Excerpt
I head back to the counter for another drink when the crowd thins and begins to disperse. I nod to the vendor as I reach for the bottle but her chair is empty. A hand alights on my shoulder. “Hazel?” pipes a girl with a singular touch of coarseness in her voice, like a rusty fife. I turn and nod, struggling to remember her face or whether I ever knew it. She holds a sparkling beverage blithely between her fingertips. “Oh Hazel, the boss is looking for you.” She catches the tail end of a migrating group of upperclassmen, but not before bringing her glass to my murky ale with a cheeky smile as a quick toast. I stare perplexedly as she and the rest of the herd tap a gradually diminishing rhythm up the staircase. I turn around and covertly reassess my surroundings, suddenly feeling oddly self-conscious.
On the roof I find scattered semicircles of kids around cigars, tables, and drink, all cloaked by the shadow of a column of steam billowing into the sky. I weave cautiously between clusters. Grace’s closest company is well known to be comprised of the most cunning and formidable among us – scowling, aged students who like Grace stewed too long in the academy. I find her standing solemnly near the edge with a sentry. I clear my throat. “You called?”
“Good night for you, Sadhwani,” she says. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks, Grace.”
She turns leisurely and regards me with amused surprise. “How do you feel? Alright?”
“Oh yeah I’m…” I clear my throat and try to dispel my nerves. “I guess I’m just curious to know what I’ve done to merit the honor.” I gesture to Grace’s general direction.
Grace faces the billowing smoke column. “I have something important to tell you. Come.” She paces along the edge of the building and I follow, deferentially treading the side nearer the 30-foot drop.
I gulp. “Have I killed someone?”
Grace answers, “No.” I sigh, releasing my apprehension as a satisfyingly opaque vapor cloud. “Did you think you had?” she asks.
I shrug. “I was just wondering. I wouldn’t know if I had.”
“Don’t worry. My work is very thorough.” Grace, suddenly quite grave, says, “You and I are going to be working apart for a little while.” Concern creeps into my expression, but she firmly locks her eyes with mine, a command for me to let her continue. “I will be back. I have some business off-campus to attend to.”
“How far off campus?” I clench my fists in my coat pockets and try not to seem agitated. “Is something happening?”
“Don’t be so worried, nothing is changing. But while I’m gone I will need someone to deal with tomorrow’s match at the bunker. That’s going to be you, Hazel.” Grace stops abruptly and swings a leg over the edge of the roof to descend the fire escape ladder.
“Wait!” I whisper shrilly as she disappears, “Why me? Where are you going?” I become frustrated with Grace and her cryptic methods, but I know she only takes these pains for her safety and that of those around her. My questions are futile, far too overdue now. Within moments I am alone. (pp. 5-7)
On the roof I find scattered semicircles of kids around cigars, tables, and drink, all cloaked by the shadow of a column of steam billowing into the sky. I weave cautiously between clusters. Grace’s closest company is well known to be comprised of the most cunning and formidable among us – scowling, aged students who like Grace stewed too long in the academy. I find her standing solemnly near the edge with a sentry. I clear my throat. “You called?”
“Good night for you, Sadhwani,” she says. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks, Grace.”
She turns leisurely and regards me with amused surprise. “How do you feel? Alright?”
“Oh yeah I’m…” I clear my throat and try to dispel my nerves. “I guess I’m just curious to know what I’ve done to merit the honor.” I gesture to Grace’s general direction.
Grace faces the billowing smoke column. “I have something important to tell you. Come.” She paces along the edge of the building and I follow, deferentially treading the side nearer the 30-foot drop.
I gulp. “Have I killed someone?”
Grace answers, “No.” I sigh, releasing my apprehension as a satisfyingly opaque vapor cloud. “Did you think you had?” she asks.
I shrug. “I was just wondering. I wouldn’t know if I had.”
“Don’t worry. My work is very thorough.” Grace, suddenly quite grave, says, “You and I are going to be working apart for a little while.” Concern creeps into my expression, but she firmly locks her eyes with mine, a command for me to let her continue. “I will be back. I have some business off-campus to attend to.”
“How far off campus?” I clench my fists in my coat pockets and try not to seem agitated. “Is something happening?”
“Don’t be so worried, nothing is changing. But while I’m gone I will need someone to deal with tomorrow’s match at the bunker. That’s going to be you, Hazel.” Grace stops abruptly and swings a leg over the edge of the roof to descend the fire escape ladder.
“Wait!” I whisper shrilly as she disappears, “Why me? Where are you going?” I become frustrated with Grace and her cryptic methods, but I know she only takes these pains for her safety and that of those around her. My questions are futile, far too overdue now. Within moments I am alone. (pp. 5-7)