(no subject)
“There's nothing wrong with the surface, right?”
In the darkness, Alice's frown was hard to see. “Yeah, but we're down here for a reason. Lots of important stuff happens here-stuff that the rest of the world wouldn't understand. Don't you ever read what the Director sends us? He explains everything.”
“I still want to see the sky,” Emma mumbled.
That night, Emma dreamt that she was trying to fit into a hole shaped just like her, except a size too small. She woke up feeling gross and groggy, but she felt better after breakfast and forgot about the dream by the time she was standing outside of her school.
Many people lived in Manger, but most of them didn't have kids. Most of them weren't here to build families and maintain social networks: Manger was a secret underground complex that rivaled small cities in breadth. One school was enough for a hundred-something students, spread out over every grade level. Emma's class only had ten kids in it, so it was quiet and intimate; her teacher was really strict, but he knew how to teach. His name was Dr. Agrias and he had really nice blue eyes.
“Miss Kasmin,” Agrias said behind her. She turned around as her insides filled up with warm ticklies. Dr. Agrias was only five or six years older than she was, but he was the smartest person she had ever met ever and every girl in school had a crush on him, especially Alice.
“Dr. Agrias?” Emma hoped she wasn't blushing.
“You looked lost,” he said, sounding somewhere between impatient and kind. “You're also holding up the security check-in.”
In the darkness, Alice's frown was hard to see. “Yeah, but we're down here for a reason. Lots of important stuff happens here-stuff that the rest of the world wouldn't understand. Don't you ever read what the Director sends us? He explains everything.”
“I still want to see the sky,” Emma mumbled.
That night, Emma dreamt that she was trying to fit into a hole shaped just like her, except a size too small. She woke up feeling gross and groggy, but she felt better after breakfast and forgot about the dream by the time she was standing outside of her school.
Many people lived in Manger, but most of them didn't have kids. Most of them weren't here to build families and maintain social networks: Manger was a secret underground complex that rivaled small cities in breadth. One school was enough for a hundred-something students, spread out over every grade level. Emma's class only had ten kids in it, so it was quiet and intimate; her teacher was really strict, but he knew how to teach. His name was Dr. Agrias and he had really nice blue eyes.
“Miss Kasmin,” Agrias said behind her. She turned around as her insides filled up with warm ticklies. Dr. Agrias was only five or six years older than she was, but he was the smartest person she had ever met ever and every girl in school had a crush on him, especially Alice.
“Dr. Agrias?” Emma hoped she wasn't blushing.
“You looked lost,” he said, sounding somewhere between impatient and kind. “You're also holding up the security check-in.”