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Chapter 28- One's Place

 Before things can get any worse, Sidney drags Alwin away from Jordan. She can still hear him muttering under his breath, "Traitor. Maybe we should've let you stay in jail."

Sidney stops midstep. Everything seems to pause for a minute. Jordan can't feel her lungs expanding, her eyes blank. Alex and Poppy are unusually quiet. Noah doesn't turn to look at the others like he usually does, but instead stares at the dirt beneath their feet. Sidney is the first to speak again.

"This isn't okay."

"What isn't? I'm just telling the truth." Alwin protests, defending himself.

"No, you're telling their truth. Not your truth. Not the truth."

"What does that even mean? This world has treated her just as well as everyone else. She has no reason to complain."

"That's not how the world works!" Sidney snaps, stomping as he approaches his house. "You might think so, but that doesn't mean it's true. Everyone has struggles and nothing is perfect. That includes this place. Besides, there's no reason to tear her down for what she thinks! People have the right to speak freely."

"Are you sure? Because you're doing the same thing to me right now. Doesn't really sound like free speech to me."

"Look, we're all in this together, whether you like it or not. We're all criminals. No one here is perfect. We're all flawed and we've all made mistakes. If one of us falls, the rest follow. We all know the illegal things we've done together."

"Speak for yourself," Alwin mutters. "I haven't done anything wrong."

"And even if you disagree," Sidney yells, raising his voice. "You can't disagree with the fact that there's no reason to put each other down. I don't know how many times I've had to tell you this, but we're all in it together. No matter what you think of someone else here, you don't treat them poorly for the sake of treating them poorly. We might as well support each other because no one else is going to do it."

"I agree," Noah pipes up, walking in stride with Sidney. "There's no point to this toxic behavior. What are you trying to prove? That you think you're better than her? So what?"

"Honestly," Alex says gravely, "I think I'm not the only one who has been judged everywhere I go. It'd be nice to escape that for a little bit. We're all different, sure, but we're all together. Different but together."

Sidney pauses on the porch to his house. His mind whirls loudly, and then he starts to speak. "We're like music. We're going to have some high notes and some low ones. Some will be out of tune while others will be perfect, priceless. Either way, though, at the end of the day, it'll all come together to make a beautiful song. Like us."

"How long did it take you to come up with that?" Alwin says snarkily.

Sidney wordlessly opens the door to his house and motions for the rest of them to enter. Riley speaks quietly so no one can hear her, no one but Jordan.

"I wish you guys didn't fight so much. It scares me. It hurts. I don't like it."

Riley pauses, almost expecting an answer, but no one replies except the emptiness inside her. In a haphazard fashion, they fall in line on the couch, chairs, and any flat surface available for sitting. Alex takes a whole couch to himself, stretching himself out like a common house cat. When anyone tries to sit near him, his glare sends them away. Only Poppy is brave enough to sit on him when he refuses to move.

"Okay, okay!" He yells, getting up. "That hurt! How heavy are you?"

"Oh, please," Poppy replies, laughing, "Stop being a baby. I don't weigh that much!"

"You sure about that?" He groans, rubbing his sides. "I swear, you might've broken a rib or two."

Riley plops herself down onto a rug and Sidney and Noah grab chairs from the connected kitchen. Alwin refuses to sit at first, choosing to haunt the bare corner of the living room. Finally, he moves and sits down on top of the kitchen table. Jordan watches and when everyone is settled, she ends up growing her roots next to Riley, joining her on the rug.

"Alwin," Poppy says from the couch, speaking for the first time since his comment earlier. "What is with you today? You're never like this. What's going on?"

"I'm..." He begins, but pauses in an attempt to collect thoughts. They fall and escape like stray cats, clawing at the carpet. "I'm... I'm scared." He looks down in shame.

"Why?" Poppy gently prods, pushing him to share his feelings.

"Because... because none of you seem to get the severity of Jordan ending up in jail. None of you seem to understand the consequences, and I do... and well, they're... terrifying. None of you have the slightest idea of what is coming."

"What is coming?"

"I... have a guess, but there's no point telling you. There's nothing any of you can do about it, and imagine if everyone was as worried as me. We'd be killing each other."

"Don't say that!" Riley yells, upset.

"He didn't mean it literally," Jordan tells her in reassurance. "He's just joking."

"How do you know that? You don't!"

"Relax kid," Alwin says from his perch on the table.

Riley bristles angrily, but doesn't say anything.

"You can't just tell us that and not expect us to want to know what you mean," Alex points out.

"Going to jail is serious," Alwin begins. "More than you realize. They know what we're up to. Anything you've done, they know about. So it's only a matter of time before they..."

Thoughts of the worst go through all their minds.

Riley asks, "Before what?"

Noah shakes his head and Alwin doesn't answer.

"I have one question," Poppy says, changing the topic slightly. "Why did Jordan go to jail?"

"They said it was because I didn't pay this month's taxes," Jordan mutters bitterly. "But I know they're not due yet."

"That's what I mean. Did anyone else have to pay their taxes early?"

"No," Sidney says, his mind going through his mental calendar. "It was due on the last day of the month, like always."

"It's the 16th. Last time I checked, no month has only sixteen days."

"You're right," Alex joins in. "That is odd. Do you think... that she was targeted? That this was for a reason?"

"Well, what reason could that be?"

"I can only guess..." Jordan sighs, "but maybe it's because I live alone. That's like... illegal right? For kids anyway? I don't really have a job and make my money from taking things from the dump."

"Why would they care about how you make your money?" Poppy asks.

"Because technically... everything in the dump is government property... meaning I make my money by stealing from them."

"But that's not what you're doing!" Riley protests. "You're just trying to make a living."

"So is everyone else, and if they're going to spin it against me, that's what they'll do."

"But why would they do that?" Poppy spectulates, thinking out loud. "Why bother?"

"Yeah, that's a lot of effort," Noah comments. "It's not like you're starting a revolution or killing people. You're just fixing things. What's the harm in that?"

"Maybe it's random," Alex suggests, sitting up for the first time. "Maybe they just chose you for no reason."

"That makes no sense!" Poppy mutters, "No, if anything, I think it was purposeful. Nothing here is random, at least, I don't think so anyway. Everything has a purpose. Where you live, what job you have, who you marry, all of that is for a reason, so why can't Jordan going to jail be for a reason too? The only question is... why?"