After (Parallel Series, Book 4) Read online

  “I think my Dad’s finally starting to believe our story,” she said.

  I could hear the smile in her voice. “Really? What makes you say that?”

  She told me about the conversation she’d had with her parents, and finished by saying, “They agreed that the suspension is enough, so I’m not grounded.” She laughed, obviously happy with her parents’ decision. “Guess what, Billy?”

  “What?”

  “You’re all over the Internet.”

  My eyebrows drew together. “What do you mean?”

  “Did you notice all those kids using their phones to record my . . . disagreement . . . with Holly?”

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “Well, you were right there next to me, so you’re right there in almost all of the videos.”

  My heart started to pound. “That’s bad, Morgan.”

  “Why?”

  “Think about it. What if my . . . parents . . . see it?”

  Morgan gasped. “I didn’t think about that.” She was quiet a moment. “Maybe they won’t. I mean, what are the chances that they’ll know someone who happened to post a video of us?”

  “I hope you’re right.” We talked for a while longer, then made plans to hang out the next day, Saturday.

  At dinner that evening, like usual, Tasco had the news on while we ate. Toward the end of the broadcast the anchor mentioned Fox Run High.

  “That’s your school,” Tasco said as he took a bite of his hamburger, his attention on the TV.

  A bad feeling grew in my gut as I focused on what the anchor was saying. She talked about the new Healthy Lifestyles Initiative, and how some people disagreed with the new regulations. Then a video of Morgan and Holly’s conversation in the auditorium filled the screen. My eyes widened as the camera focused on Morgan standing, with me sitting in the seat beside her, clearly visible. There was no doubt that Billy Foster was sitting next to the girl arguing with Holly Bennett. I just hoped people would be too focused on what Morgan was saying to notice me.

  “Hey, there you are.” Tasco pointed to the screen, then looked at me with a smile.

  There goes my hope that no one will notice me. I tried to smile back. After all, he had no clue that this could be a bad thing. “Yeah.” My gut churned as I imagined Billy Foster’s parents seeing me on the news. What would they think when they saw me alive and well? An exact replica of their dead son?

  I tried to finish eating, then I excused myself and went upstairs to try to forget everything that was happening. When I’d followed Morgan into the tunnel two months before I’d never considered that I would be trading one set of problems for a completely new set. Although as I considered the problems I’d left I realized that the ones here were definitely preferable. At least now I didn’t have Enforcers trying to find me so that they could lock me back up. Even so, that little niggling feeling that I didn’t belong in this world poked at the back of my mind.

  Sighing, I lay on my bed and stared at the ceiling.

  The next morning I jogged over to Morgan’s house, and when Brandon answered the door and I saw his smiling face, a feeling of calmness settled over me. I’d grown close to Morgan’s family and I knew they’d stand by me if my life got complicated. At least I wanted to believe that they would.

  “Hey, Billy,” Morgan said as she met me in the living room.

  “Did you see the video on the news last night?” I asked.

  Frowning, she nodded. “Yeah. That kind of sucks.”

  Upset that Morgan had put me into this position, I spoke without thinking. “Thanks to you.”

  Shaking her head, she took a step back. “Wait a minute. You’re blaming me?”

  I glanced at Brandon, who seemed interested in our conversation, then I grabbed Morgan’s hand and pulled her into the empty kitchen.

  “What are you doing?” she asked as she pulled her hand from my grip.

  “I want to talk to you in private.”

  “Okay. What do you want to talk to me about?”

  Not sure how to tell her what was on my mind without making her mad, I sighed, then decided I had to just tell her. “I’m worried that all of the . . . the stuff that you’re doing—the arguing with Holly, the refusal to get weighed. Well, I’m afraid all of that is going to get me in trouble.”

  Her lips parted as she stared at me in apparent surprise. “Really? I thought you liked this kind of thing. You know, being a rebel, standing up to authority. Isn’t that what Nick’s group was all about?”

  Is that what she thought? I considered the things we’d been through—escaping Camp Willowmoss, hiding from the Enforcers, then fighting Hansen so that Morgan could get back to her world. But I hadn’t done any of those things by choice. They had all been done out of necessity. Didn’t she realize that?

  Chapter 31

  Morgan

  “Why would you think that?” Billy asked. “I mean, I’ve tried to stay out of the spotlight.”

  I pictured Billy sitting at the table in the cafeteria at Camp Willowmoss when I’d told my friends about the issues I was having with Beth the bully. When I’d asked Billy what he thought I should do, he’d said, “How should I know? My motto is, stay out of everyone’s way and they’ll stay out of mine.”

  Somehow I’d forgotten that he preferred to stay in the background. Now, as I met his gaze, I wondered if he thought I’d been stupid to speak up. “Do you think I shouldn’t have said anything to Holly?”

  He shrugged, but his lips were pressed into a straight line, which led me to believe that he wasn’t telling me what he really thought.

  “Come on, Billy. What’s going on?”

  He clenched his jaw. “If my . . .” He glanced behind him, then in a whisper he said, “If my parents see me in that story . . .” He shook his head as he let his comment trail off.

  When I’d seen the news story I’d thought the same thing. The momentary exhilaration I’d felt when I’d realized that my objections had made the news had quickly been replaced by the possible wrinkle that Mr. and Mrs. Foster had seen the same broadcast.

  “Even if they see it,” I said, “What are they going to do?” I gazed at my friend. “What do you want them to do?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know.” He looked away, then back at me. “I don’t know.”

  “Well, there’s nothing we can do about it now. It’s out there.”

  He closed his eyes, then focused back on me. “Look, Morgan. I support what you’re doing, but I can’t be involved. Not right now.”

  Though I understood, I was disappointed. At least Rochelle was in it with me. “Lots of kids have said they’re going to refuse to be weighed.”

  “That’s great,” he said.

  Tipping my head, I looked at him. “Don’t you think this is important? To stop the government from getting so involved in our lives?”

  “Yeah. Of course I do.”

  “But you don’t want to get involved. I get it.” Disappointed that we seemed to be veering in different directions, I held back the frown that wanted to manifest itself.

  “I’m sorry, Morgan. It’s just that I’m finally starting to feel comfortable in this world and I don’t want to mess it up.”

  I thought back to my time in his world. I’d never had the chance to get comfortable. The whole adventure had been like a roller coaster—one that didn’t have a way off besides getting back to my world. I could understand his reticence in doing something that might throw his life into turmoil.

  I pushed a smile onto my face. “I understand.”

  A look of relief filled his eyes. “Thank you.”

  When I was able to go back to school on Wednesday, a number of kids came up to me and told me that they weren’t going to get weighed. It seemed like a sizable number of students were with me on this protest, and I hoped it would send a message to Holly and her people that we weren’t as sheep-like as she thought.

  Every morning during announcements Mr. Cunningham reminded us to s
top by the nurse’s office and get weighed, but on Friday he seemed especially insistent.

  “Today is the final day to have your weight recorded,” he said. “If you haven’t yet stopped by the nurses office, do it before you leave campus today.” He paused. “I understand that some of you are participating in some sort of boycott, but let me tell you that I know exactly who is and who is not cooperating with our program, and those of you who refuse to participate will be noted.”

  Inwardly I smiled as I knew that many of my fellow students had no intention of going to the nurse’s office that day, or any other.

  When I met up with Billy and Rochelle at lunch, Rochelle was ecstatic that our plan was working. “Isn’t it awesome that so many kids are doing what we said?”

  I knew exactly how she felt. Powerful, influential, like I was doing something about this. “Yeah. I just hope they stick with it.” I thought about what Mr. Cunningham had said that morning—that students who refused to participate would be noted. “What do you think Cunningham will do?”

  “It’s, like, half the school that’s not getting weighed. What can he do?”

  I glanced at Billy, but he was focused on eating his lunch, so I looked at Rochelle. “I don’t know. Can he give half the school detention? Not that it matters. I’m not going to get weighed no matter what.”

  “Me neither,” she said. “What about you, Billy?”

  “What?” He looked up from his tray.

  “Are you going to get weighed?”

  He looked at me as he spoke. “Not a chance.”

  Even though he didn’t want to actively help us with our protest, at least he supported us by refusing to get weighed. I smiled at him. He’d been quiet all week, but I knew he’d been worried about his face being on TV, so I didn’t push him.

  Chapter 32

  Billy

  I returned Morgan’s smile, then glanced at Rochelle before finishing my lunch. Although I’d been worried about this world’s parents seeing me on TV, nothing had happened, so my concern had begun to seep away. But that worry had been replaced by a new one. One that involved Richard Tasco and his job.

  When he’d come home from work two nights before he’d been excited about a new project that he was heading up. So excited, in fact, that he’d told me all about it. At first I’d tuned him out as I really didn’t care about his job and I had my own problems to think about, but when he’d mentioned a new kind of power bar, my attention had zoomed right in.

  “What about power bars?” I’d asked.

  His face lit up at my sudden interest. “I’m sure you’re familiar with all of the different kinds of power bars out there that people use to gain energy while working out, hiking, and the like.”

  I nodded, although I wasn’t familiar with any of those power bars. I was only familiar with the kind the government in my world created—ones that could not only suppress your appetite, but ones that could become addictive and make you more compliant. At least that had been the government’s goal.

  “Well, these are a little different. More advanced.” He smiled. “And already FDA approved.”

  “FDA?”

  “You know. The Food and Drug Administration.”

  “That’s a government thing, right?” I asked.

  He nodded. “Yes, of course.”

  “What’s so great about these power bars? What do you mean they’re more advanced?” That didn’t sound good at all.

  “This company developed a new appetite suppressant that’s completely natural, and very effective. But the best thing is, it doesn’t add any extra calories.” He paused for the big reveal. “They’re calling this power bar SlenderBar.”

  “So your job is to get people to buy it?”

  “Yep. That’s what I do.” His smile grew. “Eventually they want SlenderBars to be available in the schools, which would be a gold mine.” His face became serious—the face I remembered on TV telling the world that he’d managed to capture Morgan Campbell. “Obesity is a real problem in children nowadays, but with the SlenderBar there’s a way to help children get the nutrition they need without all the calories. And as a bonus it will keep them from feeling hungry for hours afterwards.”

  He was already sounding like a commercial, and a chill raced up my spine.

  “I’ve got a lot of work to do,” he’d said. “I’ll be in my office.”

  I’d watched him leave, then stared at the wall as my thoughts flew. I’d considered calling Morgan, but knew she’d freak out, so I’d kept the information to myself.

  Now, as I sat with her and Rochelle at lunch, I knew I couldn’t keep this to myself any longer. I listened to them talk about the protest, their classes, and other things, before I finally spoke up. “Hey, Morgan?”

  She looked at me in surprise, almost like she’d forgotten I was there. “Yeah?”

  I glanced at Rochelle before zeroing in on Morgan. “I found something out that I think you’ll be interested in.”

  “Really? What?”

  “Turns out that Tasco is working on a new ad campaign. A campaign for a new kind of power bar called SlenderBars.”

  Her eyes widened and I knew she was catching on to the significance of this.

  “So?” Rochelle said. “What’s the big deal?”

  When I met her gaze, I realized her attitude was a microcosm of society as a whole. The way she felt would be how most everyone else would feel, so getting her reaction would actually be helpful. “He said it has a new kind of appetite suppressant in it. One that’s all natural and doesn’t add any extra calories.”

  “That’s great,” she said with a smile.

  My eyes met Morgan’s and I saw that her attitude was exactly the opposite of Rochelle’s. “What do you think?”

  “I think it’s terrible,” she said.

  “Why?” Rochelle asked. “If we can eat something that will help us not be hungry, that would be great.” Confusion clouded her eyes. “How could that possibly be a bad thing?”

  “How do we know what’s really in them?” Morgan asked.

  “What do you mean? They’re not going to put anything in them that’s bad for us.”

  Morgan glanced at me before turning back to Rochelle. “How do you know that? These are the same people that want to tell us what to eat, and want to know our weight every month. What would keep them from putting something in the power bars to control our behavior?”

  Rochelle shook her head. “Now you’re starting to sound like one of those conspiracy people. Like you think the government is out to get you.” She laughed. “It’s not like they’re going to make you eat these power bars or anything.”

  “Tasco said they want to get them into the schools,” I said as I remembered his obvious excitement at the prospect.

  “What?” Morgan said, her voice sharp.

  I nodded. “That’s what he told me.”

  “Our parents wouldn’t allow that,” Rochelle said.

  Morgan looked at her. “Why not? I mean, they don’t seem to care about the other changes taking place.”

  Rochelle looked less certain of her stance now. “Yeah, I guess.” She paused. “What can we do about it, anyway?”

  “So you agree that these SlenderBars are a bad idea?” Morgan asked.

  “At least in the schools,” Rochelle said.

  The bell rang, and we left the cafeteria to go to our classes. As soon as the teacher took roll he read off a list of names—including mine—and told us to go to the nurse’s office to be weighed.

  As I followed the handful of students out of the room, I stayed quiet as I listened to them talk.

  “Are you going to get weighed?” the girl in front of me asked her friend.

  “I don’t want to get in trouble,” the second girl said.

  “I don’t either,” the first girl said. “But I don’t want to do this. It’s none of their business how much I weigh.”

  “This whole thing is stupid,” the boy who led the way said. “What do
they care how much we weigh or what we eat?”

  A moment later we lined up outside the nurse’s office with about a dozen other kids. I didn’t see Morgan among them and wondered if she’d been called to the nurse’s office.

  I watched as one kid after another went into the nurse’s office, the door closed, then a few minutes later the kid came out. Some kids were frowning when they came out, and others were smiling.

  When I reached the front of the line the nurse held the door to her office open and I walked in. Besides a desk tucked in a corner, there was a bed along one wall, and a scale against the back wall.

  “What is your name?” the nurse asked as she slid into the seat at her desk.

  “Billy Foster.”

  She typed that in, then looked at me with a smile. “Please step on the scale, Billy.”

  I stared back, but didn’t move. Even though I didn’t relish the idea of getting into trouble, I was in complete agreement with Morgan that it was none of the government’s business how much I weighed.

  “Go on,” she urged.

  “No,” I said. “I’m gonna pass.”

  She sighed, then stood. “I know some of you don’t want to be weighed, but it’s mandatory.”

  I shook my head.

  She sighed again. “This will mean a week’s detention, Billy.”

  So I would get in trouble.

  The nurse looked at me with a question on her face.

  I shook my head again. “I’m not going to do it.”

  “Fine. You may be excused.”

  As I left her office, I marveled that I hadn’t had to worry about Enforcers barging in to drag me away. In my world there would have been no question. I would have been weighed. No arguments, no detention. Just do it or else.

  I’d refused, and I’d lived to tell about it. A smile blossomed on my face as I headed back to class.

  Chapter 33

  Morgan

  I’d heard rumors that kids were being taken out of class to be weighed, and I wondered when it would be my turn. Had Billy already been pulled in? Had he refused? What would happen to the kids who said no?