safe. If their world’s too wide open, they’re liable to wander and get up to no good.
—Pioneer
I’m in bed for no more than five minutes that night when I hear something hit my window. Actually, a lot of somethings—pebbles from our garden. I look out into the backyard. It’s dark, but I can see movement, shadows rearranging themselves in the bushes just below my window. My heart squeezes in my chest and I press my face to the glass to try to see better. For one wild moment, I hope it’s Cody. Maybe he’s found a way to come back and see me …
but no, that would be impossible
.
A flashlight blinks on long enough for me to see Marie’s grinning face; it seems to be more skull than skin in the yellow light. She waves for me to come outside. I have no idea why she’s here, but I slip on some shorts and shoes anyway and hurry down the stairs, being careful to avoid the creaky spots.
What is she up to?
Being out after curfew is a huge no-no.
I head out into the yard. Marie’s in the far corner by the rosebushes. She has a blanket thrown over one arm and a CD player hanging on the other.
“Full moon’s tonight, remember?” she whispers, her face bright with excitement.
I’d completely forgotten. We’ve been planning this after-hours trip outside the development for the past month.
“Brian and Will are waiting by the wall in my yard,” Marie says. “We have to hurry.”
“After what happened today—those guys showing up—you still think that tonight’s a good night to sneak out? Are you crazy?” I whisper. “Pioneer and all the other adults are probably on extra alert right now. There’s gotta be twice the amount of people guarding the Community tonight.”
“It’s the
perfect
time for this. They’re preoccupied,” Marie says as she pulls me further into the shadows and out of my backyard. “Brian already scoped out who’s on guard duty tonight. It’s Mrs. Brown, so you know she’ll be more concerned with her knitting than with keeping watch. Everyone else is asleep. Who’s gonna know? We’ll only be an hour or two. Come on! Just go for a little while. If you’re still freaked out once we get there, we’ll come right back. I promise.”
In theory, this is the safest possible time to break the rules, because most of the Community is asleep. And no one’s ever attempted it before now. The development’swall is high enough to make scaling it risky, and the only other way out is through the front gate, which is guarded 24/7. Plus, there’re always at least two other adults roaming around inside the development, making sure that curfew is enforced. Once our parents check to see if we’re in bed and our lights are out, they can usually feel pretty confident that we’ll stay put. Their overconfidence is to our advantage.
I drag my feet as we leave my yard and head into Mr. Whitcomb’s. Marie’s yard is two more over. “Marie …,” I begin.
“Aw, come on, Lyla! This is probably our only chance for something resembling a date with the guys. You know, that ritual the rest of the world enjoys but we don’t?”
I shoot her a look and try to ignore the flash I have of Cody’s face. Marie grilled me for details once he was gone, but I brushed her off. I can’t talk about him. I’m afraid that she’ll figure out that I thought he was cute and tease me about it. And besides, what does it matter? I’m not supposed to see him again. I need to put him out of my mind.
“Don’t you want to hang out with Will when someone isn’t watching your every move?” Marie throws up her hands in exasperation.
“I have hung out with him alone, lots of times. We had dishwashing duty together just the other day,” I say. I know what she means, but I can’t help giving her a rough time about it.
Marie’s mouth sets itself into a thin line. “Whatever.Forget it. I don’t know why I even try. How can you be all nonchalant about disobeying when you’re shooting—when
—Pioneer
I’m in bed for no more than five minutes that night when I hear something hit my window. Actually, a lot of somethings—pebbles from our garden. I look out into the backyard. It’s dark, but I can see movement, shadows rearranging themselves in the bushes just below my window. My heart squeezes in my chest and I press my face to the glass to try to see better. For one wild moment, I hope it’s Cody. Maybe he’s found a way to come back and see me …
but no, that would be impossible
.
A flashlight blinks on long enough for me to see Marie’s grinning face; it seems to be more skull than skin in the yellow light. She waves for me to come outside. I have no idea why she’s here, but I slip on some shorts and shoes anyway and hurry down the stairs, being careful to avoid the creaky spots.
What is she up to?
Being out after curfew is a huge no-no.
I head out into the yard. Marie’s in the far corner by the rosebushes. She has a blanket thrown over one arm and a CD player hanging on the other.
“Full moon’s tonight, remember?” she whispers, her face bright with excitement.
I’d completely forgotten. We’ve been planning this after-hours trip outside the development for the past month.
“Brian and Will are waiting by the wall in my yard,” Marie says. “We have to hurry.”
“After what happened today—those guys showing up—you still think that tonight’s a good night to sneak out? Are you crazy?” I whisper. “Pioneer and all the other adults are probably on extra alert right now. There’s gotta be twice the amount of people guarding the Community tonight.”
“It’s the
perfect
time for this. They’re preoccupied,” Marie says as she pulls me further into the shadows and out of my backyard. “Brian already scoped out who’s on guard duty tonight. It’s Mrs. Brown, so you know she’ll be more concerned with her knitting than with keeping watch. Everyone else is asleep. Who’s gonna know? We’ll only be an hour or two. Come on! Just go for a little while. If you’re still freaked out once we get there, we’ll come right back. I promise.”
In theory, this is the safest possible time to break the rules, because most of the Community is asleep. And no one’s ever attempted it before now. The development’swall is high enough to make scaling it risky, and the only other way out is through the front gate, which is guarded 24/7. Plus, there’re always at least two other adults roaming around inside the development, making sure that curfew is enforced. Once our parents check to see if we’re in bed and our lights are out, they can usually feel pretty confident that we’ll stay put. Their overconfidence is to our advantage.
I drag my feet as we leave my yard and head into Mr. Whitcomb’s. Marie’s yard is two more over. “Marie …,” I begin.
“Aw, come on, Lyla! This is probably our only chance for something resembling a date with the guys. You know, that ritual the rest of the world enjoys but we don’t?”
I shoot her a look and try to ignore the flash I have of Cody’s face. Marie grilled me for details once he was gone, but I brushed her off. I can’t talk about him. I’m afraid that she’ll figure out that I thought he was cute and tease me about it. And besides, what does it matter? I’m not supposed to see him again. I need to put him out of my mind.
“Don’t you want to hang out with Will when someone isn’t watching your every move?” Marie throws up her hands in exasperation.
“I have hung out with him alone, lots of times. We had dishwashing duty together just the other day,” I say. I know what she means, but I can’t help giving her a rough time about it.
Marie’s mouth sets itself into a thin line. “Whatever.Forget it. I don’t know why I even try. How can you be all nonchalant about disobeying when you’re shooting—when
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