The Dance
Mo glanced at the time on her comm station and resisted the urge to drum her fingers against her desk. Class should have ended five minutes ago. If she didn’t get out soon, Les would give up on her and walk home by herself.
Instructor Daly lowered his pointer. “Pull up assignment two on your monitors, please.”
Everyone groaned.
“Be quiet,” Daly snapped. “You’ve only been out of the Indoctrination Academy a week and you’re already behaving like spoiled children.”
Mo wished she could shoot laser beams from her eyes and vaporize him. Why had she taken History, anyway? Fighter pilots didn’t need History. If she’d taken Advanced Law instead, she and Les would be in the same class. Advanced Law, though—ugh. Not right after the Indoctrination Academy. She wanted to be with Les, but she had her limits.
Daly started walking around the classroom, checking monitors. Uh-oh. Mo hit the key that would bring up the assignment and scanned the screen. A five hundred-word essay on the only Preeminent Ruler ever executed. How exciting. She flipped through the history text on her desk, trying to look as if she was already thinking about what she’d write.
Daly wandered by her. “Due Friday. No excuses.”
Friday! That was only two days away. As soon as she got home, she’d have to start working on the essay, get a couple of hours in before heading to the lake. She and Les had been talking about the lake for weeks; it would be their first night out in two years. No way was she skipping it for a stupid essay.
“Monitors off,” Daly said. “Dismissed.”
Mo flicked off her monitor, shoved the history text into her knapsack, and hustled into the corridor.
“Oh, Mo,” someone called. “Wait a second.”
She stopped and turned to see Patty and Evelyn walking toward her. Odd—usually they barely acknowledged her existence. She lowered her knapsack to the floor and waited.
“Are you going to the dance on Friday?” Patty asked.
Flaming Argamon, Patty wasn’t going to ask her to the dance, was she? “I’m going with Les.”
Patty and Evelyn exchanged glances. “Don’t you think it’s time you stopped being so clingy with Lesley?” Evelyn said.
“Give someone else a chance,” Patty added.
Evelyn leaned forward, hands on hips. “It’s not like you’re Chosens. Stop acting like you are.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Mo saw a third person hovering nearby, probably enjoying the show.
“I’ve tried to be polite, Mo,” Patty said. “But this is getting ridiculous. I’d like to take Lesley to the dance. I could have gone ahead and just asked her, but I figured I’d be nice and let you know first. And I’m sure you, being mature, will stand aside, right?”
“You know, Darren and I have been going together for a while, but we see other people,” Evelyn said. “We’re not Chosens. We don’t pretend we are.”
“It’s pathetic,” Patty said under her breath, but loud enough for Mo to hear.
Mo’s cheeks burned. “Les has never said anything about wanting to see other people.”
Patty’s face softened. “Oh, Mo. Lesley’s too kind to tell you.”
“She doesn’t want to hurt you,” Evelyn said, patting Mo’s arm.
“You poor thing,” Patty cooed. “I know this is difficult to hear. But everyone can see she wants a change.”
“Really?” Mo squeaked.
“Um, yes,” Evelyn said. “Have you had your eyes checked lately?”
Mo didn’t want to believe them, but it was hard not to when she had her own doubts about Les’s feelings for her.
Patty crossed her arms. “Give her some space if you don’t believe us. Tell her you won’t be going to the dance. You’ll see how quickly she goes with someone else.”
“I—I don’t know.”
“Are you afraid of what you’ll find out?” Evelyn asked.
“No.”
“Yeah, sure.”
The silent observer finally spoke. “She knows what she’ll find out. That’s why she won’t do it.”
Mo recognized the voice. Julia, always wanting to be in with the popular crowd. It figured that she’d side with these two airheads. “That’s not true,” Mo retorted.
“Then don’t be so immature,” Patty said, her mouth set. “Tell her you’re not going to the dance.”
But she and Les liked to dance, and they’d had few opportunities to do so at the Indoctrination Academy. They were looking forward to Friday night.
Evelyn sighed and looked at Patty. “I told you not to bother talking to her.”
Patty nodded. “Look, Mo, I’m asking Lesley to the dance, whether you like it or not. I’m sure she’ll leap at the chance to go out with someone else for a change, instead of having little Mo following her around all the time. If you really do care about her, stop thinking about yourself. Think of her. Let her out of her cage.” She motioned to Evelyn. “Come on, Ev. Let’s go.”
“Nice talking to you, shorty.” Evelyn patted Mo’s head as she walked past. Julia snickered and ambled after them.
Mo slung her knapsack over her shoulder and headed for the Learning Academy’s west exit. It was a longer route to Les, but she didn’t want to bump into Patty and company again. She tried to shrug off the unpleasant conversation—or rather, confrontation. Patty was obviously interested in dating Les, so nothing she said could be trusted. Of course Patty would say Les wanted a change. Of course she’d imply that dating one person exclusively was immature, even wrong. And it was no surprise that Evelyn had backed her up. If Evelyn was same-oriented, she’d probably be dating Patty, not helping her steal other people’s girlfriends.
Pushing the exit door open, Mo shielded her eyes until they’d adjusted to the sun. She set off for her and Les’s usual meeting spot, her mind still turning over the confrontation with Patty. Patty would have to find someone else to take to the dance. Let her ask Les—she’d only be humiliated. Mo was sure Les would say no. Les wouldn’t turn her back on their plans for the evening, would she?