BORROWED [Watty Awards Finalist/NEWLY EDITED!]

Chapter Twelve

|Chance|

They didn't lie when saying packets would be ready the next morning, bright and early. There's a row of girls lining the hallway, disappearing all the way around the corner, a terrifying maze. Bianca fidgets next to me, cracking her knuckles over and over again.

"What if I get stuck with kitchen duties?" Her voice rattles every syllable.

I look over at her, feeling sorry that she's affected much more than I am. "You don't want to be stuck with Fern?"

Bianca demonstrates a dramatic shiver with her entire body, shaking her hands at her sides. "Please don't mention that name! That woman gives me the creeps."

"You and me both," I say exaggeratedly.

The line dwindles down as girls take their assignment packets and head to breakfast. Bianca is next. She looks back at me, waving her hand briefly through the air. She mouths, "Wish me luck!" I give her thumbs up.

A chubby-faced Borrower holds out my packet next, eyeing me up and down. He nudges his comrade next to him. "Look who we have here," he says.

I push out my hand, grasping onto the manila folder, trying to yank it from his grip.

He pulls it away, holding it in the air, taunting. "It's the infamous two – four – two!"

Goosebumps creep up my arms. I look behind me at the bored girls, yawning and stretching their arms behind their backs and above their heads. I'm afraid of what this Borrower will expose about me to the rest of them.

Staying calm, I stare back down at him. "Please give me my assigned duties," I say.

"Was it you that killed Jackson?" he says out of the blue.

A memory of that night flashes in my mind. Multiple gunshots, blood splattering all over me while Jackson's lifeless eyes lost light. The way he took his final breath, lying limp against my shoulder. It's too much to rehash. Shaking away this image, I swallow the lump in my throat. With as much force as I can conjure, I lean forward and yank the packet from the Borrower's hand.

"You handicapped bitch!" he stands, reaching for his baton, ready to knock away my left crutch. The Borrower next to him slams him back down into his seat.

"Leave her be! We're not to harm the Borrowed, remember?" he says, controlling his comrade from acting on his rage.

With his teeth clenched together, he snarls, "Get her out of my sight."

"Get to breakfast, no turning back," the Borrower orders. "Do not mention this incident to anyone." He proceeds to look behind me at the remaining girls. "None of you mention this or extra duties will be administered!"

Hugging my folder against my crutch, I move past the table and make my way toward the cafeteria. Immediately, I spot Bianca sitting next to the redhead from last night. They're looking through their own folders without exchanging words. I walk up to the table, taking a seat, slamming my folder down, and letting my crutches fall loudly to the floor.

Bianca looks up at me shocked. "What the heck took you so long?"

I exaggerate a sigh. "A little mix up with the assigned duties, that's all." More like a mix up with a Borrower.

She holds her papers in the air. "I have to cater to those thugs." Bianca lays her forehead against the table's surface. "I hate my life."

"You can say that again," I say. "So what do they have you doing?"