She didn’t have time to move, and the car slammed into her. Ari flew through the air, pain bursting in her body.
Ari woke in the classroom with a gasp. Her hands trembled as she reached for her stomach. Just a second ago, there had been so much pain and darkness. Her breath came out in harsh gasps as her adrenaline raced. “I’m back.”
“You okay?” Mica appeared at her side.
“Yeah.” Ari tried to rein in her emotions. It wasn’t real, but her racing heart wouldn’t listen.
Ari removed the plug and rubbed around her port. Dr. Coleman sat at his desk in the corner of the room, not even bothering to glance her way. The majority of the class remained unconscious, plugged into the VR. Without speaking Ari logged onto her tablet and completed the test by writing down her observations and errors in the system. She prayed it was enough and headed to grab a drink before her last class.
Her last class blurred by as she waited numbly for her future to be decided. With no appetite, she headed to her room, checking her HUB every couple minute to see if Dr. Coleman had posted grades. Her whole life had been spent in fear of VRs, and now she wanted to stay in a program for them. Funny how life worked sometimes. She had finally began seeing a future here, not only for herself but for her family. She could make enough money for her mother to quit both of her jobs.
The afternoon passed in its usual fashion. Tessa kept busy on her game, bickering about the rate of currency exchange. Ari plugged her earphones in her tablet, turned up her music, and opened a book.
About a hundred pages later, the sun started its descent, casting shadows through the small windows in their room. Tessa stood up to stretch and grab a soda.
“Want one?” Tessa asked when she noticed Ari’s gaze.
“No thanks.”
“How did the test go today? I didn’t hear anything about a first-year screaming through the halls.” Tessa smiled easily, but Ari wasn’t quite ready to laugh at herself yet.
“I think it went well, but we’ll see.”
Her HUB went off with a new message. She opened it. It was from Garrett.
Congratulations on your test. Ready to celebrate? Party tomorrow night in virtuals at midnight.
This took Ari back a bit. Tessa must have noticed her surprise.
“What is it?”
“I guess I passed.” Ari flipped through the school site on her tablet. There it was, a high B. That was better than even she expected. How did Garrett know this? Grades weren’t public. She’d figure that out later.
“I passed,” she told herself as well as Tessa. “I got a B+ on the test.”
“Good. I would have hated to have a new roommate. You never know who you’ll end up with.”
Ari rolled her eyes at her roommate’s flippant remark, but it didn’t bother her. “Tessa, get ready. We’re going to party this weekend.”
Chapter Eleven
After hacking their school issued HUBs, the two girls walked through the campus guided by the orange glow of the school’s emergency lights. Ari tugged on her fitted blue sweater as they approached the building. Uncomfortable, she wished she wore something else, probably just nerves from her first party.
“If this is supposed to be a date with your boy toy, why did I have to come along again?”
“First, he’s not my boy toy. Garrett is ... I’m not sure what he is, but I know what he’s not. And second, this is a party, not a date. I thought you’d have fun.” Truth was, Ari didn’t want to go alone. Ari didn’t know why she felt uneasy, but having Tessa there, somebody besides Garrett, helped. “I’ll owe you okay? I’ll get morning coffee for a month.”
“Don’t skimp on the Danish.” The corner of Tessa’s mouth lifted at the idea. “And stop pulling on that sweater or I’ll dump a drink on it.”
Ari stuck her hands in her pockets and tried to stay calm. This would be the first time she entered a VR for no other purpose than to have fun. She spent all of her pre-teen years wishing she could do this.
They approached the lab. A couple of students turned in front of them and entered through the dark metal doors. Just inside, a scruffy guy collected Tessa’s money.
“I was supposed to meet Garrett here,” Ari told the guy.
“Oh, you must be his current girl.”
Ari grimaced at the word current, as if Garrett had girls on a rotating roaster, replacing them for whatever fit his pleasure.
“I got it from here, Paul,” Garrett interjected as he appeared behind Paul. Garrett grabbed Ari’s hand and pulled her into the dark corridor.
“Congratulations, Ari.”
“Thank you. By the way, how did you know I passed?”
A mischievous smile crossed his lips. “Mica is a friend, remember?”
Ari inwardly cringed thinking about what Mica had probably told him. It also made sense how Garrett always knew when she needed help. It didn’t sit well that he knew so much more about her than she did about him. “Oh, so you have spies.”
“Spies, friends, contacts, however you would like to put it.” Garrett led her through the usual doors, but this time only dim light cast shadows around the room. Green lights pulsed from numerous VR stations. Someone familiar passed down a row. Her brother maybe? With the darkness she couldn’t tell.
“And how can you pull this off with so many students?” Ari whispered as the room quieted with each student plugging in.
Garrett guided her through rows of unconscious students whose eyes flickered unnaturally in their semi-conscious state.
“There are only about twenty or so people. Any bigger would attract attention. But don’t worry. We have a couple people we pay to look the other way. Do people really expect students to not party or have fun? At least this way no one gets hurt.”
“Sure,” she half-heartedly replied as
