Genesis Girl (Blank Slate #1) - Jennifer Bardsley Page 0,55

calls from my psyche. I am loyal. I am discrete. I follow the rules. Brush. Brush. Brush. She makes long strokes from crown to tips. “You’ve always had the most beautiful hair,” says Ms. Lydia, “ever since you were a baby.”

“You knew me when I was a baby?”

“Yes,” says Ms. Lydia, brushing away. “Tabula Rasa was different in the early years. Less structured. I used to help out in the nursery.” She pins my hair around the crown, coiling it into a roll. “We didn’t have thirty-two-million-dollar Harvests back then, making life easy.”

I know a compliment when I hear one. It makes me bold.

“Did you know that I come from Nevada?” I ask.

Ms. Lydia pauses mid-pin. “Nevada,” she says carefully. “What makes you think that?”

“That’s what Headmaster Russell said about me at the Harvest. He said I was from Nevada.”

Ms. Lydia rolls her eyes. “Russell will say anything to rile bidders up. That’s one of his strong suits.”

“So I’m not from Nevada?”

Ms. Lydia opens her mouth to answer, but then she stops. Finally she says, “Honestly, I have no idea.”

“So you don’t know who my parents are?”

Ms. Lydia doesn’t say anything. She shakes her head.

I bet she’s disappointed in me for asking. So I fix things right away. “It doesn’t matter where I’m from. The only thing that matters is that I’m a Vestal.”

“That’s exactly right,” says Ms. Lydia. My hair is done, and she puts our faces close together, looking at our reflections in the mirror. “And now we can be together forever. Are you happy that I’ve come here?”

“Yes.” I beam a smile. “It’s almost like you’re my Vestal-mom. Like we’re a real Vestal family.”

“Darling, I’m so happy to hear that!” Ms. Lydia takes my hands in hers. “You know, I’ve told my purchaser about you.”

It’s the first tidbit of information Ms. Lydia has ever shared with me about her situation.

“You have? You still see him?”

“Yes,” says Ms. Lydia. “He loves hearing about you. He knows how hard it has been on me all these years to never have a traditional Vestal family.”

“That’s the problem with going Geisha, isn’t it?”

Ms. Lydia nods. “Yes. But now I’ve got you, and I can do whatever is necessary to stay close to you and make you my daughter.”

It’s a golden ray of happiness, hearing that Ms. Lydia is choosing me as her Vestal-daughter. It’s almost like she’s choosing me over everybody else.

But it’s that last thought that makes me wonder. Ms. Lydia wants to be with Cal too, right?

“About your hair,” Ms. Lydia continues. “I don’t think you should cut it. I wore my hair long like this when I was your age too. Now tell me about Trevor.”

“Trevor?” I ask. Everything swirls around in my mind, and I can’t think straight. Cal has been so happy since Ms. Lydia joined our lives. She’s not tricking him, is she? No, that’s just that bastard Seth putting ideas in my head.

“Was your last date with Trevor more successful? I’m sorry I couldn’t be there.”

“Yes, Ms. Lydia. It was. Trevor made me think everything was perfect.”

“That’s a funny way to put it. Wasn’t it perfect?”

“No.” I look down at my cuff. “Sarah kept staring at us.”

“Sarah?” Ms. Lydia quickly puts down the hairbrush. “We don’t mention that name anymore.”

“So, I’ve gathered,” I say. “Why didn’t you tell me about Sarah being Lilith?”

“Tell you? I thought you knew. You’ve known Sarah for a long time.”

“But what happened to the real Ms. Lilith?”

“Sarah is the real Lilith. She’s completely legitimate.”

“That’s not what I mean,” I protest. “What happened to Ms. Lilith number one? Where’d she go?”

Ms. Lydia glances across the room at the freshly painted walls. Her lips press together and form a thin line. “Her work was done,” she says simply. “Lilith was needed elsewhere.”

“Was her contract up?”

“Really, that’s none of your concern.”

“None of whose concern?” Cal asks, suddenly coming in. He’s got his toothbrush in his hand, like he was out for a stroll.

“Nothing, darling.” Ms. Lydia smiles and tilts her head to let Cal kiss her cheek.

It doesn’t matter that Ms. Lydia didn’t tell me the whole truth. It doesn’t matter that she kept the details from me. Seth is wrong about Ms. Lydia, I know it. You can’t ever trust a Virus. That’s what Barbelo wrote, and he’s always right.

I think I was wrong about Cal too. I always thought he was a horrible actor. I thought he wore his heart on his sleeve. But you’d never know now that he

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