Read Online The Institute by Kayla Howarth - Free Book Online Page B

marching in a circle with big
signs and I can hear them yelling something, but I’m too far away
to make any of it out. Someone approaches me from my left, swiftly
and sudden. Her eyes are as wild as her curly red hair.
    “Do you believe
every human should have equal rights?!” she yells at me.
    “I’m sorry,
what?” I ask.
    “Everyone
deserves rights! Free the Defective!” she screams as she runs
off.
    I’m stunned and
taken off guard. I stand still for a moment trying to understand
what just happened but I’m lost for an explanation. Free the
Defective? She can say that in public, just like that?
    I finally get
to Aunt Kenna’s door after turning around and going back the way I
came. I almost had to go back to the train station until I saw
something familiar but I got here in the end and that’s all that
matters. I take in a deep breath. I hope she doesn’t tell Dad. I
knock, and as soon as she opens the door, all of my nervousness
dissipates as she takes me in her arms. I’m already crying and I
haven’t even started explaining myself yet.
    “What’s all
this about?” she says in a soothing, yet concerned way a mother
would if her child was upset. She gestures for me to come in and we
make our way into the small living room. It doesn’t take long for
me to break down.
    “Everything is
a mess. Jax is dead, Ebbodine is missing and presumed dead, Drew
wants to have sex with me and everyone stares at me when I walk
down the hall at school,” I blurt out.
    “Okay.” She
pauses for a moment, I guess to take in everything I just said, I
don’t even know if any of it made sense or if it was even audible
through all of my blubbering. “That’s a lot of information to get
in twelve seconds. Are the kids staring at you at school because a
boy wants to have sex with you or are they two separate issues?”
She breaks out into a smile and I can’t help but giggle through my
tears. Already she’s making me feel better and she’s only said a
few words. “How about we start from the beginning?”
    I let out a
sigh as I think back to when this all started a few weeks ago.
    “I saved Drew
from a car accident, I tried to save Jax too but I couldn’t. Dad
wasn’t impressed, he was worried they would suspect me. I’m worried
they do suspect me. What if I’m Defective?” I finally admit
the thing that has been scaring me since that day, the thing I
haven’t brought myself to question or even ponder.
    As I explain
everything to Aunt Kenna, I already feel like a weight has been
lifted. She, just like Drew, assures me that there was nothing more
I could have done to save Jax, that if I were Defective the
Institute would have already come for me, and by the sound of it, I
didn’t actually do anything a normal person couldn’t do except for
maybe get Drew out of the car. Adrenaline probably played a big
part in that.
    “If you think
you’re Defective and were only strong enough to lift Drew out of
that car because of that, here,” she gestures to the coffee table
in front of us. “Lift it.” Is she joking? I look at her and I know
she is serious by her expression. “Only one way to know for
sure.”
    I don’t know
how I managed to pull Drew out of that car and I’ve been too scared
to try and find out. What if I am Defective?
    I stand up,
gather all my strength and lift the table, or should I say, attempt
to lift it. It doesn’t budge. I try and refocus and do it again but
it still doesn’t move. I think I needed that little push to truly
find out for myself and now I can let out a huge sigh of
relief.
    “There we go.
Next problem? Oh, let’s talk about this boy. Do you love him?” she
fires at me. That’s a heavy and confusing question. How am I meant
to know what love really feels like? “Lia, if you have to think
about it, the answer is no. Even if you were to come out and
immediately answer yes to that question I would still have to
remind you that you are young, your hormones aren’t exactly