Joan Undone

Chapter 4

The Bunker is a hive of activity the next morning.

Dennis is manning the holo-tablets, and he gives me a nod. "I'll ping you with status updates about what's happening around the city while you're in class today."

"Come on, Joan," Harriet says, tugging me away.

Together, we trudge through the tunnels and emerge into daylight.

"I need to stop by my dorm room to get my school-issued tablet," Harriet says.

"Me too."

"I'm coming with you. It's your first time back in that room since..."

I swallow, pushing down the memory of Sparkle hanging from the shower curtain rod in our bathroom. "It's okay. I need a minute alone before we face everyone again."

It's a quiet walk to our shabby old dorm, which looks the same inside and out. Some part of me thought it would have changed, like I have since I was here last.

Ken, a Bruce Lee clone with a God complex, and Liam, who is cloned from Mozart, are in the lobby, and they gape at us in surprise. We make it to the elevator before they can hit us with the barrage of questions in their eyes, but Ken manages an insult before the doors close behind us.

"The girl with her pussy under lock and key is back, Liam."

I sure missed that guy.

Harriet gets off the elevator first, after giving my shoulder a sympathetic squeeze. When the doors open on my floor, it's an effort to give my feet the orders to march forward. My mind has recorded every faded patch of carpet in the hallway, every nick in the walls.

My door is the easiest to find because it's carved with the initials of the other students who lived here before me but are gone now.

My retinal scan and fingerprints still allow me access to the room, so I haven't been officially expelled yet. Inside, Sparkle's side of the room is stripped bare. Even the pictures that she'd tacked to the wall are gone. I sit on her bed and let myself remember my roommate, my friend. Not the terrible memories that haunt my nightmares, but the good ones, like when she taught me how to channel emotion into my acting and the song she'd hum while she got ready every morning.

There's a laser pen in my bag, which Nic insists I carry for safety in case anyone tries to attack me. I put it on the lowest setting and go to the door, searching for an empty space between all the crowded letters. I find a spot above the doorknob. Carefully, I etch Sparkle's initials into the ancient wood. The laser burns deeper than the knives past students used to carve their initials. The mark I make for Sparkle will not wear away until the door is taken down.

I'm so absorbed in my task that Harriet's appearance surprises me. Her face is red and her lips are pursed. Someone has pissed her off.

"What is it?"

"I'm moving in with you," Harriet says. "I found Alison and Tupac making use of my bed in such a way that I'll never sleep peacefully in it again."

The band squeezing my heart as I remembered Sparkle loosens. "Welcome home, roomie. I can't promise that it will be as rewarding as bunking with Mason, but I promise you won't find me getting it on with Justus in your bed."

There's no time to unpack, so we dig out our school tablets and make our way back outside. Harriet and I stick together until we're forced to part ways inside the Little Theater for our morning classes.

I join Costumes and Makeup with Lady Cleo. As soon as I step in the room, Ken nudges Elizabeth, who sneers at me. Either she's a brilliant actress, keeping up appearances for the sake of our team's safety, or she really still harbors a secret disdain for me.