Suspending Reality by Chrissy Peebles Read Free Book Online

swim if we have to.”
    “I-I don’t know. Wouldn’t it be better to stay with the group?”
    “There’s nothing more I want to do than help build a new world, but I won’t live under a tyrant to do it. If that’s our only choice, I’d rather run away.”
    “The rules might not be so bad,” she said. “It’s all part of being…civilized.”
    “Civilized? Is it civilized to keep people locked in a bubble underwater until he feels like releasing us? If that’s being civilized, I want nothing to do with it,” I snapped. “I’m tired of being treated like a prisoner when I did nothing wrong.” 
    “But we’re not prisoners. When we’re eighteen, we’ll go up—legally. In the meantime, Dante’s workers are busy building a world for us up there.”
    I sighed. “See? It’s all about power and control, and you’re under his thumb just like everyone else is. We should be allowed to go up to the surface whenever we want.”
    “It’s only two more years.”
    “After seeing the sun, sky, and ocean, do you really want to wait that long?” I asked.
    “No, but what choice do we really have?”
    “I’m a misfit down here,” I said. “I’m the only one who complains. We only live once, right?”
    “Yeah, I get the whole YOLO thing, but—”
    She was trying to be hip by using the word, YOLO. It was an acronym for "you only live once". It was kind of like carpe diem or memento mori. It implied that one should enjoy life, even if that meant taking risks. Made me think of the 2011 song "The Motto" by Canadian rapper Drake.
    “So why would you wanna spend the rest of your teenage years down here in this waterlogged, boring glass aquarium?” I asked.
    “You know what they say. ‘Great leaders boldly drive forward, clearing a path for those who follow.’”
    “Great leaders, huh? So you think Dante is actually clearing a path for us?”
    “Yes. Just think how fantastic it’ll be when we get up there.”
    “You’re such a dreamer,” I said. “You always believe the best about everyone.” I’d always thought my friend was too trusting, and it infuriated me that she just accepted whatever she was told, without question. We had a lot in common, and we were best friends, but in that way, we were very, very different.
    She threw a pillow at me. “Enough with all this serious talk. I’m starvin’. Let’s go get lunch.”
    I laughed.
    Rachel looked at me oddly.
    “What?” I asked.
    “Your face is pink.”
    When I looked at hers, I noticed she had the same problem. “You do too.”
    “Did we catch some terrible rash up there?”
    “Maybe the air’s not safe after all,” I joked.
    “That’s not funny!” she snapped. “How can you stay so calm? Who knows what germs we brought back down here.”
    I smirked, trying not to break into laughter. “It’s a sunburn.”
    “What?”
    “Our skin is pale. We got a sun burn from the sun, that’s all.”
    “My first sun burn?”
    “Yeah. I know the perfect trick. Make up, lots of it!”
    We went back and put on lots of cover up to conceal our sunburn. It worked like a charm. We didn’t have tons of make up so we used it very sparingly on special occasions, or for emergencies like this one.
    On the way to the cafeteria, I ran into my twelve year old cousin. 
    “These are for you,” she said handing me a pot with a Christmas cactus. The red and pink drooping flowers were gorgeous. “Happy Birthday!”
    “I love it!” I said, my face lighting up. “When did you plant this for me?”
    “They’re not from me, silly. They were sitting in the lounge with your name on them.”
    I cocked a brow. “Who are they from?”
    “I don’t know. The card just has your name. Who keeps leaving you all these flowers? We don’t have any more room for them. Because there’s more that came.”
    “More?”
    “Yep. I don’t think Brett’s going to like that much.”
    I bit my lip. “Yeah, I’m gonna have to agree with you on that one.”  
    ***
    After