back to turtle. I felt my gills sealing up, tucking themselves away until . . . when? Could this happen again? Tonight? I was already hoping, but would they really want me back?
Distantly, the blowers cycled to life to warm the air. SimClouds began to form along the dome edges. Humidifiers created a hazy effect. I found that my body was staying damp, the moisture not just evaporating right off, like it would have back home in the dryness.
The CITs had thoughtfully brought towels.
“Here,” said Lilly, handing me hers after my attempts to use my damp T-shirt only left me with sand streaks on my chest. Her lime-green towel smelled salty from sweat, and there was that strange metallic tinge of NoRad, and it was maybe a little dank too, from lots of uses between washes.
“Thanks.”
Birds had begun to chirp and dart around. Off to the north of the beach, a raptor of some kind was circling over the Preserve, a section of forest set apart by nets that reached all the way to the roof. I wondered if the bird was real or a robot.
“Time for bed,” said Aliah, starting up the beach. The CIT cabins were straight ahead, in the trees between here and the dining hall.
A clock hanging on the snack shack showed the time was four forty-five. Just over three hours until wake-up. I could already feel that I was going to be exhausted all day.
“See you later, Owen,” said Marco.
“Yeah,” I said, “Bye, guys.” I picked up my sneakers and headed to the right.
There was mumbling behind me, then, “Owen, wait up.”
I turned to see Lilly jogging after me, towel around her waist, her damp hair now chaotic. She walked beside me, brushing at the dark tangles with her hand. I could see the faint lines of her hidden gills, like little pencil streaks.
“How are you doing?” she asked.
“Fine, I think.”
We left the beach and crossed the grass. The sprinklers were on, so we walked in S curves to avoid the spinning tentacles of spray. “Oooh, water, watch out,” I said, trying to be funny. Then I flinched inside because what if Lilly didn’t think I was?
But she chuckled. “I know, right?” Then she was quiet.
The sky began to hint at blue. Color was seeping into the trees. A first ray of orange SafeSun lit the top of the flagpole to our left. We would be right back here, in a few hours, just like any other camp day. “It’s a lot to absorb,” Lilly said quietly.
“I guess,” I said. I figured she was right but I wasn’t really feeling that way. The gill stuff already felt normal, a part of me like my arms or feet. Okay, maybe not that familiar. But still, it wasn’t really on my mind, at least not as much as the fact that here I was, walking beside Lilly. Just a day ago she had seemed so mysterious, a member of another race of beings—which, it turned out, she was. But now so was I.
“Listen, Owen,” Lilly began, but she paused, two seconds that I spent wondering if she might say something about us, about me. About this connection we seemed to have now . . . but instead she said, “I just wanted to say I’m sorry for, you know, you drowning.”
“Oh.” I didn’t feel like she needed to be. “That’s cool. I mean, you said you had your eye on me.”
“But I didn’t,” Lilly admitted. “Not at first.” She stopped, turning to me, but with her eyes focusing somewhere beyond my shoulder. “The truth is, I didn’t know you were gone. Not until the test was over. Everybody was back on the dock, and one of your cabin mates asked about you. That kid Beaker, I think. Then I started looking, and dove down and found you, and that’s when I saw your neck, and knew you’d be fine. But, before then . . .” She shrugged.
“So, you lied back there,” I said, “on the raft.”
“I just didn’t want them to know I’d screwed up.”
I didn’t know what to make of that. It was maybe a little disappointing. Lilly hadn’t had her eye on me, hadn’t even noticed me really, until someone
Distantly, the blowers cycled to life to warm the air. SimClouds began to form along the dome edges. Humidifiers created a hazy effect. I found that my body was staying damp, the moisture not just evaporating right off, like it would have back home in the dryness.
The CITs had thoughtfully brought towels.
“Here,” said Lilly, handing me hers after my attempts to use my damp T-shirt only left me with sand streaks on my chest. Her lime-green towel smelled salty from sweat, and there was that strange metallic tinge of NoRad, and it was maybe a little dank too, from lots of uses between washes.
“Thanks.”
Birds had begun to chirp and dart around. Off to the north of the beach, a raptor of some kind was circling over the Preserve, a section of forest set apart by nets that reached all the way to the roof. I wondered if the bird was real or a robot.
“Time for bed,” said Aliah, starting up the beach. The CIT cabins were straight ahead, in the trees between here and the dining hall.
A clock hanging on the snack shack showed the time was four forty-five. Just over three hours until wake-up. I could already feel that I was going to be exhausted all day.
“See you later, Owen,” said Marco.
“Yeah,” I said, “Bye, guys.” I picked up my sneakers and headed to the right.
There was mumbling behind me, then, “Owen, wait up.”
I turned to see Lilly jogging after me, towel around her waist, her damp hair now chaotic. She walked beside me, brushing at the dark tangles with her hand. I could see the faint lines of her hidden gills, like little pencil streaks.
“How are you doing?” she asked.
“Fine, I think.”
We left the beach and crossed the grass. The sprinklers were on, so we walked in S curves to avoid the spinning tentacles of spray. “Oooh, water, watch out,” I said, trying to be funny. Then I flinched inside because what if Lilly didn’t think I was?
But she chuckled. “I know, right?” Then she was quiet.
The sky began to hint at blue. Color was seeping into the trees. A first ray of orange SafeSun lit the top of the flagpole to our left. We would be right back here, in a few hours, just like any other camp day. “It’s a lot to absorb,” Lilly said quietly.
“I guess,” I said. I figured she was right but I wasn’t really feeling that way. The gill stuff already felt normal, a part of me like my arms or feet. Okay, maybe not that familiar. But still, it wasn’t really on my mind, at least not as much as the fact that here I was, walking beside Lilly. Just a day ago she had seemed so mysterious, a member of another race of beings—which, it turned out, she was. But now so was I.
“Listen, Owen,” Lilly began, but she paused, two seconds that I spent wondering if she might say something about us, about me. About this connection we seemed to have now . . . but instead she said, “I just wanted to say I’m sorry for, you know, you drowning.”
“Oh.” I didn’t feel like she needed to be. “That’s cool. I mean, you said you had your eye on me.”
“But I didn’t,” Lilly admitted. “Not at first.” She stopped, turning to me, but with her eyes focusing somewhere beyond my shoulder. “The truth is, I didn’t know you were gone. Not until the test was over. Everybody was back on the dock, and one of your cabin mates asked about you. That kid Beaker, I think. Then I started looking, and dove down and found you, and that’s when I saw your neck, and knew you’d be fine. But, before then . . .” She shrugged.
“So, you lied back there,” I said, “on the raft.”
“I just didn’t want them to know I’d screwed up.”
I didn’t know what to make of that. It was maybe a little disappointing. Lilly hadn’t had her eye on me, hadn’t even noticed me really, until someone
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