Scripted by Maya Rock Read Free Book Online

Probably not that easy for either of you.”
    â€œYeah, but I just wish she’d keep it to herself a little. The problem is she thinks we’re alike.” I kick at some of the snowney on his lawn.
    â€œAnd you’re not? Not even a little bit?” he teases. “I bet she’d be just as horrified about my smoking.”
    â€œI’m not horrified,” I protest. Now he thinks I’m lame. He just raises his sandy eyebrows briefly. I’ve about run out of things to say, but the silence doesn’t seem too bad, especially with the sun setting so spectacularly, the sky streaked in a million shades of pink, purple, and yellow.
    â€œSo pretty,” I breathe. He tips his chin up in acknowledgment, and we watch it together for a few seconds until he bends down to retie his sneaker laces. I can’t help but stare at his fingers, how deftly they move. He looks up and catches me watching him, and I start dusting off my jacket and jeans again, muttering about how Mom will kill me if I dirty up the house.
    â€œYeah, I better get inside too,” he says, eyeing me. “Lia was supposed to be here by now.”
    Everything is so purposeful with him, and Lia is his purpose now.
    â€œOh, right, she told me you were, um, hanging out.” Closing up. The sad and weird nightmare. Why can’t I just like someone who likes me back?
    Before I think about it, these bitchy words fall out of my mouth: “If you think I’m bad, well, Lia hates smoking.”
    â€œLia hates a lot of stuff,” Callen says, jaw clenching.
    Is it my imagination, or does his mild voice have an edge to it? I linger, daring him to say more, but he just kind of does this half shrug. Irritation burns me. This is dumb. I’m reading too much into everything he says and does, because I want so much out of him.
    â€œYeah. Well, Lia’s a passionate person.” I grab my bike and stomp off toward our garage. “Um, I need to go. See you tomorrow.”

Chapter 3
    The scent of lavender disinfectant floats in the air. Mom probably went straight to the supply cabinet after talking to me and Callen. She’s into extreme cleaning to begin with, and it always gets worse after Characters are cut. I hear her sweeping the kitchen downstairs. Her house, her rules. I smooth out the wrinkles on the hallway’s long rug, then stand up and straighten my grandmother’s oil landscapes on the walls.
    A green light is blinking beneath my closed door at the end of the hall. I enter and walk to the flashing square screen embedded in the wall next to my desk.
    Pots clang downstairs. In addition to going on cleaning sprees, Mom also prepares culinary masterpieces after cuts. I press the Missivor’s silver button, and the screen turns white with green text.
    Belle Cannery became a Patriot today under Clause 53, Item A, Unsatisfactory Ratings. As per the Contract, please refrain from mentioning Belle. As per the Contract, rid your personal sets of any reminders of Belle. Ratings mark: 168. Ratings target: 293.
    I gasp on-mic, clamp my hand over my mouth, and then let it drop, trying to compose myself for the cameras.
Ratings mark: 168.
    Exactly the same as my mark.
    I hit the silver button, and the Missivor turns off. We’re only allowed a minute to read Missives since the scenes can’t be broadcast. I turn and scan my small, sparse room, eyes crawling over its mostly bare white walls, the wooden desk, the low-lying bed, and the long shelves near the closet, searching for reminders.
    The show’s guiding ethos is that it’s supposed to mimic real life, but there’s no equivalent to Patriots in the Sectors. If there were, they wouldn’t need to be mentioned in the Contract. Media1 doesn’t want the Audience to think too hard about that discrepancy or it’ll ruin
Blissful Days
viewings for them. So we’re not allowed to mention the Patriots and we have to get rid of reminders