Fear Games

4. The Remembrance Society

CINDER

Monday was the day. We'd waited a whole week to get this started and nothing was going to stop us now. We just had to make sure that our parents didn't know what we were doing.

When the final bell rang, I met with Mom inside her classroom and told her that I would be hanging out with Emerald, Colton, and Kael.

Mom was packing up her bag when she said, "You're hanging out with your brother? Since when do you do that?"

"Oh, don't act so surprised," I said. "We've been getting a lot closer the older he gets. Trust me, we're good."

Mom didn't seem to buy my story, but she also didn't appear to be in the mood to argue. Instead, she said, "Do you need the car?"

"No, we're just going to walk down to the local coffee shop and get some drinks," I said casually. "Thanks for the offer, though. I'll talk to you later?" As I turned to head out the door, Mom stopped me with one last question.

"Will any other kids be joining you?"

I didn't turn around when I answered her question. I reached out for the doorknob and said, "Probably. It's a big group meet up." I didn't even give her time to ask me when for. I opened the door, walked right out, closing it tightly behind me. My phone buzzed in my pocket with a text from Emerald.

We're meeting in the mountains behind the school, the text read. You know the spot. The others are already here.

Exiting the school, I made my way through the track and found the large, looming mountain where we'd be holding our first meeting. This was something that Emerald and I had been talking about doing for a while but never got around to—mostly because we knew our parents would be highly opposed to it. But now we were sixteen and almost adults. We deserved the chance to be able to talk about these things.

I walked along the trail that Emerald and I had discovered last year when we started at Valley View Private School. There were mountains everywhere in Nevada, but these ones were small. This trail led to a nice, small clearing that appeared like it hadn't been accessed in years. When I arrived, I found that Emerald was right and everyone else was already seated on the rocks that were being used as chairs.

Emerald and Colton were sitting next to each other, their fingers interlaced. He still obviously hadn't broken up with her. I hated being the other girl, but I loved him. Seeing them together made me sick to my stomach. I knew Colton loved me too, but there was only so much I could do.

Next I saw Kael sitting next to his girlfriend Arya. Next to Arya was German, who was Kael's non-binary friend. Next to German were Kael's best friends, Freddy and Harlin. Together, the four of them looked like a nice little group of freshmen. But they were here for the same reason Emerald, Colton, and I were. We needed to talk about what happened. We needed a safe space.

"You're here!" Emerald said, jumping up off a rock and standing before the group. "Looks like everyone is here. We can go ahead and get started." Emerald looked at me and said, "Is there anything you'd like to say to the group before we begin?"

"Yes, actually," I said. "The most important rule of this group is that no one but the members knows of its existence. Got it? This is going to be a place where we can talk about things that we can't talk about anywhere else."

Arya raised her hand.

"Yes?" I said.

"I just have a quick question," Arya said. "How come you're letting the rest of us join the group? I mean, I understand why you, Emerald, and Kael would join. But why me? Why Freddy, Harlin, German, and Colton?"