Seneca Rebel

NINE A.M. SATURDAY could not come soon enough. Especially since my eyelids refused to cooperate with my overwhelming desire for sleep. I lay there in complete silence and avoided my flexer because I knew giving in to it would squash any chance of slipping back to sleep. Who was I kidding? It was going to be another all-nighter whether I liked it or not.

All I could think about was Dominic. Why did Ellen seem anxious about our potential bond? I was beginning to wonder if she had stopped by because she knew I’d be with him on Saturday, and not just for a social visit. She could have asked me how I was settling in anytime. Something was up. I might have been new to Seneca, but in real life I was no spring chicken.

I was relieved, to say the least, when my flexer finally signaled eight a.m. Unlike the Aboves, where the sun would come out and tap into your natural biorhythms to get you going, here we had to rely entirely on artificial light and flexer notifications to know the difference between night and day.

I was anxiously waiting for Dominic at 8:57. It seemed like light years later when I watched my flexer switch to 9:00, and there was a tap on my shoulder.

“Ready for our big date?”

I felt my face flush. Oh no, please let him think I’m just a rosy skin-toned person. I really had to get this thing in check.

“Hi, Dominic.”

“So formal.”

“Who me?”

Dominic looked around as he squished his lips together. I loved it when he did that.

“I don’t see anyone else here in this conversation.”

“Sorry, I didn’t get much sleep.”

“Hey, no worries, you can be formal all day long if you want, but I’m on vacation. Hope that’s okay with you. I haven’t seen the sun in over seven hundred days, so this is a pretty epic day for me... And by the way, you can call me Dom. It’s what my friends back home all called me.”

I was blown away. Seven hundred days? Really? Even though I technically knew what was in store living here without sun, I couldn’t comprehend being in his shoes. Or, rather, his blue combat boots.

“Oh, for sure. I’m dying to get out of here for a breather, too. It will be good to get a reality check.”

"Reality. Funny thing, ain’t it?”

Dom made some odd comments. Ones that made me wonder what he really meant. But I still wasn’t ready to ask.

“We don’t have to be at the entrance point until ten. Want to get some food first?”

“Doro, let me tell you something about me–” Um, yes please, I thought...

“I’m always ready to get something to eat.”

Ah, how refreshing. Dominic Ambrosia was handsome, witty, unequivocally mysterious, and a good eater!