Roy was trying very hard to unwatch The Blue Lagoon. Why on earth was Wendy choosing not to be uptight about this when she was uptight about almost everything else?
“Hope they’re being careful,” he grumbled.
Wendy snorted. “His mum is a school nurse. She probably started giving him responsible-sex talks in kindergarten.”
Sensing a brainstorm, Roy turned back to his computer. A nurse like Peaches was exactly what he needed. Not human, though, an android nurse. She would be Ceran, Bettina, and Isabel’s confidante and his literary device. Through her, the reader would come to know what was really going on on Mars—how the scientists on Earth were manipulating the teenagers. Maybe the nurse could give Ceran a little sex lesson? The fact that she was not actually human would give Roy more leeway with her. Yes, it might read as android porn, but what teenage boy wouldn’t want sex lessons from an android nurse? It ought to be required.
He reopened his laptop and hit return several times. He’d have to go back to the beginning, or at least to an earlier section, and revise. Was Shy really having sex? Should he go up there and bang on the door? Best not. Best focus on the things he could control and not the things he couldn’t.
“I’ll leave you to it,” Wendy said.
“Mmm,” Roy replied distractedly.
* * *
Elizabeth sent Tupper out to scatter various body parts in the local park knowing she’d already washed her hands of the project and was ready to move on. Allowing Tupper to get involved felt like a door closing rather than a door opening. The frisson was gone. Perhaps it was the lack of funding. She was no idiot. She preferred to get paid for her work. She had no real intention for the project anyway. She just wanted Tupper to feel useful. She had cooked an easy one-pot meal, now he could do the dishes.
It was possible she was going through some sort of midlife creative crisis. But those never lasted long. To distract herself, she spent the afternoon opening her mail. One inquiry piqued her interest, a formal letter from a wealthy art collector in Iceland. She wanted Elizabeth to come and be a part of her world-renowned “living gallery.” Elizabeth had never been to Iceland. It seemed as good a choice as any.
She began to pack, mentally composing a note to Tupper. Changing her mind, she decided not to pack anything all. Instead, she pulled a Post-it from the stack and stuck it to the kitchen counter. With a pencil she wrote, Keep chasing rabbits, my love, and tucked the note into her poncho pocket.
As soon as the moment presented itself, she would leave. She glared at the phone, daring it to ring.
* * *
Upstairs in Shy’s bedroom, Shy and Liam were not as naked as her parents suspected. He had taken off his shirt, because they’d run home and he was sweaty. And she’d unzipped her jumpsuit, because it gave her a wedgie when it was fully zipped and she was lying down.
“My chest is so lopsided,” Shy said, frowning down at herself. “One is round. The other is pointy.”
Liam turned his head and examined her chest in what he hoped was a casual way. “It’s nice.”
“Thanks.” She looked up at him and giggled. “I can still see a faint outline of a target.”
Liam crossed his hands over his underdeveloped pecs. There were weird white bumps on his upper arms that he’d been meaning to ask his mom about. Hopefully Shy wouldn’t notice.
“That whole thing was such a waste. I wonder what happened when the real models showed up.”
Shy stared at his mole-speckled neck and dug her toes into the comforter. “I still feel a bit strange.”
Liam shivered. He was cold now but still sweaty. “Um, I have supplies in my backpack.”
“What do you mean, supplies?” He must know she wasn’t serious about having sex. She pulled the comforter up to her chin. She was freezing and starving. She needed her dad to make her a cheese toastie.
“The day I turned sixteen my mom went to Costco and bought a huge box of condoms. I put some in my backpack, just in case.”
Liam looked askance at her bedroom floor and then at the door.
“Shit. Where is my backpack?”
Chapter 20
“Look away. And now back at me. Good. Look away again and now back. Left foot forward a bit. Cock your left hip. Not too much, just a hair. Good. Now look straight at me