There were a few stares here and there. A few grins and a laugh at the end of the hall, cutting right into Ariel. That laugh might have had nothing to do with her, but she nonetheless took on the damage since it felt fitting. She just needed to reach the elevators as more girls came out of their rooms to behold this fallen one. She tried to walk as normally as possible, bearing the pain radiating from her thigh. Each stride seemed to heighten the sting.
Ariel worked to keep her head high. She took slow, horrifying breaths as her heart valves clenched and unclenched. Ariel almost let her emotions go, but covered it up by clearing her throat, forcing a smile.
It wasn’t like they knew how hard it was to control the Vox suit. Only a handful in this hallway had even used the suits. So how could they cast judgmental eyes her way? Ariel reached into her pocket for her phone as she waited for the elevators to open.
Their eyes hadn’t left her. She concentrated on her periphery, on those mocking smiles. Caregiver Enhelich and Xenia finally shooed everyone away the moment the elevator doors opened. Ariel twisted around, facing the door, and punched the ground floor button. She was about to phone Marissa for a ride, then remembered that Marissa and Cassandra had headed out to Red City early for an evaluation. Ariel sank within herself. Would she have to take the bus? She couldn’t call a taxi—the school frowned upon it, something about student safety.
Ariel exhaled and said to herself, “Get yourself together.”
Out in the main hall of the Zeda Residence, people were everywhere. Ariel reached into her bag again for sunglasses and shoved them onto her face. In the shallow lighting, she could remain unidentified—or so she hoped.
Amidst caregivers and SUs assisting others, Ariel snuck through the crowd toward the Head Caregiver’s office and took a left to the large transparent doors leading outside. She found a caregiver alone and stopped by him in the middle of his coffee break.
“Please help me,” said Ariel, lowering her sunglasses just enough to reveal her identity.
The man sprang into action, phoning other caregivers and SUs. Three caregivers and two SUs stepped out within seconds and helped Ariel through. In the early morning light, it was obvious that this was Ariel Spica, and a throng of people began firing questions at her.
The buses waited at the gate, and from Ariel’s view, they seemed a mile away. All this because of Demetrius? She shook her head.
“We’ll get you to a bus that’s ready to depart,” said the female caregiver, whose thick nose was slightly crooked.
“That’d be great,” said Ariel.
When they reached the bus, Ariel stopped at the steps and thanked the caregivers. She couldn’t imagine what she’d do without them. She squeezed the handrail and took a step into the driverless bus. Nothing but blinking computers at the driver’s seat. The same shock she’d seen spread across the faces of the students. Ariel scanned for an empty seat and found one about halfway in. She ambled toward it in that silence. It had never been this quiet.