Book 2: Emily Is a Pain

Mark

We meet in the garden after the last set of Alphas attempts to persuade King Gene to let Rose stay in place of Emily.

None of us are successful, and as we sit around near one of the fountains, Eli dribbling a basketball that the rest of us have no energy to play with; we are all morose.

“We’ve got to come up with something,” Reece declares. “The idea of Rose going back home, of her leaving here, and never seeing her baby… I can’t even fathom it.”

“Has she mentioned her life back home to any of you?” Tristan asks. “I mean, she doesn’t talk a lot about it, but from what I can tell, it really sucks. Like… beyond sucks.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’ve heard, too,” I agree. “And I can’t imagine her having to go back to her awful parents. I’m glad they did what they did for our sake, but I can’t imagine having to go back to live with people who are supposed to love me but just sold me off as a babymaker.”

“Or rented her out anyway,” Eli m