Chapter Five

Delaney

For the rest of the weekend, I deliberated whether or not to meet Caleb in the library. Past experience had taught me that Populars were nothing but cruel, but could Caleb's actions really be predicted from Carlie's history? Maybe, if I trusted him, I'd find him to be a perfectly acceptable human being.

Or maybe not.

In the end, I chose to give him a chance. I could be out of that library in a second if my original suspicions proved to be correct. If he really just needed a tutor, then fine; I would tutor him. If not, I would leave and forget I ever spoke to him in the first place. My reputation was something I was not willing to compromise.

It was as simple as that.

"Where are you going?" Lizzy asked, her eyes narrowed. She watched suspiciously as I stood up and brushed grass off my pants.

"Just to Mr. Slate's room," I lied, gathering my things. "I told him I'd help put away some supplies from last period." Being the terrible liar I was, I'd planned out what I would say to Elizabeth.

"Oh, well if you're going to do that, I think I'll like, go hang with Samantha Markowitz and Alyssa Page for the rest of lunch?"

I smiled. "Yeah, go ahead. You don't have to ask, you know."

"But, like, I mean, I could come with you..."

"Lizzy, you know you don't want to," I said matter-of-factly. "Go hang out with Samantha."

Liz grinned and shouldered her bag. "You're right. I wasn't serious. Bye, Del!"

I waited until she had turned the corner before heading toward the library, which happened to be in the opposite direction of Mr. Slate's class. I passed no one on the way, and the library was void of students. Though I looked around for a librarian, there didn't seem to be one. It was completely empty—which might have been why Caleb chose it.

After a moment of hesitation, I picked a table in the back corner of the room, behind some shelves of science fiction tab-books. The tablets were lined up carefully in alphabetical order, their plastic cases shining. I picked one up at random and turned it on but didn't get past the title page, because a moment later, I heard the library door open. Immediately, I froze.

The door swung closed again, but there was no indication that anyone had entered. Standing on tip-toe and looking through a gap in the shelves, I saw that it was, in fact, Caleb. He was standing by the door, frowning.

"I'm back here," I called, with some trepidation. Chewing on my bottom lip, I sat back down. A moment later Caleb appeared around a shelf.

"Hey," he said, smiling, and I nearly gasped. I'd never seen him up close, and at the party I was half blind, so I didn't get a good look at him.

The boy was gorgeous.

I suddenly felt self-conscious. The girl Caleb saw at the party was all dressed up as an alter ego. The girl he was looking at now was wearing faded jeans and a black hoodie, no makeup, and her hair was a frizzy mess. Compared to his glowing olive skin, bright green eyes, and thick black hair, I looked like crap. I'd never been one to worry about how I looked, but now I was more aware of my lack of beauty than ever.

In a moment of weakness, I hoped my changed appearance wouldn't scare him away. Then I very nearly slapped myself for daring to care about what he thought of me.

"Can I sit?" he asked, snapping me out of my trance. I quickly looked away from his face and stared at the floor.

"Um, yeah, go ahead." He took the seat across from me and put his backpack on the ground next to him.

"Sorry—did I interrupt your reading?" I frowned confusedly before realizing that he was pointing at the tablet in front of me.

"Oh, no," I said quickly. "I'm not even sure what book this is." Caleb laughed, an easy, gentle sound that made me want to join in. I swallowed hard to stop myself, but couldn't prevent a smile from reaching my lips.

"So," I said abruptly, changing the subject before his charm could force anything else out of me, "your tech project. You said you need help?"

Caleb grinned absently, his hair falling into his eyes. "Yeah, I do. I kind of repel technology." He coughed self-consciously.

"But that project isn't exactly what I came here for."

I stiffened. "Oh?" I asked coldly. "Then what did you come here for? You said you needed help."

"I do," he confirmed.

"Okay, then I'll help you. Exactly what about the class don't you under—"

"Delaney." I glared across the table. Caleb put his hand on my arm and I yanked it away.

"I don't know what kind of game you're playing, Caleb, but I want no part of it."

"Delaney, I just need you to listen to me," he said, and I thought I caught a hint of urgency in his tone. "Whatever you think I'm trying to do, I swear I'm not."

"I'll help you with tutoring," I murmured faintly, "and nothing else."

He heaved an exasperated sigh. "Please, just hear me out," he pleaded. When I finally looked up at him, his expression was solemn. I deliberated for a split second. What harm could it do, to just listen to him?

"Fine. Start talking."

"Thank you," he said. "And trust me—this will be much more interesting than tutoring."

○●○●○●○

"This had better be good," I warned, "or I'm out of here." A miniscule part of me was appalled that I had spoken so sharply to a Popular, and hoped he wouldn't become angry.

Caleb, however, merely nodded. "Fair enough." I looked at him expectantly. "Let's see," he mused, "where do I start?"

"I'm assuming that's a rhetorical question?"

He smiled slightly.

"I'm waiting." Where my sudden boldness came from, I had no idea.

"Okay, okay. You know, of course, about the Superiors?"

"Of course."

"Tell me what you know about them."

I narrowed my eyes at him and recited the information that was given to every government class at every school across the country. "'The Superiors came to power a little over half a century ago, when the previous government began to show signs of corruption. They're comprised of a group of individuals whose mental and physical abilities exceed those of the previous leaders. Every year, they visit the top fifty schools in the country and select students with similar potential to be taken to the Capitol and trained for government positions.'"

Caleb sighed. "So you don't know any more than me."

"Huh?" I began, but he was already continuing.

"So, obviously, you know about the Choosing."

"How could I forget?" I asked dryly. "It's all your girlfriend can seem to talk about in the three periods I have with her. No offense, but she's kind of annoying."

Before he continued, Caleb's eyes flickered with something I couldn't place. In a second, it was gone. "Do you know what happens after?"

"After?"

"After the Superiors come and Choose. Do you know what happens?"

Bewildered by his questions, I simply blinked. "They go to the Capitol." I spoke slowly, like I was addressing a kindergartener. "And the Superiors train them to take a government role. I just said it."

Caleb was unfazed as he leaned forward onto his elbows. "Really?" he questioned. "Are you sure?"

I opened my mouth to give a smart-aleck response before realizing that I didn't have one. "No, I'm not."

"Exactly!" I jumped as Caleb slammed his hand down on the table, his green eyes bright.

"Calm down," I said, raising an eyebrow. "They've been telling us the same things about the government since we were five. I'm sure it's exactly as it seems."

"But when is anything 'exactly as it seems'?" Caleb asked cryptically.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean exactly what I said. Don't you think it's a bit suspicious, that they've never gone into detail about the government? Like, real detail?"

"No," I replied bluntly. I wasn't sure what he was getting at, but he was acting really strangely.

Caleb made a frustrated noise at the back of his throat. "Aren't you even curious? Think about it. Ten kids are chosen every year, and this has been going on since before our parents were born. Yet whenever Superiors are shown on television, there are only a few different faces. After people are Chosen, have you ever seen them again?"

It hit me all at once, and I felt like an idiot for not understanding before. A government would have to have many, many people to function properly, but not as many as were provided every year.

I looked up and stared at him, wide-eyed. "So what happens to them?"

Caleb shrugged. "That's what I'm wondering. It's almost certain that I will be Chosen"—he looked uncomfortable as he said this—"and I want to know exactly what's going on."

Just as I was about to respond, something dawned on me. "Alright, so I understand your reasoning. But why do you want me?"

"I've heard you have a bit of a...reputation." I looked at him in confusion. "People have told me that you're pretty good with hacking into computers."

I snorted. It hardly counted, but if I was known for anything at all, it would be for being able to break into every secured computer my Tech teacher threw at me. It was just something I began doing for I hadn't been aware that anyone outside my Technology class knew about that.

"You could say that," I stated, amused. "I'm not too bad. But"—I tilted my head—"what exactly do you want me to do?"

Caleb smiled. "Do you like doing research, Delaney?"

"I suppose."

"Good. Because I need you to do a little...research project for me."

Caleb's voice, which had become friendly during our conversation, was taking on the tone of someone who knew how to get what they wanted. It was a little eerie, and sent warning chills up and down my spine.

I pushed my chair back a little bit. "I don't know if that's such a good idea."

"Don't you at least want to know about the project before you go condemning the idea?"

For a long moment I just looked at him, unsure of what to say. I was curious, but something told me that this wasn't just simple research.

"Sure," I said at last.

"I'm certain that there are some things that the Superiors aren't telling us. And I want—"

"Wait." I held up a hand. "Now that you've analyzed this for me, I can see why you'd think that. But no one has ever questioned this before. As a normal member of society, especially a Popular one, what made you think of this?"

During a long pause, he trained his eyes on the table and sat rigid under my gaze. "That's not important," he snapped after a moment. I shrunk back a little.

"Sorry." He didn't sound apologetic at all, but I decided not to pursue it. "Anyway." He looked at me, probably to see if I would interrupt. I nodded at him to continue. "I want to find out what they are—the things that the Superiors are hiding from us."

"If they're hiding anything at all."

"They have to be."

"Perhaps. So where do I fit into all this? What 'research' do you want me to do?"

Caleb suddenly became serious. "Your dad works at the city's government building, right?" I nodded. "Is there any way for you get inside?"

Frowning, I thought about my father's offers to take me to work with him. It would be simple to get inside the building. But what did he want me to do in there? Already, a possible reason was forming in the back of my mind—and I wasn't sure I liked it.

"Possibly," I admitted.

Caleb nodded vigorously. "I know that somewhere inside that building, there has to be a place where information about the Superiors is stored, most likely a computer. And most likely, there would be security passwords in place to protect the data." He peered at me. "Do you understand what I'm asking you to do?"

I did. I understood it completely. Caleb Payne, a Popular whom I had never spoken to until days before, was asking me to hack into a government computer. It was insane, a total risk that I wasn't sure I was willing to take.

"I understand," I murmured, staring into his eyes.

"Of course, if you can't do it, that's fine," he said airily. "I know this is probably a difficult request for someone who only has experience hacking into school computers."

I bristled. "I can do it," I snapped indignantly, before realizing that was exactly what he wanted.

"Then prove it," he countered. "If there's anything I know about hackers, it's that they can't resist a challenge. This would be the ultimate challenge, a supreme test of your abilities. I doubt you want to turn the opportunity down."

When I didn't respond, he took a little piece of paper out of his pocket and slid it across the table to me.

"Here's my number," he said. "I'm not asking you to decide right now, but if and when you do, call me. But, um, be careful what you say. The school does tap our phones, after all."

I hesitated. If I took it, my rep would be in immediate danger. But if I didn't take it, I'd miss out on one of the biggest and most challenging computer projects I'd ever been given.

I took the paper.

Caleb look visibly relieved as I folded up the sheet and put it in my pocket. "Thank you," he murmured.

"I haven't agreed yet," I reminded him.

He grinned. "Yet." Before I could respond, he stood abruptly and picked up the backpack he had brought with him. "Look, I told Carlie I was having a meeting with my math teacher, and that it would be done quickly. I have to go.”

I blinked as he walked away. Just like that, he was leaving?

Looking at the time on my cell phone, I realized that only ten minutes had passed since I left Lizzy; there was still another quarter hour until the end of lunch. I could have gone back to Lizzy, but she would have been with her other friends. Who didn't like me.

Instead, I stayed in the library, never moving from the table, and simply thought about everything that Caleb had said. I'd never paid much attention to the matter of the Superiors, but what he'd said made sense. The only thing I was wondering, though, was why he had become so suspicious. That was something else I needed to a bit of research on.

But what concerned me most was the actual "project" itself. I couldn't deny that I was now curious about the Superiors. I wasn't sure, however, if I was curious enough to do what Caleb wanted me to do. Getting into the building wouldn't be a problem, and unlocking a computer would be fairly easy as well. And maybe that was what scared me about it all. It seemed so easy.

Maybe even too easy.

Of course, when Caleb had assumed that I wasn't one to turn down a challenge, he was right. I didn't like to think that there was any system I couldn't breach, so I felt the need to prove that I could do it, even if just to myself. But if I got caught, then what? This would be a huge risk, there was no doubt it.

The question was whether or not it was a risk I was willing to take.