Beyond the Distance

Chapter 7

Emerging from a dark hallway in the far corner of the transport station in District 27 with the basket in hand, Scott blended into the crowd that just arrived from central Kaptolan and searched the backs of heads for a familiar gait and sleek waves of honey-blond hair. When he spotted her, she was dawdling along the side of the corridor, trailing her fingertips along the smooth stone walls and swinging an oversized shopping bag in her other hand. Weaving through the crowd, he approached her, but he hesitated to tap her on the shoulder and withdrew his hand, deciding instead to bump shoulders with her on their way toward the street. She tensed without turning in his direction, and fury radiated around her as Scott corrected his posture and dug his hand into his coat pocket to retrieve the bag of crackers he had haplessly crushed in Mihai's shop. It was only after he opened the seal on the bag and dug into it noisily that she turned toward him, her amber eyes glaring into him as he brought one of the few crackers that remained intact to his mouth.

"Good afternoon, Amy. Fancy seeing you here this fine day. Bonding with the walls, I see."

She rolled her eyes and shoved him into the crowd. "Where did you even come from? Have you been following me around or something?"

He caught himself before colliding with anyone and returned to her side. "No, I have better things to do with my time. I have a job. Plus, it looks like your mother took good care of you today, took you shopping in Kaptolan—you know, all the boring things that I would never want to do with you."

"You didn't answer my question." Her fair complexion had freckled in the sunlight with the warmer weather, and he preferred to focus on that instead of the intensity in her eyes.

"I came from District 4," he replied. "See, I got Keona's cake and gift—and here, have a cracker. I bought them with you in mind."

"You did not," she cried, glancing around self-consciously for anyone watching them walk together.

"Here, have a cracker," he repeated, extending the bag to her.

She reluctantly snatched it from his hand and dug inside. "Why are they all broken?"

"I was pretty disappointed in their durability, too..."

"You smashed them to pieces," she exclaimed. "How is someone supposed to eat them?"

"You just pour them down your throat—it's like coughing on dry water in the desert. On second thought, that might not be water at all. Just sand, all sand."

"You're an idiot, you know that? Aren't you old enough now to know what happens when you shove crackers into your pockets?"

"Well, obviously... Hey, you've taken some. Give them back. I want some, too."

"I thought you bought them for me."

"I bought them with you in mind. Those are different things."

He grabbed at the bag as she held it out of reach. "You'll get the crumbs when I'm done with it."

He rubbed his eye. "Fair enough. How was shopping with your mother?"

She shook her head. "She spent most of the day looking for a gift for Keona. It was really annoying."

"Well, it's her birthday. Renee buys gifts for you when it's your birthday, too, so what's the problem?"

"She seems more concerned about getting Keona the right gift, and she always chooses these ethereal, beautiful things. Like today she bought her this bright silk dress with a floral design."

"Sounds like something Keona would wear."

"Well, you should see it. I'd wear it, too, if she had bought it for me, but she usually just gets me these simple headbands."

"And designer shoes and dresses and jewelry and bags and..." He counted the list on his fingers.

"Shut it. You know what I mean."

"Not really. Renee buys you more things than you know what to do with. Keona doesn't get half the stuff you get, and she doesn't get in a huff about it."

Amy pouted and spun her head away from him, hiding her face with her waves of golden hair. She passed the bag of crackers back to him. "And here you are with your gifts. You never get me nice things. Everyone goes well out of their way to please Keona on her birthday, but no one does the same for me."

Scott glanced into the basket. "I don't know what you're talking about. This is barely anything at all. Compared to what Renee and my father buy for her, this is garbage."

"The flowers are nice."

"I get you flowers every year."

"Not those flowers."

"I think you're just complaining for the fun of it now. Do you want some? I can go back and buy you some."

"No, they weren't meant for me. They were meant for Keona."

He blew the frustration through his nose and laughed. "See, there's no pleasing you."

She shrugged with an exasperated squeak. "And Chris comes to visit on Keona's birthday. He just sends me a card most of the time."

"Have you ever been particularly close to Chris? I mean, he and Keona have been going to ballrooms for the last three years, and they practice at a studio together at least once a week."

"And your cousin—"

"Acton hasn't even visited Keona in two years."

She stared at the ground. "But he's staying with us, and it's all because of her."

Scott detected a hint of bitterness in her tone. He rubbed his chin. "Well, she was like a sister to him for the first seven years of her life."

"But if she wasn't living with us, he would never stay to visit. He's not coming to see you."

He shrugged. "That's true. He's never been particularly friendly with me, so he'd have no reason to visit me. What's your point?"

She shook her head. "I guess I have none."

He patted her head and leaned into her. "This resentment doesn't suit you, Amy. I'll make sure to pick up a carnation and a pack of crackers the next time I see Mihai, and I won't crush the crackers next time."

"I don't want them."

"You're welcome." He opened the gate and let her enter first. "And I think you need to be nice to Acton. You don't know what he's had to deal with."

"I have no problems with Acton."

"I don't understand you," he sighed as they stepped inside.