Page 11 of Bound By Stars
“Let’s go, ILSA.” I turn the opposite way, ready to run, but a boy with cold sapphire eyes, jet black hair, and shoulders too large to match his round face steps in my path.
“Didn’t know you could clean up a dust mite so well.”
“Move,” I say through my teeth, keeping my eyes fixed on the hall past him.
“Back off, Hale,” a sweet voice demands from behind me.
His gaze sweeps over me once more before joining the rest of his privileged crew and that jerk with the silver-blond hair down the hall. What did the instructor call him? Jupiter? Born an elitist and named after the god of the sky. How do you rise above that kind of entitlement? That guy was bred to be an insufferable snob.
I force myself not to hurry. If I run, they’ll know they got to me.
“Hey.” The same voice that warned off Hale turns impatient. “Wait up!”
Behind me is the girl who sat next to me in class. Gold, winged eyeliner, electric-pink hair, and a too-wide grin stretched across her golden-brown face. Asha. That’s what the instructor called her.
“Don’t judge us all by Hale. He’s a”—she pauses, twisting her mouth—“a little difficult to appreciate.”
I pause, raising my eyebrows. “That’s an interesting way to pronounce ‘asshole.’”
Another girl approaches, her long strides carrying her down the hall like she’s gliding. Her walk is as smooth as her voice. “One word never described a person so well.”
“Weslie, you have heard this human incorrectly. She said ‘appreciate.’”
“Thanks, ILSA.” I roll my eyes and turn to leave again.
The pink-haired girl laughs, winding her arm through mine before I’ve completed a full step. She peers around me. “ILSA, is that your name? You’re very impressive.”
I frown at our intertwined arms.
“Yes. I am exceptional.” That’s my bot, always ready to detect and confirm a compliment.
“And humble.” The other girl is even more intimidating up close. The overly bright hallway light glimmers in her wide, dark eyes.
The two have me locked between them like I’m being kidnapped and forced into friendship. I’d start walking again, but it seems like they multiply every time I move.
“His cousin Jupe is the next in line to take over Dalloway Tech.” Asha nods back down the hall toward the boys.
Hale maintains a noticeable distance, while the rest of them orbit Jupiter like the sun.
“And he suffers from heir-envy,” the other girl says. “I’m Skye, by the way.”
“I cannot find this malady in my databank,” ILSA announces.
Skye chuckles. “No, I don’t imagine you would.”
Asha glances back again, a deep disappointment pinched between her brows. “I never understood that kind of bigotry. At least a quarter of Elysium’s residents are originally from Earth, and no one has a problem with that.”
“The population is too small not to be.” Skye grabs my other arm, pulling me closer. “Could you imagine how incestuous it would get without introducing some new blood?” She crinkles her nose and does a little shiver, then releases me and shrugs. “But once assimilated, an Elysian is an Elysian.”
Ifyou’re lucky enough to scrape together the money to leave Earth, manage to find a way to stay on Mars, and fully conform to their way of life—thenthey’ll accept you. Gee, thanks. It takes every ounce of my self-control not to roll my eyes as I mumble, “Good to know.”
“Jupe’s usually a really nice guy, though,” Asha adds.
I stare past them at the crew of boys disappearing at the end of the hall, recalling the bursts of gold between thick, pale lashes. He’s too pretty to be nice. “I’ll have to take your word for it.”
Skye’s severely beautiful face turns serious. “He shouldn’t have called you out like that.”
I stare down at my shoes. I just want to go back to my room.
