Mindstormer by A. J. Steiger

Author:A. J. Steiger [Steiger, A. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Tags: Fiction, General, Adventure, Dystopia, Fantasy, Mental Illness, Romance, Science Fiction
ISBN: 9781780749266
Google: th29DwAAQBAJ
Amazon: 1780749260
Publisher: Rock the Boat
Published: 2017-06-01T00:00:00+00:00

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21

Within minutes, I find one of the medics, marked by a white sash tied around her arm. She’s maybe nineteen; she has pink streaks dyed into her hair and huge, gold hoop earrings, and the sleeves of her black shirt look like they’ve been chewed up by rats. She takes us to a room in the med wing and tells Ian to follow a light with his eyes, then asks him his name and age and has him count backward from ten. “Any dizziness? Nausea?”

“No. Just a headache. A small one.”

She nods. “Lie down for awhile and don’t do anything too strenuous for the rest of the day. You should be fine.”

She leaves, closing the door. Ian is stretched out on the cot, staring at the ceiling through his good eye. The other is a puffy slit.

“How are you feeling?”

He tries to smile, then winces. “Could be worse.” He turns his face toward the wall. “Embarrassed, mostly.”

“Why?”

“Do you really need to ask? You just watched me get beaten up by a girl.”

“By Shana,” I correct. “She’s more like a cross between a shark and a psychotic baboon.”

One corner of his mouth lifts, then falls.

I pull up a chair and sit. “Thank you, by the way. For standing up for me.”

“I just made things worse. She probably hates you even more now.”

“I’m not sure that’s possible. But even if it is, I don’t care. It helps, knowing that someone is on my side.”

A light flush creeps into his cheeks. “I’m sorry she said those things to you.”

A lump fills my throat, and I push it down. “Maybe she had a point.”

“Lain.” His voice is firm. “Don’t let her get under your skin. She’s the one with the problem here, not you. If she gives you any more trouble, tell someone. Okay?”

I nod, studying my feet. I know what he’s saying is true, but even so, Shana’s words have lodged themselves somewhere inside me, and I can’t shake them loose. I can’t hate her, either—not now. I see her in my head, a tiny, fierce-eyed girl wielding a frying pan, trying to protect someone she loved. And for that simple, understandable gesture, the system squashed her like a bug.

The Blackcoats are bound together by their pain. I’ve suffered too, but not in the same way, not for the same reasons. Here, Ian and I are the outsiders. “Lately,” I whisper, “I’ve been wondering if I made the right choice, coming here.”

“I know the feeling.” He hesitates. “Is everything okay? I mean… between you and Steven. I don’t see you two together very often.”

I swallow, throat tight. “What Steven does is his own business.”

“You don’t have to pretend, Lain.”

I meet his gaze—those clear, earnest eyes.

They’re beautiful. It’s just a fact. My mind flashes to an incident back in Greenborough High. I was in the bathroom, washing my hands, and overheard two girls talking and giggling. I caught Ian’s name and honed in on their conversation. “I know,” one of them cooed. “He’s soooo yummy.

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