Marigold by Heather Manheim (best books for 8th graders .TXT) 📕

“We both did well, thank you. And I suppose if we can laugh over this abysmal night, we truly are best friends. Thank you again.”

The thought made Quinn smile. One thing she liked most was her ability to laugh and have fun with Ana. Yes, she was damn sexy too, but it was also her laugh, her conversation, and their friendship; she valued that all deeply. And despite feeling a certain way, Quinn would never risk that friendship. Just like that, she realized that she’d decided against it after all.

Quinn got up for a stretch and to try to clear her mind a bit. There was a small window on the far wall; she pushed back the little brown curtain and looked out. There were so many stars out there. She had never really understood astronomy; she had tried to learn a bit of it in the library, but it didn’t make a lot of sense to her. She didn’t understand how things could rotate and move all the time up there in space, but somehow, the constellations always kept their shape. For thousands of years, they had maintained the formation of Orion and Scorpius. Oh well, she thought, you don’t need to understand a situation to think it is beautiful. And at that, she found herself thinking of Ana yet again. She forced those thoughts from her mind and went back to the bed with a laugh, thinking that tomorrow things would also start with a big bang.

Quinn finally fell into a troubled sleep and had such an odd dream. She felt as if she was falling, falling, and as she did, hands reached out to grab her, pulling her one way and another. She kept trying to yell out to make them stop, but although her mouth was opening, no sound would come out. She finally fell onto a gigantic piece of chocolate, and it caved in and trapped her inside the sticky center. Nothing could get her out to the top. She felt as if she couldn’t breathe, and she would die soon if something didn’t happen. Suddenly, a hand reached down through the top of the chocolate, and she grabbed for it. Quinn quickly saw that her rescue was made possible by Ana. Standing there, somehow, now the chocolate was more stable. They were able to stand there easily without it caving or sinking in. She hugged Ana and got chocolate all over Ana. She tried to apologize, but still, no sound would come out. Ana reached out her finger, taking a swipe of chocolate off Quinn’s cheek, and then licked it off her finger seductively. Ana then made a mad, quick leap for Quinn as if she must be with her instantly. Quickly, they were rolling around together, pulling at each other’s clothing, but as everything was chocolate covered, their hands simply slipped all over the place. The last thing Quinn remembered before waking was that they were about to fall off the top of the enormous chocolate piece. When she did wake, it was with a start and a pounding heart in her chest.

Quinn looked at the clock that was on the wall. It was only a little after 4:00 a.m. She wished the library was open, but it didn’t open until 5:00 a.m. You couldn’t get your breakfast biscuit until then, either. She decided to go over the plan in her head. One step at a time. #1: Find Davis. #2: Secure Davis—and that is as far as she got. She must have drifted off until the speaker woke her by announcing it was now 5:00 a.m. and the Pod Services were open for business.

August 19, 2056 – Taken

Now, she had to hurry. Quinn had to find Davis; and hoped she would be in the Commissary. Not that Quinn had time to eat, but she also wouldn’t mind grabbing a nutrition biscuit if she were able. She quickly grabbed her knapsack and beat feet down to the Commissary. Quinn ran in through the blue light above and scanned the area. She did not see Davis, and she only had about twenty minutes or so. She was just about to turn around and check the library when Davis went right by her to go into the Commissary. Without thinking or even really remembering her scripted lines, she grabbed Davis’s hand. Davis jumped back. “Hey, what are you doing? Who are you?” Davis said in an angry tone, laced with shock and concern.

Quinn coughed. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I thought you were someone else,” she was barely able to get out.

Davis’s face and tone softened. “That’s okay. Can I help you find someone?”

Quinn had to think quickly and had to come up with a reason to get Davis out of that area and to the front of the Pod. “Maybe you can help me. Your name is Davis, right? I think you work at the Everett Center? I mean, you must, because of the uh, jodhpurs, right?”

“Um, yes, but I don’t know how I can help you?”

“I just wanted to see if you could come outside and see this person. They’re going mad. I think they may need to go to the center. For education. For reeducation.”

“I think that is a bit out of my realm. If a citizen needs help, a Security Patrol or Drone Scanner should pick them up.”

“I know, yes, that is true, but they were screaming your name.”

“Well, I certainly won’t go then; it could be dangerous.”

“No! They were blaming you. They said you put them up to it. They said you were against Everett. You have to stop them!”

Call it frustration with Quinn or self-preservation (or a little bit of both), but that was enough, and Davis ran to the door with Quinn. As they stepped out of the door, a deafening explosion rocked into the side of Pod CA-03-1. The last thing