I awoke to find myself laying down. I kept my eyes shut, just listening. I heard voices all over the place. People were throwing out instructions from all the stories. I felt a cool cloth press down on my face, and my eyes snapped open when it did.
I looked up to see Erin. Her hair was all messed up. There were tangles everywhere, and she had a little pink scratch on her face, streaking across her right cheek. She studied me wearily as she pushed the cool cloth on my forehead.
I shifted my eyes. We were in an open room, on base floor. The room had no doors. It was just connected to the kitchen. There were no boundaries indicating the separation between the rooms. A gasp escaped my lips as I focused in on what I was seeing.
Papers were everywhere. Books had been thrown off their bookcases and on to the floor. Battle plans had been swept everywhere. This place looked like a tornado had hit it.
I blinked. "What happened?" My voice was hoarse, and I wondered how long I was out. I cleared my throat.
Erin sighed. "We were attacked."
"By what? "
"I told you not to talk," Erin spit suddenly.
"What?"
She looked at me, her blue eyes fuming. "I told you to stop asking who Malevolo worked for!"
I gawked at her, my mouth wide open. "What- How was I supposed to know that we were going to get attacked?"
"Ugh, you are so irritating!" Erin tossed the wet cloth over her shoulder and covered her face with her hands.
I said nothing, just watched as she gathered herself together.
A few moments later, she uncovered her face. She looked away from me, staring at the floor. "Now everyone is going to think it's my fault."
I laid back. "No, they're not. You had nothing to do with it."
"But I was with you when it happened. I should have warned you about what you say. Words are very powerful here. They can cause real damage." She looked around the room, indicating what she meant. "That should have been the first thing I told you." She covered her face again and shook her head.
I was about to pat her on the shoulder to comfort her, but I decided against it. "Hey. Look. You didn't mean it. If anybody's to be blamed, it should be me. If Deon accuses you, I'll hold him hostage until he takes it back."
Erin uncovered her face. She looked at me like I was the stupidest person on earth. And then a reluctant smile spread across her face. She lightly punched me.
"Hey, you're not bad for a really irritating, really dumb, really stupid guy," Erin said.
"I'm not sure whether to take that as an insult or a compliment."
"Well, coming from me, I guess that's a compliment," Erin told me. "But don't think that changes anything between us," she warned me.
"Wasn't planning on it."
Erin stared at me for a moment. I suddenly felt self-conscious, but I ignored it. She cocked her head slightly, her blue eyes studying me. I stared dumbly back. Her hair, even thought it was tangled, looked amazingly pretty to me. I thought I would start drooling pretty soon, so I adverted my eyes. Erin cleared her throat and looked away also.
Suddenly, she stood up, facing the opposite direction. I tried to see around her body. I caught a quick glimpse at Billy. His hair was tangled like Erin's, but not so much. He had no marks on his body, unlike Erin again.
