South Side SunSet (GirlxGirl)

Curiosity (7)

"Normani... who is Ryder Garner?"

I layed in bed, on my side of the room, facing Normani with my head resting on the palm of my hand as she typed away on her laptop.

She narrowed her eyes and quickly shot me a glance. "Where you hear that name?"

"Lauren mentioned him when I was with Daisy earlier at the pool."

She took a minute, then proceeded to shrug her shoulders. "Honestly, I have no idea. I've heard Lauren speak about him rarely, and when she does, it's brief. She said he was some child they found, but that was it. Truthfully, who ever that is, seems to be Elite business only.

"If he's just some child, why keep him a secret?"

She quit typing briefly to look at me, uncertainty written in her eyes. "Why are you so curious about this? Just... Don't worry about it. I'm sure that what ever the issue may be, the Elites have it all under control."

If the Elite's were hiding him, would that mean that he was somehow special? Did he have anything to do with Austin? Or even Leo?

Well, yeah, if a child goes missing it becomes an extremely important issue. So maybe at the end of the day, I was probably just overthinking this.

She gave me a reassuring smile, and I took it by smiling back. But In the back of my mind, I couldn't help but ponder about what other things these guys tend to hide from everyone else.

--

I tossed and turned all night. I felt in a constant discomfort, just thinking about this place. Its meaning. Its people.

I thought maybe I couldn't catch some sleep simply because I was in a new strange place that I didn't know very well. But I've lived as different people, in different places, doing jobs that were always strange and uncomfortable to me. Therefore, that wasn't a reason.

But when my mind drifted back to The Elites for the thousandth time that night, I understood the reasons for my lack of sleep.

The Elites, who were very well trusted and better trained than anybody else in here, feel quite odd to me. Barely anyone knows about them, and on top of that, they act extremely hostile towards anyone who is not them.

From my time working for Austin, only folks with vibes as mysterious as The Elites, had the darkest and deepest secrets.

And even Daisy felt odd to me now. She had the same aura to her as every other Elite.

I felt like they were hiding something. And i'm willing to find out, for my sake.

And I was going to start by finding out who Ryder Garner is and what's so special about him.

I stood up from my bed, slipped on the sneakers they had provided for me, and quietly made my way out of the room. I grabbed my Key Card, and slipped it inside my pocket before closing the door behind me, making sure not to wake Normani up.

I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. For all I know, this might actually just be a disastrous idea, but right now my brain wasn't telling me anything productive. In fact, it was telling me to follow my gut.

And my gut wanted me to do selfish things. Such as find out things that might not concern me.

Curiosity killed the cat, yes. But satisfaction brought it back.