Casey walks into the room, her arms full of school books. “Oh, he gave you a new necklace?” Casey asks, with a girlish laugh. She lifts the coin off my chest, and sighs. “He’s so sweet.” 

“Yeah.” I remind her. 

“Can I just kidnap him as my own?” She teases. I smack her arm. 

“If you’re not going to help with the laundry, then go to bed,” I say, turning the lights off. Casey climbs into bed. I finish the rest of the laundry, then climb into bed, still wearing my clothes. 

Ember had to leave early for work, so Flint and I just walk together. “I think I want to use a vacation day today. Just because I want to stay near you.” He smiles, and sits in one of the visitor chairs as I walk in. 

“Random inspection!” Kye yells out, and the Rust workers scramble into place, standing in front of their station. The Supervisor and his assistant walk through the lines of basins, inspecting for cleanliness and functionality. 

“Ferrum,” The Supervisor grumbles, as he gets to my station. The assistant inspects my station, then checks me off on a list. I let out a deep breath. “That’s a very nice necklace,” The Supervisor says, his eyes narrowed. 

“Thank you, sir,” I answer, remembering I’m still wearing Flint’s necklace. The Supervisor suddenly reaches out and grabs the necklace, jerking it off my neck. The chain snaps and cuts my neck. I gasp and reach for the necklace, but he holds it over my head. “That’s mine. Please give it back,” I plead, putting my sleeve against the cut on my neck. 

“This was made with materials stolen from this factory. It’s mine,” He hisses, shoving it into his pocket. “Discipline. Now.” My face goes pale.

“Wait!” Flint yells, running over. “I gave her the necklace. It’s not her fault.” He says. No, Flint, no. The Supervisor turns to face Flint. 

“Thank you for telling me. You can go to Discipline too.” He says with a sadistic smile. “I don’t care whether you work here or not.” Flint’s eyes fill with uncertainty. He’s never been to Discipline before. I start to walk up the stairs, Flint behind me. Kye has a rifle at our backs. 

“You’re an idiot, you know that?” I whisper to Flint, as we wait outside the door. 

“I’m not going to let you take the fall for it, Olive,” He mumbles. I groan as Warren opens the door. 

“Your offenses?” He asks, letting us into the room. 

“Failed random inspection,” I lie quickly. Warren looks back at Kye, who chuckles. 

“She’s an idiot. They stole from the factory,” Kye says, hitting me with the gun barrel. Warren sighs. 

“You’ll get extra for lying, you know,” He says. Of course I had to make it worse. That’s my job, isn’t it? Flint shakes. Warren looks at him. “I haven’t seen you before in here.” He points out, then grabs the heated rod, gesturing for me to turn my palms up. Kye leaves the room, locking it. 

“How bad is it?” Flint whispers to me. I stay silent, my eyes filled with tears. “Oh,” He says. The Discipline worker holds out Flint’s arms, palms up. Flint closes his eyes, his jaw set with determination. The metal is pressed against his skin, and Flint winces in pain, tears coming to his eyes. He wriggles, his palms shaking. 

“Don’t move or it will hurt more,” The Discipline worker says, adding another line. Flint yelps in pain, his eyes wet and shiny. I clench my fists. 

“Stop it!” I yell. 

“Olive, don’t. You’ll only get in more trouble,” Flint gasps, wincing. “Don’t lose your temper,” I ignore him and walk towards them, my fists clenched. I pull Flint out of Warren’s reach, and step in front of him. 

“Fine. I’ll finish working with him later,” Warren says, and presses the rod to my arm. 

I kick him in the shins, and push Flint towards the door. I almost run after him, but Warren puts the rod against my leg, burning through my uniform. I scream in pain, and fall to the ground, getting the wind knocked out of me. The rod presses against my side. 

I grab the insulated handle of the rod, and wrestle it away from Warren, crawling towards the door. Flint grabs my hand, and pulls me out the other door, which is unlocked. 

“And you say I’m stupid?” Flint asks, as we run through the hallways to the door. I trip as we run through the streets. I scream in pain as a brick scrapes my burned leg. The burn on my side makes it hurt to breathe. “I’m sorry, Olive,” He says, lifting me up and carrying me back home the whole way. He knocks on my door, and my mom answers it. 

“What happened?” Mom asks, as Flint brings me inside and sets me down on the ratty old couch. Dad rolls his wheelchair out of his bedroom, the first time I’ve seen him in a week. He was sick. He glances at the burns on my leg and side, and understands, far better than Mom ever could. She was raised a Copper. 

“Just an accident in the workplace,” Flint lies for me, hiding his own burns by pulling his sleeves down. Dad looks up at him, a fearful look on his face. Mom hugs me, and I scream as she squeezes my side. My chest rises up and down.

“Oh, sorry, baby,” Mom says. “We should take her to the hospital.” 

“We can’t afford a hospital visit,” Dad mutters. “Flint, could you get some ice from the freezer?” Flint nods and runs to the icebox, pulling out bags of ice cubes, and bringing them over. Mom wraps some ice cubes in a damp towel, and presses it to my side. I wince, and Flint holds my hand. It’s very useful for squeezing when Mom’s being not-gentle. 

Flint has to leave to go to work after an hour since they’re shorthanded, and smiles sadly at me before walking out the door. A knock comes at the door a couple hours later, and Mom goes to answer it, handing the ice to Dad, whose arms are burned white from years of Discipline. 

“Oh, hello!” Mom says cheerfully, then turns to look at me. “Olive, your Supervisor is here to check in on your condition!” What?! He knows where I live? I shudder. The Supervisor walks in, a smile on his face. So that’s why Mom thinks he has good intentions. “Miss Ferrum,” He says, nodding respectfully to me. I quiver. 

“Sir,” I mutter, sitting up with some difficulty. 

“Are you well?” 

“No,” I say, folding my arms. 

“Be respectful!” Mom hisses in my ear as she grabs the teacups from the counter. “Tea, sir?” The Supervisor shakes his head. 

“I won’t be here long. I’m just checking in on Olive,” He says. “Thank you for your kindness, though,” Mom smiles. He bends down next to my couch. “You’ll have to work an extra six hours tomorrow for this. I can’t have you slacking just because of a few burns,” He whispers, so Mom doesn’t hear. 

“But tomorrow is Saturday,” I argue. 

“Do I care?” He asks. 

“No, sir,” I say. He stands up, bids us goodbye, and leaves. Mom pulls foil containers of rations out of the fridge, and starts to heat them over the stove. I almost never eat lunch, since you have to pay for it at work. It’s strange not being as hungry in the afternoon. Casey comes home from school then, and gasps, her eyes wide as she sees the burns in my leg and side, holes in my jumpsuit. 

“Olive, what happened?” She asks, running over to me. 

“Work accident,” Dad answers for me. 

“Stop making such a big deal, guys,” I grumble, slowly getting to my feet, with a sigh.

I wake up late, as usual. It’s Saturday. I get to hang out with Ember and Flint all day. I climb out of bed, and put on comfortable clothes for once, instead of the tight uniforms they make us wear at the Iron factory. 

“Hey.” Flint says, as I start to walk to Ember’s house with him. “Are you feeling better today?” I nod, and walk up the hill. I took all the pain meds in the house before this. Well, not all of them. But I am loopy and I don’t feel my burns. 

Ember runs down her driveway to us, and we start walking to the shore, like we usually do. I take off my shoes, and walk across the white rocky sand, making footprints in the mush. Flint comes up behind me and pushes me into the water. I yelp, and pull him down next to me. He laughs, and sits up, shaking the water out of his curly hair. Ember watches us, as she sits on the beach. 

“You guys are so cute!” She yells, a grin on her face. Flint smiles, and I laugh. I’m definitely not looking cute. I just got all soaked. 

“You’re both great,” I mutter, standing up. 

“We know,” Ember says, coming over, and splashing me. I start to walk back up the bank, but I slip in the sand/mud, and fall backwards, screaming. Flint chuckles, and swims up next to me. He kisses my cheek, but I splash him, and swim away. 

“This is my favorite day of the week,” Flint says, and climbs onto the rocks. “Em, you promised you would jump today,” Ember’s face goes white. 

“Was that today?” She asks, as I pull her up out of the water and onto the rock. “I don’t think I’m feeling well,” She complains, edging away from the cliff, our usual jumping spot. 

“You were feeling well enough a moment ago,” I argue. 

“I’ll jump first, okay, Em?” My best friend asks, and Ember nods. Flint dives into the water, not splashing at all. I glance at Ember, who sighs. 

“Fine,” She mutters, and closes her eyes, jumping off the edge of the rock. She opens her eyes halfway down and screams before she hits the water. Flint laughs and looks up at me. I step back a few feet, then break into a dead run, landing farther than anyone else. Flint cheers and laughs. 

“And the most beautiful one is the winner!” He says. Ember laughs and winks at me. 

“I’m not beautiful,” I tell them, then swim under the water, and over to my hiding spot in a crevice in the rock. I climb up onto a ledge in the crevice, being as silent as possible, and reach the top of the cliff by crawling inside the crevice. 

“Where did Olive go?” Flint asks, looking in the water around him. Ember shrugs. 

“She hasn’t come up for air yet,” Ember says, sounding anxious. Flint’s eyes widen, and he starts swimming around furiously, searching for me. Okay, this has gone too far. I take a running leap and land in the water next to them. Ember screams. “Olive, you’re such a jerk!” She yells. 

“You gave me a heart attack,” Flint says, breathing heavily. I laugh. 

“It’s not funny, Olive!” Ember says, sighing. We climb up onto the beach together, and lay down on the sand, letting it cake on our skin. Exhausted, we just lay out our towels, and Ember quickly falls asleep. 

“Want to come for a walk with me?” Flint asks, sitting up after a few minutes of rest. 

“No,” I’m starting to feel sore again. 

“It’s just along the shore,” He says. “And we don’t want to disturb Em’s nap,” He offers. 

“Fine.” I say, looking at Ember, and standing up, walking with him. He holds my hand.