Escape Velocity

Chapter Six

Oh, no.

My eyes swept the room as I walked in the door. I pulled my hair out of the ponytail and rolled the rubber band over my wrist while I struggled with my reaction.

Melisse said, "This room is perfect. Don't you think? Pink's my favorite color. What's your favorite color? For real, you don't mind the pink? Do you?" She practically levitated. I wasn't certain if she'd taken a breath. In fact, I'm pretty sure she didn't.

And, in fact, I did mind the pink. The only girlie thing I liked was clothing made from dotted Swiss fabric. I couldn't explain that one. But it was true. Pink was a whole different mindset.

The colors and patterns shrunk the walls around me. It was like a cotton candy machine had thrown up. My mind was on escape. To somewhere less posh, somewhere with tools and greasy rags and the comforting smell of mysterious chemicals. Why was everything—everything—so hard? There really was no place for me anywhere on Earth. NASA named the location of the first moon landing Tranquility Base for a reason.

"I've never seen so much pink and so many flowery prints in one place before. What are those flowers everywhere anyhow, orchids? And what's all that drapery behind the beds? It's like we've entered a weird fairytale castle." Blunt as usual, which was not my most endearing characteristic according to my parents.

"Oh." Melisse sank into layers of pillows on one of the beds and wrapped her arms around her knees. Her mouth drooped at the corners, and the sparkle dropped from her eyes. Melisse was a hummingbird among the flowers, leaving me to be a gnarly insect.

Still blinded by the perky pinkness of the bedspreads and pillows, I turned away from her and began unpacking, seeking a way to make my words seem less harsh, wishing I'd been more tactful. "I hope my bot is delivered today. I've been rebuilding some of its features. It was too much hassle to bring it on the train, so I shipped it."

Crap, I had to go and mention my bot.

I should be more focused on myself and less on someone who was a stranger. My great-grandmother's parents had known this. My life might not be World War II, but it was a battleground nevertheless. Caution was always the best choice around strangers. And to be honest, around most people.

Melisse was quiet as I put my clothes in a dresser. My wardrobe consisted of jeans, tees, and polo shirts. My mom teased me that the colors ran the spectrum from gray to black. At least the planets on my "I Need Space" shirt were in color.

I pulled out a lavender cashmere sweater, smoothed some of the wrinkles, and refolded it. I'd never worn it. Purple was a slippery slope, the gateway color to pink. I brought it because it was a gift from Gram. I traced my fingers along the cable-knit ridges. The sweater was thin but soft and surprisingly comforting. "Hey, if you ever want to borrow this, you can. If it's not too warm. Even if it's a little big, you'll look good in it."

Melisse brightened and scooted over to the edge of her bed as I handed it to her. "No kidding? Thanks. It's beautiful. Hey, your necklace. It's the man-in-the-moon."

"It's a moonstone carved with a face. My mom gave it to me." I slid the pendant along the chain as I remembered what my mom had said. "It's to remind you, when you look up, that we can see the same moon." It was in the same call when she told me about sending me to boarding school in the fall. Guess she thought I could be bought off with a piece of jewelry and phony sentiment.

I finished unpacking and took in the room again. It was a typical, if over-decorated, hotel room. FetchBot wasn't that big, but I needed a place to stash it safely once it arrived. I didn't want to be tripping over it for six weeks. Hopeful, I flipped up the edge of the bedspread, but the bed frame was solid and went all the way to the floor.