Birthright

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Some girls at the foundation decided to throw a party that night. A coalition of Sanser and Meta girls, headed by Sydney and Warden Marline. They reserved one of the huge rec rooms in a building just north of the main entrance and sent out an invite to all of the trainees.

Kray showed up with Shane, Violet, Thamdan, and Jassea. Half the trainees at the foundation were also there. They crowded the rec room, enjoying the various entertainment systems near the back walls and playing pool and chatting with friends.

They were segregated of course. Metas to one side, Sansers to the other. Music thumped from speakers built into the walls, bass and funky instruments that must have belonged to a different era. Kray watched Thamdan and Jassea as they danced to the music: Thamdan was barely shuffling from foot to foot, but Jassea was alive, gyrating and bopping and moving like she was made for dancing.

Kray stood on one end of the snacks table with Shane, who was sampling different kinds of dipping with his tortilla chips.

"Just pick one instead of sticking your fingers into everything," Violet said, annoyed.

He responded by licking the tortilla chip in his hand and dropping it onto her plate, holding her gaze as though daring her to do something about it.

She stared at it. They expected her to react with disgust or anger, but she smiled at Shane, picked up the chip, and popped it into her mouth.

Shane's face flushed with heat. He mumbled something about needing the bathroom and left them. Kray watched him go before sighing. "Can you stop tormenting him?"

"He doesn't play fair, too, you know." She said, shaking her head slightly to the music like she wanted to get swept up in it, too. "I asked him to draw me today when we were in Meta Jurisprudence class. And you know what he did? He made my neck pencil-thin and my eyebrows into a unibrow and if that wasn't bad enough, he gave me buckteeth that took up half of my face."

Kray laughed at the mental image. "We both know how inaccurate that is."

"Is that how he sees me?"

"Why do you care? It's not like you're into the guy, right?"

She frowned. "I'm not."

"Ah," he said, smiling. "You just don't like the idea that there's one guy in this world who might not think you're as beautiful as everyone says you are."

"Shut up, Ordan."

Kray was so surprised he couldn't think of a retort. It was the first time anyone had called him by his real surname. And all he could think was how good it felt. It reminded him of home and family and this unbelievable sense of belonging. Of rightness.

No wonder he felt more at ease than he ever had. Because even though the world was still uncertain around him, the ground he stood on was strong. It held all of his weight.

"Violet, right?" some Sanser guy said as he approached her. He flashed her a brilliant smile that showed off his white teeth. "Care to dance?"

Kray saw the spark of interest in her eyes. She winked at him as the handsome Sanser whisked her away and whispered, "Ask one of the girls to dance. They're waiting for you."

It was then he noticed the attention he was getting from the Sanser girls. He figured asking one of them to dance was better than standing here like an idiot, so he made a beeline for where Sydney stood with a couple of her friends.

She had her back turned to him. It would be so easy. He knew before he even asked that she'd say yes. But as he reached her, his feet kept going, taking him to the forbidden half of the rec room where all of the Metas were hanging out.