Out Read Online Free PDF Page B

Perpendiculars are a threat to the order
of the State, to national security. Why?”
    Andi glances at me. “I never really paid that much
attention in Civics class either.”
    “Neither did I.
But…why are Perpendiculars such a huge threat? What could they do to the
country? How can loving someone be so terrible?”
    Andi sighs. “I don’t know. It’s just always been that way.
I guess because…if you go against the system, and Perps were allowed, we’d have unwanted pregnancies, sexual violence—everyone knows
that Perps are promiscuous and spread disease. They
get pregnant accidentally, then have a bunch of kids the state has to raise. I
mean, it just doesn’t make any sense. The family would be destroyed. And if the
family is destroyed, the country is destroyed.”
    “You seem to
have thought about it a lot, actually.” Andi looks as
surprised as I do. I guess when you’re raised with it, it sort of soaks into
your DNA whether you like it or not. But this is different. This is…me.
    Finally, I say,
“Are you sure she'll be there? The girl? Carmen?” Saying her name gives me a
little jolt of electricity.
    Andi smiles. “Leave it to me. I'll make sure she's there,
even if I have to pretend I'm crazy to propose to her or something. Sheila will
be really excited.”
    “And then
you'll set up the meeting at the coffee shop?”
    Andi nods. “As soon as possible.”
    “What if I see
her and just go crazy or something?” I stare at the floor, imagining all kinds
of nightmarish scenes in which I lunge at the girl over a frothy latté or knock
her down in front of the biscotti display, ravaging her in a pile of crumbly
cookies and self-loathing.
    “You’re not
going to do anything. You’ll see…it was just an accident. You’ll go back to how
it was. Back to how you want it to be.”
    Thing is, I
don’t think that’s what I really, really want. And that scares the hell out of
me.
    As Andi and I walk up the immaculate brick path to the
Cavendish Hotel, my stomach starts to churn.   I’d met most of the members of the Perp League
through church. Stick-thin, perfectly manicured women made up the majority of
the group.
      Low-level chatter and the clinking of spoons
against china cups stops when we enter the room (or maybe I imagine it stops.)
Only three other guys are present, so I automatically feel awkward, and since
we’re the last to arrive, everybody stares at us. Andi gestures silently to two empty chairs in the corner, behind a pillar that
partially obscures the laser-beam nastiness of Chairwoman Lainie Goldman's stare.
    “Let's begin,” Lainie Goldman says, endowing the crowd with a toothy smile
bleached unnaturally white. “Minutes from the last meeting are available
online. Treasurer’s report?”The woman rambles on and on, and I tune her out
after a few seconds. I start scouring the room for Carmen. “Do you see her?” I
whisper to Andi . She shakes her head as she, too,
tries to scope out the room, trying to make it look like she has a bad kink in
her neck.
    The door, which
had been discreetly closed when Lainie Goldman
started to speak, creaks open rudely, interrupting some fascinating updates
about the faulty plumbing in the office.
      I nearly choke. It’s her.
    All doubt
disappears, zapped out of existence the moment she walks into the room.   An intense rush of blood to the face,
tingling in my hands and feet,. A white-hot knife with a serrated diamond edge
slices me from inside, arcing outward in a cascade of ruby sparks.   Oh hell.
    Lainie Goldman doesn’t get angry at the interruption. She
sees who it is, and her smile widens. “And here is our special guest, all the
way from California! I'd like to introduce you to Carmen Wilde, daughter of
national president Alexandra Wilde.” Enthusiastic applause rings through the
hall, and Carmen blushes prettily.
    I’ve never seen
anything so beautiful.
    Andi jabs her elbow into my side, causing an embarrassing
exhalation of air