فصل 32

chapter-32 Statues

We got to sleep in the next morning, which was good because it took me like three hours to fall asleep. Around ten o’clock Ben brought us breakfast: sweet sesame-seed biscuits with honey inside and hot soy milk. It probably doesn’t sound that good, but it was. Or, as the Taiwanese like to say, Fei chang bu tswo. Extremely not bad.

Ben said there were a lot of Elgen in the area, so Gervaso didn’t want us wandering around. After breakfast Taylor and I went up to the roof. It reminded me of our last night in Taiwan—the night we were told Timepiece Ranch had been attacked by the Elgen.

The city’s traffic was ridiculously loud, as if constantly honking your horn was a requirement. I’d been through some seriously dangerous things, but driving in Taiwan would probably rate high on that list.

I tore apart a cardboard box and laid it down on the gravel roof floor for Taylor and me to sit on. Taylor pulled her knees in to her chest. She was quiet, as if she had a lot on her mind.

“What are you thinking about?” I finally asked.

“I don’t want to tell you.”

“Us again?” I hesitantly asked.

She reached over and touched me. “No, it’s just . . . I had another one of my bizarre dreams last night.” She looked back down at her feet. “As usual, I have no idea what it means.” “Tell me about it.”

“We were in Taiwan. All of us were standing in front of a school.” “What kind of school?”

“I don’t know, like a high school or something. All the students were Chinese and wearing, like, sailor uniforms, you know? The weird thing is, so was McKenna. She looked just like them. And there was some American guy I didn’t know; I think it might have been Welch. Then there was an Elgen army. They were about to get us, but suddenly everyone turned into statues. No one was moving.” She looked into my eyes. “Except you and some girl. The two of you were just walking around between us.” “A Taiwanese girl?”

“No, she was American. She was our age, pretty, with short blond hair. And she liked you.” “How did you know that?”

“I always know when girls like you. It’s the curse of my power.” She sighed. “What do you think it means?” I shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“It scares me. Maybe it means that everyone’s going to die except for you. You and some mystery chick you’re going to run off with.” “That’s not going to happen.”

Taylor looked back down at her feet. “I wish I’d stop having these dreams. It’s not like they’re helping. I get just enough information to freak me out.” Just then Nichelle walked up the stairs. “Hey, there you are. Ian said you guys were up here.” “There’s no such thing as privacy with Ian,” Taylor said.

“I think of that every time I shower,” Nichelle said.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re showering,” I said. “He can see through your clothes, anyway.” “That makes me feel a lot better,” Nichelle said sardonically.

“So what’s up?” I asked.

“Gervaso says to hurry down. It’s almost time to go for Welch.” “How far do we have to go?” Taylor asked.

“I don’t know.” As we walked to the stairway, Nichelle turned back and said, “All Gervaso told us is that we’re meeting Welch in front of a school.”