Lucky Sevens Sunday Snippet - Unequal pg 17

Hello again.  I think we'll have a couple other blogs playing today, but I'll have to come back later and insert the links.  (ETA: The first of the links is below.)  For now, you just have me...

I was going to do another bit of Djinnocide, but then I realized every 7 page had spoilers and it got worse the farther I got into the book, so I had to go a different way. Today's installment of the Lucky Sevens Sunday Snippet comes from a book I haven't quite finished yet, but that I'm totally in love with.  It's a dystopian set in the U.S. at a time when it's a crime to be what the government considers 'Unequal'.  Rue Logan's about as Unequal as they get, but so far, she's done a pretty good job hiding herself.  In this scene, the jig is finally up.

Here's page 17 of 'Unequal'...

Rue swallowed hard.  That was her first mistake.  By the time she found the words she wanted to say, it was already too late for any lie to seem like the truth.

“What are you talking about?” she said, trying in vain when she knew it was pointless.  “I came down here to get…”  The excuse dried up in her mouth as the man flicked on her little bedside lamp.

“This isn’t any place the hospital employees are likely to come.  Not unless they already knew what was here.  Or unless the person who’s residing here told you to come down.”  He picked up Rue’s journal and flipped through a couple pages.  “The person who wrote this doesn’t seem likely to let anyone in on her little secret.”

“I don’t know what…”

“Let’s cut to the chase, Logan.  You’re not in your assigned housing, eating your assigned meals.  You’re not thinking your assigned thoughts and you’re reading books that ought to be way beyond your skills.  Hell, some of these things are way beyond my skills, and I’m definitely not Equal.”

His words fell like hammer blows until his final admission.  “You’re not…”

“I’m not.”

“Then you’re…”

“Unequal?”  He shrugged.  “I guess I am, but I don’t like to use the terms they use.  I’m just a person, similar to you, but exactly like you.”

He set her journal down.  “Sorry for touching your things without permission, but I had to see if you were who we heard you are.”

“I don’t understand.  Who did you hear I was and who did you hear it from?”

Who else is with me?  The rules are simple:  Go to any '7' page within the manuscript of your choosing - be it pg 7, or pg 27, or pg 207 - find a snippet you'd like to share and post it - either in comments here or on your own blog.

And if you play along, please let me know.  Also, link back here so everyone can see where this thing got started.  Thanks.

Playing Along:

Janet Corcoran over at Janet's Journal.
Keith over at Keith's Odyssey to Planet Fitness.