I glance at the tube and see Councilman Rendon talking with an image of a disperser missile inset behind him. I don’t have to hear him to know he’s convincing the world the missiles are safe.
“You could just come over,” I suggest even though I don’t want to stay in either.
“Turn it off,” Chloe says.
“What?”
“The tube. Turn it off now. You need to stop watching the news,” she says.
“But they’re predicting the bubble will form before noon.” And my thoughts go to my mom. Will she be safe from the heat wherever she is?
“So it gets hot,” Chloe says. “It’s hot every day. Just turn off the news and get ready.”
“Fine.” I click off the tube, and my mind quiets down instantly. Maybe I should watch less bad news.
She says she’ll be by in a half hour; shuttle routes don’t make it much easier than that. I have so much to tell her. About Reese. About Shayne. I can hardly wait. But when Chloe hangs up, Tanni’s voice returns.
I push it away, and grab a nectarine, cutting it with a knife and pulling out the seed. One benefit of owning the Botanical Haven—we grow lots of fruit, so even with the Global Heating Crisis, shortages are never a concern for us. It’s sweet and juicy, and when I take a bite, the juice runs down my chin. I think of Shayne barely kissing me, but he’s quickly replaced by Reese. Had he really told me he loved me? Had I really enjoyed his kiss so much?
When I see Chloe walking up, I check the temperature. One hundred and thirteen. Still in the safe zone. I can only hope the reports are wrong. Still, the second I step outside, the heat punches me like a fist.
“It feels hotter than a hundred and thirteen,” I say.
Chloe shoots me a look. “We’re not staying in.”
“Right,” I say. “We’re not staying in.” I clip my water bottle on my shorts and hand Chloe one of my mom’s herbal heat suppressors. They’re brown disks that look like cow patties, but my mom swears they help the body process heat better.
Chloe wrinkles up her nose. “Those things are disgusting.”
“They aren’t that bad,” I say, and force it into her hand. I already had two this morning. Chloe’s right; they taste even worse than they look.
Chloe takes it but puts it in her pocket instead of eating it. I opt against pressing the issue. She’s pretty good about taking her sunscreen pills, so I don’t have to worry about that.
I lock the door behind us, but the shuttle has already pulled away. So we sit on the bench to wait. It’s not three minutes later when Randy Conner and his little sister head over to the shuttle stop to join us. As little as my mom lets me out of her sight, I’m like a phantom, but I do know Randy has a sister.
“Hi,” I say, and I smile and wave.
The little girl’s only about seven. But instead of the normal brightness I’d expect to see on a seven-year-old face, her eyes are hollow and don’t meet my own. Randy pulls her close, and they stand off to the side, not joining Chloe and me on the bench.
“She’s kind of shy,” he says. And whether this is all the explanation necessary or not, it’s all he gives. “So where are you guys off to today?”
I think Chloe used to have a crush on Randy even though he’s kind of a jerk. But that was like two years ago before he’d started dating Hannah. “We’re going exploring,” Chloe says.
Randy lets out a low whistle. “Your mom is letting you out of the penitentiary today, Piper?”
I nod and stop staring at his little sister. “She’s out of town.” I say it like it happens all the time, like my mom leaves me to make my own choices and hang with my friends all I want. But Randy’s not an idiot.
“The prison warden is really gone?”
“Yep.” And even I can’t keep the smile off my face.
Randy laughs. “So when does the party start?”
I laugh, too, and shake my head. “No party.” I haven’t even considered a party. In truth, the only person I’d want over is Shayne, not counting Chloe of course. With the wine now out of my head, I’m so glad Reese left before I could invite him in.
Randy turns more toward us but keeps his arm around his sister. “Oh, come on, Piper. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. How about just me and Hannah and a couple of the guys from school? We’ll bring our own beer and everything.”
Would my mom be more upset if I drank beer with a bunch of kids at our place or if I ventured out into the city with Chloe when a heat warning had been issued? “Tempting, Randy, but Chloe and I are just going to hang out.”
“God, that’s boring.”
I’m saved from further banter by the shuttle. Its brakes whistle, too loud to hear anything else Randy may say. He moves in front of us when the door opens and helps his sister up the steps, watching to make sure her FON gets scanned. And then he steps back down and lets us by.
“You’re letting her go on the shuttle by herself?” Chloe asks.
Randy shrugs. “She’ll be fine.”
But Chloe turns to him. “That’s stupid, Randy. She won’t be fine. She could be abducted or something.”
Randy waves at his sister who’s found a seat already. I have yet to scan my FON. “I told you she’ll be fine,” he says. “She’s pretty independent.”
Chloe points at Randy’s sister. “Independent? What is she? Six?”
“Seven,” Randy says.
I’ve been watching, listening, but decide to open my mouth. “Randy, seven is not independent. There are bad people out in the world.” Bad people, like maybe my father, who prey on kids and steal them away. Who ask what frightens them and then turn around and use it to do just that.
Randy fixes his eyes on me. “Piper, there are bad people everywhere. She’s going to be fine.” And he ends every bit of question and conversation by turning around and walking back in the direction of his house.
Randy walks away, and I continue up the steps to the shuttle. Chloe joins me, though not until I’ve scanned my FON. Randy’s sister stares out the window, looking at her house and Randy’s departing form.
“Randy is crazy,” Chloe says, stepping up behind me.
I catch the driver’s eye and point to Randy’s sister. “She’s riding alone,” I say.
The shuttle driver nods. “She always does. She’ll be fine. I’ll keep an eye on her.” And he smiles to reassure me until I move back and take a seat.
“Where are we going?” I ask once Chloe’s swiped her FON and sat down next to me. Aside from her cryptic exploring talk, I’m not sure what Chloe has in mind.
“The Greenbelt.”
I don’t even try to keep the smile off my face. My mom’s never let me go to the Greenbelt before. She tells me it’s a breeding ground for vagrants and criminals, but all the kids at school go there on the weekends since it’s fresh water and hasn’t yet run dry.
“How was your date?” Chloe asks.
My date. “Which one?” I say, deciding to stall a bit.
Chloe rolls her eyes. “Puh-lease, Piper. You only had the date of the century.” She puts her hand on my arm. “Tell me about Reese. I want to hear everything.”
And I want to tell her everything—eventually. “I’ll tell you when we get there.”
“You better,” Chloe says.
The ride takes forever because for some reason everyone in Austin is riding the shuttle today. Or at least it seems that way. Randy’s sister gets off at her elementary school, and I relax when I see hundreds of kids there, too, waiting to go inside. They let all the younger kids go to school on weekends during heat advisories to take advantage of the air conditioning. The thermometer on the side of the school reads one hundred and seventeen in bright red numbers. Four degrees more than when we left. I push away thoughts of the heat bubble and try to focus on our day.
When we get off the shuttle at our stop, the change is immediate. The shuttle has eco friendly A/C, which may not be the greatest, but outside we’re now at the mercy of the atmosphere.
“Maybe we should—” I start.
Chloe puts her hand up. “Don’t even say it.” And like she’s trying to make a point, she takes the herbal heat
