Outside

Chapter 3

I look above the crowd at the exit sign above the back doorway so I can't see their outraged faces, but I know they're there.  I know no one in the audience could have been expecting this.  It's a prestigious event.  It's the prestigious event.  Most kids are scared to do some much as blink too often up here, let alone give them a piece of their mind.  

"I've never been more ashamed of our community than as of last night." I say. I feel my hands shaking. Am I really doing this? "You can control our classes, our food, our clothes, and almost our entire lives, but you can't control our friendships. I will not..." I stutter. "I cannot let you take that from me." I feel sweat drip down my forehead as 200 people stare at me with furious and disappointed faces. "I will not let you destroy our lives and take away every human thing about us. We aren't machines!"  I scream, and my volume peaks the mic, sending a shriek of feedback through the speaker.

My shaking hand is grasped by another's.

Kyan appears at my side, and though he looks composed on the surface, I can see panic behind his eyes. "All we want is for you to take away the new separation rule. We don't mean to cause any trouble." He tells them.

A woman with long platinum hair and grey eyes stands up. Her outfit is pure white, completing her colorless look. I recognize her as 30-or-so-year-old Elizabeth Grey, the dictator for both the Opulent and the Aequa.

"Ah, so you both disagree with the regulations of this organization. Fine." She begins. "We won't separate you two." Her voice is the one from last night. Both tones have the same threatening aura to them. I sigh in relief at her statement and look over at Kyan and smile. "You can go to the Outside together." She continues. Her eyes flicker back and forth between the two of us with a glare that reminds me of a beast that just found the perfect prey.

A guard grabs my shoulders from behind and I'm dragged off stage. I hold tightly onto Kyan's hand, making sure no one separates us and makes all of this worth nothing.

"No!" Kyan shouts. "That's not what we meant! Please don't do this!" At this point, I can't even tell whose hand is shaking more, mine or Kyan's.

What did I just do?

We're shoved into a room and practically thrown onto a table. The guard tells us to wait while he unlocks the metal doors in the back of the room, and we do, horrified of what he might do if we even breathe the wrong way.

"You stood up for me." I whisper to Kyan.

Kyan refuses to say a word in response. He clenches the bottom of his shirt tightly in his fists. His face is expressionless, but I can tell how mortified he is inside. Who wouldn't be? Through the quiet of the room, I can hear him practically hyperventilating, but his face stays calm.

"I'm sorry." I tell him. He doesn't move, and I grab his shoulder. "I'm sorry!" I repeat. He stays still, looking away from me.

"For what? I bet... I bet you'd do it again in a heartbeat, right?" He mutters between breaths.

He's right. What am I sorry for? There was no peaceful way to settle the separation rule. I had no choice but to speak up.

"For being your friend." I tell him. "For dragging you into all of this." I let go of his shoulder and stare at the opening door. "I'm sorry."

"I brought this upon myself." He says, standing up. His fists uncurl and he stares at me with empty eyes. "I don't regret going up on that stage and saying what I said. I just wish... I just wish I wasn't so scared, you know? I did what I had to do, I... I can't lose both of you." He squeezes his eyes shut and rests his hand on the table for support. I take his other hand in mine and stand up with him. I know he's talking about Ellie. We've always been his only friends, and we both mourned when she was exiled. I didn't even think about the terrifying Deja Vu he must have felt knowing I was about to be exiled too.