Number Seven

Chapter 4

I'm awoken by something loud. Just when I choose to ignore it, the sound rebounds in my ear, and I decide that there is no point in trying to dream away this horrible nightmare I'm living in. My eyes adjust to the hallway lights streaming in from the top of the door before crossing someone's presence. I lean on my elbow, shifting all of my weight to my right. He turns to the side acknowledging my consciousness and continues digging through his luggage.

"What are you doing here?" I grumble like a half-asleep grizzly bear. "I thought you left...for good," I say, disappointment covering my words like sour frosting.

"What makes you think that?"

I sigh. It's way too early for this conversation. "The whole boy-girl situation going on."

I pinch the bridge of my nose and rub my fingers across my face. The first things I see are a pair of legs in black trousers. My vision scrolls up and finds him towering over me with his hands in the pockets of his slacks. "I thought I already told you that the Coordinators don't make mistakes. So, you're stuck with me," he says, head tilted ever so slightly.

An unexpected laugh bounces out of my mouth causing the corners of my lips to turn. "The 'Coordinators' didn't set this up," I explain, throwing my arm out. His playful expression vanishes into something a little more serious as he waits for the rest of my answer. "The Founder did."

He lifts a brow and stares at the half-asleep person propped up on her elbow with a newfound joy splashed across her face. He then gives out a small scoff and shakes his head, walking away from the craziness that I am. "Yeah, right. I think you're still dreaming over there, Forty-nine."

"I'm serious!" I proclaim in a quiet tone. "I went down to Building C and had one of them look up my barcode—or whatever. She said she didn't have the clearance to change it and told me the Founder had especially paired us together," I explain, using finger quotes.

"I doubt that," he says, facing me from afar.

"Is it really that hard to believe?"

"Yes," he retorts.

A disappointed sigh leaves my soul as I roll out of bed. "Alright then, fine. Go find out for yourself." My hand gestures to the door beside me before my eyes latch onto something on the floor beside my bed. "What's that?" I question, squinting my eyes and utilizing the dim light in the room to the best of my ability.

"Uniform," he breathes out. I give him a questionable look as my eyes switch from the clothes in my hands to his face. "We wear it when we're not training and attending other things. So instead of the sweatpants, you wear at dinner, you're supposed to be wearing those. It kinda comes with the whole 'boarding school' aspect."

"What do you mean other things?" He stares at me for a moment, unsure of how to answer at first.

"Like, uh—speech classes, self-behavior classes, leadership..." His voice disappears quickly as he sees the everchanging expression of confusion sink into my face. "What buildings do you go to during the day?" he mentions.

"D and this one."

His brows push against one another in hopes to find the solution to whatever problem is floating about in his head. "What do you do in this building?"

"Combat." His expression almost goes blank in the dimly lit room and we're left staring at each other in the awkward air. Then he starts laughing.

Like a lunatic.

I'm bewildered at how the mood managed to change so drastically in such a short period of time. While I'm giving him crazy eyes he tries to catch his breath and bury the laughter. "So...they paired me with a psychopath," I sigh.