Read Online Revolution in the Underground by S. J. Michaels - Free Book Online

sister.  “Read it to me,” she ordered, using her eyes to insinuate the note’s location.
    Ember grabbed the note from the top of the dresser and joined his sister on the bed, sitting upright.  He wiped his hands against his pants and tried to dry them against his sister’s blanket, but she moved away before he had the chance.  Ember unzipped the plastic seal and carefully parted the two plastic sheets.  He pinched the parchment with his index finger and thumb.  The paper was thin and surprisingly coarse.  He looked up at his sister as if the mere touching of this historical artifact was enough to transport him to a distant time.  “I want to feel it,” Maggie voiced in almost a begging and helpless tone.  He brought it close to her, further opening the plastic seal to make it easier for her to touch.  A single finger popped out of the safety of the covers.  She stroked and caressed the note with her index finger, not sure exactly what to make of it.
    Suddenly an upside down face appeared through a hole in the ceiling.  It was an opening that connected Maggie’s hut with that of the overlying one—such designs were common in Erosa, particularly in the girls’ clusters.  Maggie and Ember jolted backwards.  Ember impulsively drew the note close to him as if he were guarding a critical secret.  “What ch’you all up to?” the upside-down face from above called down.
    “Nothing.”
              “Go away.”
    The upside-down face frowned—though it appeared more as a smile—and looked in the direction of Ember’s voice.  Recognizing it as foreign, the upside-down face addressed it, “Hey, who’s this guy?”
    “Go away!” Maggie insisted forcefully.
    “Oh, Ember!  It’s you!” the upside-down face continued with an unbearably slow and enthused tempo—one that strongly suggested that it wanted to hang out, make small talk, and maybe come down for some snacks.
    “Oh, hi Jade,” Ember managed to say politely.  Now that he was addressed by name, he felt pressured to act respectfully.
    “What ch’you all up to?” Jade asked again, in case they didn’t hear her the first time.
    “Go away Jade!” Maggie said again.
    “Oh, Ember?!  By the way…  How did your Evaluation go?”
    The Evaluation seemed so long ago that he hardly remembered it, and so unimportant now that he didn’t care to.  “Oh…  I’ll tell you tomorrow,” he said, still trying to be polite.
    The upside-down face seemed to be dissatisfied.  “Hey…  What’s going on here?  I’m sensing that I’m not wanted.”
    “What gives you that idea?” Maggie said viciously and sarcastically.  She was actually very good friends with Jade, but knew that unless she made her feelings abundantly clear, she wouldn’t go away.
    “What’s going on?  Is everything alright?” Jade asked, feeling that she had a right to be concerned for her friend.
    “Please, Jade.  Go away.  I’ll tell you everything tomorrow,” Maggie said, trying a new tactic.  She gave Jade a look that only a girl can give another—the type of look that explained that something really important was happening now and promised to tell, in excruciating details, everything the following day, including an explanation as to why the information couldn’t be shared earlier.  Jade paused for a moment as the words bounced around her head.  She smiled and winked at Maggie, before leaving.
    “So easily manipulated,” Maggie mumbled cynically.
    “So you’re not going to tell her?” he whispered.
    “You kidding me?  It’s Jade.  I’ll make something else up.  The truth probably wouldn’t interest her anyway.”
    Ember nodded.  “Do you think she’s going to listen in?”
    Maggie thought for a little bit.  “I don’t think she knows that’s possible… and besides, it wouldn’t be in her nature.”
    “You think we should wait just in case?” Ember asked, still whispering.
    Maggie thought again before answering.