Chosen Ones by Tiffany Truitt Page B

felt light.
    I knew the smile still lingered on my face as I walked back in toward the serving line, and I made no attempt to wish it away. But when I turned and quite suddenly found myself with Robert, it grounded me. He stole the smile from my face.
    He looked worse than I could have ever imagined. Wild and unkempt. I could feel the hate sliding off my skin: it was liquid, electric, flowing from inside me, down my legs onto the floor. His face twitched as if it were struggling to hold something back. I stepped to move around him but the sound of his voice made me stop.
    “Tess? Be on your guard. Templeton isn’t safe for you.”
    I flashed him the dirtiest look I could muster.
    “What concern of yours is my work detail? I’m only there because you couldn’t resist having a go with my sister.”
    I didn’t hear the next words he said. My eyes had somehow found Henry again in the crowd. He sat at a table with a girl who seemed faintly familiar. When he moved his hand to brush a piece of hair from her forehead, I felt my breath catch in my throat. He scooted closer and began to whisper something in her ear.
    “Who is that?” I asked Robert, motioning to where Henry and the girl sat.
    “Were you even listening?”
    “Who is it?” I snapped.
    “Julia Norris.”
    I watched as Henry’s hand moved to Julia’s stomach. With a gasp, I noticed she was with child.
    “Did you know she was a Templeton girl?” Robert asked. I could tell by the tone of his voice he was on the brink of falling apart. He was so weak.
    “Yes.”
    I didn’t wait to hear what he said next. The sight of Henry and Julia Norris made me sick. Was the child Henry’s? How could he be so stupid? How could he choose her?
    I walked away without hearing the rest of Robert’s warning.
    I felt cheated, like I’d lost something that was never mine in the first place. Henry had gone on living without me.

Chapter 13
    James hadn’t asked for me to visit for a few days, so I was left to clean the many classrooms of Templeton. Even Gwen didn’t bother to check up on me. I felt alone. After the scene with Henry, it was the last thing I wanted to feel.
    There was only one place that could make me feel better. I crept into the piano room, making sure there was no one around before entering. I even pressed my ear to the door to check that it was quiet. It was.
    As soon as I was inside, I felt calm, my mind only concerned with one thing: the feeling of the keys beneath my fingers. Yet I couldn’t help but reflect on the ways in which my life had changed since first entering this room.
    The piano was humming for me, calling out, and I was its gracious victim. My fingers rested gently on the keys. They felt cool to the touch as I began to play, the same song from the day I’d met James. The song my father taught me. It was mesmerizing and I couldn’t stop. I kept playing the same notes over and over again, rocking in accordance with the tune; it was the closest I had ever come to dancing. I wasn’t sure how I looked while doing it, but it made me feel graceful for once in my life. Perhaps it was because I was fully in control, something always desired but never fully obtained. It was my revolution, and I would emerge myself utterly in it for as long as I could.
    As I continued, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I stopped playing when I caught something out of the corner of my eye. Someone was standing next to the piano.
    It was George—the boy James had taken me from.
    He smiled. His eyes were feverish with excitement as his fingers ran across the keys without producing any sound. It made me jealous to think he was touching them, as I almost felt like they belonged to me. Anger was quickly and most certainly replaced with fear when I realized I wasn’t supposed to be in there. I had a feeling George wouldn’t let the transgression pass as easily as James had.
    “Looks like someone has a naughty side,” George said with a lazy grin.
    I