Refinement: A War of Europe

Chapter Seventeen: East: Pity None

 Anya~ East (Russia)                        

I yawned and pulled my covers up to my chin. Then I turned to my side and almost screamed.

"Lauren... what are you doing?" I asked.

"You didn't lock your door last night.  You couldn't see remember? I was going to wake you up. Jace brought us back our breakfast rations," Lauren said.

I pulled down the covers and rolled out of bed. I looked down and winced, "Lauren... I'm wearing the same clothes."

"Change them later. Not enough time now," she said with a stern face.

I glared at her, slid my door open, and followed her out the door.

The common area was chaotic. Everyone was up. There was an intense argument going on in the middle concerning Richard  and a girl who I hadn't met yet.

Sticking close to the wall as we could I followed Lauren down a corridor and into a room. Inside the room the yellow lights hurt my eyes for the first few seconds, but then readjusted. Inside were some my friends, Jace, Mathen, Eryn, and Sam.

I hopped onto the bed and leaned back against a pillow. "Whose room is this?"

"Mine," Jace answered. He reached over and handed me a plate.

I picked up a piece of warm toast and bit into it. The strawberry taste was lovely. It wasn't the first time I'd had it here, but each time the food surprised me with its taste. I still wasn't used to my food switch. My tongue was still stuck on the random scraps of food I used to eat. The thought made me shudder as I remembered my illegal career and finding my best friend dead.

"Want to start studying?" Mathen asked. Breaking the silence.

"Sure..." Sam sighed, "Let's get going."

"Today's section is?..." I questioned. I made a note to myself to remember to ask Steph where we find out what the daily schedules were.

"Pity and Compassion. Not the action of it, but the action of not doing so. It's horrid. They don't want us to care for the hurt like we should. I guess East prefers psychopaths," Lauren said with a bitter frown.

Pity and compassion both come from caring for others. I felt like I'd been stabbed because I knew it wouldn't be that hard for me. I had a selfish heart which only cared for those very close to me. I didn't want the be portrayed that way though. I was scared for others to see me as I was, the bad parts at least.

"Here's the books," Sam said as she laid out seven thick hard-backs.

"Lovely," I mused sarcastically.  The books looked like they had been used a bit.

"So. We've got to divide these up," Eryn paused and ran his finger along the books. "There is: "Perfecting Emotion" by Karen Minskoff, "Killing off Your Mental Weakness" by Aveth Justneen, "Curing Diseased Feelings" by Lillian Flandrect,  "Compassion and Pity at the Source" by Wilam Droldger, and "Building your Barriers: A Guide of Reason" by Entity Olivine."

"I don't care. Just hand me any of them. I'm sure they're all equally as dull," I said. I smiled and put out my hand to receive the pick.

"Okay, Anya," Eryn muttered. He looked over them again and then chose one. 

His icy fingers felt incredible on my hand as he placed the book on them. I drew back to my spot and looked at which one he had given me. It was "Compassion and Pity at the Source" by Wilam Droldger.

Sam quickly grabbed "Killing off Your Mental Weakness" by Aveth Justneen. She sat down against the wall and looked at it excitedly. She brushed some loose hairs from her face and flipped through to a random spot.