A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll

Author:Elle McNicoll [McNicoll, Elle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2021-10-19T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

“You’ve been impossible lately, but this is a new low.”

Nina scowls at Mum’s words, the four of us in the car heading back to Juniper.

“I called you, didn’t I?” Nina responds angrily. “The minute I noticed she was gone.”

“You should have been with her the entire time!” bellows Mum. She’s not a large woman, but she can reach an incredible volume of noise. “You heard my instructions and you deliberately disobeyed me. And she could have been picked up by anyone! Anything could have happened.”

I frown from the back seat. Grown-ups always do this. They tell you the world is dangerous, that strangers are bad, but they never tell you why. They say to be afraid but never give you a reason.

“I was bad, Mum,” I say nervously. “I knew it was wrong. I thought I would get back without Nina noticing.”

“Which further proves my point,” Mum says, hitting the steering wheel in frustration. “You were meant to be watched full-time.”

“Can we take the yelling down to a five?” asks Keedie, her head pressed against the car window and her brow furrowed. “It’s loud in this car.”

“Addie, when an adult tells you not to do something, you don’t do it. And if they tell you to do something, you do it. Okay? You knew you weren’t to go out and you did it anyway.” She glares from me to Nina. “You both know better.”

I don’t say anything. Surely adults can’t know best all the time. I don’t think Ms. Murphy does.

“She was scared I was going to get into trouble without my ID pass,” Keedie says slowly. “She misunderstood; she made a mistake. Leave off her now.”

“Addie, you can’t keep running around after Keedie all of the time,” Mum says, her voice starting to calm down. “Especially if it means breaking the rules.”

I look out at the city as it flashes by. “I was afraid she was going to be in trouble.”

Mum exhales. “I know. But you have to look at the whole picture. Nina found out you were gone, called me, and here we are. You should have told Nina about the pass. You should have spoken to a grown-up. You made some bad decisions today, kid. And I know your heart was in the right place, but that doesn’t always matter if something bad happens.”

“Nothing bad happened,” I say stonily. I look across at Keedie. She isn’t looking back; she’s staring out the window and giving me nothing.

“Why are you like this right now?” I ask desperately. “Why are you different?”

She laughs but it’s not a nice laugh. “I’m always different.”

“Not like this,” I insist. “This is new. You’re not the same. You could barely speak earlier!”

Nina turns around as I say this. She fixes Keedie with a look of concern. “What?”

“Nothing,” Keedie growls.

“She was struggling to talk!” I say indignantly. “She was! That university is horrid; none of it is built for people like us.”

“Addie, nowhere is built for people like us,” Keedie murmurs.

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