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the harder it’ll be to get back into it.”
    â€œRidgewood Prep? It still exists?”
    â€œOf course. It’s the best school in all of New England. Your parents had good taste.” Len placed a plate of green soycakes in front of me. She overturned a plastic container and white goop plopped on top of the stack. Pell rubbed her hands beside me. “Yummy sappy sauce.”
    I picked up my spork, hating how she talked about my parents like they were on a vacation and not piles of dust. “You’ve already enrolled me for this year?”
    â€œYou were already enrolled. All I had to do was update your file.”
    I sporked a soycake. Great. All my bad gym grades are still there, frozen for eternity like me. So much for starting with a clean slate .
    Len gave Pell a smaller plate and she dived right in, using her fingers to spread the sappy sauce. I made a mental note not to hold her sticky hand if she offered it.
    â€œWhat if I refuse to go?”
    Pressing the panel for the stove, Len came and sat down by me with a serious look on her face. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. Unlike Pell, who has to work hard to get good grades for a chance at a job in the upper levels, you have it made. Your parents set aside a trust fund, which only grew over all the years you’ve been in cryosleep, accumulating interest. You have close to twenty billion credits, enough for ten lifetimes. You’re the richest girl in New England.”
    Numbness tingled through me. It made perfect sense that my parents would plan ahead and secure my future. Just thinking about them made me sick with melancholy.
    â€œOkay, then I’ll stay home.”
    A tight smile formed on Len’s face. “Great. C-7 would love your company. You can help him clean the house.”
    Looking over my shoulder, I saw C-7 perk his head up. A shiver ran through my arms. I had nowhere else to go. School at least seemed normal.
    â€œOn second thought, I’ll go.”
    Len patted my hand. She’d just subtly talked me into going. Mom would have just pushed me out the door and said, “Tough luck.” Len was much sneakier. I’d have to watch myself.
    Valex rushed in holding his briefcase and kissed Len on the cheek. “Got to go.”
    The way Len looked at him reminded me of the way my mom looked at my dad—like they were the only two people in the room. Len offered him a plate. “Aren’t you going to eat breakfast first?”
    He checked the wallscreen. “I have a meeting first thing.”
    Len held the sappy sauce container over the soycakes and a little of the syrup dripped out. “Please? For Jenny? It’s her first day of school.”
    Boy, was she good.
    Valex glanced at me and smiled. “Oh, all right. I can be a few minutes late.” He took a seat next to me and picked up a clean spork. This is where he differed from my dad. A few minutes late to my dad would have been like the end of the world. But Valex didn’t seem to mind.
    He’d be late for me.
    I felt special for the first time in a long time. I didn’t deserve this attention. “You don’t have to.”
    â€œI want to.” He punched me in the arm. “First day of school, huh? Show them what you’ve got.”
    I wasn’t sure what I’d show them, but one thing was for certain— they wouldn’t see my fear. High-school kids ate fear like gummy worms. My stomach ached. Either I’d eaten too many soycakes, or the nerves were already getting to me.
    Better change the subject. “So, what do you do for work?” With the clothes they wore today, he could have been a tight-rope walker for all I knew.
    Valex patted his face with a napkin. “I’m a lawyer.”
    Melancholy pinged inside me. “Really? My dad was a lawyer.”
    He smiled with pride. “I know. I work in his law firm. The Street-waters have passed it down from