G&T Based

Chapter 40- Marie

After the meal, I paid Faye, said goodbye, and walked out the kitchen. I almost immediately saw Louie, who caught my eye and began walking towards me.

"Do ya want to come to our apartment and check it out? It's much different than the others," he asked, pointing to what looked like a two story apartment on the opposite side of my family's apartment.

"Sure," I told him, starting to walk.

At the apartment, I pushed the door open and was met with a small entrance room no larger than a walk in closet. Only a small wooden coffee table stood in the tiny area.

"Not here..." Louie told me as he walked passed the room. Past the small entrance was a giant square room with light shining in from all sides. All three walls were made of glass, including the one that led to the kitchen. On one side of the room was a staircase, which I followed Louie up.

The stairs led to the first bedroom, which had all walls made of glass and shades drawn up on each wall. There was a small narrow passageway leading to another bedroom that seemed equally as big. I had no idea how something this big and beautiful could be hidden in such a dull place. In between the two rooms was a garden. A sliding door was built on one of the walls.

"Khione will be coming up in a second. You can meet her in the other room," Louie told me, pointing to the other bedroom. Knowing that I probably wouldn't be able to get out of this one, I sighed quietly and walked into the other bedroom. Louie gave me a subtle wink as he went back down the stairs.

Inside the room, I plopped myself down on a beanbag cushion and began to examine my surroundings. To be frank, the room was a total mess, with books and pieces of paper tossed everywhere. I picked up the nearest folded piece of paper and glanced at it.

It was just about how Khione made it into this gifted and talented program, blah blah blah. Couldn't things around here be more interesting?

Wait, what? I suddenly questioned myself. I grabbed the folded piece of paper and read over it again, this time word by word. The letter was basically a warning letter saying that the board of education wasn't responsible for anything that happened to her during the school year.

"OMG!" I said out loud, trying to slow my breath down and pace myself. I suddenly heard footsteps going up the stairs. As Khione walked into the room, she stared at me with a strange look of confusion which almost immediately transformed into shock.

"No..." she said out loud, "You didn't look at the letter, did you?"

I practically leaped out of the beanbag chair and gave Khione a giant hug. "You're going to join, are you?" I asked.

Khione awkwardly moved away from me and responded in a deflated voice, "No, I didn't really want to, but my dad's always about taking risks and trying new thing. He thinks that something like this would be good for me."

"So basically, he doesn't care if you die?" I questioned in my most sensible voice.

"Of course he cares about me!" Khione said, taken aback, "He even said that he would remove me from the program whenever I wanted to. It's not something permanent, you know."

"So... did you know who I was?" I asked, trying to change the conversation.

"I don't know," Khione responded, "You were never on TV like Kyle, Kate, and the others. Well now I know who you are. The closest I've been to someone in G&T is my cousin Amanda, a friend of Kyle's. We've been seeing each other every month."

For the rest of the afternoon, Khione and I talked, mostly about my G&T class, as our friendship starting to bloom. Finally, at 6:00, Louie came back up and called us out for dinner.

The two of us walked back to the main dining room where Faye greeted us. Many other people were already seated in the creaky, wobbly tables around the room. Some of them had already begun to eat.

"This here's Drew," Faye told us, pointing a really tall guy standing next to her, "he just got hired not too long after you guys arrived." Khione and I waved politely at him. He was wearing a pair of light blue sunglasses, a plaid button-down shirt, and a pair of sweats. He didn't look much older than we were.

Khione winked at him as he walked back into the kitchen with Faye. I was almost sure that Drew winked back under his sunglasses. "Don't you think he's cute?" Khione asked me.

"Yeah" I agreed, smiling a little.

As we were eating our meal of lasagna and salad, Drew kept on walking past us and smiling. Khione was blushing a deep red and I kept wondering if my face was looking the same way. Finally, after the entree, slices of blueberry pie were brought up for dessert. My dad quickly sent my pie back for something else because I was allergic to blueberries.

I excused myself to the bathroom while waiting. On the way, I bumped into Faye, who was bringing in a coconut macaroon. "I hope you like it," Faye said to me, setting it on my table.

When I came back from the bathroom, the buzzing sound of laughter and chit-chat had disappeared. The room was completely silent and everyone was looking at my table. Faye and Drew were both in the corner of the room, looking shaken up. Drew was shaking his head back and forth.

As I walked closer towards our table, I saw the same fat ginger cat from before laying belly up on top of my chair.