Something bounced her awake in the chilly night air. It took a minute to realize she stared at Reed’s backside, upside down. Not bad. He must have thrown Ari over his shoulder as he walked the familiar path home.
“Reed,” she mumbled as she wondered how to get down.
“Glad to see you’re awake,” he said, but didn’t make a move to put her down.
“Didn’t you want to stay and dance?” Ari asked, not forgetting about Star.
“No. Someone threw up on the floor.”
She snorted, wondering if he was mad or amused by it. “That sucks.”
He gave a light laugh. She loved his laugh. Silence filled the night, the yellowed street lights lining their path home. His feet constantly plodded along the concrete.
He broke the silence. “Are you going to accept your assignment?”
If anyone outside of Ari’s family knew the pain, the fear that consumed her since her father slipped into a coma, it was Reed. He had been friends with Marco since she could remember, and his own father had left town when he was young.
Ari considered the sobering question, but she wasn’t sure of the answer.
The sun sliced through the blinds, the morning rays like sharp knives piercing Ari’s head.
“Shut them, please.” Ari begged her mother, who was picking up clothes and random pieces of equipment from off her floor. With little money to spare, Ari had become a pro at refurbishing old tech.
“Sorry, honey, but we need to talk.”
Talking was the last thing she wanted to do with a dry mouth and her brain too fuddled to form complete sentences. “Water.”
With an exaggerated sigh, her mother headed to the kitchen. Their family clean bot entered the room with its noisy hum and occasional clunk. Ari would have to look at it again. The small machine had been torn apart and fixed countless times. Last year, Ari glued on two long eyeballs with gems in the middle and long eyelashes and dubbed it Pixy.
Her mother returned with a glass of apple juice. “Water alone isn’t going to take care of that taste, dear.” She sat on the edge of the bed and offered Ari the juice with a straw. It’s what her mother often did when Ari was sick as a child. Ari sipped slowly, unsure of what would stay down.
“I’m not sure who I’m angrier at, you or Marco. He told me he would keep an eye on you last night. I didn’t think that would include tabbing until you passed out. I thought you would know better. You’re usually my sensible one.”
That was true. Ari took over many of her mother’s household responsibilities as she worked two jobs.
“Don’t worry. Never again.” After a few sips, Ari laid face down on her bed while her mother rubbed her back. Her head throbbed, and her body refused to move.
“Why do people get wasted?” Ari moaned.
“Lots of reasons. Not many of them worth it.” Ari’s mom rarely drank or used tabs but that probably had more to do with money.
“I have a double shift today or I wouldn’t have woken you,” her mother said.
“I know.”
“Have you decided what you’re going to do? I’m not going to force you to do something you don’t want to. But if you don’t go, you’ll need to put your name in at the factory to find a position before winter.” Her mother’s hands, dry and cracked from work, smoothed out Ari’s blanket. Maybe that’s why people drank or did virtuals. It was better than real life.
Ari had another choice besides the life her mother lived. With a higher education, Ari would have better paying jobs. The choice wasn’t only about Ari not wanting to work in the factory, but a chance for her mother to leave the factory. Her mother had to work two jobs just to keep her husband’s feeding tube full.
Six years ago, Ari’s dad took a VR vacation down the Rhine River and never came back. Six years since she truly spoke to him. Six years of after-school jobs, of discount food, and watching her mother wither away every day. Ari watched her mother’s hope turn into foolishness. Ari hoped he would drown in that damn river.
When Ari graduated from the VR Academy, she could afford to buy a place for both of them. She also wouldn’t be completely alone there. Reed and Marco went to the same campus for training in computer security. The thought of Reed and what she did last night made her moan all over again.
“It’s okay, honey.” Her mother stood. “One more day won’t hurt. I’ll talk to Kent, my manager—”
“Yes.” Ari would do this, for herself, for her mother, for a chance at a real future.
“Yes? Put in for the position?”
“No, I decided. I’m going to accept the scholarship.” Ari turned her head away, not wanting to look at her mother’s concerned face. Closing her eyes, she tried to block out the world for a few more hours.
Chapter Three
Her choice made, Ari reported to her principal with her final decision. With only a week to pack and say her goodbyes, the time flew by. When the morning of her departure finally came, she boarded the tram with Marco and, of course, Reed. Break ended for all them, and the boys were returning for their final year at school. She sat apart from the pair, not wanting to revisit her mortifying behavior from the party. Slumping down on the cold plastic seat, she watched the only home she’d ever known disappear.
Last night, her mother had insisted that Marco and Ari visit their father before heading off to the Academy. Normally, Ari refused since her father didn’t acknowledge anyone. This time she went and soon became edgy and unsettled.
She hated watching his withered frame and sunken face. He didn’t look like her father anymore and stopped being her father years before that. It didn’t help that the facility reeked of old people, dying people.
Ari’s mom carried on
