Pulse

don’t need you to tell me what to do,” she would say. Then she’d find her Tablet and escape into her room, locking the door behind her until morning, when she could leave for school and be rid of them.
    There had come a point when their ideas about life diverged so dramatically, it was like the very old poem Faith had read about two paths heading off in different directions, never joining up again. She touched the hidden tattoo on the back of her neck and wondered how she’d ever gotten so far down a path her parents wouldn’t take. And a glimmer of hope, that somehow, against the odds, the paths were about to come together again.
    Faith had let her thoughts drift so far that it came as something of a shock when Dylan appeared in front of her, standing at the top of an escalator going down. He looked happy to see her, and she surprised herself when she ran up and hugged him. He put one arm around her—a half hug she took as a sign of confusion on his part—and she leaned back, smiling.
    “Finally decided to invite me to your place, huh?” She glanced around. “It’s big. Could use some decor-ating.”
    Dylan smiled back, then looked up at Clooger. “I’ll take it from here. Next assignment?”
    Clooger nodded, and, without speaking a word, he turned and walked away.
    “Bye, Clooger,” Faith called out. “Thanks for picking me up.”
    Clooger waved without looking back, and a few seconds later he was enveloped in a quiet darkness. “He stops in and sees me once in a while,” Faith said as she held the slick rail and slowly descended one step at a time. “Just to make sure I haven’t burned down the house or fallen down the stairs.”
    “He’s a good man,” Dylan said. He used the light of his Tablet to guide the way, which gave off a much brighter beam than Clooger’s crummy flashlight had.
    “How come you get to have your Tablet and I had to leave mine behind?”
    “This one’s been altered; yours hasn’t. Can’t bring tracking devices in here.”
    Faith knew that most Tablets were equipped with powerful GPS technology that told the State exactly where you were. It made sense not to bring something like that into a secret hideout, but she longed for her Tablet just the same. It really was like having a limb cut off without its constant stream of messages, shows, music, and so much more.
    “I didn’t realize how hard it would be going without it.”
    “That’s how they control us. You know that, right?”
    Faith thought Dylan sounded an awful lot like her parents, and for a moment she recoiled at the idea that Dylan was more like them than he was like her. Anger welled up inside her chest at the idea that Dylan had probably been spending time with her mom and dad, being indoctrinated into their crazy worldview. As they came to the bottom of the escalator, she wished they could be on top of the building, not underneath it, moving things with their minds, together in their own little world.
    Dylan turned to her when they’d cleared the last step and took one of her hands in his. It sent an electric jolt into Faith’s heart, and she realized her feelings for this boy were even stronger than she’d supposed.
    “Listen, Faith, this isn’t going to be easy,” Dylan said. “I just want you to know I’m here for you. We’re going to get through this together.”
    Faith cocked her head sideways, something she did when she found herself experiencing a very specific kind of emotion. She called it an upside-down mixed-up feeling, and that’s what it was. Confused, afraid, apprehensive, directionless—it was all those things rolled into one.
    “I don’t know what my parents told you, but if this is some sort of twisted intervention, it’s not for me. Let’s go back to the roof. That was more fun.”
    “You should make peace with your mom and your dad,” Dylan said, which had the reverse effect of making her pull her hand away in frustration.
    “You’re the second person who’s said that tonight. Whatever they’re telling you, it’s not me—it’s them. We don’t see eye to eye, and we’re not going to. It’s not a big deal.”
    “Okay,” Dylan said. He didn’t pursue anything more about her parents. “Everything is about to change, and none of what’s coming is easy. Are you sure you want to know everything?”
    “Put yourself in my shoes,” Faith said without hesitation. “I recently discovered I have the power to move whatever I want just by thinking about it.