Dar

I hesitate as Jude pulls me into the office. My head turns back to find my tall Giver, but he is nowhere in sight. It is the very first time in weeks that I've been alone. Jude sees my stricken face and says, "Are you alright? Are you nervous?"

I shake my head anxiously and go into the conference room. Irving Thompson is sitting at the head of sleek black table with several important looking men around him. "Jude! Hattie! Sit," Irving calls and ushers us in. I shakily sit myself in a stainless steel chair and watch as Jude sits down next to me.

Irving introduces the three men around him as Tom Worthington, Sam Tiers, and Ren Espinosa. I greet them all with red cheeks and handshake. But as soon as we sit down and the smiles are gone. Sam immediately turns to me and says, "Hattie, you can't imagine the buzz around the film. Considering you and Jude always being run in the magazines. But there are some things we need to discuss."

Immediately, I feel a wave of nausea. I try to listen to the words around me, but I can't breathe. My head and body ache all of a sudden and I don't know what to do. I just clamp my lips and look at the smiling and doting faces around me.

Suddenly, I catch a word of their conversation, "...lose a couple of pounds. You're a beautiful girl, but you could be even more beautiful."

The room is abruptly quiet as I stare at the men surrounding me. What? What do they want from me? Jude looks infuriated and uncomfortable and I watch as he tries to focus on his hand placed on the table.

"You... want me to lose weight?" I ask tentatively.

Ren looks at me with a pitying look, "In so many words, yes. We want Rosette to be... perfect."

My head is spinning and I feel like I might faint. I will say anything to get out of there, do anything to have Artemis near me. So I nod my head and say, "You've got it. Done." In my head, I call out for the Giver and within an instant he pops out from behind Irving. I give him a desperate look, "Get me out of here!" I think.

Artemis sighs and then nods. He looks infinitely more tired. And who knows? Maybe he's been away from me for weeks or months, and just time travelled back here for my cries. The Giver works his magic and Irving suddenly says, "Oh! I have to go. We have to go. Matt is waiting for us in the lobby!"

Within one minute, everyone has flurried away. Jude sticks around and looks at me with a disarmingly apologetic smile. "They're stupid. You're gorgeous," he whispers.

"Listen, I'm not feeling very well. I'm gonna go home," I mutter and stand up. My legs carry me out to the ladies room right outside of the conference room and Artemis follows me.

"Why did you leave?" I gasp. My nausea has left as quickly as it arrived, but now all I feel is sadness and betrayal.

"Why do you think, Hattie?" he asks.

"Because I'm a shitty Taker," I respond dejectedly.

"Don't be thick, Hattie. That's not why."

"I know. Because I kissed you last night," I whisper back after a few moments.

"There we are. Exactly," he states, "We need to set up boundaries. Naturally, two people get close when they spend this much time together and we just have to make sure that we don't get close... in that way."

It sounds as if he has rehearsed this before and I know that he is right. That I have to live in the real world. The Giver is only that: a Giver. And so I push back the lump in my throat and say, "Alright."

He takes a step in my direction and hesitates before wrapping an arm around me. I rigidly hug him back and say into his chest, "Don't leave anymore. Not unless you're not coming back."

I feel him rest his chin on my head. He says, "Don't worry. When I finally leave, you will know."



The Giver and I are in Egypt. We sit below the Pyramids of Giza with sandwiches and a somber mood. He tries to be cheery and cracks a couple of jokes, but all I want to do is cry.

"Giver. Can you make me skinny?" I ask in a timid voice. I am completely humiliated because he's a boy and won't understand why I want this. If Adele were my Giver, she would get it. She knows how lovely it is to be attractive, despite how much unhappiness it costs to be. It's sick and awful, and I don't ever remember feeling this way.

Artemis reacts exactly the way I had expected him to.

"And why the hell would you want that?" he responds curtly. I look at his angry and annoyed face.

"Because today at the meeting, they told me I needed to," I say with a quivering lip. Artemis looks at me for a second and says, "Listen, I could do this for you. But I don't want to. I absolutely do not want to. You are beautiful and great and just right."

His earnest face catches me off guard and I suddenly remember how much fun we had in Nimes and all of the things we’ve shared together. And I remember that I trust him. And I trust what he says. So I whisper, "You're right, I guess."

"I'm always right," he says with feigned arrogance and I swat his shoulder.



We arrive at the apartment with sand in our shoes and I immediately just want to lie down and rest. The Giver sits on the couch and I follow suit and sit next to his lanky frame. "Let's do something normal," I say and lean over to get the remote.

Artemis smiles wryly as I lie down and extend my legs onto his lap. He gives me this kind of annoyed glance and glances down and I realize that I have just crossed one of those boundaries we established earlier. But because we are too embarrassed and too comfortable, he says nothing and I don't move.

I'm flipping through channels when I see a flash of my face and immediately change it back. It's a celebrity news program. Artemis sits up and says, "Hey! You're on!"

We sit still with big goofy grins on our faces and listen. "Hattie Hutchinson, star of Irving Thompson's new and sure-to-be masterpiece, February, has been spotted with her costar, Jude Armstrong on several occasions. But her mother has something to say about that! Our reporter caught up with Bethany Hutchinson in Tulsa, Oklahoma and when asked about what she thought of her daughter's famous beau, she replied with, 'That's ridiculous. Hattie is dating a lovely boy named Artemis. In fact, they're getting married soon. So stop believing everything you hear. Leave my little girl alone!'"

Artemis and I stare in horror as a picture pops up. It's one my father had taken while we visiting. Everyone has been cropped out except for the Giver and I. We are standing in the hallway with our coats and scarves on, getting ready to venture out into the rainy city. Artemis has his hand in mine and we are both grinning from ear to ear.

"Merde," Artemis curses under his breath.

So much for boundaries.