Free One of Us by Jeannie Waudby Page B

“So, what do you want to study next year?” I ask quickly, changing the subject.
    The charcoal shower pauses. “I’m going to take Science subjects. For Medicine.”
    â€œI thought you’d want to study Art.” I try to keep still.
    â€œMy parents are doctors, and I always thought I’dbe one too.” He starts drawing again, even more wildly than before. “I wish I could study Animation, though.”
    â€œThen you should,” I say. “It’s your life.”
    Greg doesn’t reply. Maybe I’ve annoyed him.
    â€œOK.” He steps out from behind his drawing board. “I’m done.”
    I jump down and walk around the easel. The picture’s not like me. This girl’s hair is behind her shoulders. Has he made it look longer? She’s staring far into the distance, but she looks like someone you’d want to be friends with. She’s . . . pretty. “Does it look like me?”
    â€œI think so,” Greg says.
    I thought his picture of me would make me look somehow suspicious. But it doesn’t.
    Ms. Cobana walks over and looks at the drawing of Greg over my shoulder. “Come here, everyone!” She holds up my portrait. There’s an appreciative little buzz as people stop to look at it. I think of the secret drawings I used to make when I was little, of Grandma finding one and ripping it in two. Ms. Cobana is still talking about my work, as if it’s important. It’s the first time anyone has ever liked my pictures. For the first time, I feel as if they’re looking at the real me.

CHAPTER 10
    W HEN HE DROPPED me off a week ago, Oskar showed me where to meet him, from the other side of the school grounds. Of course we didn’t know about the afternoon indoctrination sessions then, so I’m going to have to miss today’s talk.
    At lunch, when we’re sitting at the table by thelong glass doors, I turn to Serafina. “I’m not feeling too good,” I say. “I’ve got a really bad headache. So after Math I’m not going to the talk today. Don’t bother waiting for me.”
    I can see that Greg is listening, because his fork has stopped in midair. Celestina carries on eating, but I’m sure she’s paying attention too. Jeremiah is eating at another table with other friends.
    â€œOh, poor you.” Serafina touches my arm. “Why don’t you go and lie down now?”
    â€œNo, it’s OK,” I say quickly. “I can’t afford to miss Math.” If anyone finds out and asks me later why I didn’t go to the Sisters’ house, I’ll say I went for a walk to clear my head.
    Nobody is around as I walk into the woods after the day’s last lesson. They’re all in the auditorium, so maybe it’s good timing after all. The fence runs alongside the Gatesbrooke road and all I have to do is follow it downhill through the woods in the Institute grounds. Oskar said he would wait by the huge oak. After about ten minutes of quick walking, I get there.
    It’s very quiet here. The mist threads silver beads along the fir needles.
    â€œK?”
    I jump. Oskar appears behind the wire mesh, in his leather jacket and pointed tan boots. He puts one finger to his lips and gestures with a pair of wire cutters toward a hole in the fence.
    My long skirt snags as I crawl through the cut wire, which scratches a line along my thigh as I stand up. Oskar nods toward the woods and I follow him acrossthe road. His motorbike is parked a little way up a forest path. I wonder where we’ll go. His spare helmet is strapped to the passenger seat, ready for me.
    He waves the wire cutters at me. “Result! This way nobody will know you’ve even left the grounds.” He smiles. “So no need for anyone to follow you.”
    It’s so good to see him. His sandy hair is flattened by the crash helmet. His eyes are grayer than I remember. I feel like I did the first