making that scratching noise every night, hasn’t it?” she asks, squinting as she clutches my bicep.
I flinch—she’s digging her fingers right where Dr. Hartigan’s needle went.
Her grip loosens when she sees my face pinch up. “What is it?” she asks, and grazes a finger over the leftover bruising.
I shake her off. “Nothing.”
I can’t tell her, or anyone, the truth. Miss Nale and the doctor both said so. He was putting my blood away in his briefcase and that’s when Nale looked at me dead serious. “Do you remember the frog from your science class last year?” she’d asked.
I gulped hard and answered her. “We cut him open and looked at his heart.”
Nale nodded. “He was an experiment, just like you would become. Keep your secret. Avoid the Blues—if they take a blood test and know what to look for, you’ll be at their mercy. You don’t want to be at their mercy, Ren. They have none.”
The doctor nodded with her. Their words still give me the shakes.
And here I thought immunity was a good thing.
Ignoring Aven like usual, I feel around for two slits in the metal near the top and bottom of the window bars. Traded three weeks’ lunches for enough razor blades to make these cuts, but it’s going to pay off. If I can just get out of here . . .
“Go to bed, kid,” I say finally, yanking at the loose spot I’ve kept stuck together with gum.
“You’re leaving? For good?” Her face downs like I punched her in the gut.
“I wish.” Once more, I tug at the bars—that gum is sticking a little too well. “No, this time I’ll be back,” I grunt.
She smiles, relieved. “Good,” she says quickly. “You can’t leave leave.”
Aven places her tiny fist over mine on the pole—I don’t quite know what she’s doing, but when she nods, then I get it. Silently, I count to three for the both of us, and together we pull. The bar flies free from the frame and we stagger backward, noisy.
“You’re welcome.” She grins, though I don’t recall saying thank you. “Where did you say you were going?”
I raise an eyebrow. This kid’s got more nerve than I thought.
Guess I could tell her. Someone should know where I am, just in case I die and all. “Can you keep a secret?” I ask.
Aven claps her hands. Her extra-long sleeves stifle the sound and she nods her head, bouncy as a ball. “Tell me.”
“The races.”
“Ohh, no.” Her eyes go wide. “Dragsters are crazy, I’ve heard. They won’t slow if you get in their way.” When I grin but don’t answer, she says, “Ohh,” again. Then, “You’re not going to watch, are you? You’re actually racing?”
“That I am.” I puff up some, and pull at the second bar. It’s looser than the first, thankfully. “I’ve got a mechanic waiting for me and everything.”
“Just . . . be careful. Please don’t die.”
I stop what I’m doing. Look at her head-on. “Aven?” I say, thinking of the science class frog, dead on its back. “Did you know that the heart only gets one billion beats in a lifetime?”
Cocking her head, “Okay . . . ?”
“Point being, I most certainly will not be careful. Now, I’m not going to be reckless either. But not going all out is the same as standing in one spot, counting down from a billion, you understand?”
“But you’re a . . .”
“Girl?” I finish.
She nods.
“True enough. Guess I need luck then,” I say, sarcastic, ignoring how I almost took one of her pennies.
“You won’t need it,” Aven tells me matter-of-factly, and I can see she’s thinking something—her pale brows go all knotty. “If anyone can win a roofrace, it’s you. You’re the toughest, bravest person I know.”
Then I do a double take, thinking she must not know many tough or brave people.
Neither do I, I realize.
She smiles and hugs her arms close to her body. “You’re gonna beat everyone. I just know it. You’ll tell me everything?”
For a moment I forget that I’m straddling the window, one leg out in the open, and that I’m about to race for the first time ever.
See, I always knew I could win—but to have someone else think it too?
Always knew I liked this kid.
“You know it,” I tell her like we’ve done this before. She beams back at me. Don’t know why I’m so surprised by the fool grin on her face.
I swing my other leg out the window and make a jump for it, dropping down