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I stopped dead in my tracks, slightly hurt that Memphis would think this was a good idea and even more hurt that he would think I'd be okay with this. Dread pumped through me, and all the blood felt like it was leaving my body.

"No, Memphis, I — I can't," I said truthfully, thinking of my family. Images of Pa, Gran, Pop, Auntie, and Uncle all floated through my head. They were smiling warm and bright, but at the thought of the Outside, their expressions morphed to sneers and icy glares.

Air troubled to enter my lunges, and the world started to turn into a foggy haze. The unforgiving sun was no longer the only cause of my overheating. It was like the Border was closing in on me, shrinking, until it was about to consume me up with it.

I raised you better than that, Sage Whitmore, Pa's voice shouted, torturing me.

Oh, my little flower, Gran cried out in agony, a Gran should never have to put her grand-baby to rest.

RULE 01: IF YOU CROSS THE BORDER, YOU ARE AS GOOD AS DEAD.

The golden, cardinal rule swirled around in my head, like an unshakable nightmare. Stop, I wanted to scream, as years and years of my conditioning were latching on to my every thought.

This was suicide — there was no way to convince me otherwise.

Bile started to rise in the back of my throat, and I took a step back.

"Memphis, this is crazy — crazy even for you — which is saying a lot," Gracie seemed uncertain, and I was glad to have someone with the same mindset....even if it was Gracie. "I know I said I wanted to leave the other day, but I haven't for a reason: my brother. I'm all he has. I can't let him be tossed to some uptight family who doesn't want him."

"Look, I know this is scary," Memphis tried to calm us down before any of us could object again, but he was unnaturally cool about this. "But my Ma told me that things are about to get bad, like really bad."

"I knew it!" Si muttered to himself.

Memphis always had this charming arrogance about himself; it came with him almost always getting what he wanted. It was admirable to see him think he was invincible, but right now, it looked horrifying.

For Memphis to think we could successfully go to the Outside and back was ridiculous. I know I always had the inkling that he'd done it many times before, but this was different. This felt so different.

He wasn't just putting himself in danger, he was trying to get us all killed.

"What do you mean?" Si asked after collecting his thoughts, scratching at his budding beard, seeming to not be as surprised as Gracie and I were.

He closed his eyes, took a breath, and began. "Eva Longshire is the tip of the iceberg. The Outsiders are starting a campaign to get over the Border. It doesn't stop there, though. Many people inside want the Border demolished, and Ma has been saying that even some of the witches casting the protection spell are starting to believe the same. The Council is deliberating tonight, and it's likely we won't even get the option to leave the Borderlands anymore. They need as many people on their side as they can get."

My heart constricted at his words, and I shut my eyes to try and grip my bearings. Freedom was limited in the Borderlands — a small price to pay — but it irked me that they could force us to stay. That couldn't be right... could it?

We stayed inside to be protected from the beats Outside but what if there had been some beats among us all along?

"That's a nice speech, Memphis, but how would we get back in?" Gracie crossed her hands over her chest, shaking her head in disapproval, but I could sense her ease into his words.

Her shoulders relaxed, and her face was clear of worry. Instead, she exuded curiosity.

"I'm glad you asked. Tunnels. My family has been using them for eighty years," he smirked with an unnatural amount of pride. "They have yet to fail me, but it's the last time I'll be able to use them for the foreseeable future."

"Doesn't that mean Outsiders can get in? How could—" Si questioned in the conversation, not looking too confident.

"—No, but I see why you would think that. I have family on the Outside — well-connected family. They have enlisted powerful witches to place an enchantment spell on the entrance, so no mythical creature can cross. It's held up for eighty years."

"Okay, details aside, what exactly are we going to do on the Outside anyway?" I questioned, as we started walking again, Memphis continuing to keep his lead. Secretly, I was hoping there would be an easy out, wishing his reasoning would be faulty and that would all just be something we'd joke about in the future.

"We're going to Midnight Mercury, only the hottest bar in all of the Outside."

We carried on walking in silence. There was nothing more that needed to be said. It was big news to grasp: going to the Outside. Part of me was scared but another part of me, no matter how much I suppressed it, was excited. I would have put a stop to this immediately, but the news Memphis gave us just didn't sit right with me. More importantly, I couldn't stay behind when I knew Memphis, Si, and Gracie would be going to the Outside; they needed at least one rational person with them.

I hoped my family would understand.

I knew this was wrong. It felt like a dark shadow was lurking around me, but I couldn't bring myself to speak up any further. The words were getting lost in my throat.

The dirt path we were following led to some of the more affluent houses. Houses outfitted with big columns that served no purpose other than a statement to look at them in awe. Most everyone lived in houses built eighty years ago; these houses were no different, but they were more recently updated, something you wouldn't miss when you passed by.

On our journey, Memphis eventually veered to the left as we wandered through some uncharted forestry that I had never stepped foot in. I usually had no reason to be on this side of town. It was the Western side, the more protected side. My sense of adventure was severely lacking.

Trees towered over us, making me feel like an ant. Moss covered almost every inch of the dark bark, leaking onto the floor beneath. My feet dug into the moss, leaving footprints every couple of steps I took.

"Should I have worn shoes?" I asked as I realized I probably would not fit in as someone on the Outside.

Growing up, I never really imagined living on the Outside. I was perfectly comfortable here, inside. Even as Ma was dragged over the line, I never felt a call to leave, never had a curiosity as to what lurked beyond our humble Borderlands.

The Outside had amenities like air conditioning and ice cream that I could only dream of. We were cut off from electricity and these modern marvels, as the Outside's act to break us down so that we would simulate back into their society.

The Council was not happy when they learned of this, or so it is told, so instead of trying to be innovative, the Council all agreed we should revert to a simpler lifestyle. Growing up this way, I knew no different and often did not agonize over not having indoor plumbing or electricity. But did I think that way or was that the way they wanted me to think?

My mind was clouded.

"Don't worry, my Cous on the outside has us covered," he responded, as we came up to a rusting fence.

Carefully pulling himself over, we all followed suit. It wasn't until we made it over the fence did I realize where we were. The big, monstrous trees of the Borderlands had prohibited me from getting a good look at my surroundings before.

We were at one of the old cell towers, left untouched for decades. The tower, big and steel, did not look like it belonged here. Moss grew up all over the side, eating away at it. A remnant of what this land was like before. A remnant of what it will never be in the future.

Walking over and underneath it, Memphis removed a lump of shrubbery to reveal a hidden latch door. He motioned for us to come over, and we did, one by one.

There was a drop-down once you entered into the secret passage. The tunnels were rough and crumbly, safety did not seem to be the biggest priority when carving them out. With Memphis in the lead, in single file, we cautiously walked through the tunnels his ancestors had dug out.

The dirt was rough on my feet, harsh and jarring from not having many travelers grace its path. Darkness surrounded us, and we were forced to trust Memphis. Rubble would rain down from up above, and I was sure I had dirt dandruff by now.

Some of the dirt latched onto me, and I was hoping that we could at least refresh ourselves before we made our debut appearance to the Outside. Selfishly, I did not want the Outside to look down upon us Borderlanders. I knew we got a bad reputation out there, and it made me swell with resentment.

I didn't know how much further we walked until Memphis abruptly stopped, the sound of him rustling through his pockets echoing in the tunnel. Metal clashing together filled my ears, and suddenly I was blinded with light.

The Outside.

A waft of cold air was the first thing to greet me, my shoulders falling back. Air conditioning. It was better than I imagined, the air so cold and refreshing, especially after emerging from the musty tunnels.

"Hello, cousin," a chipper voice welcomed, as we were corralled into a room.

The room was filled with artificial light, a yellow tinge projecting on the white, crisp walls. Electricity. It was a small room, lined with shelves and cans.

"Hey, Cous, this is Si, Gracie, and Sage," Memphis motioned over to us.

"Oh, happy birthday, Sage," the redhead came bouncing up to me extending her hand for a handshake. She was at least a foot shorter than Memphis, but she held the same smirk as him. It was unsettling.

Her ears were covered in piercings, and her arm was covered in tattoos. Only old residents of the Borderlands still had piercings and tattoos from the past, but they tried their best to hide them or remove them completely.

"Are you sure I can't tweet about this or at least make an Instagram post?" she turned around, eyes shining with amusement. The words she was using were so foreign to me I couldn't even begin to imagine what they meant.

"No one can know we're from the inside the Border," Memphis shot back.

"But I know," she said back, smugly.

"You're my annoying younger cousin. You don't count," he huffed, not easily getting his way. It was interesting to see Memphis squirm a little.

"I was hoping you wouldn't say that. I already told Jess about it. She knew about you, so I didn't think it would cause any harm if I told her about you and your friends. She won't tell anyone, though," Memphis' cousin spouted out a little sheepishly.

"Natasha," Memphis sighed, "drinks are on you tonight."

"Yeah, yeah, you don't have our currency anyway, genius. Now," she looked ripe with a plot, "it is for the fun part. You guys — no offense — look like you crawled out of the past's ass, so we're going to have to fix that. And maybe clean you guys up because you all smell. Again, though, no offense. So, come, follow me."

We followed her through the room we were in, up to two flights of stairs, and into another room. The room was navy blue and was covered in pictures — none of which I could recognize. In the middle of the room stood a ginormous bed, covered in a million pillows. My body itched to jump onto it; I had never seen something so inviting before.

To the side of the room was a desk that was fitted with a mirror. Products lay all over the desk, and Natasha guided us over to follow her.

"So, we don't have time for you all to shower before we go. I'm sorry, you won't get to experience the wonders of a hot shower, but Midnight Mercury gets overrun with Supernaturals later in the night, and I didn't think you'd want to stick around that long. So a lot of cologne and perfume will be needed."

And the madness began.

Natasha misted us all with fine-smelling perfume and cologne as promised before letting us quickly wash off our faces and feet. She had different outfits laid out for us to choose from. I picked a pair of pants and a basic tank top.

I had never worn pants before. They were hard to sew yourself, and they were expensive to buy. It was a struggle to get the pants on, but I liked the security of knowing I wouldn't have to worry about my dress flying up. To top it off, I picked out a sparkly pair of sandals.

Wearing shoes felt so odd and constraining. Many people in the Borderlands didn't own a single pair, myself included. I sucked in a breath, tonight was going to hold a lot of firsts and hopefully lasts. My skin crawled at the thought of being trapped out here forever.

Meanwhile, Gracie had gone for a form-hugging dress and a pair of sneakers. We had both tried on a pair of heels, but they had us falling to the floor in seconds. Both Si and Memphis wore a pair of jeans and a button-up. Us Borderlanders sure did clean up nicely. However, no matter how hard I budged, Si would not shave his uneven beard off.

Quickly, Natasha had put a little bit of makeup on both Gracie and me. From what I could understand, she put a bit of mascara, highlight, and a shimmery eyeshadow on me. Looking in the mirror, I almost couldn't recognize myself.

The top half of my blonde hair was pulled into a bun. To me, I looked like someone from the future, but I guess I was living in the future, in the Outside. Realization still hadn't fully hit that we had left the Borderlands, and I wasn't about to let it sink in now — I wasn't about to let it ruin my birthday. However, I did plan to yell at Memphis once this was all over and we were safely back home.

"Who's ready to get drunk?" Natasha smiled when her transformations had been complete.