“And I was hoping you would understand my situation, but you don’t. We need to talk about this later, Reyes. Summer and I are late.” I tried again to squirm out of his embrace.

“Don’t put me off, Sunny. I barely got any sleep last night.”

“I’m really late, Reyes.” Panic rose in my voice.

I tried to pry his arms off me, but he spun me around and lifted me up off the floor. As our eyes became level, he kissed me roughly on the lips.

“Tonight we talk again. Promise me.”

“I promise.” Although I knew I wouldn’t change my mind.

He kissed me again and then passed me along to his friend, Raine, who was standing next to him. Raine passed me to Mica, and Mica passed me to the next boy. They all knew we were headed to the old mineshaft. Lots of people took the shaft as a shortcut when they were desperate to get to work on time. I looked back and saw Summer being passed along behind me. In no time, we were deposited in front of the door to the shaft.

“Thank you!” I called to Reyes, but I wasn’t sure he heard me. He was probably already descending the stairs to go work in the mines.

I opened the door, and we slipped inside. The shaft was almost pitch black, but my eyes quickly adjusted. We had come that way so many times before that our hands and feet had memories of their own anyway. The climb up to the main level was one mile, and without thousands of people crowding our way, taking the shaft was faster than the stairs.

“So you haven’t told me why you’re late,” I said.

“I stopped to talk to Adam.” Summer was breathing hard with the exertion of the climb, and it took her a minute to continue. “I think he might ask me to marry him.”

“Are you kidding me?” I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or yell at her. “We’re late because you were flirting? I mean, do you even like him? You just met him a week ago.”

“What does that have to do with anything? It’s fine for you, Sunny. You already have Reyes, but when my parents are Culled next year, I’ll have no one. I need to find a partner, and most boys our age are already married.”

She was right. Partnerships in the Pit were every bit as important as having a job. A single person wasn’t eligible to be assigned an apartment because that was considered a waste of space. The need for housing was the driving force behind most marriages in the Pit. Although, in my case, it was the reason I couldn’t leave my father.

“Oh, Summer. If you weren’t so picky, you could have been married by now. But whenever a boy is interested in you, you’re suddenly not interested in him. I think you like flirting more than actually having a boyfriend.”

“That’s not true. I just haven’t met the right one yet.”

“Though you do bring up a good point. You’re running out of time.”

Summer could have had her pick of any boy in the Pit. A full head shorter than me, her small stature and delicate limbs gave her an elegant, feminine quality. I always felt large and clumsy next to her.

“You know, we’re always talking about me,” Summer said. “How are you? How’s your dad?”

She might regret asking that question, but I gave her an honest answer. “Dad lost his job yesterday because he didn’t show up for work.”

“Oh, Sunny. What are you going to do?”

I heard sympathy in her voice, and exasperation, too. My father had always been a little self-destructive. My mother had done a fairly good job of protecting me from it, but without her, I was on my own with him. “I told Reyes last night I couldn’t marry him until after the next Cull.”

“You’re postponing? Again?” she asked. “That’s a bit drastic. I’m sure your father can get another job. He’s had a lot of experience in the mines.”

“He’s barely been eating since Mom left, and now he’s too weak to get out of bed.”

“But you’ve put your marriage on hold once before, and I can’t imagine Reyes is happy with postponing again. And you’re not getting any younger, Sunny. You’re almost eighteen. Aren’t you afraid Reyes is going to get fed up with waiting and move on to someone else?”

I had never thought about Reyes being with someone else. We had been together forever. And at our age, it was getting kind of late to go looking for a new partner. Of course he would wait for me. If I gave him enough time, he would eventually understand that my father needed me right now, and I couldn’t leave him.

But there was wisdom in her words. At seventeen, I was middle-aged, and that didn’t bode well for getting approval to have a child. Population control in the Pit was getting stricter all the time. Reyes really wanted a child, but if I was being honest with myself, I didn’t. I guessed that was why I didn’t feel an urgent need to get married right away.

I finally reached the top of the shaft and crawled onto the platform.

“We will finish this conversation, Sunny. You have to talk about it,” Summer said as she scrambled up behind me.

I slowly opened the door to make sure there weren’t any guards in the hall to catch us. The light on the main floor was so bright that I had to struggle to keep my eyes open until they adjusted. When I was able, I focused in on the clock.

“We’re two minutes late.”

Summer gave an exasperated sigh. “And after all that climbing.”

“Let’s see if the back door is unlocked and sneak in.”

“We still have to scan in. They’ll know we’re late.”

“Yes, but forgetting to scan in won’t get us fired. We’ll probably just have to go without lunch or something.”

Summer moaned and gripped her stomach. We had both missed breakfast.

When we were sure no one was around, we stepped out of the shaft and quietly made our way down the hall until we reached the back entrance to the kitchen. I breathed a sigh of relief when I turned the knob, and the door opened. All kitchen staff had to wear clean uniforms, so we took off running toward the changing room. I pulled up short at the sight of our supervisor, and Summer slammed into my back.

“So you thought you could put one over on me?” Bailey asked.

“No, ma’am. Traffic in the stairwell was heavier than usual, and it made us late. We were running to make up for lost time,” Summer said.

Bailey snorted. “It makes no difference why you’re late. I should fire you, O’Donnell. You’ve been nothing but trouble lately.”

Maybe it was just from the long climb, but my limbs suddenly felt weak and shaky. She couldn’t possibly fire us after we’d tried so hard to make it here on time. Summer caught her breath, and I knew she was trying to hold back tears. Then I realized that my own eyes had started to sting.

“I can offer you an alternative to being fired,” Bailey said with a sly glint in her eyes. “The president is hosting the bachelor party tonight, and they’ve requested servers to entertain the gentlemen guests.”

Her meaning was clear. Prostitute ourselves, and we could keep our jobs. That kind of request wasn’t unusual in the Pit. The supervisors who sent the prettiest girls were usually rewarded. She had been in the changing room, waiting for us. The fact that we were late only gave her the leverage she needed to force us into accepting.

“No,” Summer said resolutely.

“I’ll do it,” I said.

“Sunny, no.” Summer grabbed my shoulders and turned me to face her. “No!”

“I don’t think I have choice,” I said in a low voice, hoping that Bailey couldn’t hear me.

Summer stood up taller and squared her shoulders. “I’ll do it, too.”

“Summer, you don’t have to do this. If you’re fired, it’s okay. Your parents are still earning credits.”

“I’m not going to let you do this alone.”

Bailey cut in. “I don’t know why you’re arguing. Being asked to serve at a presidential party is a great honor. I’d do it myself if I was allowed.” She walked toward us and waved her scanner over our hands. “There. You’re both signed up. Be there or you’ll be punished.”