Free Silver Eyes by Nicole Luiken Page B

than my SilverDollar one, with teal green wallpaper and two obviously brand-new twin beds with chintz comforters, but I barely glanced at it. My roommate had arrived ahead of me.
    She was black-skinned and tiny, so petite she looked as if she ought to have fairy wings and be able to fly. Except that this fairy princess couldn’t walk. Her legs were withered, and she sat in a wheelchair.
    In this day of Augments, wheelchairs were so rare as to be almost nonexistent. Only the poor still used wheelchairs.
    Her clothes were strictly mall fare, a simple orange T-shirt and blue jeans. Her hair was black and kinky-curly, even within the tight confines of several million braids. The braids were drawn up into a short ponytail.
    Her eyes were angry. They spat fire, looking me up and down disdainfully.
    I confused her by smiling. I was so happy to have a roommate my age to talk to that I would have smiled at Lizzie Borden. I tossed my bag on the unoccupied bed. “Sorry. I was trying to decide if it was more rude to ask what happened to your legs or to pretend that I hadn’t noticed you couldn’t walk.”
    She wasn’t charmed. “Let me know when you decide.”
    I walked over to her and held out my hand. “I’m Angel Eastland. I don’t snore.”
    â€œI’m Rianne Beaulieu. I do.”
    I laughed, and after a few seconds, Rianne permitted herself
a quick smile.
    â€œSo,” I said, “should we be good and unpack or goof off?”
    Her reserve slammed right back into place. “You can do whatever you want. I’m going to finish unpacking.”
    â€œUnpack it is,” I said good-naturedly. “First one done gets to pick which bed she wants.” Since Rianne was already halfway finished, I didn’t feel guilty about opening up my suitcase and dumping its contents into a set of drawers.
    As soon as Rianne saw what I was doing, she stopped neatly transferring items from her suitcase and started tossing them in with wild abandon.
    I finished first, stuffing a dangling sleeve into the bulging drawer and shoving it closed. “There,” I said brightly. “All done.”
    â€œSo which bed do you want?” Rianne eyed me as if she couldn’t decide whether I was crazy or fun.
    â€œI don’t know. I’ll have to test them.” I sat down on the left-hand one. “Hmmm. This mattress has nice firm edges. Good bounce.” I tested each bed out thoroughly, going so far as to measure them for length even though it was obvious the beds were identical. I succeeded in making Rianne laugh and eventually settled for the bed closer to the door.
    It felt good to make friends. I’d missed—
    Who? Somebody.
    Rianne had said something, but I didn’t know what. “Let’s go see what’s on the menu for supper.” I bounced to my feet.
    In the living room we found two new arrivals. Graciana introduced them as Zinnia and Dahlia Cartwright.
    Zinnia had chin-length white-blond hair. I started when I saw that Zinnia’s eyes were purple—was she one of the Renaissance children?— but then I saw that her eyes matched her purple silk blouse and that her lipstick and nails were also the same shade.
    She had to be wearing colored contacts, because Dahlia had turquoise eyes and she was Zinnia’s identical twin. It took me a moment to realize their features were the same since they were dressed so differently. Zinnia had a cool classic style, while Dahlia looked outrageous and funky in a peacockprint jumpsuit and short blue hair.
    The two of them made me feel quite drab in my black shirt and pants. The clothing SilverDollar had bought for me was so basic as to be fashionless, but they were supposed to have my body form on record somewhere. I resolved to order some new clothes soon.
    â€œI want to trade rooms with one of you,” the outrageous one, Dahlia, said. She glared at her sister. “I don’t want to stay with