“Well, it's certainly not going to be me!”

“Nor me! Why can't she behave normally, like the rest of us.?”

Ruth stopped and let the crowd push past her. Then she turned and ran back to central elevators. One stood open and empty. She jumped in and pushed the 'Close' button quickly and kept her finger on it while she made up her mind where to go. There weren't many places where a person could be alone. Being together in a group was what Ark Three was all about, what the Web was about. And she had to be alone. That was one of the things that made her so different.

She could leave the elevator and go to the dormitory, but someone was sure to find her there. The library was a possibility, but there might be boys working in the library and she would die if a boy were to see her with her face like this. She made up her mind and pressed the 'G' button. The elevator rose to ground level and the doors opened to disclose the dome garden.

This was the nicest place in Ark Three, the circular garden, a kilometre in diameter, protected by a plastic dome, which supplied the fruit and vegetables for the whole underground community. The misters were working and the place smelled fresh and green and wet. Nobody was in sight. Probably the gardeners had gone for lunch while the garden received its daily allotment of water.

She ran along the gravel path that led from the central elevators to the perimeter. By the time she had reached her favourite place, with its view of the eastern mountains, her pale green pant suit was soaked and water was clinging to her curly hair. She shook her head. The wetness didn’t matter. The temperature of the garden was kept at twenty-seven degrees Celsius during the day. Her pant suit would soon dry. The transparent roof joined a waist-high wall around the perimeter, wide enough to sit on. This was Ruth's favourite place, and she scrambled up and sat cross-legged on the top of the wall, leaning against the curved dome.

It's all her fault.

When we're assigned rooms three of us will have to room with her. It's certainly not going to be me!

Nor me! Nor me! Nor me!

The hateful words echoed round and round in her ears. I'm not going to cry again, she told herself angrily. Crying is babyish and a waste of time.

But what can I do? Life is so completely and absolutely hopeless.

She stared blankly at the distant hills and listed all the things that conspired to make life unbearable.