Free Resistance (The Institute Series Book 2) by Kayla Howarth

means by that but I shrug it off.
    Chad reaches over, his hand finding my thigh under the table. I look at him, smiling, but he just casually keeps eating like nothing is going on – like this transition from friends to … more than friends isn’t a big deal.
    “We’ll be leaving soon,” Mum says. “So if you wanted to shower and maybe get a change of clothes, I’d go now. Your Dad managed to save most of what was in your wardrobe from home and some of the others here at the compound have donated some of their old clothes. Drew, would you like to go first?”
    “Umm. Sure, I guess,” Drew replies, getting up from the table.
    “Just down the hall, on the right. There’s a pile of clothes in there you can pick from. Towels are in the bathroom,” Mum tells him.
    As soon as Drew leaves and we can hear the water running, Mum’s expression turns serious.
    “So what actually happened last night?” she asks. “How did Drew end up coming with you? Do you think we can trust him?”
    “He caught her sneaking out,” Chad answers. “I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him. Actually, I reckon I could throw him pretty far so I take that back.” He smiles. “I don’t trust him, but we had no choice.”
    “So what are we meant to do with him?” she asks.
    “Can you do your thing and send him back?” I ask her, referring to her memory tampering skills.
    “That’s not such a great idea. My ability is somewhat unstable. To make sure we got all the right memories, I’d have to erase the last twenty-four hours. And even then, he may still remember what happened, but assume it was a dream. That happens sometimes. When the Institute question him and they realise a whole day is missing, they’ll know someone like me is out there. We’ve been fairly good at flying under the radar so far, we don’t really want to give too much of us away.”
    “So you guys aren’t with the same rebellion group protesting all over the city? I saw them once,” I say, remembering the day not long before I was arrested when Drew and I were practically jumped on by a fiery redhead protesting to get Defective people released from the Institute.
    Mum scoffs, “No. We have nothing to do with them. I know they’re trying to help our cause but I think they’re just going to end up getting their very own cell at the Institute.”
    “So what does that mean for Drew?” I ask. “We can’t erase his memory, we can’t trust him. What do we do?”
    I’m surprised when Shilah answers. “We do to him what the Institute does to everyone else. We train him up, teach him to think like us. We still don’t have to trust him, we just need to keep him here, keep him busy, and not tell him too much.”
    “It could work,” Dad says.
    “I don’t know about that,” I say. “He’s been with the Institute a long time. They’ve completely brainwashed him into thinking he was doing the right thing.”
    “We can show him what the actual right thing is,” Shilah suggests.
    The shower stops running and we all go back to eating. I actually stop eating because I’ve shoved the food in so fast, I’m starting to feel sick.
    Drew comes out of the bathroom, clean and wearing jeans and a baggy t-shirt. “So what’s the verdict?” he asks, sitting back down at the dining table.
    “Verdict?” I ask.
    “What are you going to do with me?” Oh. He knows we only sent him to the shower so we could talk about him.
    “You’ll stay and be a part of our community,” Mum says. “But you have to understand that we can’t let you be on your own yet. I’ll set you up with one of the families living here – with Allira living with Ebb, maybe you could stay with us.”
    “No!” Dad and Shilah say in unison.
    “Whatever you think is best,” Drew says without protest.
    He’s being remarkably calm about this whole thing. Last night he was trying to get away, resisting the whole time, but now he seems easy. Too easy. He has a long way to go