Page 94 of The Commons

But I ask her anyway, knowing I will not get much, but hoping, praying, at least I will get something. “What about you? We have a lot of catching up to do. I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too. Come here.”

I step into her arms and hold her. “What did they do to you? What experiments were you involved in? What happened?”

Levon puts my hair backwards, removing it from my face. That’s when she notices. “The question you should be asking is—what happened to your hair?” she screams, dramatic.

I’m caught by surprise. “Um, oh.”

“The water definitely messed with it, but I saw how you looked when you first found me. You haven’t straightened your hair since you were in first grade, don’t tell me you’re trying to impress Pesh because⁠—”

“No. The Commons made me, but it’s okay now.”

“Oh!” She tells me I can have a shower before her, but I make her go first. She says to me everything a mom would to their long-lost prodigal daughter. She always played the role of the mother against our parent’s apathetic attitude.

Before she leaves, I turn toward her, with a feeling in my spirit that something is wrong. It’s like a space between us, like a wall blocking my view from her entire soul, like I need to break it softly, so I start to turn away, but my heart won’t let me, so I turn back to her, look at her and ask her again, “You are gonna tell me what happened, aren’t you?”

She looks worried at first, but then she emits a safe smile, still with a glimmer of dread in her eyes. “Of course, why wouldn’t I?”

I respect her and smile back. After her shower, I have every intention of asking her again. Levon is like a book, and you have to ask her the same thing a billion times for her to let you read one sentence. It is one page at a time. You can never skip a page unless it is her call and in her own time. She locks up her heart and shares it with no one. Persistence is the norm for me when it comes to getting her to share her heart with me. I suppose such patience must be what helped me with Pesh, but Levon is much more difficult than Pesh could ever dream to be. However, since I love Levon, I know I must keep trying, no matter how many times I seem to fail in pulling it out of her. I have to continue to persevere in order to find the truth; for I hold to this strong belief that love never takes failure as defeat, for it never gives up.

“Yes!” I hear a voice exclaim.

I rush out to see Swin rejoicing with Pesh and the group.

“What happened?” I ask.

“We hacked the sensor!” Swin responds.

“What? No kidding. That’s amazing!” I respond.

“Yes! I sent the virus into the sensor. He just took it off! Although I did not know that girl Beatrice was a doctor. She took it off him, it was really gross! He has a huge scar now!” he says.

Our moment of excitement is suddenly interrupted as we look through the computer to see Patron De Londe entering a meeting room in the Observation Building in The Commons.

“Wow, he’s got company!” Swin interjects.

I look at the computer to see upper-class patricians in religious uniforms. I glance at their perfectly ironed dark-blue suits with blue ties and blue shoes that glow. And to no surprise, that insolent Patron De Londe is the leader of this insurgence of virtue.

“How are we able to see them?” Swin asks, turning to Pesh. “I see these are not The Commons camera system you tapped into.”

“The C2C is the only room in the Commons without the usual cameras. Londe does however have his private cameras installed there, so I tapped in,” Pesh responds.

“A glass-covered dome hidden in the heart of The Commons, where only the heartless dare gather,” Swin adds, scanning the aforesaid room.

“Who are these people?” I ask.

Levon walks in and begins speaking, “The Aristocrats! Born with a silver spoon in their mouth.”

“And a gold stone in their hearts,” Swin finishes, staring at them with furrowed eyebrows.

Levon continues, like she’s a political dictionary or encyclopedia of some sort, “They are a collection of individuals who congregate around social, political, educational, governmental issues and otherwise. It’s a top secret group. Members are never to disclose their involvement with anyone.”

“Not even family members,” Swin completes.

“Yeah,” she says.

“Right. You know, Levon, we complete each other…’s sentences. It’s like we’re meant to be,” Swin teases.