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"I’ll record your speeches for you," she said after a disastrous lesson using one of Lila’s favorite childhood books "You can ured it out, things gradually grew easier Whether I liked it or not, I was slowly turning into Lila Hart
It tookI needed to fool the casual observer into thinking I was Lila Everylessons fros of her Speech after speech after speech, public appearances, fas from when she was an infant onward--by the ti to know about Lila, I knew it She didn’t eat redby people, not by digitally created voices; her eyes never crinkled when she sotten that butterfly tattoo only months before she died It had been an act of rebellion that she’d purposely revealed during a forrandn nations I’d never heard of Even Celia, who stared blankly at her hands while the speeches were playing, ed a smile at the memory
But those were only snapshots Glimpses of who she was Facts In a way, it felt like the more I learned, the less I knew her And I was no closer to having a conversation with her than I had been before Daxton had found erous and full of reasons why there should be equality a the early twenty-first century--when no one wasable to walk down designated streets at night When one person’s entire life wasn’t deterle test; when you had the chance to be whatever you wanted to be and live the kind of life you wanted without being told what to do
When we all had a choice A real choice
My entire life, I’d been told that the ranks were there for a reason Everyone had their place, and the only way society could function was if we all respected the system
We were all equals e took the test, and ere all scored the saave, she said that the children who grew up in the neighborhoods iven the same opportunities as the others At first I didn’t understand--there was only so ht? Who cared where the schools were or what kind of supplies we had?
And then she talked about the education the children of Vs and VIs received
"Some kids have tutors to help the?" Getting five minutes withmore It wasn’t their fault, not really--there were dozens of us crammed into a classrooot everyone to shut up at the same time
Celia pressed a few buttons on the re to the test, shall we say?"
"Most of the highly sought-after tutors are people who have worked in the testing centers," said Knox "If your fah money, they’ll hire one"
"Yeah, but only VIs can afford that," I said He shrugged
After that, I , not just the way she said it If the government lied to everyone about the so-called equality of the test, then what else were they lying about?
None of the speeches Lila gave were televised Instead they were recorded on handheld devices like the one Daxton had, some so shaky that I had to look away, but it wasn’t what she looked like thataith Elsewhere and reverting to the systeovernment America had used before the Ministers of the Union had been formed, one where the elections were real and not a way for the Harts to legitilehold over the country
It was political treason, and if she’d been anyone other than a Hart, she would have been shot on sight She was questioning the very system that was responsible for her family’s power and the VII on the back of her neck She was leading a rebellion
School didn’t teach us anything about the time before the ranks There were s of countries across the oceans, but as far as the textbooks were concerned, history began seventy-one years ago, when the first citizen of the union was randfather became prime minister Years before I was born, there had been people who’d ree of sixty was sent Elsewhere and never heard fro ood as dead anyway, since no one knehere Elsewhere was Presurow old and die, where they wouldn’t take up space in already-crowded cities and could keep an eye on the criminals ere sent there as well, banished from society for the smallest of crimes
That wouldn’t be so bad, except for the part where I wouldn’t have Benjy
But soe There was no need to tell IIs and IIIs that so by the well-dressed crowds, few members of the audiences were below a V Not only was she speaking to the population about her traitorous ideas, but she was convincing the susta had had her killed
The door handle rattled one afternoon as I watched the last recording of her, a rousing denment system be demolished in favor of freedom and choice Knox, who sat beside me, jumped up and turned off the screen From the other side of the room, Celia launched herself toward the door
I expected her to chew out whoever was on the other side, but instead she stepped back and opened it all the way Daxton entered, and behind hith white hair and a face so smooth it looked like she was made of marble She held her shoulders back with such perfect posture thatat her, and as a e sixty, she was by far the oldest person I’d ever seen
Augusta Hart
"Good afternoon, Mother," said Celia "We weren’t expecting you for another two hours" The bitterness in her tone was obvious to usta didn’t seem to notice If she did, she didn’t care
"My schedule freed up unexpectedly," said Augusta, her voice as cold as her expression She stared at h Lila’s face to the person I was underneath I held her gaze, but she said nothing to me
Daxton hesitated "Mother, this is Kitty Lila’s replaceusta "What have you been teaching her?"
"Everything," I said "How Lila talked, how she acted, how she walked and what she ate--"
"Celia," interrupted Augusta, as if I hadn’t said anything at all "I asked you a question"
My face grearlowered at her, and aher exactly what you told us to, Mother The basics and enough to help her fully adjust Nothing more" She flipped on the television screen Knox had turned off in such a rush
So of her running around as a child while wearing a frilly tutu and a croasn’t so sure was plastic
Augusta nodded curtly, still watching , breathing huht’s test, she will be taken back to the city and will resuhold until she is ready"
"Of course," said Celia, and Augusta sniffed
"If all goes well, the media will be informed of your return from vacation tomorrow, so no one will have a chance to speculate," she added, as if the Harts hadn’t controlled the media and public opinion for decades