The Fringe

Chapter 11

Months. Three to be exact. We still haven't gotten our answers and we still haven't been able to find out what Markus and my mother are hiding. Markus keeps taking us to some training where they screen our reactions to see how we do with surprises. Ben and I have passed each test with flying colors and yet they still won't give us any insight as to why they are doing these tests, or what is going on.

The only word we have received is that Mayor Downy has managed to create a militia in order to protect the city against the Rebel force. Nobody else has bothered to try to join it because they don't even know what is going on. But she feels threatened still, to the point that she has even sent scouts out to try to find where we were.

After the morning's round of tests, we were finally dismissed and went straight to the dining hall and got our food then sat with our parents. I sat between mom and Alex and Ben sat across from me. Adam walked over and sat next to Ben, trying to get as close as possible to sitting directly in front of me, but Ben wasn't budging and I just shook my head.

"I can't believe after all this time, they still won't tell us anything." Ben scoffed and took a bite of his food.

I shrugged. "I don't know how much longer I can take of not having answers. We didn't escape the wrath of the Mayor and come all this way just to be held in a room and not told anything. And now these tests? What are they hiding from us? What is so damn important that they can't tell us what it is? Haven't we proved enough to these people?" I snapped and rest my chin on my palm.

"There is no new insight in the journals?" Ben asked. I shook my head.

"No, but she did mention something about having to be prepared again. That something like this was on the verge of happening yet again, and sooner than later. But there still isn't anything about why, or who. We're being blinded yet again by the same destruction as before, and no way of knowing how to help or even try to stop it. And I don't think they realize that time is starting to run out. According to her journals, they've been planning a second round even before the first started. I mean, who does that?" I sighed in frustration. Any move we needed to make was weighing down on the answers that we didn't have. Everything, everyone was counting on us and we couldn't deliver. We couldn't provide the assurance that we ourselves had been seeking.

Ben reached across the table and grabbed my hand. I looked at him, a little annoyed that he had bothered to touch me at all. Though I had admitted to Alex I made up my mind, I didn't admit it to him. At the same time, I was relieved. He was anchoring me down yet again when I was starting to drift away and needed to be pulled back. "We will get our answers soon. I promise." He told me and intertwined our fingers. I looked at him and nodded. I could feel everyone's eyes on us, but at the moment, nobody else existed.

When we finished eating, we walked back to the dorm and before I could walk into the room, Adam pulled me aside. "Okay, look. I can't take this anymore. You need to hear it from me, not Alex or while fighting with Ben. Directly from me. I love you, Finley. I have for the last two years. I can't sit back and watch you anymore. This whole thing with Ben, it's a mistake. I know you, Finley. I know what you are capable of, and I know that you can do anything that you set your mind to. So please, set your mind on me. I care, Finley. More than you think, more than you know! Just let me show you, prove to you, that I can be everything that Ben is and everything he can't be."

I shook my head. "You don't get it do you?" I rolled my eyes. "This isn't about who knows me, Adam. This isn't about you, and what you want. This isn't about us being friends or having known each other for years. This isn't about pissing anybody off, and trying to prove a point. There is a bigger picture here, and that picture doesn't include you, Adam. That picture includes me, Ben, Markus, my parents, and his parents. You can't prove anything to me, Adam. Because it's not you. It never has been you. Stop trying to win a match that you aren't even fighting in! It's not you, Adam! It never will be!"