Free Bumped by Megan McCafferty Page A

thing, Melody,” Ash begins.
    And that’s when they tell me that it’s not about the money that they spent and don’t have anymore, it’s the money they spent that they never had.
    “We borrowed against the equity on your Eggs.”
    I cannot believe what I’m hearing.
    “YOU WHAT ?”
    Harmony yelps quietly. I surprise even myself with the outburst.
    I barely hear what they say next, but what I do hear is bad enough.
    My parents had my reproductive potential appraised when I was eleven, before I even signed on with Lib. Then they took out a five-year Egg Equity loan, which basically means that they borrowed against my projected future earnings as a Surrogette. They put that capital toward the strategic development of my most marketable traits and talents.
    “How do you think we could afford to send you to that soccer training clinic in Brazil?”
    “Or guitar lessons with a Grammy winner?”
    “You think the Global U. summer camp comes cheap?”
    This strategic reinvestment in my brand, they believed, would up my market value and put me well over the original appraisal. And when the Jaydens’ bid came in so strong, it looked like I would definitely earn back everything they had borrowed and more. There was just one problem with their plan.
    “You should have delivered by now,” says Ash.
    “You should be finishing up your second contract and considering a third,” says Ty.
    They were banking that I’d deliver three times before my obsolescence?
    “But you’re not.”
    “And it’s time to pay that money back.”
    How could they let this happen? How could they have turned their only daughter into a toxic asset in need of a quick bump bailout? I expected more from them. If not as parents, then as economists .
    “You’re still young!” says Ash with an edge to her voice.
    “You can pregg with our new friends,” says Ty, eerily matching her tone, “and still have time left to deliver for the Jaydens.”
    I can’t listen for another microsecond. I wink and blink and make them vanish from the MiVu without a word.
    Now I’m shaking from the inside out. I take a deep, calming breath and repeat the words my positive energist taught me to say when I’ve got a problem and don’t know how to solve it.
    I am smart.
    I am stunning.
    I am strong.
    I am everything I need to be.
    Hopefully the money they spent putting me in this crisis helped me develop the skills to get myself out of it.
    “Do you want to talk about what just happened?”
    Harmony has changed into a button-front dress that is plainer than the one she wore yesterday, tinged yellow, and slightly shorter too, a scandalous ankle length. Her gloves stop at the wrists. This must be the Church version of casual wear.
    “No,” I reply. “There’s nothing to discuss.”
    “But—”
    “Honor thy parents is one of your commandments. Honor thy contracts is one of mine.” I try to say it like I mean it. “I’m not a renegger.”
    “So you’re okay?”
    I nod vigorously, afraid that my voice might betray my lack of confidence.
    Harmony fusses with her gloves for a moment, then says, “Amen to that.”
    And if I were the praying kind, I just might have amened along with her.

I’M SITTING ON THE FLOOR IN THE MIDDLE OF MELODY’S closet, averting my eyes as she models yet another outfit in front of the mirror.
    “How does this look?” she asks, more to the mirror than to me.
    Those second-skin jeans and Co-Ed Naked Human Evolution League T-shirt don’t look any different from any of the other combinations of clothing she’s put on and taken off in the past ten minutes: sacrilegious . But then I remind myself that here in Otherside, such provocative outfits aren’t against the Orders. If I’m going to blend in here, I need to pay close attention to how such fashions are put together.
    “Is this an outfit that says, I’ll be bumped any day now ?”
    When she turns to look at me, I realize that she’s waiting for my