Sunset Rising

There was a long line of people already waiting for the common room to open its door. Meals weren’t served during a lockdown, so everyone was starving. I sca

The doors to the common room opened, and everyone began to shuffle in to get their breakfast ration. Jack and I shuffled along with everyone else, keeping our heads down. When our turn came to enter the room, I saw the big television screen was lit up with the presidential seal, which could only mean that there was going to be an a

“Again?” someone behind me complained loudly when he entered the room. “Does the president think we need more reminding of how lucky we are?”

“Yeah, we were all real lucky yesterday,” someone else chimed in.

“Don’t start another riot!” a third person said, his voice booming as he stepped out of line ahead of us. It was Reyes, his glare directed at the two in the back making all the complaints made even more impressive by his tall, muscular frame and crop of curly dark hair.

Even though I had been searching the crowd for him, his appearance was still a shock. All I could do was stand there and stare at him. Now that he was in front of me, what could I say to him? How could I explain everything that had happened? He sca

“What are you doing, Autumn?” Jack asked when he noticed my exchange with Reyes.

“He’s a friend. I need to talk to him.”

“It’s risky.”

“Remember the only reason I came was to say goodbye to the people I love, and that’s what I’m doing.” There was no way I was going to let him cheat me out of saying goodbye.

“You’re right. I lost sight of our goal here. So is that your boyfriend? The guy your father thought you ran off and married?”

“Does it matter?” I snapped. Reyes was none of his business.

“Yeah, it matters. Look at the size of that guy, and I just married his girlfriend!”

I studied Jack’s expression for a moment to see if he was joking. I had seen him fight and knew Reyes wouldn’t stand a chance against him.

It was our turn to get breakfast, and we were each handed a sealed container with a spoon and a glass of water. I saw Reyes sitting with his friends, Raine and Mica, and for a second, I hesitated. I trusted Reyes, but not always his friends. Would one of them shout out my identity? I didn’t want to get caught so soon. My dad was probably in danger, and I hadn’t seen Summer yet.

Seeing me hesitate, Reyes motioned for me to join him again. He probably already told everyone we were here anyway. I went to sit with him, and Jack mutely followed behind me.

“This is Benjamin and I’m Autumn,” I said in a firm voice. I couldn’t believe those were the first words out of my mouth, but I was afraid Reyes or someone else would use our real names.

I took the empty chair beside Reyes and Jack sat across from us. Reyes gave him a murderous glare before he turned his chair to face me. He put his head close to mine and talked in a low voice.

“What happened?” His voice cracked with emotion. “I waited and waited for you to come back from that bachelor party and you never did. The next thing I know you’re on television in a wedding dress marrying that… bourge!”

“It was all a mistake.” I didn’t know where to begin. “I know what it looked like on television, but that’s not the way it happened. Leisel lied to everyone.”

“If you’re not in love with him, then why did you bring him here?”

“He helped me escape. I owe him.” I hadn’t quite realized it until then, but strangely I did feel responsible for Jack. I knew I shouldn’t. It was partly his fault that I was in this predicament. I glanced over at Jack. He was busy taking the lid off his container and sniffing the contents. His nose crinkled in distaste, but he tried it anyway. Then he put the bowl down and replaced the lid.

Raine and Mica were staring at him too, not sure what to say or how to treat him. We didn’t tend to get a lot of bourge down here dining with us, particularly famous ones.

“What the hell happened, Su

The pain I had caused Reyes was clearly written on his face and a stab of guilt went through me. “I think the president wanted to kill me, but he couldn’t because we were being televised. Then the guards came and took him to safety because of the riot down here.” I was babbling, not answering his question.

“Why did you do it?” He grabbed me by both my arms. His fingers bit into my flesh, and I winced.

“Because the president’s daughter co

“Summer told me about the president’s daughter and how she invited you to his place, but then you never came back. I went nuts trying to find out what happened to you, and then I saw you on television marrying him.” Reyes narrowed his eyes, casting an accusatory glare at Jack. I couldn’t tell if he was angry or sad, so I didn’t know what to say or how to make it right. “What the president’s daughter said—about you and him falling in love and trying to get rid of her—made sense at that moment. What other reason could there be?”

“Leisel manipulated me into taking her place at the wedding. She caught Summer stealing food after the bachelor party and threatened to tell the authorities. She also gave me a story about an assassination plot pla

“So you’re not in love with him?”

I shook my head, sorry to be the cause of so much heartache.

His pained expression transformed into one of anger. “If you had just let me protect you in the first place, none of this would have happened. But you’re always so worried about protecting everybody else!”

I pulled my chair away from his, putting a little distance between us. Reyes had a habit of being hurtful when he was angry. Not that I didn’t deserve his anger, but having a conversation with him right then would be pointless. I turned to Raine and Mica. “So what happened here? Why was there a riot?”

“Everyone’s bloody fed up with the bourge, that’s why,” Reyes said, staring at Jack. Jack glared back at him.

“He’s not wrong,” Mica said. “People started lining up for the so-called feast the night before the wedding. The guards didn’t care because no one was making trouble and the night had kind of a festive feel to it. After waiting all night, you know what the feast turned out to be? Bread. They gave us bread with our stew. Do you believe that?” Mica was clearly getting upset, which made me nervous. I didn’t want him to draw attention to our table. “So they’re showing us the wedding on the screen and the well-dressed guests taking their seats, but all we can see are tables heaped with food everywhere!” Mica shot Jack a look of disgust. “Did they actually think we wanted to see your stinkin’ wedding? We only came for the food!”