Genesis Girl (10 page)

The flowers come the next day, a big bouquet of white roses. They’re soft and yielding, like the inside of my elbow, the small of my back, and my creamy white skin that could have sold soap. If I had been normal.

“It appears you’ve got him,” Cal says to me after breakfast, when he comes up to my cloister to survey the blooms.

“Yes.” I crack the window because the fragrance is overpowering. “How much time do I have?”

“Seth just passed the front gate.” Cal leans down to smell a rose. “Beautiful. I can’t believe this is working.”

“You can’t?” I furrow my eyebrows. “But I told you I’d make him come back.”

“I know. It’s not that I don’t have faith in you. But I’ve waited so long to see him … I’d almost given up hope. I’ll explain to Seth tonight. Okay?”

I nod.

“Whatever it takes, Blanca. Only please, get Seth to show up for dinner.”

“Yes, Cal. Of course.”

“Good.”

Cal’s gone by the time Seth knocks on my door. I don’t open it on purpose.

“I’m an ass,” Seth calls through the metal. “Can you forgive me?” When I don’t respond, he tries again. “I’ll give you my full attention today. I promise!” His voice is muffled by the lead-lined door.

I wait a full fifteen seconds. Then I slide the deadbolt, pull open the door, and find Seth holding yet another bouquet of white roses.

“No tech?” I take the flowers. “No
Veritas Rex
? No blogging? No texting? Just me?”

Seth nods. “Cross my heart. I promise.” His dark eyes implore me to believe him. Nobody has ever looked at me with such longing. Something inside me zings back in response.

“Blanca,” Seth says when I don’t move an inch. “I know we just met, and … I mean … I thought this would only be a hookup or whatever. But the more I get to know you, the more I really like you. You understand what this place means.” At this, Seth waves his arms around, indicating all McNeal Manor. “I haven’t talked about my mom—or my dad—in forever.”

I tilt my chin down and gaze up at him, like Ms. Corina taught me.

“Do you feel anything for me?” Seth asks. “Do you want to spend more time together, get to know one another?”

And I don’t. A Vestal could never want a Virus. That’s ridiculous.

I wasn’t raised to allow lust to affect my decision-making either. It doesn’t matter that Seth is swoon-worthy or that my breath catches when he’s near me. It doesn’t matter that something inside me wants to fix him. Get Seth help for his tech-addiction and show him a better way to live. Like he was my own personal reform project. He’s an ass!

I have to focus. I have to finish this. I have to forget whatever stupid thing I might do or feel if I’m not careful.

I need him to stay for dinner. To complete my mission.

So I say “Yes!” and leap into Seth’s arms, encircling my legs around his waist.

Seth barely closes the door behind him before he can’t manage anything else but me.

“What do you want to do today?” Seth asks me, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. He looks out of place here on my bed, lying on top of the velvet coverlet. Like a giant smudge on something pure and holy. But I let him trace his hands down my back, and it feels good. It almost feels like they belong there.

“What do
you
want to do?” I ask, so he’ll think he’s making the decision.

“Besides this? Hmm … Maybe I want to teach you to ride my motorcycle. You seemed like you had a good time the other night.”

“I did,” I admit.

“So what do you say? Do you want to spend the day out in the sunshine?”

The sunshine? I’ve never done that before. Talk about reckless. I can only imagine what Headmaster Russell would do if he found out. But Cal wouldn’t mind. “
Whatever it takes,”
he said.

Then for some reason I bury my face into Seth’s neck. It feels good knowing that his arm is around me. It’s peaceful, like I’m safe and protected. I’m so confused. I almost wish I could be with Seth without trying to control him. But then I’d be powerless and ineffective. So I lead with an old standby.

Get someone to agree with you by starting with a “Yes-Yes.”

It’s one of Barbelo’s best techniques. Ask your target two questions you know they will say “yes” to, and then follow with what you really want.

“You want to teach me to ride?” I ask.

“Yes.” Seth kisses my neck.

“You want to spend all day with me?”

“Yes,” he says. “Of course.”

“Okay. Let’s do it. I’ll learn here on the estate and then you can stay for dinner.”

“What? Dinner? There’s no way I’m—”

“I thought you wanted to spend all day with me!”

“Yes, but I—”

“I can’t keep ditching your dad. If you want to see me, then you have to deal with him too. It won’t work otherwise.”

“But couldn’t we—”

“No,” I say. “We couldn’t. That would be pushing it.”

Seth rolls over on his back and blows out air. “Fine. It’s a deal.” Then he regards me slyly. “Make sure to wear leather.”

I’ve never been out on the grounds in daylight before. It’s hard to see in so much sunlight. I feel like my eyes are on fire. How do people deal with this? I guess I should have worn sunglasses.

Being outside also makes me feel super exposed. I know there’s a ten-foot wall around the perimeter of the estate, I know there’re security cameras, and I know Alan’s watching the front gate, but still … All that blue sky above is intimidating. It takes me a bit to be able to focus on what Seth is saying.

“Okay, no shoelaces, ever! They could get caught on something. And always wear a helmet.”

“Definitely,” I answer. It’s hard to imagine there ever being a time when I would take off joyriding on a motorcycle. I’m only going through with this lesson to get Seth to come to dinner.

“The left side of the bike is for gears; the right side is for breaking. Do you know about gears? Wait … Do you know how to drive a car?” Seth looks at me like I’m a potential idiot.

“Yes!” I snarl. I don’t bother to tell Seth that my entire road experience involves driving around the underground parking lot of Tabula Rasa. I’ve never technically driven with other drivers on the road, but I’m exceptionally good at parking, and I understand old-fashioned maps.

Seth sounds relieved. “Okay, good. So the first thing you do is you turn the key, and then the fuel injection kicks on. Hear that?” The bike rumbles to life.

I nod, feigning interest.

“Then this light flashes, and that means the bike is ready to start. Here,” Seth says. “Climb on in front of me.”

I begin to straddle the bike.

“Wait!” Seth says, stopping me. “That was a test! Where’s your helmet?”

Oh, right. The helmet. I pull it on, and the world gets a bit darker. Then I climb on the bike in front of Seth, and he puts his arms around me.

That’s when things get interesting.

Because when I’m sitting there, in the front, it finally hits me. I see where Seth was going with this whole thing. If I learn to actually do this, I could go wherever I want. I could ride off into the sunset, and nobody could stop me. Not even Headmaster Russell. It’s a power trip, sitting on this bike. It’s the taste of freedom.

Of course, I don’t want to go anywhere on my own. Obviously! I want to stay right here on the manor like Cal told me to. But the possibility? The knowledge that I could go somewhere if I had to? It’s thrilling. That’s worth doing this for.

“What’s that again?” I ask Seth. He’s saying something about the clutch.

“It’s on the left handle here. Push down to first, then up to neutral. If you keep going up, you’ll hit second, third, fourth, and fifth.”

Fifth gear. I can’t imagine going that fast on my own. I bet Beau doesn’t get to go that fast when they shoot his truck commercials. They probably make him drive around in circles on the studio lot until they can get the right picture.

“The right hand has the accelerator.” Seth puts my glove on the handle, and I feel the untapped power of the bike below.

“Kick the gearshift here,” Seth says pointing down to my left foot. “Then there’s your back brake over here on the right.”

I’m listening, but I’m also ready to do this. I let the clutch out slowly and the bike starts to move.

“Good,” Seth says. “If you let the clutch out too fast, the bike will stall. Smooth clutch control. That’s what you want to shoot for.”

I nod briefly and then I go for it. There’s a lot of starting and stopping, and sometimes I screw up and the bike pops forward and Seth has to take the controls. But after an hour or two, I’m touring around the house so fast that Cal comes out on the balcony of his office to see what’s up.

“What’s going on out here?” he calls down. “For heaven’s sake, Blanca? Is that you?”

I bring the bike to a stop and shut off the engine. Then I take off my helmet, and my hair falls down, sticky around my neck. “Yes,” I shout. “It’s me. But don’t worry. We’re not going anywhere.”

“I’m not sure this is such a good idea,” Cal says loudly. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“She won’t get hurt!” Seth yells.

Cal’s about to say something else, I can tell. Something potentially not helpful to the situation. So I ask, “When’s dinner? Seth’s coming too.”

For the briefest of seconds, Cal smiles. Then he bites his lip hard. “An hour,” he says. “Dinner’s in an hour. Have fun.”

I shove my helmet back on with determination and twist the key. I’m absolutely going to have fun. I let out the clutch again, and we’re off, all the way down the driveway to the gatehouse. Alan gives a little nod as we make a U-turn and speed back up to the mansion.

We’re lying on the grass underneath one of the orange trees I saw from the attic window yesterday. The branches hang low with big balls of fruit, waiting to be tasted. Seth picks some for us and peels open the flesh. The oranges taste like sunshine, their sticky juice dripping down my chin until Seth licks it off.

“Stop that!” I laugh, pushing him back into the grass. I lay my head down on his chest and take a deep breath. I smell oranges, grass, leather, and Seth mixed together. I can feel Seth’s finger-chips buzzing against my arm, but he ignores them. Then he flicks his wrist, and the blue turns off.

“Sorry about that.” He runs his hands through my hair, and quivers of relaxation overtake me. “This day is all about you and me.”

“You’re not in tech-withdrawal yet?”

“I’ve been kind of distracted.” Seth kisses me, and we roll across the grass a few times for fun.

And I try hard not to think about any of it. Because if I do, I’ll start imagining crazy possibilities. Like maybe this day is changing my opinion of Seth. I’m having fun and enjoying the company of a Virus. Maybe he isn’t the jerk I thought he was.

What if Seth is my only ticket to happiness?

I’m already helping Seth beat his tech-addiction. Would he take out his finger-chips for me? Seth wants me for real, and maybe I could want him too. Is it possible the comfort I feel sheltered in his arms is more than lust? Maybe after the blowout tonight Seth and I could be genuinely together.