imperfect (27 page)

Kristi tilted her head. She thought she
heard people talking.

“
You’re too funny!” a
voice in the distance said.

A person replied but was speaking too softly
for her to make out the reply. Feeling curious and a bit
adventurous, she decided to find the source of the conversation.
Ears prickling with alertness, she followed the sounds.

“
Don’t you think we should
be heading back? We don’t want Kristi and Troop to worry about us.”
It was Jaiden’s voice.

Kristi walked past a clearing in the woods
and spotted Jaiden talking to Chelsa; she ducked behind a rock
formation obscuring the view of them. Neither Jaiden nor Chelsa
knew Kristi was listening to their conversation, and that made her
sting with shame knowing that she was spying on them.

“
I think we should be
worried about Kristi and Troop tearing the camp apart,” Chelsa
said. “I sometimes fear those two will bite off each other’s head
by the time we reach Oppidum.”

There was a moment of silence and Kristi
peered around the rock concealing her. Jaiden and Chelsa were
locked in a kiss and seemed indifferent to the world around them.
Kristi dropped back behind her hiding place and sat down for a
second.

I should’ve known it was
coming; Chelsa and Jaiden had been flirting with each other for a
bit of time now,
Kristi thought.
But still, Jaiden’s my brother—my
steady-as-a-rock brother
. Kristi cleared
her head.
Get a grip on
yourself.

Jaiden and Chelsa must’ve left when she
wasn’t paying attention because when Kristi finally gathered
herself together, they were gone.

“
Are you alright?” Chelsa
asked
Kristi. “You seem kind of withdrawn
today.”

“
I’m fine.”
Except for the fact, you know, I just got a
mental slap to the face this morning.

“
If you say so. We’ll be
reaching Milton in about an hour. Aside from food, is there
anything else you can think of that we might need?”

“
No.”

“
Do you want to re-dye
your hair?” Chelsa asked.

“
Nah. The government
already knows I dyed my hair, so there’s no point in re-dying it
again. Actually, it would be great if we could get some
dye-remover. I kind of miss my normal hair color. How many points
do you have left on your slate?”

“
A bit under a few hundred
points.”

Kristi frowned. “Do you think we have enough
to make it to Oppidum?”

“
Don’t worry. Rich-kid has
over five-hundred points on his slate,” Chelsa motioned towards
Troop.

“
You checked my points
account?” Troop asked, sounding indignant.

“
Sorry, couldn’t help
myself.”

“
I don’t know if I should
be worried or not,” Troop said in a low enough voice so that Chelsa
couldn’t hear him from up front.

“
I’d worry if I were you.
You never know if one day she decides to buy out a store for the
heck of it,” Kristi said.

Troop cracked a smile. “Was that a joke?
I’ve never heard a joke from you yet.”

“
That was
sarcasm.”

They exchanged few words for the rest of the
ride to Milton. Milton was a decent sized town with a bustling
community. It was a Saturday and many residents were out and about
in the center of town. Chelsa divided up the shopping list among
the four of them.

“
How does having lunch at
The Last Supper sound?” suggested Troop.

“
Have you been here
before?” Chelsa said.

“
Yes. The owner of The
Last Supper is a member of the Company. She’s not a spy or agent;
she’s more of a follower.”

“
A follower?” Kristi
scrunched up her nose a bit in distaste. “That makes the Revealers
seem like some sort of cult…a cult I’m not sure I want to be part
of.”

“
The Revealers is more
than just a cult. It’s an organization trying to—”

“—
you sound just like your
mom,” Kristi interrupted. “‘The Revealers are a group trying to
bring justice to the world.’” She air quoted Tiffany’s
words.

Troop contemplated her words for a few
seconds, and then said, “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“
You two done talking?”
Jaiden asked. “’Cause I was thinking The Last Supper would be a
good place to have lunch.”

Everyone agreed to this plan and set off on
completing their shopping list. Kristi looked down at her list,
which consisted of: hair dye removal, two pairs of socks, liquid
toothpaste and a ball of twine. She should be able to purchase
everything she needed at the convenience store, which was located
just a few blocks down Main Street.

She fingered the electro-slate her parents
had left behind for her. Last night, she had tried and failed to
break its lock. To Kristi’s delight, though, she was able to access
their point account without the fingerprints of all four Naturals.
Shelly and Kyle had left a hundred points on the account; it wasn’t
a whole lot of points to spend, but it would be more than enough to
make the necessary purchases.

Kristi located the convenience store in no
time. She dismounted from Flurry and looped her reins through the
metal ring of a hitching post.

“
Kristi, can I have a word
with you?” Jaiden came up to her before she entered Mill’s General
Store.

“
Sure. What is
it?”

“
Did you see Chelsa and me
together this morning?” he asked, not bothering to sugar coat
anything.

“
Um, yes. I’m sorry if I
trespassed your privacy. I heard your voices and decided to find
you guys,” Kristi said, feeling embarrassed of having been caught
behaving like a ten-year old.

“
I knew I saw someone in
the shadows,” Jaiden said. “You don’t mind me being with Chelsa, do
you?”

“
Of course not! You don’t
need my permission to date someone. Chelsa’s a good friend and a
nice girl. I mean, it would’ve been nice if you had given me a
warning about all this though…” she trailed off.

“
Appreciate your
understanding,” Jaiden said, sounding reassured. “I wasn’t sure how
you were going to take it.”

He left her and Kristi pushed open the door
into the store. A movement caught her eyes. She stepped back
outside onto the streets. Some boys were hanging out in a group
nearby…but something didn’t seem quite right with the picture. Then
she saw him.

“
Troop, were you
eavesdropping on Jaiden and me?”

Troop dropped out with trying to blend in
from the other kids and confessed, “Yeah. Didn’t expect to be
caught red-handed though.”

“
Who do you think you are,
poking your nose in my business?” Kristi said, still feeling miffed
she was the last person to realize that Chelsa and Jaiden were
together.

“
I like to consider
myself
acting concerned
.”

“
I don’t need you to feel
concerned about me. Shouldn’t you be purchasing the items on your
list?”

“
Already did so,” said
Troop.

“
That was
quick.”

He shrugged. “I only needed to purchase some
extra solar cell replacements.”

Kristi pushed the door into Mill’s General
store with Troop tailing her. She grabbed a basket by the doorway
and started thrusting items into it: some hair dye removal powder,
two bottles of liquid toothpaste, a spool of twine and some socks
that were on sale. Then she paid and checked the time. An hour left
until twelve-thirty.

“
There are some public
trails in Milton if you’re up for some riding,” said Troop, holding
open the door for her.

She placed the purchased goods into the
saddlebag and guided Flurry to the trails after referring to a map,
seeing as she had nothing better to do. Troop tagged alongside on
Mist.

Kristi glanced at them. “I don’t remember
inviting you to come along.”

“
I invited
myself.”

“
I’m going to be blunt
with you. I really want—no, need—some personal space, alright?” As
she said those words, she realized they were true and weren’t just
an excuse to get out of Troop’s presence. She needed some time to
be introspective and sort out her feelings.

“
Serious?”

She nodded.

“
Only because I like you,”
Troop said, reining Mist around to leave the trailhead.

“
If only I could say the
same about you,” Kristi muttered, “then life would be much
easier.”

She allowed Flurry to meander along the
trail at a leisurely pace while she mulled over the recent events
of her life. Now that Kristi was thinking about Troop’s earlier
words, she couldn’t help and be astonished by the fact that, other
than the helicopter, they had seen no other physical signs of the
government searching for them.

Sure, we tried to avoid
going into towns if we could help it, but I know the government’s
technology could easily track us down if they put them to good
use,
she thought.

Kristi tried to make out
what she thought of Troop. Yes, he was annoying and yes, he hadn’t
made a great first impression. But Chelsa believed Troop was being
honest when he told them he wasn’t actually going to hurt the girl
at Ludus High; he either had to be the predator or the prey, and
Troop was sick of being the prey
.

However, that doesn’t make
his actions any more justified
.
Bullying is bullying, no matter what. You would
think that someone who used to be bullied would understand how it
feels to be constantly looking over your shoulder, instead of
bullying someone else.
Kristi maneuvered
Flurry to the side of the trail, allowing a train of hikers to pass
by.

But then again, what would happen if I
judged everyone by his or her worst actions? Troop openly admitted
I had caught him acting inappropriately and claimed he was normally
a lot nicer—he just had to maintain his reputation. Also, what
would become of Chelsa if I defined her character by her worst act?
Hadn’t Chelsa informed me she killed Alex? Murder is a serious
crime, and if I was to judge Chelsa by her worst deed, then Chelsa
ought to have repulsed me…but she doesn’t.

Shaking her head at the jumble of thoughts
in her brain, Kristi massaged her temples to release some of the
tension. Flurry sensed her frustration and offered a nicker of
support.

“
Thanks, pal.” Kristi
patted the droid-horse’s fur.

Little slivers of metal where the
devil-dog’s acid had burned through glinted through Flurry’s
otherwise silky fur. Overall, it gave her hide a silvery, shimmery
effect.

“
Let’s head back. I don’t
want the others to think I’m in trouble if I don’t show up for
lunch soon,” Kristi said, talking to herself.

She was unenthusiastic to leave the trails.
The trail provided her a sense of comfort and privacy. The gentle
sunlight seeped through the canopy, dappling the ground. It was a
nice break to be riding at a slow pace after days of traveling in
all types of weather at a rushed speed. They still had two hundred
miles to cover before reaching Oppidum.

Flurry gently jerked on the reins, letting
Kristi know they had reached the trailhead. Kristi patted her a
thank you and directed Flurry to The Last Supper.

chapter
twenty-eight

[ Troop ]

“
We ordered your lunch,”
Troop said, spotting Kristi walk
through
the doors of The Last Supper. “Hope you like chicken
potpie.”

“
That works.”

Kristi had barely sat down when the waitress
brought over four plates of piping hot chicken potpie and a pot of
tea. Everyone was silent for a few minutes, occupied with the
food.

Troop finished his pie in record time;
dehydrated food gets boring after a while. He moved onto his
buttered rolls next.

A stout woman came over to check on them.
She had a dogged look, light brown hair pulled into a tight bun and
a stance that suggested she took no nonsense. Her name was Syra and
she was the owner of The Last Supper.

“
Everything to your
satisfaction?” she inquired.

“
Yes, thank you,” Troop
said.

“
Have I met you before?”
Kristi asked. “You seem very familiar.”

“
I don’t believe I have
had the pleasure of meeting you yet.”

“
Never mind,” said Kristi.
“There was someone I met who looked like you; she owned a bookstore
with a very nice
fireplace
.”

Troop wondered why Kristi had emphasized the
word.

A knowing grin split onto the Syra’s face.
“Ah, I have a sister who does though.”

Then he remembered that Syra’s sister ran a
safe house for members of the Company.

“
Tell her I said thanks,”
said Kristi.

The woman nodded then left to attend a
cluster of customers that just entered The Last Supper.

“
The whole family is part
of the Revealers,” Troop told Kristi in a low voice to avoid being
overheard.

“
Why are you sharing this
information with me?” she asked. “Bad things can happen if this
information gets into the wrong hands.”