Page 12 of Dissent

“What?”Shit… I knew the Dissenters had been pestering Telvia for some time, but I thought it was all under control. No one had ever hinted that there could be awarcoming. “Sincewhen?”

“Father’s been watching the trends in the city. The people are growing restless, and if the rebels are infiltrating Telvia and spreading lies to people, then they could revolt.”

“I don’t know. I guess I don’t understand why people would revolt. Raúl’s kept us alive during the drought. He’s kept people fed, kept order. What do peoplewantfrom him?” As much as the relationship I had with Raúl was less than ideal, he was still my dad. And, deep down, I just wanted him to accept me. I wanted to make him proud of me, like he was of Jacob.

“People are stupid, Mara. Peoplethinkthey know what they want and then when they have it, they realize it doesn’t make them happy.”

I pondered that for a moment. The memory of reading the red letters across the campaign poster resurfaced.

Dissent, resist, and rise.

My earlier argument with Chase flittered into my mind. “Maybe…maybe people just want to make their own choices.” It was a bold statement to make, but I trusted Jacob. I knew I could engage incrazy talkand not be judged for it.

“Careful, Mara,” he teased gently. “Talk like that will have people thinking you’re a Subclass Sympathizer.” I smacked him with a pillow and he laughed. He sat himself back up, taking a deep breath. “I guess that’s my point, though. Peoplethinkthey know what they want, what theyneed, and then they screw it up, you know?” He looked at me, his eyes filled with emotions I couldn’t read.

I wasn’t really sure how to respond to him, so I opted for a nod. He watched me before looking down at his hands. “People are like sheep, Mara. They need a shepherd to tell them where to go and what to do, and the Council does that for them.Fatherdoes that for them.” We stayed quiet for a moment, the words lingering in the air, and I found my thoughts spinning with Jacob’s words.Fatherwas the shepherd. Maybe I was just a sheep in the end…not someone destined toleadthe sheep. That was Jacob. He was the leader. I was just the one following in his shadow. “Mara?” He interrupted my thoughts. “What are you thinking?”

“Hmmm? Oh…nothing really,” I lied. I trusted Jacob, but I didn’t want to writhe in my self-pity. He knew me too well, though. He watched me intently, and I could justfeelhim reading my mind.

“You’re not worthless, Mara.” His words caught me by surprise. As much as Jacob had some crazy ability to know my thoughts, I wasn’t expecting him to gothere.

“I know that.” I didn’t want to talk about this. It hurt too much.

“No, you don’t.” He scooted up to the head of the bed, taking a seat next to me. He looked into my eyes, making sure that he had my attention. “You don’t know that. I know you think you’re a total disappointment, but you’renot.”

I scoffed. That was easy forhimto say. He wasn’t the one that was always messing up. “Whatever, Jacob. I don’t want to talk about this right now.” As much as I tried to shut the conversation down, he persisted.

“No, Mara, you’ve got to listen to me. I love Mom and Dad, but I love you too. And I might look up to Dad, but I’m not blind either. And they’re wrong about you.”

I turned away from him, my gut twisting. “Please stop…”

“Mara, I didn’t come in here to talk about rebels, or war, or anything like that. I came in here because I still feel terrible about how dinner went tonight. It’s not fair that they’re so hard on you. It’s not your fault…it’s Dad’s. He’s the one that went off and slept with someone else, and that’s not your fault. And I hate how they always take it out on you. They’ve always set the bar higher for you than they ever did for me, and that’s not fair to you.” His voice was climbing as his frustration bubbled.

“Shh! Quiet down. Do you want to wake up the entire house?”

Realization struck, and he snapped out of it, taking a few breaths. “Sorry…it’s just, yeah, I don’t know. I guess I just want you to know that you matter, too. You know? That you’re going to be great some day and you can’t let them get to you.”

I shifted my gaze to my hands, feeling my throat closing up, and my eyes stinging with the renewed threat of tears.Oh no…not again.I didn’t want to cry anymore. “I know,” I said emptily. I didn’t mean it, but I said it anyway to pacify him.

“Mara,” he called, but when I didn’t look up at him, he took my chin in his hand and lifted my face until our eyes met. “You need to forget about Dad and Mom. They’re never going to see you the wayIsee you. You need to believe in yourself. Believe inyouand then,maybe, you’ll be happy.” He held my gaze for a moment before letting me go and climbing off my bed.

“Going to bed?” It was all I could muster at the moment.

Jacob nodded as he walked to my door and opened it. He turned back to me, one hand resting on the knob. “Remember that I love you, okay? I’m your brother, and I’m always going to protect you, however I can. Justrememberthat, all right?” A little taken aback, I nodded, not knowing how else to respond to him. He paused for a second, satisfied. “Goodnight,” he said as he gave me a small smile and then left my room.

“Goodnight,” I whispered as the door closed. Despite Jacob’s sweet sentiments, something felt off. I felt cold suddenly, as an icy chill ensnared my heart and sent a shiver down my spine. Nothing felt good. In fact, something felt damn rightwrong. I couldn’t help but feel as though something wicked was on its way.

6: No Missed Messages

Itossedandturnedall night, and the first thing I did in the morning was reach for my tab to check the time.

Eleven in the morning.

I overslept. Usually, I was up, dressed, and out of the house by this time, racing out the door to meet Chase early in the morning. My goal was always to spend as little time as possible in my house, and I spent as much of that time as I could with him.

I swiped the screen of my tab to the messaging icon and selected it. No new messages. A flutter of anxiety struck me. That wasn’t like him. Healwaysmessaged me in the morning, and today was the second day in a row that he hadn’t. And then hesaidhe’d call, but he never did. I hesitated, chewing on my bottom lip. He should be told about last night. I didn’t want him to be blindsided if he got summoned into the REG office for an interview. I lifted my tab and typed.

Mara:Hey Chase, we need to talk. Something happened last night at dinner.

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