"I think she's awake."
"Shh, shuck-face. You might wake her up!"
"But I just sai-"
"Bloody hell, Winston! What did I just say?"
I rubbed my eyes, confused. Two boys had woken me up because they were yelling. As my vision cleared, I saw two boys gaping at me, and I scrambled back, towards the wall that I presumed was there. Instead of hitting the hard surface, I fell off the bed, and kept going backward until I hit a wall. I sat against it, breathing hard. The boys looked startled, shocked at my reaction. I had nothing to protect myself except the blanket I had taken with me when I went down. I gripped the fabric hard, wishing it was a knife. Or something sharp. Or sturdy at all. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
My eyes popped open when I heard chuckling, the opposite of what I was expecting to hear. I stared at the floor, not wanting to make any more eye contact than what was necessary.
"Where- where am I?" My voice was shaking. I noticed that my hands were, too. My eyes met a distressed pair of pants, then a shirt. The chocolatey brown eyes that were caring yet distant that were also confusedly looking into mine belonged to this awkwardly tall body. He shifted toward me, but I gripped the blanket tighter and shoved myself against the wall. He held his hands out in defense, and backed away.
"Got a name, love?" His hands worked with him, expressing his words. The other boy stood in silence, working his hands through his hair. Bad acne, I noticed.
My eyes searched every corner of the room. I'm not sure what I looking for. A way out. An exit door. I bit my lip. I didn't know where I was or who these boys were. I didn't want to give them the only bit of information I remembered.
Speaking of things I remembered, there wasn't much to tell. My only memories were my name, waking up, and this room. Otherwise that, it was all a blur. People, no faces. Things, no places. No names. Only me. This room. I searched every corner of my mind. I needed to have some memories, right? I was a human being that was old enough to have some kind of recollection about the world. I knew things, but I couldn't tell you where I learned them. I just knew that 2+2=4 and C-A-T spells cat.
The boy raised his eyebrows, questioning my incredibly long pause to answer his seemingly simple question. I stiffened my back. "Where am I?" I asked, trying to sound indignant but failing miserably. He chuckled, which surprised me. He looked like someone who wouldn't even laugh at the very best of jokes.
"I'm Newt, and here's Winston. Now, care telling us your name?" I looked down again. I wasn't expecting him to just give me his name. I thought this was some sort of prison camp. Obviously not.
I opened my mouth, but quickly shut it. My name was all I had.
"You ready to get up?" I took a deep breath and let go of the blanket. It slowly slid off of me, and I stood up with slower pace. Both boys watched me with fascination. Once I was standing upright, I found myself almost as tall as Newt. Dusty sneakers and cargo pants covered my legs. I was wearing a comfortable and worn green t-shirt. My hair was tied up some sort of ponytail, which I tested by swinging my head back and forth a bit. I looked through glasses that could've used a cleaning, but when I took them off, I stumbled backward. After I was done with all of this, I followed the boys down a rickety staircase and out into a large open field.
The first thing I noticed was all of the people. Not a single girl in sight. All boys, working at different tasks. Four large stone walls squared the field off, and different areas contained different things. A small farm lie next to a large cement platform, with some machinery sticking out of one side and a large hole on the other. On the other side of the platform was a house that looked like it was made out of sticks. Half of the grass was covered in trees, enough to look like a forest. Right before the trees, there were some tables and a small shack. Newt said something to the boy and he nodded, running off. Now it was just him and I, walking toward the house of sticks. A lot of the boys dropped whatever they were holding as we walked past, staring at what I presumed was the only girl.
I was in too much shock to say anything. I had no idea where I was, no memories at all, but it looked like I had landed in a pretty stable area.
Eventually, We landed at the door of the house. Newt knocked, and someone opened it. The door was caught by a latch as a mop of hair and half a face looked out. The door then shut and reopened, this time without a latch. Inside, there were even more boys running around. This time they didn't stop to look at me. They looked far too busy. I followed Newt to a smaller room where 4 people were surrounding a table. They looked up, caught mid-argument.
"I'm telling you shank-" Newt cleared his throat, and everyone looked up, angry. One they saw me, they looked toward the boy at the head of the table. He was african-american, with the same worn out clothing as everyone. His eyebrows raised and he nodded at me. I shrank back.
Great, more people that I didn't know. Just what I need.
The boy beckoned toward newt, and Newt left my side, making me feel vulnerable. The other boys stared at me. There was about four of them. The kid who had great eyebrows and sharp features held his hand out. "I'm Minho." Startled by the gesture, I stumbled backward and fell. As I it the wood, he came rushing toward me.
"Are you okay?" I held my hand up and pushed my hand out.
"I'm fine." I picked myself off the floor, brushing the dirt off myself. I stayed pressed against the door, ready to escape if I needed to. I'm sure where I would go, but I didn't have a great idea of where I was. I didn't trust anything. Not just yet.
