Excerpt: Lit

Lark leapt up from the bed and strode over to her desk. “Okay, so we don’t have many options to get her across the city. Taxis are heavily monitored, we’d be spotted in a second, plus we’d have to go outdoors to catch one. I don’t want to take the trains; we’ll have to swipe her ID to get her on, and that’s just bad news.”
“So what are you suggesting?” Cole asked warily. He watched from over her shoulder as Lark pulled up maps of the city on her computer screen.
Lark sighed and pointed to one map full of red and green lines like a spider web. “We’ll have to use the underground.”
“The underground?” Cole repeated, though his voice was filled with contempt compared to Lark’s. “That’s disgusting!”
Lark smirked. “Funny, thought that’d be right up your alley.”
Cole ignored the slight against him. “But the underground is dirty. It’s only used by the lowest workers, like the guys who work on the new railway systems or the ones who wash the solar screens on buildings. It’s not supposed to be for people like us.”
“You and I are not placed in the same ‘us’ category,” Lark said pointedly.
“You know what I mean though.” Cole was eyeing the map that Lark was uploading to her phone with growing resentment. “We’re inside folk! We might not be at the same level in here, but to those guys that use the underground, they should be kissing our feet!”
“I’d hate to see the condition of your feet,” Lark muttered. “How long has it been since you took a bath anyway?”
“I get a bath weekly, thank you,” Cole said, standing a bit straighter.
“Impressive.”
“One of the many benefits of being in my employment position,” he continued. “What I’m trying to say is that we’ll stick out like three fat freckles down there.”
“But the question is, will anyone down there care enough to report us?” Lark asked.
Cole paused while considering her statement. “You’ve got a point there.”
“I know.”
“We’ll have to walk, you know. Aren’t any moving walkways on the underground.”
“Never said no to a little exercise. Not like we get a lot of it up here.”
Cole gestured over to the bed, where Freesia was freely moving her legs in the air while still lying on her back. “How do you plan on making her look normal?”
Lark hummed to herself as she paced around the room. She stopped in front of her closet and opened the door.
“Wow.”
She turned to look at Cole. “Wow, what?”
He was staring at the shelves of clothing that were before her. “It’s just that… never seen so many clothes for one person.”
Lark scoffed as she pulled out a silk scarf and a longsleeve jacket. “This? It’s nothing. You should see what some of the other girls have.” She closed the door and piled the belongings on the bed next to Freesia, who jumped slightly at their presence. Like a mother tending to her child, Lark gently lifted Freesia to a sitting position and wove the lightweight jacket through her arms and zipped it up to her chin. With Freesia’s eyes never leaving her, Lark flourished the scarf and wrapped it around her flaxen hair, which she piled on top of her head. After tying the scarf off at the nape of Freesia’s neck, she stepped back to admire her work.
“There,” she said, satisfied. “Can’t even see any of her hair now. And that’s a protek jacket. Protects you ten times more against the sun compared to our regular outdoor clothes. Lightweight and breathable, too.”
Cole stepped up and felt the fabric on Freesia’s wrist. He stopped when the girl started to smile at him. “I’ve heard of this stuff before. It’s awfully expensive, I hear.”
“It’s worth it though.” Lark grabbed a pair of sunglasses from a shelf and placed them over Freesia’s eyes. “Perfect. She’s not going to cause any alarm,” she said as she helped the girl to her feet. Freesia took two unsteady steps but then stood in place rather straight. She smiled broadly at the accomplishment.
“Oh yeah, she’s completely inconspic,” Cole muttered.
“I’d like to see you do better,” Lark shot back. She grabbed a solar hood from the closet, thought for a second, and then grabbed an extra one before shutting the door. “Let’s get going. If we strike out now, we might get there before the twilight work shift starts. The less people who see us down there, the better.”
“Don’t have to tell me,” Cole replied. He watched as Lark folded the hoods into her backpack. “Hey, you don’t happen to have any bottled water here, do you?”
“Um, yeah.” Lark strode across the room to her desk, and opened one of the larger drawers. A refrigerated unit could be seen inside. She pulled out a water bottle and handed it to Cole. “I mean, it’s been here since last term, but it should still be all right.”
Cole just scoffed and walked to the door. “I’m sure.”
Lark stood in the middle of the room, still holding the bottle. “You want it?”
“Nope. Just checking.”