Free Remainder by Stacy H. Pan Page B

boyfriend, Percy. He is going to be an Enforcer." She beams a smile at him. He is attractive with black hair and a dark tan. He is tall and muscular. The other guy who was following them steps up beside Bailey. "And this is Felix. He is going to be a Researcher." She introduces Felix with annoyance in her voice. Felix is skinny with sandy blond hair. He is cute, but not as attractive as Percy. He has a light skin tone and looks a little pale. His smile is warm, though, as he greets me.
    "The resemblance is remarkable. You both could be twins," exclaims Percy with fascination. "I like twins," he exclaims as he pulls Bailey closer to him, making her squeal in delight.
    "You should be drinking!" Bailey demands. "Felix, go get her a drink." Felix hurries away and returns, handing me a cup of red liquid that looks like fruit punch. I put the cup to my lips and taste the liquid. It tastes like fruit punch too. I dispel the contents quickly, not realizing how thirsty I was.
    "Want another?" asks Felix. I nod and he disappears. A moment later, he hands me another glass of the red fruit punch. Again, I quickly empty the contents of the cup. Percy pulls Bailey to him and looks into her eyes. "Come on, baby. Let's go!" Bailey smiles and giggles. "See you later," she exclaims, without taking her eyes off Percy. They stumble away, leaving me and Felix. He walks away and then returns with another drink for me and one for himself.
    "How are you adjusting?" Felix asks. I don't really want to talk, so I take long gulps of the liquid, hoping he will give up. When he continues looking at me, waiting for an answer, I finally respond. "Fine." I say.
    "Did you go to the draining today?"
    "Yes," I reply and drink more.
    "I think it's awful. What they do....to the clones, I mean. There has to be another way."
    Surprised, I turn and look at him. His eyes are kind. "Yeah," is all I can think to say. I thought that Felix bringing up the draining would bring back all the emotions from earlier today, but to my astonishment, it doesn’t. I feel good. Really good. Relaxed, carefree, and a little bit numb.
    "You look lovely, Enforcer,” he says and his eyes light up.
    "Thank you!" I reply with a shy smile, not exactly sure how to take his compliment. The DJ puts on some fast-paced music and I start moving. "I wanna dance!" I yell excitedly.
    "Okay. Come on!" Felix takes my hand and leads me to the crowd of people dancing on the lawn. I jump around and move my whole body. I have never had the urge to move my body so much. I feel the music deep down in my body and I just have to move to it. I laugh a genuine laugh, and it feels so good to laugh, to have fun, to be happy.
    All of a sudden, everything starts to spin.  Colors, faces, and shapes are becoming a huge blur, so I stop dancing and put my hand on my head. Felix wraps his arm around my waist and leads me away from the music and people. He stands me against a tree. He still has his arm around my waist and he runs his other hand through my hair. I close my eyes in hopes of stopping the spinning.
    "You're so beautiful!" Felix whispers.
    "I'll take it from here," I hear a deep voice say.
    Then everything goes black.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter Nine
     
    I am moving. My eyes flutter open a little and I see the outline of a figure. I don’t feel my feet moving, so why am I moving? I concentrate on my body and realize I feel arms around me. Am I being carried? My eyes are so heavy, they feel like lead. Everything is still spinning, so I close my eyes and lay my head on a strong shoulder.
    I hear Alden’s voice in a panic.
    “Hey, Alec. Do you need any help?” I hear Alden say. Everything sounds so far away.
    “No. You need to keep your distance, Alden,” I hear Alec say rather loudly, his voice resonating through me, causing my head to ache.  “You’re not being careful and you need to be….for all our sakes.”
    "I'm sorry, Alec. I