Perfected (Entangled Teen) by Kate Jarvik Birch

Author:Kate Jarvik Birch
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Dystopian, Young Adult Romance, Genetic engineering, chemical garden, delirium, hunger games, divergent
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC
Published: 2014-07-01T00:00:00+00:00

Sixteen

When I woke the house was still quiet. Ruby wasn’t bouncing through the rooms the way she normally did. She and Penn sat somberly at the dining room table, slowly chomping their cereal.

I wavered in the doorway, hesitant to break the silence, but as soon as she looked up, Ruby let out a little yelp of joy and pushed back her chair. She rushed to me, throwing her arms around my shoulders in a strangling hug. “I’m so glad you’re back,” she said into my hair. “Everybody was really, really worried about you. Especially me.”

I swallowed back the lump in my throat. How could I have dreamed this child up? Her little body warmed mine and I smiled, letting myself relax for the first time that morning.

“Are you okay?” Penn asked, coming to stand close to my side when Ruby finally let me go.

“Yes, I’m fine.” Flustered, I pulled out my chair. If I looked up into his concerned face I might break down, so I stared out the window instead. The backyard looked the same as it always did. Every trace of the party had been boxed up or swept away. Besides a few large holes in the grass where the tent had been, it was like it had all just disappeared.

Penn’s hand hovered at his side, like he wanted to reach out and touch me. “They didn’t hurt you, did they?”

“No,” I said.

The congressman’s wife appeared in the doorway. “Penn, Ruby,” she said. “Would you mind giving me and Ella a moment alone?”

Penn’s jaw clenched but he didn’t argue as he led Ruby out of the room.

She pulled a chair up next to me and perched herself on the edge. “John’s certainly relieved to have you back,” she said coldly. “Everyone was in quite the uproar when they found out you were gone. So much fuss.”

She stared at me for a minute, perhaps waiting for me to begin eating, and even though I didn’t have an appetite, I brought my spoon to my mouth.

Her eyes narrowed just a bit. “Of course once the kennel informed us about the microchip John was convinced they’d find you. And look, you were gone for less than a day. Weren’t we lucky?” She paused. “I didn’t even realize they’d given you one.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“The microchip?” She shook her head dismissively. “It’s a little device that they implant under the skin. You wouldn’t be able to see it. They use it to track things…although those things are usually animals.” Her voice sounded bitter. “I would have assumed that you’d remember getting it, unless you were too young. Do you remember?”

With trembling fingers I brought my hand slowly to my neck, tracing my thumb along the thin skin directly behind my left ear. Finally my shaking fingers stopped, settling on a bump the size of a pea beneath my skin. The kennel put it there when I was twelve, right before they transferred us to the training center. I hadn’t realized what they were, or even what they were called for that matter.

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