Genesis Girl (Blank Slate #1) - Jennifer Bardsley Page 0,28

But it’s not about pictures. It’s about more than that. How the hell could Cal do this to me? How the freaking hell could he do this to me?

Vestals don’t make decisions on our own. We always follow orders.

I need Cal to tell me what to do. That’s the deal, and he knows it.

Cloistered with a Virus. I try not to think about what Headmaster Russell would say. Seth has his arms wrapped around me, even though his ribs must be killing him, as we lie together on the bed. The steady beat of his heart calls to my own racing pulse and challenges me to calm down.

“You’re safe now,” Seth says to me on repeat. “It’s okay.”

But it’s not okay. It’ll never be okay again. Not unless I can make Cal listen to reason.

“Shit, Blanca. You’re still covered in blood. Didn’t you shower last night? Maybe if you clean up you’ll feel better.”

I don’t bother to answer.

Seth tries again. “I’m sorry I didn’t protect you better. We have a deal. Remember? What you and I have together is private. It should never have been exposed.”

“Is it all over the Web?” My words croak out of vocal chords raw from crying.

“Yeah. Everywhere but Veritas Rex.” Seth shows me his bandaged hands. “I need new finger-chips. They got busted up in the fight.”

“Maybe you don’t need to get new finger-chips.” I feel a brief surge of energy. A tiny glimmer of hope.

“No finger-chips? And what, be like my dad? With an antique on my wrist?”

“Why not?” I jerk away, and the absence of Seth’s body leaves an emptiness I don’t like. “You don’t need to go back to Veritas Rex. I mean, do you want to be a Virus? Do you want to be like them?”

“I’m nothing like them!”

“Of course you are. You’re just not as vicious.”

“How can you say that?”

Anger invades me. “You took my picture. You destroyed my life.”

“Destroyed your life?” Seth grabs his ribs and cringes.

I reach out to comfort him on instinct, but then pull my hands away. How could Cal leave me with Seth and tell me to think for myself? Being with a Virus is so awful it has its own page of tirades in the Vestal Code of Ethics.

“Well?” Seth glares at me.

We’re interrupted by a knock at the door. I swing my legs over the bed and scoot away from Seth. “Come in,” I say.

Cal enters the room and sweeps his eyes over the situation. “Am I interrupting something?”

“No,” I answer.

“Yes,” Seth growls. He gets up and walks over to the bouquet. Then he rips apart a rose petal by petal.

“Which is it?” Cal asks.

“Blanca thinks I’ve destroyed her life.” Seth grunts.

“No,” Cal says. “She doesn’t.”

Seth looks at his dad. “What do you know?”

“More than you think.” Cal walks over to Seth and whispers something in his ear.

If I weren’t so messed up, I’d think, Shoot! I did it! These two are talking again! It’s hard to care about Cal and his stupid problems now, when he’s trying to ruin my entire existence. So I sit on the bed and stare at my cuff, hating myself and my supposed free will.

“Blanca,” Cal says at last, “you have visitors coming.”

I barely look up. “Who?”

“Headmaster Russell and Ms. Lydia.”

Now I’m really screwed.

“Did you call them?” I ask.

“No,” Cal says. “I wouldn’t do that.”

“Then they must have seen the pictures!”

“Probably.” Cal sits on the bed. His face is gray, like he didn’t get any sleep last night.

Good. I hope he suffers.

“Are you up for visitors?” Cal asks me. “They just passed the front gate, but I’ll send them away if you want me to.”

“If I want you to?” The tears rush out again, and I can’t stop them. I’m my own faucet of sorrow.

“What the hell’s going on?” Seth asks.

Cal appears torn, helpless. And I of course, don’t say anything. So Cal has to admit the truth himself. “I’m done with it,” he says. “I ordered her to think for herself.”

Seth laughs, like he thinks this is funny. “What are you talking about?” When we don’t respond, he stops snorting. “You can’t think for yourself?” he asks me.

“Not unless I tell her to,” Cal says. “At least that’s how they explained all this to me, that first day after the Harvest.”

“But, Blanca, you—” Seth pauses. “You and me—” Seth takes a deep breath. Then he grabs his ribcage like that breath cost him.

And I know he’s thinking about all of it. Me there at the precinct,