The ARC 02: Talented Read online

  ‘I’m Hunter by the way.’

  ‘Elle—’

  ‘Winters,’ he interrupts. ‘I know.’ Lara was right. This guy’s totally cocky.

  I frown and look away from him. ‘So, Hunter, are you planning on spending this lesson distracting me as well?’ I ask.

  ‘I see I’m not the only one who’s done their homework,’ he says.

  I can feel my cheeks become warm with embarrassment. ‘I wasn’t checking up on you specifically. I was just seeing which idiot had been messing around with my tablet.’ The corners of his lips pull into a smile. ‘So, will you do it again?’

  ‘You’ll just have to wait and see…’

  Can’t wait. I look away from him and bite down on my lip. I have so many responses to what he’s said, but I don’t want to provoke him into subjecting me to his weird talent all lesson, so I stay silent.

  A woman walks in and effectively silences the general hubbub of the classroom. She walks to the front of the room and starts the lesson. Cell structure. Thankfully it’s something I know but as the lesson begins and the teacher delves into explanations of tainted cell mutations I feel overwhelmed.

  I guess I didn’t know that much about cells after all.

  I nervously look down at my tablet when I need to begin taking notes. What a surprise, Hunter’s composed another message on it.

  ‘You’re cute when you’re flustered,’ is written across the screen. I feel my cheeks flush again. I don’t want him to know how bothered I am by his little display. I nudge him really hard with my elbow and the writing disappears. He chuckles beside me.

  Luckily he decides to concentrate for the remainder of the lesson and doesn’t bother me with anymore of his notes. When the lesson ends I leave the table without saying anything to Hunter.

  It’s a relief to get back outside. I felt tense all class, not knowing when Hunter would start messing with me again.

  ‘Where you going Winters?’ Hunter asks, coming up behind me.

  ‘Ah, lunch?’ As soon as I say it though, I realise I don’t know where the cafeteria is. He smiles when he sees the confusion on my face, puts his hands on my shoulders and starts steering me.

  ‘If you’d wanted a lunch date with me Winters, all you had to do was ask.’

  CHAPTER SIX

  The cafeteria is filled with students. It provides a stark contrast to the school dining hall in the ARC, which had a lot fewer students to cater for. For every person there was in the ARC there must be ten people walking around on the surface.

  I follow Hunter to queue for food. As I walk across the room to the line I can feel people watching me like there’s something wrong with me, like I’m a freak. I try to ignore their stares and keep reminding myself it’s only because I’m the new kid. They’ll be over it tomorrow—I hope.

  As we get closer, and I get a better look at what’s being served, I become excited for lunch. The bland food I’m used to in the ARC is nowhere to be seen. Instead, there’s an entire buffet of sumptuous smells and enticing looking meals. There’s a series of deserts that look mouth watering, not to mention all the fresh fruits and salads. I have no idea what half the stuff is, but I’m more than ready to give it all a try. I find my plate quickly fills and as I look down at it I ponder exactly how I will manage to fit it all in.

  ‘Hungry?’ Hunter asks from beside me.

  ‘More intrigued than hungry. I don’t know what half the stuff I have is. I mean, look at this,’ I point to a yellow blob on my plate, ‘No idea!’

  ‘That, Winters, is a lemon tart,’ he explains, leaning his mouth in close to my ear.

  ‘Elle!’ Lara calls to me from her seat at one of the tables. She waves me over enthusiastically and I go to join her, grateful for the escape. I don’t want Hunter to see how much he’s managing to get under my skin.

  Lara is sitting with another girl and a boy, and as I set my tray down on the table she introduces me.

  ‘Elle, this is Sophie and James. Guys, meet the newbie, Elle.’

  ‘Hey,’ they both chime at me in unison. They both have the most unusual eyes, almost a shade of lilac in colour. They would have to be related. Unless their eye colour is a tainted thing?

  ‘They’re twins,’ Hunter says, pulling out the chair next to me. I whip my head around to look at him and quickly move to sit myself. Was I staring at them that obviously?

  ‘You didn’t think you were getting away from me that easy did you Winters?’ I shrug and give him a look that says, ‘I tried.’

  ‘And after asking me here on a lunch date…’ He shakes his head and tuts.

  ‘Making friends?’ Lara asks me.

  ‘Yeah, unwanted ones,’ I say.

  Hunter slings his arm over my shoulders. ‘Oh don’t tell me you don’t want me. You’ll break my heart.’ I try to keep a straight face, but when I look up at him he’s giving me the most ridiculous puppy dog eyes and I burst out laughing.

  I wiggle my shoulders out from under him.

  ‘Why are you sitting with us?’ Sophie asks. ‘He never sits with us…’ she explains to me, as though he’s not even here.

  ‘I was curious as to whether Winters’ eyes were bigger than her belly,’ Hunter responds with a shrug.

  ‘My eyes and belly are just fine thanks,’ I mutter down into my food.

  ‘So, Elle, are you talented?’ Sophie asks me.

  ‘No,’ I respond, quickly taking a mouthful of food so I don’t have to go into any further detail.

  Sophie watches me expectantly. Eventually she says, ‘Aren’t you going to ask us if we’re talented?’

  ‘Uh,’ I hesitate, looking to Lara who laughs at my response.

  ‘You’re supposed to care…’ she whispers in my ear, once Sophie and James wipe the astounded looks off their faces and begin chatting with each other.

  ‘Sorry,’ I reply. ‘I’ll keep that in mind.’

  ‘I’m not phased, but others might be…’

  I glance over at Hunter as she says this. He’s chatting with another guy who’s sitting on the other side of him, and for a moment I wonder how phased he is about other people’s talents. He doesn’t seem to care about anything but himself.

  ‘Which ARC are you from Elle?’ James asks.

  ‘I don’t know,’ I respond, puzzled. I hadn’t really thought about the ARC as having an individual identifying name.

  ‘What was the symbol for it?’ Sophie asks.

  ‘There was a circle and inside it were two wavy lines, one over the other. Kind of like this.’ I trace my fingers along the table to show them.

  ‘That must be Aquarius,’ James says, and recognition flares on their faces.

  ‘That’s so cool. It’s been ages since we’ve had anyone from there,’ Sophie says. ‘I hear you guys have a seriously decked out ARC; industry grade hydroponics, libraries, fitness centres…’

  ‘I heard they were even able to modify CommuCuffs for everyone down there,’ Lara pipes in. They look at me expectantly.

  ‘I guess we had all that. Don’t the other ARCs have similar stuff?’

  ‘Not even close,’ Lara says. ‘Yours is the biggest.’

  ‘I heard there were a few in Europe that were a similar size,’ says Sophie.

  ‘Yeah, but we never hear much about them, it’s not like anyone who surfaces over there ends up here. Like Joseph would allow that!’ James replies.

  I feel Hunter’s body go rigid beside me and I glance at him to find he’s stopped talking and is staring at James. When he catches me watching, he quickly continues chatting to his friend as though nothing’s wrong.

  ‘Does that mean there are other cities on the surface?’ I ask, turning back to the others.

  ‘There are only three so far,’ Lara explains, gently. She can obviously see I’m feeling overwhelmed. ‘They’ve managed to get one city here, Hope, one in Europe and one in Asia back up and running, well, semi-running. The winters are much longer now, even with the use of The Sphere tech, so there
are still a lot of issues with powering everything seeing as so much was reliant on the sun before impact. Winter still dominates most places, so they haven’t had much luck elsewhere.’

  I nod along as I listen to Lara’s explanation, not completely understanding all of what she’s said, but enough to get the basic gist of things. It sounds as though they’re nowhere close to getting Hope running well enough to allow everyone above ground.

  ‘And who’s Joseph?’ I ask.

  ‘The guy in charge up here.’

  ‘Right…’ I look down into my hands as James begins talking about new technologies they’re developing to help reduce the effects of the impact winter in the cities still gripped by it. I can almost feel the weight of the conversation on top of me. It’s all too much. I’ve only just gotten used to the idea of a world going on above the ARC, let alone the fact there’s more than one ARC and more than one city up here.

  I barely know these people and they all talk about this stuff so easily. It makes me feel so ignorant when I listen to them. Like I’ve been living under a rock my whole life—which I guess I essentially have been.

  ‘Having fun?’ Hunter asks. I turn to him, relieved to have a distraction from the whole ARC conversation.

  ‘Yep.’

  He raises his eyebrows at me. Apparently I haven’t fooled him. ‘It’s okay to feel overwhelmed by it all. Everyone’s in the same boat when they surface. You’ll get used to it.’

  ‘I’m fine. Really,’ I emphasise. I look away from him though as I say it. I’ve only just met the guy and yet he seems to know exactly how I feel.

  ‘What have you got after lunch?’ he asks.

  ‘PE.’

  ‘I have special studies, so I guess I’ll just have to look forward to seeing you tomorrow then.’

  ‘I guess,’ I respond. I can feel myself frowning slightly as I look at him. What’s his deal?

  The bell rings and everyone starts slowly making their way out of the cafeteria.

  ‘What have you guys got now?’ I turn to look back to the others as Hunter quickly disappears to class.

  ‘Maths.’ James cringes.

  ‘PE.’ Sophie grimaces.

  ‘Physical Eeeducation,’ Lara sings, causing us all to chuckle.

  ‘I have PE too,’ I say.

  ‘Well, we better get a wriggle on.’ Lara links her arm through mine and almost drags me out of the room.

  ‘I don’t have the right gear. Do you think it’ll matter?’

  ‘You’ll be fine,’ Lara replies. ‘They’re normally pretty lenient on the newbies, so you’ll probably get to sit this one out. Lucky duck. I wish I wasn’t about to go into a torture session.’

  ‘Torture? How bad is it?’ I ask.

  ‘I’m totally exaggerating. It’s really not that bad. What are we doing again at the moment?’ Lara asks Sophie.

  ‘Netball.’

  ‘I hate netball,’ Lara groans.

  ‘Yeah, I’m more of a basketball player,’ I admit.

  ‘Really?’ Lara asks. ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘You just don’t seem tall enough,’ she responds, sizing me up.

  ‘She doesn’t have to be tall to enjoy it,’ Sophie says.

  ‘I know. I was just saying,’ Lara replies, defensively.

  The girls lead me to a set of outdoor courts. There are several students hanging around on them, waiting for the teacher to show up. I’m relieved when I don’t find Beth scowling at me from the crowd, eyeing me like I’m the enemy. It’s hard enough to deal with her coldness toward me at the Mason’s, let alone at school.

  When the teacher finally arrives she allows me to keep score for today. Once I’m settled, I find I’m really enjoying the class. It’s warm outside and sitting in the sunshine scoring the game is relaxing. A lot of the other girls act reluctant to have to chase the ball around the court, but I’m really quite jealous. I’ve never been able to play sport outside in the fresh air and under the bright glow of the sun.

  Sophie is substituted off and comes to sit next to me.

  ‘Is it true what Lara said? You know, that you’re an untalent.’ She says the word with distaste, and I can’t be certain whether she’s asked a question or stated fact.

  ‘I’m most definitely not a talent,’ I reply. ‘And isn’t everyone here untalented?’

  Her disinterested eyes drift back to watch the game. ‘Could be worse,’ she says, ignoring my question. ‘At least you haven’t ended up talentless and in the west.’

  ‘Talentless?’

  ‘Yeah, the talentless are the worst, but we try not to think about them. You really shouldn’t make a big deal about how untalented you are if you want any friends around here.’

  ‘I don’t understand,’ I respond. Who are these talentless people? Why haven’t I heard of them yet?

  ‘Everyone knows the more talented you are the better your life up here will be. You’ll get a good job and will be admired by everyone. Being talented is pretty much your ticket to a normal life on the surface. Why wouldn’t you want to surround yourself with people like that?’

  ‘No, I mean I don’t understand about the talentless. Why are they called that?’

  ‘Oh, they’re level ones who’ve been affected by the mutation, but have absolutely no talent. They all live in the West. We don’t really talk about them too much. What level are you?’

  ‘I’m not sure…’

  ‘I’m a level four, but my talent’s improved so much over the last few months, and with the extra special studies classes I’ve picked up this term, I might just get recruited one day,’ she says, sounding like she’d do anything to be recruited.

  She lowers her voice. ‘I think if Lara tried harder in special studies she’d have a chance at improving her level and maybe getting recruited, but she doesn’t seem to want it.’

  ‘Why not?’ I ask.

  Sophie goes to respond but the teacher blows her whistle and her time off is over.

  Before she heads back on court Sophie pauses, leans in and lightly touches my wrist. ‘If I were you I’d be careful around Hunter Blake. He can’t be trusted…’

  ‘What?’

  The teacher blows her whistle again. ‘Chat time is over girls. On court now Sophie!’

  I attempt to go back to my quiet enjoyment of the sunshine, but my mind is buzzing after talking to Sophie. If being talented were so important why wouldn’t Lara want to be recruited? Why is this the first I’ve heard of the talentless? And why doesn’t she trust Hunter?

  When the lesson eventually ends I try to talk to Sophie again, but she rushes off. Lara and I make our way through the school to the entrance I’d come through this morning.

  ‘How was your first day?’ Lara asks. I hitch my bag up higher on my shoulder and turn back to look at the dull grey buildings that house the school’s classrooms.

  ‘Not as bad as I’d expected,’ I say, though I have certainly come out of school with more questions than I went in with.

  We walk out the front gate and onto the sidewalk. There are kids everywhere at this hour, streaming steadily onto the street as they rush to escape the confines of school.

  ‘I’m off this way,’ Lara says, pointing in one direction.

  I hesitate as I attempt to remember the way I’d come from this morning. The buildings by the school all look so similar and I’d been in such a rush on my way here I barely remember any of the walk. I look around hoping maybe Beth would’ve waited, but she’s nowhere to be seen.

  I sigh and bring up the Mason’s address on my cuff. I’m still not the best at using the tracking function, but I should be able to find my way eventually.

  ‘Oh, you’re in apartment block E54, that’s right by my place,’ Lara says, peering at my cuff from over my shoulder. ‘You’re staying barely even two blocks from me. C’mon, we can walk together.’

  ‘Thanks,’ I say. This girl has saved me so many times today, I feel like I could hug her. ‘Sorry to pu
t you out. This wouldn’t be a problem if Beth had just waited for me!’

  ‘Don’t be silly. It’s no problem… Hang on. You live with Beth Mason?’ she asks.

  ‘Yeah. She’s in the family I was fostered to.’

  ‘You were fostered out? That sucks. You must miss your family.’

  ‘I never really had a family,’ I mumble. ‘But I do miss my friends. My best friend Quinn and I are practically sisters. Her not being here; it kind of feels like a piece of me is missing.’

  ‘I know exactly what you mean,’ she says. ‘I’m like that about my dad. Things haven’t been the same without him.’

  We walk in silence, both contemplating those we left behind. I try to imagine what Quinn would be like if she was here and it makes me want to smile. She would’ve found out half of the student’s talents by the end of first period, have five dates lined up by lunch and she’d probably have hatched a plan to find Sebastian by dinner. I miss her cool confidence. I could really use a dose of it up here.

  ‘I’m surprised you live with Beth,’ Lara eventually says. ‘She’s one angry individual.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ I ask.

  Lara thinks for a moment before responding. ‘Well look at her… You don’t dress like that unless you’re seriously pissed off with the world.’

  ‘I’m sure she doesn’t hate the world,’ I say, coming to her defence. Even after the way she’s been treating me, I still find I want to protect her. We’d once been so close and I have to believe the girl I grew up with is still there somewhere.

  Lara simply shrugs in response. ‘It’s just the impression I get.’

  We walk for a block in silence before she talks again. ‘It looks like Hunter has you in his sights. Do you like him?’

  ‘No,’ I reply, a bit too quickly. ‘He just sat next to me in biology.’

  ‘He’s obviously into you,’ she says.

  ‘I have no idea why. I just met the guy and he’s really not my type. Besides, there’s this guy…’ She grabs my arm and stops me still in my tracks.

  ‘There’s a guy?’ she asks.