The Fence

Chapter 3: Grey

Grey gazes at Neveah, calculating himself. Neveah meets his eyes, unwavering.

"And if you weren't a part of the resistance, what do you think you would do?"

"I don't know."

Grey is clearly intrigued. "You don't know?"

"I don't want to do anything else, sir."

Grey places his chin in the palm of his hand, elbow on the table. "If you had to do something, anything, what would you do? If your life depended on it?"

Neveah's starting to be worn thin because his face flushes and his eyes flash. "I'm not sure. Work at my father's firm?"

"Is that a question?"

"Sir, do you think I can't handle the resistance?"

Grey smirks. "I think joining the resistance because a friend is there could cause you to lose focus of the ultimate goal. Besides, don't you think working at your father's firm is a cop-out? You don't want a job based on nepotism, do you?"

"If you admit me," Neveah mutters, trying to keep his voice level, "I'll prove that you're wrong. I haven't given any other jobs much thought because joining the resistance is all I want to do. I made a promise that I intend to keep."

Grey is typing quickly, but he pauses to nod to Neveah. "Good answer. I think that it's important to understand what you may be getting into. If your friend is significant enough to risk your life for, then I say follow your gut, but it won't be easy."

The flush from Neveah's face slowly fades away, and his eyes soften to show a degree of comprehension.

"Do you understand that, Miss Marcus?"

I jerk at the sound of my last name. "What, sir?"

"That it won't be easy. It seems like, to me, you're all talk and no action. You say you'll "kick everyone's asses" during training, but I don't see you preparing for the resistance. Unlike Merida here, who's been fencing her entire life, or Neveah, who wants to protect his friend, I haven't seen anything from you that will benefit the resistance. Your mouth certainly won't help matters. So, why do you want to join?"

His accusations make me pulse as if my neurons are firing blazing flames. "I want revenge."

My tone is a lot cooler than it should be with so much emotion rushing through me, but I don't want Grey to see me more worked up than I already am. It's clear that he's trying to push us into breaking. He's trying to see if we've got a weak point that will inhibit us from thriving in the resistance. I want more than anything to prove myself.

"Revenge?" Grey asks, his stony eyes fixed on my face.

"My brother and I never had much. But when we lost our mother to one of those...things, I knew I had to join the resistance. We need to defend the human race better. We need to stand up for who's left."

Grey leans back in his chair. "Those are all valid reasons, but I'm still trying to figure out what you can bring. You don't have any of the skills—"

"Why?" I interrupt, feeling my anger start to swell. "Because I don't have a perfect, pristine transcript in that little box of yours?" I ask, gesturing to Grey's laptop. "Because I don't have any extracurriculars proving that I play sports? Because I don't fence," I pause to scowl at Merida. "Or because I'm not Mr. Golden Boy over here and can't show that I have friends, means I'm not qualified?"

Merida looks like she's been slapped. Neveah opens his mouth to argue with everything I just said as if he needs to defend his honor. Ky's reaching for my elbow.