actually see it. We had a small garden in the Manual Cooking classroom, but most vegetables these days are produced in hydroponic greenhouses, in elevated rows to save room and increase efficiency.
Mikey steps forward, cupping his hands around his mouth. “Hey, Angela! Got a minute? I want to introduce you to your new roommate.”
A woman stands up and hoists a basket of carrots onto her hip. A rag covers a thousand tiny braids in her hair, and dirt streaks her pants from the knees down. As she walks toward us, her brilliant eyes shine. That smile could power Eden City.
She reaches our group and trails her hand down Mikey’s arm, with an ease that only comes from a long relationship. Their hands link, and matching bracelets woven from the fronds of a plant flash in the light.
I slip my own wrist—with its conspicuously absent hourglass tattoo—behind my back, as Angela draws Logan into a hug. “You must be Mikey’s brother. Welcome to Harmony. Although I’ve got to say, I’m sorry to see you. I was pulling for at least one Russell brother to live peacefully in civilization.” She gives Mikey a loving look then winks at Logan. “And, between you and me, I was pretty glad it was you.”
“Well, I’m happy to be here.” Logan gestures to me. “This is Callie.”
Angela directs her blinding smile at me. “Welcome. I’m done with the carrots here. Why don’t we let the boys get reacquainted, and you can help me prepare dinner? You’re not afraid to get your hands dirty, are you?”
“Oh, no,” I say, my fingers itching to grab a carrot from the basket. “I live for this stuff. I can’t believe you get to cook manually every day.”
Angela laughs. “Most of the community sees it as a hardship, not a luxury. If I burn the stew, they have to eat it anyway.”
“But that’s the beauty of it!” I give in and snatch up the orange root. Bringing it to my nose, I inhale deeply. This is how vegetables should all smell—as if they came straight from the earth, because they did. “Who cares if your food tastes good, or if it tastes the exact same every time? It’s the variety that brings the flavor to life.”
“Callie here was in training to be a chef of the pre-Boom era,” Logan says. “She was at the top of her class.”
I lower the carrot. “How would you know?”
“I sampled your dishes every year at the Extravaganza,” he says softly. “And you’re right. I like food better when it’s not subtle. I heard some people say your guacamole had too much cilantro. But I thought it was sublime.”
Our eyes meet and hold. I shouldn’t be doing this. Shouldn’t be feeling this tingle in my spine. Shouldn’t store his words in my memory so I can take them out later. He might be the most perfect boy in the world, but he doesn’t belong with me. He belongs in Eden City, where he is needed to keep Harmony alive. Deep down, I know this. I force the tingling sensation away, smothering it with my guilt.
Mikey clears his throat. “We’d better get going, Logan. I’ve got a lot to show you before dinner.”
I say good-bye to the boys and turn to find Angela watching me.
“What was that all about?” she asks.
I put the carrot back in the basket. “What do you mean?”
She adjusts the basket on her hip and walks into the woods. I trail after her.
“This may be none of my business,” she says. “I know I’ve just met the two of you, but I’ve been hearing stories about Logan for years. I love him because Mikey loves him, and I don’t want to see him hurt. So what’s going on between you two?”
I rub my chest, but it does little to soothe my aching heart. How do I sum up our history in a few words? But when it comes right down to it, it’s not all that complicated. “We used to be friends, and then we weren’t. And now we are again, and maybe we could be something more…but he’ll have to go home soon. It could never work in the long run.”
I pull my shoulders back with new resolve. Forget the long run. It’s not going to work now. Which means I have to fight our attraction. Logan won’t keep us apart, but for his sake, I must.
She turns left at a tree that looks identical to every other one. “Half of us