I looked at her dark-brown eyes. “I go out sometimes.”
“Since when?”
“Since now.” I smiled. “Things change.”
“I guess so.” She glanced back out into the distance. “So what did you want to talk about?”
My heart started to pound again as I bit my bottom lip. I heard a splash behind us, followed by some yelling and laughing. Margot didn’t seem distracted by it, her focus set on me while she waited for an answer.
I still didn’t know how I was going to tell her. I still didn’t know what she’d think of me after I told her. But all I wanted to do was tell her how I felt.
I exhaled. “I really like you.”
Her eyes shifted to me. I could tell she wasn’t expecting me to say that. “What do you mean?”
I clasped my hands together, looking out at the trees around us as if they’d give me strength. “That I . . . really like you.”
“Oh.” Margot looked down at her cuff as it blinked. The music seemed to echo everywhere. “I don’t know what to say—”
“I’m not looking for an answer about whether you’d . . . want to go out with me or anything,” I said. “I just wanted to tell you—”
“I understand.” Margot nodded, taking a step back. She clutched her arm.
My heart started to sink. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.
Margot glanced at her cuff. She didn’t say a word.
I definitely shouldn’t have said anything.
She scratched the back of her head, the silence between us growing with every second until she spoke up again. “Sorry, I just . . . didn’t see this coming in my Sequence . . . So I don’t know what to say.”
I looked down at the grass. As far as I knew, this was over. “So you’ve tried Sequence, too?”
“To stay in accordance with Society’s life plan for me.” She shrugged. “That’s what the elders in my family tell me, anyway.”
“Me too.” Even though this exchange wasn’t going the way I’d hoped, I still managed to give her a smile. As low as I was starting to feel.
She held up her gold cuff, waiting for me to do the same. “So you’ll call me?”
“What?” I gazed up at her. She just chuckled.
“Will you call me? I need your information.” She pointed to her cuff. “You know . . . so we can get together.”
I didn’t believe what I was hearing until she waved her arm to get my attention. I lifted my arm, my heart pounding out of my chest. A band of green light shined around my black cuff once our information synced. “I’ll call you.”
Margot leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. My entire face grew warm as she strolled back to her circle.
“Can’t wait.”
* * *
◆ ◆ ◆
Even after the assistant peeled those pads off my skin, it still felt like they were all over my body.
I rubbed my arms as I stood in the train station, waiting for my train to arrive. My cuff lit up, the message I’d been waiting for sitting in my inbox. Before I left, Dr. Nadeen told me I’d receive a copy of my Sequence by the time I got home, but I didn’t think it’d be this fast, considering I just left the office five minutes ago.
My cuff lit up again. This time a message from Lily.
Lily: Are you still coming to Simi’s party tonight? I have to tell you about Sequence!
I gazed at the message, thinking of what to send back.
Eden: Will Margot be there?
The train pulled up as I hid my hologram, my cuff lighting up when I received another message from Lily.
Lily: I think so. Why?
When the train doors opened, I stood aside, letting everyone file out. I grabbed a seat in the corner of the car after the doors closed, the automated voice stating the next station. Seconds later, the train glided over the glowing blue tracks, leaving the brightness of the city, into the lush mountainside.
My last Sequence ran through my head over and over again.
I sent a message back.
Eden: I just need to talk to her.
Eden: That’s all.
A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
It’s not every day you get to work with such an incredible group of authors on such an incredible book. What I love about this collection of stories is that, while all are fictional, some are pulled from and inspired by real life events, settings, and cultures. For instance, Dhonielle Clayton’s story is steeped in Southern folk magic, and Karen Strong’s is based around the Gullah/Geechee myth of a Boo Hag—an evil haint who goes around stealing a victim’s life breath. And, the setting is inspired by the Georgia Sea Islands, specifically Sapelo Island, which is significant because Karen is Georgia born and raised and it’s a community that has kept so much of its culture; nearly all of Sapelo’s residents are direct descendants of enslaved West Africans.
Then there’s Elizabeth Acevedo’s tale, set on the eve of the first major slave revolt in the Americas in 1522. Was actual magic used? That’s up to Elizabeth’s interpretation. But there was a revolt in Santo Domingo, where enslaved people led an uprising on the sugar plantation of Admiral Don Diego Colón, son of Christopher Columbus. Many of them escaped to the mountains, where they formed independent communities.
It was such fun to work with these authors, to learn about what inspires them. Rebecca Roanhorse was influenced by the lives of African Americans in New Mexico and the West. The first element of her story comes from the legendary Mary Fields, also known as Stagecoach Mary: a pioneering mail carrier and notorious brawler, who took absolutely no bull from anyone. The second element draws from what is presently known about the all-Black settlement of Blackdom Township, Roswell, New Mexico. Marion Boyer, who fled the Ku Klux Klan, founded Blackdom in the early 1900s. The small utopian town supported a church, a newspaper, and many local businesses before finally disappearing into the history books.
There’s something here for everyone. Whether it be Ibi Zoboi’s story, inspired by soucouyants from Caribbean lore; Danny Lore’s piece, which reimagines the Greek myth of Athena and Arachne; mine, inspired by a lifelong fascination with vampires; or the story by Charlotte Nicole Davis, who pulls ideas and insight from the Flint water crisis.
We hope these stories have inspired you!
—Patrice Caldwell