Chapter 12

Rain entered Weather House with a lot on her mind. Cloud’s comment at the beginning of class had her distracted the entire time Mother Swan was lecturing, so now she had two quizzes to prepare for. She flew up the stairs to her level, down the hall, and pushed through the door without giving a second thought to what might be happening on the other side of the door.
Mist was sitting on her bed, but she wasn’t alone. Another girl--woman was probably a better word since she was a couple of years older than them--was sitting next to her. They both looked up, caught off guard, as Rain stopped in the doorway, and she thought she saw Mist move something underneath her pillow.
“Hi, Sunny,” Rain said, closing the door behind her and pretending like she wasn’t shocked to see Mist had company. In all of the years they’d roomed together, which was most of them, she couldn’t ever remember her best friend having someone in their room. Sometimes, their other roommates would have people over to sit and chat about things that meant very little to Rain or Mist, but this was unusual, and Rain was certain it had something to do with whatever Mist had found in the cellar in the woods the other day.
Still, it seemed sort of silly to call her friend out in front of a guest, so she hung up her backpack, grabbing her tablet out of it, and stretched out on her bed, hoping she could concentrate enough to study for the tests she had coming up. Cloud had mentioned chemistry was a killer today, too, and Rain had that tomorrow.
The other two were oddly silent, as if they didn’t want to continue their discussion in front of Rain. She glanced over at them, trying to decide if she should take her tablet somewhere else, but then she figured this was her room, and they could go elsewhere. Her angsty thoughts ended up being unnecessary, though. Just as she’d wrapped herself in a blanket of bitterness, Sunny asked, “How was your day, Rain?”
She lowered her tablet, fighting her eyebrows’ urge to arch. “Fine, I guess. How was yours?”
“Okay,” Sunny gave a shrug. “You’re Medical?”
“Yeah. You are, too, right? Final year?”
“That’s right.” Sunny’s hair was dark, which didn’t match her name. She wore it in a long braid, which she flipped over her shoulder as she spoke. “Nursery ward.”
Rain took a deep breath. That’s what she’d been planning to do, too, and Sunny was almost done with the program. She probably knew a lot that Rain didn’t. A flock of questions flew to mind, but she didn’t know Sunny well, and she didn’t want to bombard her with questions, especially not when most of what she wanted to inquire about had to do with the doubts Mist had placed in her mind recently, and while she could no longer ignore her own thoughts, she wasn’t quite ready to admit she was having them.
“Do you have labs tomorrow?” Sunny asked. Mist shifted next to her but didn’t speak, which wasn’t unusual for the girl.
“Not tomorrow.”
“Good.” Something about the finality of Sunny’s response left Rain feeling unsettled. “I’d just stay away from the medical building tomorrow, if I were you.”
Rain looked at Mist, sitting up straight as she did so. Her eyes flipped back to Sunny. “Why?”
The pair across from her exchanged glances. Mist slowly shook her head. “Just… don’t go over there tomorrow afternoon if you can avoid it.”
“I have IW tomorrow afternoon.” She looked at Mist again. “You know that.”
“You can cancel and reschedule. You haven’t done that in a long time, and we’re allowed to once a month.”
Rain cocked her head to the side and studied Mist’s face. “Why don’t you just tell me what’s going on?” she asked. “What happened to no secrets?”
“This information isn’t mine to tell.” Mist sounded a bit more defiant than usual. “Besides… we don’t even know for sure if anything is going to happen.”
“Going to happen?” Rain repeated, sitting up now so that both of her feet were on the floor. “What are you talking about?”
“Nothing,” Sunny said, waving a hand in front of her face like it was all a misunderstanding. “It’s fine, Rain. You should be okay in IW anyway.”
“You think?” Mist asked, her forehead puckered.
“Yeah, I think so.” Sunny picked up her backpack that was propped against her boot on the floor. “I’ll see you later, Mist.”
“All right. Have a good night, Sunny.” Mist dropped her eyes, like she was having some sort of an internal argument. Rain stared at her, and even when Sunny said goodbye to her, she didn’t look away to say goodbye back.
When the door was closed, Rain couldn’t hold back anymore. “What is going on?”
“I told you, it’s not something I can discuss with you, Rain.”
“Am I walking into something dangerous tomorrow?”
“No, nothing like that.” Mist rolled her eyes, like she thought Rain was crazy. “We just heard a rumor that something might happen tomorrow afternoon near the Bridge, that’s all. I’m guessing it’s just a story anyway. In all of the years of Michaelanburg, no one has ever done anything against the Motherhood’s wishes, right? Why would anyone start now?”
Rain felt her stomach tighten as she considered what the possibilities might be--not just of whatever this plan her friend was talking about could entail but also what the ramifications of taking such action against the Motherhood would result in. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. “Mist, are you involved in this plan, whatever it is?”
“No.” Her answer came quickly, and Rain believed her. “Neither is Sunny. From what we’ve heard, it’s older girls, women. Not Mothers.”
“But you won’t tell me what it is?” Rain felt herself growing agitated again.
“I can’t.”
Folding her arms, Rain stared at her friend for a long moment. “I don’t feel like I know you that well anymore, Mist. And it scares me.”
The blonde didn’t look offended or surprised. “I guess I’ve changed, Rain. My eyes have been opened.”
Rain’s gaze went to the place on Mist’s bed where she thought she saw her hide the object earlier, but she could see no trace of it now. Part of her wanted to demand to know what she was keeping from her. She didn’t want to force her best friend to let her in on her secrets, though. Mist would tell her when she was ready to, and if she was never ready, then perhaps that would be in Rain’s best interest anyway. The thought of standing up against the Motherhood had Rain feeling queasy. With a sigh, she picked up her tablet and settled back against her pillows.
Mist did the same, but before she started with her homework she said, “Don’t spend too long over there tomorrow, Rain. Get in and get out.”
Rain turned her head to look at her friend, but she had her tablet on now, so Rain knew the conversation was over.