Evangeline could barely feel the sting in her forehead, the feeling being overpowered by the sense of pride that washed over her. Her mother, the woman notorious for aloofness, had graced her with a beaming smile that even reached her eyes.

“I apologize for not having come earlier,” Jazeera was saying to Hadley, “it took some convincing. The school board was hesitant and not terribly lenient.”

“I am surprised they were willing to accept another F class student,” Evangeline found herself saying, before she realized how it could be received by the girl in her hand. She frowned, instantly looking to the girl, trying to catch some sort of reaction.

Jazeera came to her aide. “The last time they willingly accepted someone who fell in F class, it was during the Class Clash, about twenty years ago. Unfortunately, the other students at the time were violent and aggressive, going so far as to injure their peers.”

Hadley shivered and Evangeline felt it. “That is horrible,” she said. “How did I not know about that?”

“It was big news when it happened and all the F class students at that time left. The school did not receive applications from anyone under K class for years.”

Evangeline knew everything before it was said, but it still made her body tense. She caught Hadley looking up at her, likely sensing her rigidness. “They did not want things to repeat,” Evangeline added.

Hadley looked back towards Evangeline’s mother. “How did I get accepted?”

“This school used to be at the forefront of an equality movement, but the Class Clash pushed it away from that, and Transupport has been attempting to move things back in the right direction. We have been pushing for the board to acknowledge the recent influx of F class applications.” She sighed and sadness coloring her expression. “They only accepted one. Do you feel lucky?”

“Thinking about all of my hard work, yes. Thinking about what it means to have been born F class, I think I am still working to get my luck in the black.”

Jazeera gave a grim nod. “I understand. I cannot imagine being born with such a deficit of luck.”

Hadley shrugged. “It is more apparent some days and less others.”

Jazeera shifted the discussion then. “Hadley, would you mind if you and I met with your parents? I would like to discuss the precautions that will need to be established.” Hadley nodded affirmation. “Would you like Eva to join us?”

Hadley looked up to her and part of Evangeline wanted to beg her to say she did. It was not often that she got the opportunity to visit the residential districts of other classes. However, one S class person in her company might have been overwhelming enough, she considered. Hadley smiled to her, dismissing her worry. “I would not mind her joining and my parents would love to see that I have made a friend.” Evangeline felt her heart flutter. She did not connect well with people, but this girl was so open to connection that it offset Evangeline’s aversion. Evangeline would not have yet used the word ‘friendship’ to describe their relationship, but she was not off put by Hadley’s haste.

“Perfect. My car is out front.”

~*~

‘Car’ was a term Hadley was familiar with. She associated it with the train systems that connected the many districts she had access to, with a car being the compartment she rode in. She was vaguely away that S class citizens had access to personalized ‘cars’, things that did not run on tracks and did not have set destinations, but as they were not permitted by law in non S class districts, she had never seen one.

The car was a metal box situated on enormous tires. It was not nearly as long as the H class train cars, on which the F class cars were attached, but it was just as wide and much taller. This car was painted black, with windows in the upper halves of each segmented wall, which each turned out to be a door. Evangeline had brought Hadley to the opposite side of the car, opening the front door, which swung outward. The door looked to be a large hunk of metal and Hadley was impressed that Evangeline could drag it away from the car with no sign of effort.

The door revealed one seat, crafted with leather. Beyond it was a small barrier, but Hadley could not imagine that it had the means to stop either Evangeline or her mother. When Evangeline got into the car, sitting in the seat, Hadley realized that the barrier was at the height of Evangeline’s elbow. So it acts as an arm rest, she thought to herself. It was padded with leather, so she found that her conclusion made sense.

Beyond the arm rest was another seat and Jazeera was seated in it. Hadley noticed that she was slouching, but still her head was nearly touching the roof of the car. “Ma’am,” she called, as Evangeline worked to one handedly situate herself.

“You may call me Jazeera or Jaz,” she said as she pulled a strap across her chest, a click sound signaling that it was secure. “What can I do for you?”

“Um, how tall are you?” Hadley was aware that it was a personal thing to ask anyone of any class, but she could not help herself.

“Nearly eight feet,” Jazeera wore a bright smile as she announced it.

Eight? Hadley descended into her own thoughts. I could have sworn S class people were generally between five and six, with some as short as four and some as tall as seven. She considered the probability of being far outside the norm without some sort of genetic anomaly. Gigantism tended to throw off proportions, especially of hands and head, but Jazeera showed no sign of being disproportional. “Eva, how tall are you?”

Evangeline chuckled. “Over six feet, but not close to seven.”

“I am just over four inches,” Hadley announced, feeling obligated to also share.

“Wow, that is tall,” Evangeline commented and again Hadley was struck by how she seemed to be genuine in the statement.

Jazeera began fiddling with a compartment just in front of the arm rest. As she pushed the cover panel forward, a lit hole was revealed and within it, there were four seats made for someone her size. Two faced backward and two forward. Evangeline’s hand descended toward the opening and Hadley looked up. Evangeline nodded towards the opening and Hadley disembarked, having to hop down a little over an inch.

“Please choose a seat, Hadley,” Jazeera instructed. “I would recommend one of these,” she offered, indicating the two that faced backward. “You will have any easier time seeing us. The ride is short, but that would be my preference, in your place.”

“The ride is very smooth, so you should not notice that you are traveling backward,” Evangeline added. 

Hadley nodded and sat in the seat closer to Evangeline, facing backward. “There is a mask under your seat. Please put it on.” Hadley had just finished strapping herself in, her strap system being more intricate than those of her S class companions.

She looked under her seat, finding a small mask snuggly fitted into a holding compartment that was much like a scaled down version of the compartment she sat in. She held it up, receiving a nod of confirmation that it was her target. “What is it for?”

“Your safety,” Jazeera assured. “Should we get into a collision, this chamber you sit in will automatically, and nearly instantly, fill with a protective gelatin. It will halt your body’s movement and protects from numerous other things, including fire, water, radiation, and pressure.”

“Wow, so I am safer in this car than you are?”

Both of her companions laughed. “With one catch – one needs the mask to breathe,” Evangeline wrapped up the explanation. “It has an audio receiver in it, which projects straight through the speakers in the car, so we can continue to converse.”

Hadley pressed the mask over her nose and mouth. It suctioned securely to her face and she gave it a tug to see if she could remove it, horrified that she could not. “It is voice activated released. The command is ‘gel mask release’.”

When Hadley tried it, the mask fell off immediately and she fumbled to catch it. She returned it to its former position. “Can you hear me?” She heard her own voice sound through the car, with almost no delay. Evangeline grinned and nodded. “What happens if I am stuck in the gel and we are in a river?”

Jazeera fitted a key into a socket near a giant wheel in front of her, turning it. A soft hum signaled the engine coming to life and Hadley wondered if the others could even hear it. “The car sends out a signal indicating the one of the passengers is in a gel. The rescuers will know to look for you.”

“Cars are amazing,” Hadley murmured and was surprised when it came through the speakers so clearly.

Jazeera’s hands were on the move, manipulating the wheel. If it were not for that or the fact that what she could see through the windows changed, she might not have known they were moving. Evangeline had been correct; it was a very smooth ride. It was mere minutes before the ride ended.

~*~

Evangeline unbuckled, exiting the car before leaning back in to retrieve Hadley. They were leaving the car in a lot at the edge of the S class district, unable to take it into the mixed districts. “Would you be comfortable sitting on my shoulder,” she asked Hadley. “While on the move, it will be hard to me to hear much, especially with everything being so busy,” she explained. Hadley nodded her agreement. “Is it alright if I grip your waist?” Hadley nodded again, consenting to the action.

Evangeline bought her thumb to the girl’s abdomen, her fingers coming in from behind the girl. She slowly lifted Hadley, her pinky curling forward to provide a temporary seat, relieving some of the pressure on the girl’s torso. She moved her hand to her shoulder, swiveling the girl in the process. Once on her shoulder, Hadley wiggled to get comfortable, Evangeline’s fingers remaining close, but soon she called out, “all set.”

“Good. Now I can pass anything you say along to my mother.” Evangeline drew her hand away from Hadley and felt the girl’s hand come to rest on her neck, for stability. “What is your address?”

“I live in the Scott household on Bentle Ave, in the southern mixed residential district.” Evangeline passed the information along to her mother, who then led the way. Their walk soon brought them into the heart of the city, the market district, which had to be crossed to reach the mixed residential district. Evangeline and her mother were among the very few not H class or shorter. Those who were H class, ignored them, focused on their own lives, but many of the K or F class people stopped to take note of where their feet were going, not wanting to go unnoticed and become the next news panel about mixed class deaths.

Evangeline was taught at a young age how to walk through crowds of mixed classes, but none of the people around her knew that. She watched them clear the way, most displaying fright. A few children would point and call out, their fascination bypassing the lessons taught over the dinner table to avoid the S class citizens that walked through the market. She would keep her face unmoving, not showing how she was affected by the inherited fear.

“I did not know the market looked like this from up here,” Hadley commented and Evangeline’s stoicism was challenged as she found her lips quirking in a small smile. “The air feels so clean, not stuffy and packed.”

“You also get to watch the flow of traffic; it is really fascinating, sometimes, how people do not realize they are all moving together.”

“I would love to people watch from up here,” Hadley mused.

“I could bring you here another time, when we do not have somewhere to go,” Evangeline offered.

Hadley gasped, excitedly. “Really?!”

Evangeline had to resist the urge to shrug, instead responding with a chuckled, “sure.”

“That would be so awesome!”

The crowds thinned out as they moved into the residential district, the crowds funneling into the train systems, ones that Evangeline and her mother walked along side. The tracks were laid upon the old road, no longer used by cars. Jazeera knew the mixed residential districts well, having a lot of connection to the people who lived there.

Bentle Ave was lined with two story apartment buildings. Half of the buildings had names posted on the house or on a sign in the lawn, indicating who the residential regulator was and that the building housed its own neighborhood. They soon found the apartment with the name Scott adorning a plaque on the door. A smaller rail, meant for transporting K and F class residents, led from the train, up the front steps, through an automated door, situated in the original door. Jazeera had explained to Evangeline that the large, original door automatically locked while the smaller door was being passed through, so that the large one was never opened while smaller classes could be injured.

The doorknob had been lowered, making it more suitable for H class use and Jazeera had to bend to reach it. She did not seem at all perturbed as she swung the door open, revealing a set of stairs and a hallway that ran parallel to them. The stairs led to the upper apartment, where the Scott family lived, an H class family. The tracks led to an opening in the wall, next to the door that led to the lower apartment, down the hall.

“I am going to see if the Scotts might allow us to borrow one of their rooms for privacy,” Jazeera announced, beginning the ascent up the stairs.

Evangeline moved towards and through the lower apartment door. On the other side, the scene changed. They entered into what was once the kitchen, transformed into a miniature food court. The once cabinets were used for public storage needs, the contents regulated by the Scotts. There were lifts up to the counters, were there was a bar. The sink had been repurposed as a public swimming pool. The walls were lined with cooking stations, each with a selling counter. The floor was littered with tables meant for both K and F class dining. There were numerous people eating dinner and they all looked up when Evangeline entered, silence falling heavy as they waited for Evangeline to make it known whether she was friendly.

“I guess this is why you mom was hoping for privacy,” Harley commented and Evangeline had to agree.

“How about we just find your parents,” Evangeline suggested. “Do you see them?”

The people eating were starting to notice the girl on her shoulder, the one she was talking to. Evangeline witnessed a number of exchanges, a number of which used Hadley’s name. She had entered a community, after all. “No, they must be in the bedroom.”

Evangeline cautiously navigated her way through the doorway the led into what was once the living room. It was transformed into a recreational center, exercise equipment in one corner, couches and stocked bookshelves in another, and what she imagined was a very large movie theater to all of them. Again she drew attention, but she quickly moved on, entering the once bedroom.

That room was lined with K class living spaces and upon each was situated three F class living spaces. Jazeera had explained that the living spaces tended to include a sitting room and between two and three bedrooms. The square room then had another four K class living spaces, fit together in a square, at the center of the room. Atop them was a ring of more F class housing units.

“My unit is in the far corner,” Hadley indicated.

Evangeline moved around the central square and when she was in the corner, she reached up for Hadley. “Do you mind,” she asked. Hadley gave her consent and Evangeline carefully pulled her from her perch. Hadley pointed towards a specific K class unit and Evangeline placed her atop it.

Hadley darted into the middle F class until and soon reappeared with her parents in tow. The two gaped up at Evangeline. “This is Eva,” Hadley introduced, smiling brightly.

Her father recovered and chuckled, “So, you’re lookin’ after our girl?”

“I suppose I am, sir,” Evangeline conceded. She might have just said that she was being a decent human being, but she knew that involved helping Hadley with things she could not handle. Like Isabelle.

“Then it is a pleasure to meet you,” Hadley’s mother called up.