learned an entirely new range of feelings, but Iâve discovered that even seemingly contradictory ones can exist side by side. As I creep home with Lark, Iâm both giddy and afraid. Both emotions have the same symptoms: pounding heart, shaking knees, anxious darting eyes.
As we start out, I realize I have no idea where I am. The map I thought Iâd had in my head is gone. It should be obvious, and it would be if I was calmer. Eden is laid out in concentric rings with connecting spokes, so all I really have to do is mark the huge emerald eye of the Center and head inward until I find my own circle. But Iâm so shaken by everything that has happened this night that suddenly I feel lost.
âThis way,â Lark says gently, and leads me through a bot access passage.
I turn, pulling against her guiding hand. âAre you sure?â I can see the shining green dome in the other direction. âI thought . . .â
âI see a few Greenshirts on patrol tonight. More than theyusually have in this circle. Are you sure no one spotted you earlier?â
âI think . . . no,â I say, not wanting to worry her about my mysterious encounter with the young Greenshirt.
âStill, somethingâs up tonight to have increased security. We should go the long way around. If we cut out to the next ring and then take another spoke back inward, weâll attract less attention.â
Iâm nervous, but I trust her. âYou sound like youâve done this before.â
She gives me a smile of mischief. âIâve snuck out to a meeting or two,â she admits. I question her with raised eyebrows and she elaborates a bit. âPeople who think like me. People who arenât so certain that all is well in Eden. Naturally, the less attention I get the better. And some of the meetings are in outer circles, so itâs safest to be sneaky.â
I know she means not just safe from the focus of authorities, but from the seedier element that lives in the outer circles. Ash never mentioned any of this. I guess Lark has a secret life, too.
I hardly even see the gaudy lights, the extravagant costumes of the passersby. Weâve reached the next ring, and though it is visibly less clean and chic than the entertainment circle closest to my house, it is still hopping with activity and crazy with color and decoration, on both the people and the buildings.
âLook out!â I whisper when I see a Greenshirt up ahead. But Lark takes my hand and pulls me so that I veer away from him. He hadnât noticed us before, but the sudden movement makes his head swivel toward us. I tense, ready to run, but Lark laughs and leans toward me as if whispering some secret. What she really says is âSmile! He has no idea who we are. Just girls out for a night of fun together.â I stretchmy tense face into a smile, and the Greenshirt turns away. We clearly arenât a threat.
Bit by bit, I start to relax. With Lark to guide me I feel . . . not safe, exactly, but as if Iâm in good hands. The music, the crowds no longer intimidate me. I feel like Iâm a part of it all now. I have a connection. I have a friend.
âDo you have any idea where youâll be living when you go with your new foster family?â Lark asks. I shake my head. I left before I could learn any details of my future. âI hope itâs close,â Lark goes on, âbut if not, thereâs always the autoloop. You can get anywhere in Eden in a few hours now that theyâve upped the rail speed.â
Thereâs so much swirling around in my head. Just a couple of hours ago I was told Iâm about to leave my home, my family. Who knows when Iâll see them again? Iâll be living with strangers. Iâm torn up about that, and yet . . . Somehow, thereâs an edge of happiness. When I ran away from my home into the night I felt like my whole world had broken. Now I