Read Online Fixed by Beth Goobie - Free Book Online Page B

thirty-eight. Not bad for a twelve-year-old, and it was pretty much a certainty she would earn her own 99 Badge well before she turned sixteen, Tana’s age.
    Still, her roommate was justifiably proud of the triangular gold badge she’d been given. She took it everywhere and had the unfortunate habit of frequently misplacing it. One of Advanced’s sharpest thinkers in a maze, Tana seemed to disconnect the main hook-up to her brain as soon as she completed a run. She was always forgetting where she’d left things. As a result, Nellie had to endure some version of this accusation scene at least once a week. Most of the time it was completely unfounded. Unless, of course, she’d gotten really bored and needed the adrenalin rush.
    “You never know,” Nellie said silkily. “Maybe it was Duikstra. Maybe she secretly fantasizes about being a sexy 99-Badge-level maze runner.” She gave her roommate a slit-eyed grin. It made her look like a cat and she knew Tana hated it.
    Pressing further into the gap between her dresser and closet, her roommate glared furiously. Her green eyes were narrowed, her lips sucked in and her red curly hair fairly radiated from her scalp. “Duikstra wouldn’t take it,” she hissed. “And neither would any of my friends. They know how important it is to me.”
    “Well, it wasn’t my friends,” shrugged Nellie. “Lierin’s the only one who can pass the beam and she wouldn’t take your germie little badge.”
    “Course not,” Tana said pointedly. “She’s a Temple.”
    Nellie sucked in her breath. She had to hand it to Tana — the girl never missed an opportunity to jab in the knife, one of the traits of a functional cadet. Sitting up, Nellie gave her roommate a docile smile. “Did you check under your pillow?”
    “Why would I check under my pillow?” Tana snapped.
    “Isn’t that where you put it when you go to beddie-bye?” purred Nellie. “So none of your bad dreams can come steal it from you?” Sticking her thumb in her mouth, she turned back to Star Heat.
    A loud scrape sounded as Tana shoved furiously at the barricade. Then she swept her arm across the top of Nellie’s dresser, shoving several textbooks to the floor.
    “You bitch!” shrieked Nellie, scrambling from her bed.
    “It was you!” Tana shrieked back, sweeping the dresser’s surface again with her arm. A hairbrush and tube of toothpaste tumbled to the floor. “You’re nothing but a slimy Cat, Kinnan. All Cats think like the gutter, the stars say so.”
    The hoped-for adrenalin hit Nellie full force. Running straight at Tana’s dresser, she rammed it with her shoulder. The dresser rocked back and forth, its high-back mirror swaying dangerously. “The stars never said anything like that!” Nellie bellowed, glaring at her roommate. “They love Cats. Cats are their special children.”
    “Cats are guttersnipes,” Tana hissed, leaning toward her. “ Thieves. You were born into garbage and toxic waste, Kinnan. No matter how many times you’re reborn, you’ll never be anything but a damn Cat.”
    Stars exploded across Nellie’s brain. Backing up, she rammed Tana’s dresser a second time and was rewarded with a satisfying crash as a curling iron and can of hair spray hit the floor. “I’ll be a star,” she shouted, shoving the dresser again and again. No one insulted the Cat caste, no one . “I’m never coming back to be reborn. I’m going to live in the heavens with the Goddess.”
    “You, a star ?” Taking several steps back, Tana gave a high-pitched titter. “The Goddess would spit on you, Kinnan. Haven’t you heard She’s allergic to cats?”
    A scream ignited at the base of Nellie’s brain. Backing up a third time, she climbed onto her bed for extra leverage. Then she launched herself, barreling toward the barricade and leaping onto the top of her dresser. Her hands hit the mirror, breaking it from its hinges and toppling it onto the floor on Tana’s side of the room. Glass shattered,