"Yes." I say.
Bridget relaxes and lies back down. She closes her eyes. She doesn't ask me for proof.After a couple minutes, her breathing slows as she falls asleep.
I raise my eyes weakly to Miranda. She motions for me to follow her out of the sliding door, into the hall. She fiddles with her Notice, pressing buttons and typing on the invisible light keyboard.
Andy, the small boy, walks past us and enters the room of Bridget and Canton. I follow Miranda down the hall. We pass Milla, she is snoring slightly with her head on her knees. Miranda smiles slightly at this.
"We'll let her sleep for a couple of minutes. Of course she will be mad at me for letting her sleep, but everyone else can cover for her. Someone can wake her up when she's needed."
I don't say a word as Miranda and I walk through the maze of hallways to her office. Miranda marches through the sliding door to her office and begins pacing almost instantly. I stand awkwardly in front of the door, not sure what I should do with myself.
"Tell me the whole story. Now."
Keep the rebellious Officials out of it, I command myself. But how can I explain knowing Bridget, if I have had the red memory shot? Sienna wants her immunity to the shots a secret, so I can't use that story as my excuse. The rebellious Officials don't want me to reveal them until they have given their first message to me. I don’t even know they are going to get that message to me.
I'm saved by the sound of the door sliding open.
I whirl around to see who is at the door.
The boy that yelled at Dana and I earlier today has enters.
Miranda asks, "What is it, Christopher?"
Her voice is tight with suppressed anger. There's obvious tension between them.
Christopher smirks, "It's private. Something this little Rivie couldn't handle." He glances at me disdainful. I fight the urge to snap back at him.
Miranda steps forward, "Can it wait? This is also rather important business-"
Christopher waves his hand carelessly and interrupts, even though Miranda technically has more authority, "I can assure you this is much more important."
Miranda presses her lips together and nods stiffly. "Okay. Let me just send a Notice to Dana to come pick Piper up."
"It's inconvenient, of course, but I will deal with it. I suppose, this Rivie would need an offie escort. She seems to be getting a lot of special attention from you. Two meetings in one day. I'd say that's favoritism, but..." He trails off, smirking.
Miranda begins typing on her Notice. "Piper," She looks at me, "we will be meeting again to discuss this further, maybe we will-"
Christopher speaks sarcastically over Miranda, "Another offie meeting. Why, you must really be something special."
Miranda doesn't show any reaction to the comment.
Christopher continues, "So, Rivie, what's so offie special about you? What did you do that's so offie special to get sent here?"
I glance at Miranda, unsure if I should respond. Miranda gives me a short shake of her head, so I decide to ignore him.
Christopher sneers at my disregard to his question, "What's the problem, Rivie? You afraid of me? Can you offie talk? Is that why you're so special? You can't offie talk?"
I keep my eyes down. Christopher continues to scoff at me, but his expression falters slightly when I don't respond at all.
Miranda steps forward, "Christopher, knock it off."
"Christopher, knock it off," he repeats in a mocking tone.
Miranda's eyes flash, "I am the elected leader here and I can very well-"
"Leader, whatever Miranda, you couldn't touch a single hair on my head and you know it. If you were to hurt me in the slightest way, the Council would kick you out of office."
"Only because of the stupid lies you've told everyone. Everyone is afraid of you, nobody respects you. Is that what you want?"
"If that's what it takes to be the next Leader, I will do whatever I have to." Christopher responds coolly.
I hear the whoosh of the door sliding open. I turn to see Dana stride through the door. Her confident step falters a little when she sees Christopher in the room. She trips slightly over her other foot, earning a snicker from Christopher, but regains her stride and comes towards me. She keeps her gaze resting on me, not even sending a glance to Miranda or Christopher.
She looks pale with worry.
Miranda addresses Dana, "Thanks for arriving so quickly. Please allow Piper ot shadow you for the rest of the day Also, I would like to have a meeting with you at some point tomorrow, I'll send you a Notice on when you may come. Everything Piper and I discussed today is completely off limits and you can’t discuss them, even between yourselves."
Miranda turns to speak to me, "Piper, I will also send a Notice to you on when we can speak again. I'll let Charlotte know that you may need to miss some of your Rivie Orientation. If it is a message from me, it will say it is from Miranda, Leader, okay?"
After I nod, Miranda waves her hand, "You are dismissed. Thank you again."
Dana leads me out of the room. As the door slides shut behind us, I hear Christopher break out into rapid whispers that are inaudible the second the door closes.
Dana and I begin walking down the hall, Dana looks anxious, "What did Miranda talk about? Are you okay? I like Miranda, I mean she's okay and everything, but every once in a while she gets crazy plans. I mean, she would, of course she wouldn't..."
Dana takes a deep breath and starts over, "Miranda would never hurt you of course, but, sometimes she's a little merciless with the questioning. I was afraid, you know, with you being a Rivie and everything, that, oh, I don't know, I just, I was just..."
Dana stops again, "I'm sorry, Piper, when I'm nervous, I don't make any sense when I'm talking. I know what I want to say, but my mind decides that I'm going to say something completely different, you know?"
I ask, “Why are you nervous?”
“I’d be lying if I said Miranda didn’t scare me at least a little. Don’t even get me started on Christopher.”
“Don’t worry, I understand.” I smile, hoping she calms down.
Dana sighs and continues, "I suppose the hallway isn't exactly the best place to be discussing these things either. We'll find a better time to talk about this."
We walk silently back to the Kitchens. When we enter, the wonderful aromas hit me.
Dana says, "The first day I was here, all I wanted to do was get off my offie feet and relax. Do you want to sit down for a while to process everything?"
I agree gratefully and Dana shows me a corner free of any activity.
I sit, my feet rejoicing. I didn't realize how tired I was until I sat down. In the Complex, we didn't do this much walking.
I let my mind wander. Bridget and Canton. I thought they were in the Unknown, not with the Ecru. But I guess what they did was severe enough for the Officials to sentence them to the Ecru. Canton ran down the halls of the girls' Complex, causing the Officials to have to use the red shot to mind-wipe everybody, or almost everybody. Sienna still remembers and it sounds like Bridget can remember too. Bridget was suspected of killing an Official, Dawn, even though it was actually Brinn.
During the Profession Test, Bridget carried herself with confidence. But lying on the cot, she looked so weak and afraid. I wouldn't have even suspected her of being the same person, had she not proven it to me.
I've never met Canton before, but who else would know of Brinn and Josh. Brinn had once described him to me as covered in freckles. Brinn told me that Canton was extremely smart and cunning. He managed to break into the girls’ Complex by himself during the day. I can't imagine that the boy who was lying in the cot by Bridget running from the Officials and shouting to girls about the lies of the Heads.
How do you get out of the Ecru? How do you save yourself?
Is Bridget immune to the red, like Sienna? Is it a coincidence that they are roommates?
My thoughts are interrupted when a scream rips through the air. My eyes dart back and forth, trying to locate the source. Metal clatters somewhere.
I turn my head and see a younger boy has dropped a pan on the floor. Food scatters across the floor. The boy looks fearfully at the faces watching. J., the cook Dana was speaking to earlier, quickly strides forward.
The boy pleads desperately, "I'm so sorry J., I've only just started here. It was an honest mistake. I'm sorry. Please, don't be mad."
J. inspects the scene. The pan tipped upside down on the floor, still sizzling. The Windsors' supper, flung across the floor. The boy, practically begging, at her feet.
Much to the boy's surprise, J. smiles. "It's okay, mistakes are mistakes, you just need to learn from them. How are you supposed know you are succeeding if you never fail? It's nothing we can't fix, don't worry. Now let's clean this mess up and get back to work, yes?"
The bustle of the Kitchens resumes. J. quietly instructs the boy, teaching him about what to do next time. The boy looks more surprised than anything.
If the boy had been in the Complex, an Official would have sent him here without a second of hesitation.
I allow myself to close my eyes, promising to open them only after a few seconds. But the seconds pass and I nod off to sleep, exhausted.