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nodded in agreement and tasted the liquid. It didn’t have any flavor either; if not for the color, she would have thought she was drinking water. She felt dehydrated, so she gladly drank the entire glass. Almost immediately, the painful pressure around her temples eased, and the congested feeling in her nose disappeared. Another K wonder drug, apparently.
“Why do you have all these medicines for humans?” she asked, the thought only now occurring to her. “Do you also use these for yourself?”
He shook his head, smiling. “No, they’re human-specific. We have other ways to heal ourselves.”
“So why have it then?” Mia persisted.
He shrugged. “I knew that I would be living among humans and interacting with them. It only made sense to have a few basics handy in case of various emergencies.”
Interacting with humans at his apartment? Mia suddenly felt an unwelcome pang of jealousy at the thought of other women being here, in this very bed. It wasn’t surprising, of course; he was a healthy, attractive male with a strong sex drive – it was perfectly normal for him to have had other sex partners before her, both human and K.
Or so she told herself. The green-eyed monster inside refused to listen to reason.
Something of her thoughts must have shown on her face because he said softly, “And no, none of those interactions have been human women in recent months – definitely none since I met you.”
“What about K women?” she blurted out, and then mentally kicked herself. She had no right to be jealous after what she’d done. He was her enemy, and she had treated him as such. It was absurd to feel so relieved that she was the only woman in his life right now. Their days together were numbered, and it shouldn’t matter whether Korum had been faithful to her or if he had fucked a hundred women in the past month. Yet somehow it mattered to her – and it mattered a lot.
“None since we’ve met,” he said, smiling. He seemed pleased by her jealousy, and Mia nearly broke down crying again. Taking a deep breath, she controlled herself with great effort. A second crying fit would be even more difficult to explain.
“Let’s go to sleep, shall we?” he suggested softly. “You still seem stressed, and you’ll probably feel better in the morning.”
Mia nodded in agreement and lay down, covering herself with the blanket. Korum followed her example, pulling her toward him until they lay in his favorite spooning position.
Against all odds, Mia drifted off to sleep as soon as she closed her eyes, feeling comforted by the heat of his body wrapped around her own.
Chapter 21
Mia woke up on Wednesday morning with a sense of dread in her stomach.
Today she had to tell her parents that she wasn’t coming to see them on Saturday. She still hadn’t come up with a good reason to explain the delay, especially since she was supposed to start her internship at the camp on Monday.
And if Korum discovered her involvement in what was about to befall the K colonies, then it might be the last time she was speaking to her family in general. That made it even more imperative that she present an upbeat and positive image today, so as not to make her parents worry prematurely. It would be better if she left only good memories behind when she disappeared from their lives.
At that thought, stupid tears threatened again, and Mia took a deep breath to control herself. She didn’t have time for this right now; she still had to write the last paper. Although it made no sense to care about something so trivial in her precarious situation, not writing the paper would be like giving up – and some small part of Mia was still hopeful that there might be light at the end of this tunnel, that some semblance of a normal life was still possible if she made it through the next couple of weeks unscathed.
Clinging to that thought, Mia dragged herself out of bed and into the shower. Korum was nowhere to be found in the apartment, and she guessed he was off doing whatever he normally did during the day. It probably had something to do with tracking the Resistance fighters, but she had no way of knowing that for sure. Grabbing a quick breakfast, she headed to the library in the hopes that she might be better able to concentrate there.
The day was beautiful and sunny – a perfect foil for her gloomy mood. Under normal circumstances, Mia would have taken a nice lengthy walk to the library, but time was of essence and she took a cab instead. Staying at Korum’s place and eating nearly all her meals with him, Mia was flush with cash for the first time in her college career. The student grants that helped pay for tuition and books also provided a minimal allowance for food and other living expenses, but it was usually just enough for her to survive on. Eating out in restaurants or taking cabs were indulgences that Mia could not normally afford, and it was nice to be able to splurge now that she didn’t worry so much about the cost of food.
The library was a zoo. Just about every NYU student was there, frantically cramming for exams and writing papers. Of course, Mia realized, it was finals week. She should’ve just stayed in the comfortable study room Korum had set up for her, but she’d wanted to be some place where nothing reminded her of the mess that her life had become.
After wandering around for a good fifteen minutes, she finally located a soft chair that had just been vacated by a pimply red-headed boy who looked like he was all of twelve years old. Quickly occupying it before anyone else saw her prize, Mia smiled to herself. Not that she was all that old, but some of the freshmen looked ridiculously young to her these days.
Five hours later, Mia triumphantly finished the last sentence and saved her work. She still had to proofread the damn thing, but the bulk of the job was done. Gathering her things, she left the library and went to her own apartment, hoping to see Jessie and have a chance to talk to her parents.
Jessie wasn’t home when she got there, so that left only the parents. Taking a deep breath, Mia turned on her computer and prepared to be as bright and bubbly as any college student who was almost done with finals week.
“Mia! Sweetheart, how are you?” Her mom was in fine form today, her blue eyes sparkling with excitement and a huge smile on her face.
Mia grinned back at her. “I’m almost done! Just have to proofread the last paper, and then the school year is officially over for me,” said Mia, keeping her voice purposefully upbeat.
“Oh, that’s great!” her mom exclaimed. “We can’t wait to see you this weekend! Marisa and Connor are coming over on Sunday, and we’ll have a big dinner. I’ll make all your favorites. I already bought some eggs and even a bit of goat cheese –”
“Mom,” interrupted Mia, feeling like she was dying a little inside, “there’s something I need to tell you . . .”
Her mom paused for a second, looking puzzled. “What is it, honey?”
Mia took a deep breath. This was not going to be easy. “One of my professors asked me for a big favor this week,” she said slowly, having come up with a semi-plausible story in the last few minutes. “There’s a program here at NYU where psychology students go and spend some time with disadvantaged high school kids from some of the worst neighborhoods . . .”
