Sleeping Jenny

I stepped off the hoverbus, wondering why I was bothering to attend the Autumn Ball. Valex and Len had pushed me, of course, and Len even bought me a sea-green tunic with a gold-embroidered hem.

I wasn’t here because of them. I needed to get out of my room and away from those videos. Ever since I learned about Angela and Chad, I just couldn’t bring myself to watch any new discs. I played the old ones over and over, and that had started to rot my brain. Was this self-induced torture? I refused to admit life had gone on without me, and I was afraid of what came next. The old videos were what I remembered life to be like. They were safe.

Couples walked by, holding hands, dressed in matching tunics. I shivered in the twilight breeze, feeling so alone. Autumn used to mean long horse rides and changing leaves. Now it meant colder wind rushing on top of the high-rises and a molten color added to the smog.

I rushed into Ridgewood Prep, wanting to get the night over with. Tubes of light lit the corridors, some blinking in patterns and others solid colors, making a rainbow. The colors reflected off my skin, making me look like a mermaid underwater.

Giggles erupted at my back, and I didn’t want to turn around. I knew Exara’s lush alto voice anywhere. It gave me nightmares.

Sucking my lower lip in frustration, I took a deep breath and turned. Exara shone like a giant diamond, her tunic glittering with hundreds of tiny mirrors. She’d tied her auburn hair up in a bun of twisting braids. Surrounded by her Barbie lackeys, I was outnumbered, so I just seethed in silence.

“Come on. Let’s party.” Exara wove her arms around her two closest friends and pushed by me. My silence worked. At least I hadn’t provoked another embarrassing burn.

I stopped at the entranceway, disbelief and hope jolting through me. Wait a second. Where’s Maxim? Weren’t they going to go together?

I specifically remembered Exara and Maxim talking about their matching outfits at lunch. Maybe Maxim was already inside? I stepped into the cafeteria. Lights flashed from the floor to the ceiling and techno music blared. Apparently music hadn’t evolved much in three hundred years. In this case, it had even gotten worse.

Holographic images of geometric designs were strewn everywhere, reflecting on people’s foreheads, cheeks, arms and legs. I raised my arm and watched a parade of triangles stream by. Definitely an alien world.

If I’d gone to the old Ridgewood Prep Autumn Ball, the theme would have been underwater with streamers. No, I had to be here in trigonometry hell. Already my brain hurt thinking of all the equations they could form. What happened to a normal autumn theme? Like pumpkins, falling leaves, or ghosts and goblins? Had they lost touch with nature completely?

The techno music grew to a crescendo and then disappeared, silence ringing in my ears. People applauded, then all heads turned to a stage at the back of the room where Shizznizz had sat the other day, banging his head to his music in his earphones.

Maxim walked onto the stage, along with some other students. He wore a silver shirt tucked into tight, black plasticky pants. Strapped in front of him was a red guitar.

Exara stood in the front row, her multifaceted prism dress catching the light in all the right ways.

Earth to Jenny. He’s already taken. By a beauty queen of a young woman, no less.

Shizznizz started banging on the drum set, and the techno beat resumed in time with his beat. The lights flashed in pulse with the music, and my heart sped in primal beats. Maxim strummed an electric chord that made my knees weak, then opened his mouth and sang.

Higher we go

To the stars

Each level we build, a new division arises

Where will you be?

In such a fragmented world

Love can be hard to find

But what is life without someone

On your level

People started dancing, but I just stared. For a second Maxim’s eyes met mine across the room and his lips curved up as he sang. I blushed and looked away, disappearing behind a group of giggling girls.

Why was I so drawn to him? Was it because he was the only person at Ridgewood to pay attention to me, to talk to me like I was a person? Maybe. It went deeper than that, though, and I didn’t know why. I was missing a piece of the puzzle.

I plopped down onto a chair in the back. Nothing was going to happen, so I needed to stop dreaming in the clouds. I scanned the room for someone, anyone to talk to. I had to get my mind off Maxim and his wonderful voice resonating deep inside my gut.

I tried to picture what Angela would do, but all I could see was her dancing with Chad in an alternate Autumn Ball three hundred years ago. I pushed all the half-empty plastic cups away and put my head on the sticky table. Closing my eyes, I wished I was at the old Autumn Ball instead, even if I had to watch Angela and Chad together.

She would never have gone out with him had I still been awake. The truth dawned on me, and I felt like the stupidest baby to ever walk the halls at Ridgewood. Angela had had a thing for Chad the whole time. She stayed away because of me. The realization hit me like a hammer in my stomach, and I blocked the party out, missing my best friend more than ever. Oh, Angela, I’m so sorry.

I cried until I fell asleep on the table. I didn’t know how long I was out. All I remembered was hearing a disappointing shift in the music. Maxim’s voice wasn’t singing any longer. There was a deeper, bass voice rumbling instead. I rubbed my eyes and went back to sleep.

I glanced up. Maxim stood in front of me. I wiped my eyes, making sure I wasn’t hallucinating. There he was in all his hotness, hand extended.

I wiped my eyes, remembering my earlier bout of crying must have made my face all red and puffy. “I’m fine.”

“Yes. I mean, no.” I shook my head, feeling like a complete dork. Maxim looked disappointed, but he shrugged it off and smiled.

“Want to dance, sillybot.” It was the first time he had called me sillybot and I liked it a lot better than when Pell said it.

Glancing behind him at the flickering lights in the cafeteria, I thought about his offer. “What about Exara?”

“Won’t she be annoyed?” And, like…rip off my arm? “Nah. Come on. It’s just one dance.”

My fingers slid into his before I could stop myself, and the warmth of his skin lit my whole body on fire. He led me to the dance floor just as the fast techno song came to an end, and the bass voice began a slow love ballad. I watched the other dancers to get some kind of cue.

Maxim pulled me against him. My arms instinctively wrapped around his neck. Being this close to him was dizzying in a supremely wonderful way. Heat traveled through me until I thought that I might melt in his arms.

I laughed and buried my head in his shoulder. He smelled like mint and spice. His chest was hard, pure muscle. I trembled in his arms, just thinking about his shirt being off. “That wasn’t your fault. I haven’t been getting enough sleep lately.”

More like feeling sorry for myself, watching movies of my previous life. I wasn’t going to say that.

“General Relativity getting to you?” He actually looked disappointed I hadn’t called him for help.

Um. Exara. I stared at him. Was he serious? “What’s keeping me from what?”

Oh. Friend. How could such a nice word leave such a vile taste in my mouth? I was so disappointed I could have walked out that minute, but I had to recover if I was going to hide how much it hurt.

“I just can’t shake the feeling I shouldn’t be here. I should be dead.” Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why not take him to a funeral home? Show him pictures of my dead family?

He traced my cheek with his finger. “Why would you say such an uber-sad thing? Everything happens for a reason. Maybe you just haven’t found the reason why you’re here.”

“Back in two-thousand-twelve I wanted to save polar bears and African elephants. We all know what happened to them. My whole family’s gone. Why on Earth should I still be here?”

“Maybe your purpose is staring right at you and all you have to do is open your eyes.”

Boy, did I feel my mind was making things up. Was that a double meaning? He almost looked like he thought my purpose was to be with him. He was staring right at me just like he’d said.

Our eyes locked, and the world around me blurred to nothing. Even the song muted in my head. All I heard was his breath, and all I felt was his warm embrace. His head hung lower, and his lips brushed against mine.

That was it. I lost control. I stood on my tiptoes and pressed my lips against his, wrapping my fingers around the back of his neck and pulling his head toward mine. The kiss tasted sublime, taking me to heights I’d never been before. It was only after our tongues met that I realized he was kissing me back.

Fireworks exploded in my head. If anyone was to provide a reason for waking up, this was pretty darn convincing. I wanted to dance forever.

A hand gripped my right shoulder and ripped me apart from him. Exara faced me with rage in her eyes, nostrils flaring. “Stay the hell away from my man.”

Her hand came up, and I had a moment of is this really happening? before her fist hit my jaw and I went sprawling backwards on my butt. Maxim pushed himself in front of her, trying to calm her, but all I saw was a different set of fireworks exploding into a headache.

The other students stopped dancing around us and stared. Even the music stopped. It was like the day I broke my leg. Only this was ten times worse.

Exara fumed, held back by Maxim. She looked like she could have punched me again if he hadn’t intervened. I looked into Maxim’s eyes. He looked away and shook his head. He whispered something that looked very much like an apology into Exara’s ear. That hurt worse than her fist. He looked like I’d just fractured his perfect world.

The principal knelt beside me. It was the first time I’d seen him in person and not on a screen. He had more wrinkles and age spots on his face. Somehow, it made him look kinder, less fake. “Is this true?”

He looked around at the other students, who all stared like I was a freak. “Witnesses?”

A few of them raised their hands. He turned to Shizznizz, who had somehow managed to slip off the stage. “Who provoked the attack?”

“She did.” Shizznizz pointed to Exara. When the principal turned his head, Shizznizz gave me a wink, like he’d just done me a favor. I guess he had. I had more potential friends than I thought. I was just too wrapped up in my own problems to notice them. I glanced at Shizznizz and nodded in thanks.

Principal Hall gestured for the chaperone teachers and pointed to Exara. “Take her away. Call her parents.” He turned back to me. “Come with me. I need to get a statement, file a report.”

“I don’t want to press charges.” I was the one kissing her boyfriend, after all. In my mind, she was justified. My cheeks flamed in shame as I wobbled to my feet.

“Yes. I’m fine.” Now, please go away so I can curl up in a ball and hide under a table.

The principal squeezed my shoulder and addressed the rest of the crowd. “The next person who fights gets one week detention and probation.” He put up his hands like a game-show host. “On with the celebration.” The music began again, and the students started dancing like nothing had happened. Maybe nothing had happened to them, but my world came crashing down.

Shizznizz asked if I was all right, but I just nodded and pushed through the crowd to the bathroom. I was disgusted with myself. How could I let the dance get so out of hand? Granted, Maxim was the one who asked me to dance, but I’d practically seduced him into that kiss. I’d risen up and pulled his head toward mine, and after that, I’d stuck my tongue in his mouth.

I rubbed my hands over my reddening jaw. What would I tell Valex and Len? I’d let them down as well. The first month and I’d already gotten into a fight.

At the same time, my heart sped with exhilaration. Maxim implied I was here in this century to meet him, and then he kissed me back. He liked me. The hottest guy in school actually liked me.

A sharp pain stabbed my heart. Not enough to break up with Exara, though. The guilt was plain in his eyes. I’d put it there. His words about being here for a reason resonated with me a little too well. I almost believed him. For a moment, I felt important, part of this futuristic world. Now I felt so alienated and useless that I wanted to crawl into the toilet and flush myself down to the lower levels.