Straitjacket

[11] Sage

When Nicole sees that I am awake and observing her conversation, her lips thin and all humor is wiped from her expression. When I was thirteen and not insane, it would have upset me deeply to have a terrifying enemy like her for no real reason. Now, I simply don't care.

Jake pulls me out of bed but, instead of completely carrying me like he has been, he sets me gently on my feet in an attempt to help me walk, hooking his huge left arm under my arms so I am off to his side and not in his way. This results in my feet dragging on the floor behind us since my legs are still exhausted from yesterday, but he never once holds me like a baby.

Nicole chatters on and on about how strange our current situation is and what a groundbreaking discovery we have made, as if we kidnapped the aliens and not the other way around. "I mean, of course, they already found some long-dead bacteria in a Mars rock or whatever a couple decades ago," she reminds us, "but this is something else entirely. This is revolutionary."

Jake nods slightly, not really paying attention. He is casting his gaze around the hallway we are walking through and finally asks, interrupting Nicole mid-sentence, "Where exactly are we going?"

The humor is wiped from Nicole's face once more due to this interruption. Her pseudo-chipperness is almost immediately restored, however. "We're heading to Deirdre's room. It's closest to the cafeteria. Xavier and I went there to eat last night."

The Voice slips into the mental driver's seat and I ask dryly, "Why are you, like, besties with your daddy's drug dealer?"

Nicole sighs at this but more out of annoyance than actual anger. "You're really nosy."

"It's not me, it's the voices," I trill, embarrassed but unable to control myself. The Voice has been so quiet for so long - hours, in fact - but now she's having her fun.

"There are no voices. Just you and your crazy-ass self," Nicole retorts disdainfully, plastering on a sympathetic smile as soon as Jake glances at her.

"Pity me again and I'll rip your spleen out, sweetheart," I warn her cheerily as we stop at another automatic door and it slides open to reveal a sleeping Deirdre. She yawns, waking up quickly at the soft whir of the doors.

"It's hard to fall asleep here," she comments, stretching and yawning once more. "The lights are always the same and I can't tell when it's day or night."

Jake and Nicole nod in agreement, but I am just confused by this. Why have I not had trouble falling asleep? What's wrong with me? I haven't even considered the fact that the lack of light change would be the cause of the others' sleeplessness. Maybe it's another small pro to having the Voice in permanent residence.

"How much of the spaceship have you explored, exactly?" Jake asks Nicole. She seems pleased that he's finally paying attention to her.

"Well, this hallway makes a square. A huge square, but still just a square. In this small section, we each have our own bedroom - they all look exactly the same - placed the same distances from each other. There's also the cafeteria."

"We should go grab some breakfast," Jake decides upon being reminded of this. "Sound good, Sage?"

"Did you know that on October 31, I killed my seventh-grade history teacher?"

"You're so sick," Nicole mutters, grabbing Deirdre's hand and dragging her to the door. Deirdre yanks her hand back and snarls like an angry dog.

"Not as sick as you," the child retorts, using the typical "I know you are, but what am I?" tone of voice, except she is standing up for me instead of herself. Nicole rolls her eyes as if she is talking to an exceptionally stupid child, while Deirdre is anything but.

"Listen, I have tried to be the good guy here," she starts, frustrated.

"No, you've tried to make allies out of all of us but Sage because you think we'll be useful. You know how awesome with guns I am, so you want me on good terms with you. I find it odd that Xavier would be so close to you, but my guess is that he either feels guilty for what he's done and wants to make it up to you for redemption or maybe he just wants a friend, so you're taking advantage of him either way. Jake is pretty cute and he's really strong, not to mention that he's the most normal, so you want to date him and use him. Sage is useless in your eyes because she can't even walk and doesn't fight with weapons. She seems weak and powerless. But I think she's very valuable because she can annoy people really well and killed so many people and isn't scared of anything."

The dissection of Nicole's thoughts sounds so utterly out of place coming from the mouth of a nine-year-old, not to mention insanely mature. We all stare at her in silence, Nicole's face turning red as a tomato, as Deirdre walks over and takes my left hand in a show of whose side she's on. Then, Jake and Deirdre begin walking off unsteadily down the hall, me sandwiched between them, leaving Nicole fuming in the room behind us.

"Does she really want to date me?" Jake asks us quietly.

Deirdre and I look at each other and break into insane laughter.