Free Fear Me Not (The EVE Chronicles) by Sara Wolf Page A

lawn, keeping to the shadows of the trees and walls. I try to keep up, but it’s like he’s got perfect reflexes. He feet ahead of me, and the only thing keeping us remotely close is the fact he pauses every so often to inhale deeply.
    “Where the shit are we going?” I press when we stop behind a bush. The dark forest that borders the school looms high before us.
    “There’s something you should see,” He says. “I’d explain, but we don’t have a lot of time before it’s over. This way.”
    We duck around the bush and he stops suddenly. He pushes me back, his hands on my shoulders as he pins me to the wall of the maintenance shed and puts his finger to his lips. A guard jingles past, keys and flashlight swaying. Shadus’ hand is rough, and strong, and the smell of ash and boy wafts up from him. For a second, I feel like screaming. Getting pressed like this to a wall in LA is a sure sign something bad is going to happen to you. But then I realize a single scream and dozens of guards would come running. For now, I’m fine. For now, I try to concentrate on how else I feel. A surge of jitters crawls up my body and down it all in one flash second. Boys and me don’t exactly mix. I’ve always been too preoccupied with protecting Alisa to hang out after school, or go on dates. The one guy I ever liked called me a gloomy skeleton when I asked him out in middle school. So Shadus touching me now is something entirely new. He’s an alien, so it doesn’t really count, and I know he doesn’t like me like that, but still. It’s different. It’s something I never thought the gloomy skeleton would get to experience in her life.
    “Apologies,” Shadus whispers when the guard is gone, and releases his grip on me. “I miscalculated and had to hide both of us quickly.”
    He starts off, and I follow.
    “I-It’s fine,” I struggle to say. “You just scared me.”
    “Exactly. I scared you. It’s not fine. Human females are physically weaker than the males. You must be wary of them at all times. I took advantage of that just now. It will not happen again.”
    We pause when we get to the safety of the forest’s treeline. The oaks and pines are dark, and shade us from view. No human guy would ever say something like that. He must see my confusion, because he explains himself quickly.
    “There is no sexual dimorphism in Gutters. Females are equally physically powerful as males. Though now, we are all human. That has changed. We were taught not to abuse this change, and to display courtesy to the fact human females had to account for it in their lives. Hence, my apology.”
    “Look, it’s really fine. You don’t need to talk like a robot. Let’s just go.”
    “Your compliments are unneeded.” Shadus says.
    “What?”
    “A robot has advanced logic capabilities compared to a human. You were complimenting me, were you not?”
    I smack my hand to my forehead. “Sure.”
    He looks deeper into the forest, and points to the west.
    “This way.”
    We muck over roots and rocks, our footsteps muffled by the thick blanket of pine needles. It starts to lightly rain, but the trees are close enough to keep us mostly dry. Just as I’m considering calling the whole thing off and going back to my warm bed, I see the burnt outline of what used to be a house – it’s fireplace and doorframes the only thing left standing. It must be one of those old bottling facilities Raine was talking about. Shadus walks over to it, and pulls open a dusty hatch in the molding wood floor. A square of bright, warm light bursts from it, the sound of people cheering wafting out. Shadus’ face, now lit by the glow, flashes me a smirk that’s childlike in its deviousness.
    “I believe this is the part where human men say ‘Ladies first’.”
     I slowly walk forward. “What’s gotten into you?”
    His grin fades. “What do you mean?”
    “You’re like a…a totally different person.”
    I see the familiar coldness wrap around his