CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Confession

I rushed back to my high-rise, afraid Valex and Len would arrive before I got back. If they did, I’d have to answer a slew of questions, and C-7 would be in trouble. He’d put himself out on a limb for me, and I still had no idea why. Whatever the case, I didn’t want his memory erased. What if we got one of those crazy, world-domination robots in his place?

The hoverbus sped towards my high-rise, and I watched the GPS on my miniscreen to be certain I didn’t miss the stop. People took so long to get on and off at each stop, I almost stood up and shouted at them to hurry up. When the driver reached my platform, I stood by the door, ready to go. He gave me a suspicious look while I bounced on tiptoe.

I shrugged. “Gotta make curfew.” Hopefully he knows what curfew is.

The driver pressed a panel and the doors parted. I jumped onto the platform and rushed to my level, pushing by anyone who got in my way. I buzzed the door with shaky fingers, feeling so guilty at skipping out, I was sure my face was as red as the multiplication pixie in Pell’s game.

C-7 flashed on the screen. Did his eyes blink in relief, or was it my imagination? “Prompt arrival, Jennifer.” The door opened and I scurried inside. Plopping down on the plastic couch, I finally breathed.

Gears turned as C-7 walked over and stood before me. “Did you find everything you were looking for?”

“I did. Thank you for giving me the information.” I closed my eyes, trying to block out the world.

“If you truly found everything, why do you seem so sad?”

I sighed, opening my eyes slowly. No rest for me. You’d think I wouldn’t need it after all those years spent sleeping, but my body weighed me down and weariness grabbed hold of me. Three hundred years were catching up.

“I miss two-thousand-twelve. In today’s world, I’m a freak.”

C-7 stood in silence, as if what I said didn’t compute.

Why was I telling my problems to a robot? I shook my head and stood up. Talking to Martha had made me tremble with homesickness. I needed to watch those videos, give myself a little normalcy.

“We are all freaks in one way or another.” The corners of his mouth turned up. “You have to be who you are.”

Philosophy advice, no less, from a computer with a head? “Whatever.” I’d had enough lectures for one day. I turned toward my room. “Tell Valex and Len I’ve gone to bed early.”

“What about dinner?”

I showed him the soywafer Valex had given me. “This will do.”

“Jennifer, that meal does not meet nutritional standards.”

First he gives me advice, and now he’s my new cyborg mom?

“Thanks, C-7. I’ll try to remember that.”

The stack of videos sat in my room like a shrine to the past. I pulled the next one out and popped it into the adapter Valex had connected to the wallscreen. Guilt pinged my gut. Valex had found time to set this up in his busy schedule and I hadn’t even thanked him.

Red and blue balloons floated through the air. A podium sat on a stage, and people cheered in the audience. Had someone taped over my precious memories? Rage swelled up until my mom took the stage. She wore a bright pink suit, and a perfect conglomeration of curls covered her head. Flawless rose lipstick highlighted her smile.

She did it. She won the vote for mayor.

Mom started her speech and I turned up the volume. “Dear townspeople, I am extremely honored and humbled to have been voted as your new mayor. I’m excited to accept the responsibilities your vote has entrusted me with. I am endlessly grateful to receive the majority of votes and your empowering confidence in my abilities. I can’t wait to start.”

The crowd cheered, throwing up programs, roses, and hats. I never felt more proud of my mom.

She took in a deep breath, as if her next words required extra courage. “Many people have helped me along this journey, and I’d like to thank my husband, my son, Timmy, and my dear daughter, Jennifer. We are all waiting for you to wake up, my sleeping beauty, and we all love you.”

Mom wiped her eyes and sniffed. I did the same, mirroring her. I love you, too, Mom.

For a second she paused, almost as if she heard me and my heart caught in my throat. Could I send a mental message across the years of time? The connection jump-started my hopes. Mom, can you hear me?

She blinked, continuing her speech, and the moment was gone. “Without your support, I wouldn’t be here today.”

The rest of the speech blurred as the tears welled in my eyes. People from all over town came up to congratulate her, then the picture faded to gray static. She couldn’t hear me. She was gone. I was looking at an image made from pixels, an image that was not my real mom.

I was so frustrated that I almost turned the video off, but Angela came on the screen, crying almost as hard as I was. I sucked up a sob and listened, more concerned for my best friend than my own miseries.

“I’m sorry, Jenny. I can’t keep it from you any longer.”

What? Was she sick like me? Did she have to be frozen? Being a scholarship student at Ridgewood, I knew she couldn’t afford it. I leaned in, watching from the edge of my bed.

Angela wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. “Since you’ve been gone, I’ve missed you so much. I wanted to have something that reminded me of you.” She laughed and her face brightened. “Something besides the scuff on my gym sneakers.”

I scratched my head. She had plenty of my stuff. She never gave me back the books I lent her, and she still had my red sweater from the day she came to school wearing a see-thru T-shirt by accident. I gave her jewelry for her birthday, and if she could find it, I made an art project for her in sixth grade. What was she talking about?

Angela sniffed and rubbed her nose with the palm of her hand, like she always did. “I’m just going to have to tell you point-blank.” She blinked. “Jenny, I’m going out with Chad.”

I fell off my bed, hitting my bony butt on the floor.

Angela sighed, running her hand through her curls. They bounced back into place perfectly. “I’m sorry. We just started getting to know each other after you fell asleep. We talked all about you. He asked about you, and I told him stories…”

I got up and flicked the screen off. I wanted to eject the disc and stomp all over it, but my mom’s speech was on there and hearing her talk about me made all the nasty stuff in this futuristic world go away.

Betrayal burned down my throat to my guts. How could she? She knew I’d liked Chad. Hopelessness came over me with the thought I’d been forgotten, passed up, sold out for a guy. Somehow our friendship seemed cheapened, thrown out all over a hot guy and hormones.

I hit the wall with my fist, and a sharp pain jolted up my arm. Tears rolled down my cheeks and I collapsed to the floor as guilt stabbed my heart.

Oh, Angela. Why? I missed her too much to be angry. Really, who was I kidding? I couldn’t have Chad. He’d never really liked me, anyway. Was everyone supposed to put their lives on hold forever, waiting for me to wake up? It was uber-selfish of me to even think that way. Still, knowing Angela went out with Chad put a sour taste in my stomach. I had missed out on everything good and was left with high-rises, soywafers, and C-7.