Life Designed (Life Plan Series Book 1), Eliza Taye [great novels .TXT] 📗

Ringing interrupted her thoughts as she reached into her pocket to pull out her interwave. It was a call from Mrs. Shaffer.

Eyes growing wide, Opal hurried to answer it. “Hello? Mrs. Shaffer?”

“Hello, Opal, dear. So, I wanted to let you know, I’ve been asking around and I think I may have located where your friend is residing.”

“Really?”

“Yes, there was a kid who came to the shelter this afternoon saying he ran into this new guy who was asking for directions to the exit of the Undecided sector this morning. The little boy’s name is Alvin. He’s a scruffy little youth. His father isn’t all right in the head, so he wanders the streets most of the time and comes in here every now and then when he’s really hungry. He said he saw your friend several streets down from here and could take me there if I wanted to go, but as you know, I can’t afford to leave the kids alone. If you can get here before he leaves, I’m sure he’ll show you where he saw your friend.”

Opal started running in the direction of the nearest transport station. “Mrs. Shaffer, keep him there as long as you can, I’m on my way.”

Chapter 24

With stumbling feet, Garrett finally arrived at the rundown apartment complex that was his new home. Dragging his weary feet up the stairs, he entered his unit and collapsed on the floor. All he wanted to do was collapse into a dreamless sleep, but his growling stomach reminded him that April promised to take him grocery shopping after he was done with work. His pride wouldn’t allow him to meet her smelling the way he did, but he felt as if he had no energy to shower. Still, he knew he’d find a way because he couldn’t go much longer without a morsel of food.

At long last, his weariness won over and he fell asleep on the floor. However, it only lasted a few minutes before a loud bang interrupted his sleep. He jolted onto his elbows; eyes bloodshot as his right-side neighbors began shouting at each other. Based on the choice of words, it was an angry couple yelling at one another.

Frustrated and groggy, Garrett pushed himself to his feet and trudged the few feet to the bathroom. Stripping off his clothes and leaving them on the floor, Garrett twisted the knob on the tiny shower. He pushed the showerhead toward the wall since he had no curtain and didn’t want water flooding his apartment while he waited for the water to warm.

After several minutes of running the water and testing it for warmth, Garrett realized the water wasn’t going to get any warmer. Shuddering, he climbed into the shower and allowed the cold water to hit him. It was a brutal shock to his entire body and made his muscles clench uncomfortably. Grabbing the soap he’d brought from home and the washcloth April had given him, he quickly washed up and rinsed off, shutting off the freezing cold water. He dried off and found some clean clothes to wear. Afterward, he felt like a new person, although not as refreshed as he had been after taking the nice steaming hot showers at his parent’s house.

His parents.

He wondered how his parents were doing. Were they thinking about him? Were they worried? He was half surprised they hadn’t come to find him yet, especially his mother. She would have wanted to know how he was doing for sure.

Or maybe he was wrong. Maybe both of them had been so ashamed of what he’d done that they never wanted to see him again.

Garrett glanced at his interwave on the floor sticking out of his pants pocket and he considered calling them. Was he even allowed to make calls to the Decided sector?

Sighing, Garrett checked his hair in the cracked mirror inside the small bathroom before grabbing his interwave and leaving the apartment to find his way to Darrington Library. Stepping onto the pathway, he looked up and down the street. The slightly lighter daylight allowed him to see better, but that didn’t help him orient himself. To find his way back home, he’d simply backtracked from where the kid had told him to go that morning. Otherwise, he still didn’t know his way around the Undecided sector.

Although his legs ached, he reasoned that it’d be better to walk back to the entrance of the sector and then find his way to Darrington Library from there. If he stopped to ask for directions again or appeared to be lost, he’d oust himself as the idiot who chose to become an Undecided. He didn’t need that criticism from people again today.

The walk was long. Both his stomach and legs protested, but finally, Garrett found himself standing in front of the Darrington Library, the street as deserted as always. He walked to the door and let himself inside.

“April, it’s Garrett.”

“Hi, Garrett.” April appeared from the back of the library, carrying a stack of books. “Can you find somewhere to sit? I have to re-catalog some of these books before we can go.”

“Sure, no problem.” With relief, Garrett found a comfortable chair to sit in at the back of the room.

April returned with more books and added them to the ever-increasing pile on the table. “How was your first day of work?”

Wincing, Garrett responded, “It wasn’t too bad.”

April took the time to stop what she was doing, put her hands on her hips, and quirked an eyebrow at him. “Oh yeah?”

“Okay…to be honest…I hurt in places I didn’t even think I could hurt in.”

“That’s what I thought.” April returned to her work. “It isn’t easy. I wish I could tell you it gets easier, but it really doesn’t.”

Garrett rubbed his leg as he responded, “Well, that’s not what I wanted to hear, but