

Neph lightly tapped on the window. He winced, seeing her face light up when she recognized him. She crawled over to the window, sitting cross-legged in front of him.

"Yeah?" she said eagerly, grinning.

"So, we've come to a decision. We've decided to expel you."

"What does that mean?"

"It means you'll have to leave." He glanced back, looking at the clock. "You'll have two hours to collect your things and say your goodbyes. At midnight, you need to be outside the gates."

"Oh," her expression sunk.

Neph moved to the door, scanning his ID card. The light above turned green; a loud click signaled it was unlocked.

"Here," he said, once she'd walked from the cell. He pointed to a table. They placed her clothes and shoes on top. "We'll give you your weapon and card once you're ready to leave."

Reiza sprung forward. She felt like her heart was about to explode. She looked around wildly, calming down slightly after realizing where she was.

Sitting beside her hospital bed was her dad's assistant.

"Um, hi?" Reiza said, rubbing her jaw. "Why am I..." The memories of what had transpired came flooding back to her. She jumped out of the hospital bed, running to the bathroom sink, looking into the mirror. 'I don't look any different.' she took a sigh of relief. 'It doesn't even look like I've been in a fight.'

"Do you feel okay?" The assistant asked.

"Yeah, I guess," she mumbled. An odd feeling bubbled in her stomach.

"Well, there's some good news. A little bit ago, your father called, and told me that Ivy is leaving!"

"Leaving?"

"They voted on it, and she's gone...But, um, don't tell anyone, alright? You're not supposed to know that, but I knew you'd love the news!"

Reiza hunched over, the pain in her stomach feeling worse. "Why did he... where is he? Where's my dad?" she demanded. She felt the room slowly spin. The more she thought about it, the worse her stomach felt. "I gotta see him!"

"It doesn't look like you're in any shape to go anywhere," she observed, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Please," she begged, tears appearing at the corners of her eyes. "I really gotta see him."

The assistant had a shocked look on her face. "Uh, I think he's at the oval building."

"Thanks," Reiza said as she sprinted out of the room.

"Where's my dad?" Reiza demanded. Sprinting through the sliding glass doors of the oval building.

The worker at the front desk looked up, surprised. Seeing Aye's daughter running through the front door, barefoot, and wearing a hospital gown, wasn't a sight he expected to see at that time of night. "Umm, try the roof. If not there, maybe the third floor."

She took the stairs three at a time, rocketing up to the top.

"Dad!" she said, swinging open the roof entrance.