Free E by Kate Wrath

us."
    I look at him, but still don't reply.  Why would they want me
to stay?  What good am I to them?  They have everything they
need.  And more.  Miranda is fuming.  I don't want to step on
anyone's toes.  The last thing I need is an enemy.
    She thunks down her pliers, leans back in her chair, and fixes
Apollon with a look.  Her raised eyebrows are a question, but they are
also a statement.  Apollon still looks perfectly relaxed, rocking on the
two legs of his chair.
    Jonas turns around silently.
    Neveah, next to me, just watches.
    Oscar speaks up.  As he carefully turns the eggs over, he
says, "I want you to stay,too."
    That's sweet, I think, but he's a kid.  I’m waiting for
Miranda to jump on him, to send him to bed without dinner or tell him to go
outside while the big people talk, but she looks at him with her analytical
gaze, not speaking.  Then she glances at Jonas.  He shrugs.
    At this point, I start to think they might actually let me
stay.  My heart starts thumping wildly.  It’s still up for
grabs.  They may not agree.  Miranda clearly doesn't like me.
    "It's not you ," she says, reading my mind. 
"It's just, I think you're trouble.  I mean, look at you."
    Apollon snorts, that amused look on his face.  "As if
you're not."
    She rolls her eyes, looking annoyed, not ditsy.
    Neveah reaches for her blanket bundle and sets it in her lap,
scooting to the edge of the sofa. 
    "Let's vote, then," Apollon says, eyeing her. 
"All who want Eden to stay."  He raises his hand.
    They're voting.  I wonder if a Sentry would count this as
politics.  A violation of the Second Law.  Into the box,
everyone.  I shudder.
    "Me," chirps Oscar, taking the pan off the stove.
    Miranda just frowns.
    Jonas remains stone still, not looking at anyone.  Why does
that hurt so much?
    Apollon, Miranda, and Oscar look at Neveah.
    She nods once.  Then she stands with her bundle, and heads
out the door.
    Apollon flashes me a grin and flicks his eyebrows up. 
"You're in."
    Joy is exploding inside me, and disbelief at my good
fortune.  But it’s smothered.  “Why?”  It’s all I can say. 
“Why would you want me to stay?”
    “That’s a really good question,” agrees Miranda with a sardonic
smile.
    Apollon gives me a look.  “We’re stronger in numbers,” he
says.  “You proved yourself pretty well last night.  I bet you can
keep doing that.”  He flashes me a grin, then his eyes flick to my
forehead.  “And everybody deserves a chance.”
    I swallow the lump in my throat, unable, for a moment, to look at
him.  Finally, I raise my eyes and scan his face.  Does he really
believe that our marks make us somehow kindred?  I consider Jonas and
Neveah, both of them also marked.  Did all of them go through the same struggles
that I have?  Starting with nothing, and no one?
    I shake myself out of my thoughts before I can take them too far,
and make a decision.  This is solid.  I know in this instant that
whatever comes I will stick to it.  "Great," I say, though my
voice is hoarse and I have to clear my throat after.  I attempt to make
the rest sound lighter.  "Is there a secret handshake?"
    Oscar grins and laughs.  It's a quiet laugh for a little
boy.  “You’re going to like it,” he says.  I believe him.
    “You stink,” Miranda says, out of nowhere.  “If you’re
staying, you need to take a bath.”  She looks pointedly toward the curtain
strung up across one end of the shack, then sets down her pliers.  “I’ll
show you,” she says, climbs to her feet, and heads that way.
    I sigh and glance longingly at the eggs and toast before following
her.
    The curtain falls behind us.  A half-rusted tub sits alone in
the middle of the room.  A toilet, a table with a bucket, a broken slab of
mirror.  One crumpled towel dangles from a propped-up rake.  A piece
of hose, repaired in places with grey tape and unevenly dried epoxy, runs
through a hole in the wall, and hangs into the tub.  From