Forrest looked over her dark triangular shades, giving Lily’s purple ensemble and her matching purple cuff a once-over. She pushed her shades back up. “Do you really want me to answer that question?”
“It was rhetorical, Forrest.” Lily stroked her long braided ponytail, her brown skin shimmering in the light. “Anyway, I asked if I should stay home and study, but my Sequence showed me that even if I studied for that test tomorrow, I’d still get the same grade.” She shrugged her shoulders.
“So you wasted your credits on a question like that?”
“I didn’t waste my credits. I needed to know how to better spend my time.”
Forrest grabbed her cup from the table beside us. “But Sequence is just a glorified Magic Eight Ball.” After taking a sip, she placed her cup on one of the servers’ trays as they strolled by. She nodded at them before they collected more abandoned glasses. “I mean, why can’t people just trust their judgment rather than rely on some machine? It can’t be that accurate.”
“Well, maybe some people want another opinion, or maybe they want to stay in line with the life Society projected for them, so they don’t get in trouble. It’s not like everyone has everything figured out,” Lily said. “And my Sequence even showed us having this conversation, so I’d say that’s pretty accurate. Just look.”
Lily held her arm in front of us as a hologram materialized. A few kids looked over at the bright light shining from her cuff until they lost interest. I stepped beside her so I could see everything.
After a few seconds, a home screen appeared in front of us, the word SEQUENCE at the top. Through the hologram was the city, streaks of purple and blue lights wrapped around the buildings in the distance. Our glass dome was nestled in the mountains and surrounded by nothing but trees, but the darkness right outside the dome helped us see the hologram better.
Lily tapped her cuff, the screen morphing into two videos: one labeled “A” and the other labeled “B.” They both started to play at the same time.
“We’re even wearing the exact same clothes,” she said, pointing to video B. Sure enough, there we were, huddled together while everyone else mingled around us, separating and morphing into different groups. Servers walked by with trays full of hors d’oeuvres and drinks while people danced near the pool. Video A showed Lily at her desk, her books open, her notebook empty, and her attention all on her hologram feed, scrolling through pictures and videos posted from this very party.
No wonder she decided to come here instead.
Forrest narrowed her eyes. “So your Sequence told you that you would’ve just looked through your feed instead of actually studying.”
“Well, at the end of each Sequence, it showed that I’d get a B on the test either way,” Lily said. “So there was no point in staying home to study.”
“We could’ve just told you that, Lily.” Forrest swiped two shrimp puffs as a server glided by. She ate one, sliding the toothpick from between her lips. “And Sequence isn’t one hundred percent accurate.” Forrest pointed to her ear in the frame with her toothpick. “Those are studs. I’m wearing hoops.”
I looked at the video more closely. It did show her wearing studs.
“And there’s someone in the pool in your video and no one’s—”
We heard a splash behind us. Travis laughed from the side of the pool as his friend’s head surfaced, bobbing up and down in the water. After a few seconds, Travis took off his shirt and jumped in, splashing everyone around them.
Forrest turned back around. “Your Sequence still only shows one person in the pool.”
Lily closed her hologram. “Really, Forrest? That’s not even the point.”
Forrest just shrugged, chewing on the second shrimp puff.
“The point is Sequence knows how everything will turn out. People use it to choose which college they’ll go to, what to study, where to move. It’s helped so many people choose the best possible outcome for their lives.” Lily looked around for a moment. Then she leaned in. “Simi’s mom used Sequence to decide if she should get a divorce.”
I stepped back. “We really didn’t need to know that.”
“Oh, please. Everyone in the district knows this, and they’re still together anyway. Otherwise Simi wouldn’t be throwing this party.” Lily shrugged. “But still, wouldn’t you want to try it if you had to make a tough decision?”
Forrest looked at me. That question wasn’t for her, I guess.
I glanced over my shoulder at the pool house. Margot was still with her friends, sitting on a lawn chair. Travis sat beside her, a towel draped over his shoulders and his arm draped over her shoulder. I turned back to Lily and shrugged. “If I had a tough choice to make, I guess I would.”
Lily jumped up and down, her blond ponytail swinging from side to side. She squealed, her hazel eyes bright. “Tell me! What would you ask Sequence?”
I looked at her as if I’d been caught in a lie. “I—I don’t know—”
“What would Eden have to ask Sequence that she doesn’t already know?” Forrest clasped my shoulder and squeezed it. “Honestly, you’ve had your life figured out since the day I met you, and you still haven’t veered in any other direction. You’re pretty predictable.”
“So I’m boring is what you’re saying,” I said.
Forrest opened her mouth to say something, but decided to shove more hors d’oeuvres down her throat instead. “Not boring, just predictable,” she said with her mouth full.
“I’m sure there’s a question everyone would like to ask.” Lily pointed at Forrest’s head. “Maybe I’ll ask Sequence if you’d lighten up once we loosened those bantu knots of yours.”
“Respect the knots, okay?” Forrest checked her white lipstick in her mirror, then patted her knots to make sure none had unraveled. They were all still in place, as was the rest of her white outfit. She unzipped her jacket. “I’m going to get another drink.” She gazed around for a server. “I wonder if your Sequence predicted me making my exit.” Forrest strolled away, giving us a twirl before heading inside.
Once she was out of earshot, Lily turned to me. “Joke’s on her, because it actually did.” She laughed before she looked at her messages.
I stole a quick glimpse of Margot and Travis still sitting together. He moved closer to her, their legs touching, his lips against her ear. Lily cleared her throat.
“Maybe you can ask Sequence if Travis likes you.” She arched her eyebrow and pursed her lips.
Still wrong, but she wasn’t going to let it go. Because I’d never shown interest in a guy before. So she’d latch on to any prospects at this point.