Siege

Six

Who is your favorite artist?” Dannon asked me.

“Now is not the time to get to know each other” I hissed softly at him as I watched the attackers circle the library with their guns clutched against their chests.

“Well what do you want to whilst we wait for something to happen eh? Enjoy the thought that they can end our lives at any given moment? Or maybe we can reminisce whilst we wait to see if we make it through this without a bullet wound somewhere on our body?”

I stared daggers at him, “well let’s put it this way, if you don’t shut up anytime soon I will make sure you’ll be the first to get a bullet wound somewhere on your body”

He snarled at me but then shut his trap. Even though I wanted him to shut up, once he did I had a deep feeling within me that wished that he didn’t listen to me, I wished that he kept on annoying me with his pointless questions because I knew that deep inside, it was the only thing keeping me sane in this moment of time.

I started to grumble softly to myself as I gave into Dannon’s silence, “We Came As Romans.”

“What?” he asked me with a curious glance.

“My favorite band is We Came As Romans”

He smiled at me as he tilted his head to the side, “Really?”

I rolled my eyes at him and nodded my head, “Yes”

“Take a guess at mine” he grinned stupidly.

I sighed loudly as I rolled my eyes at him once again; man, I seem to be doing that a lot today. “I’m thinking Bring Me The Horizon”

He smiled widely at me “has anyone told you that you’re very intelligent Miss Smith”

I felt my body shut down at that word. I’ve been told it numerous times throughout my lifetime, but I’ve always felt that it wasn’t the best words to describe me. So I shrugged my shoulders in reply, hoping he wouldn’t catch the bad vibe that suddenly overtook my body. I am smart, but not smart enough. Especially according to my father who had managed to get the highest ATAR and HSC results in the country when he graduated.  I’ve always had to shadow his every move, making sure that I pushed myself to strive towards my best potential. My dad has always had such unrealistic goals for me, so I always fall short, making myself a failure of a daughter.

“Riley, what’s wrong?”

“Don’t call me smart”

“I didn’t, I called you intelligent”

I shot him a dirty look in return.

“Why don’t you like begin called smart?” Casey asked me.

I looked her in the eye and tried to beg her to back away from the subject. However, she didn’t seem to get the hit.

“Come on munchkin, everyone’s got a fatal flaw” Dannon pushed.

I shook my head, “that doesn’t mean I have to share it with you guys” I volleyed back at him with a sharp tone.

He looked startled at my sudden change of tone, but then his face relaxed, “why don’t we all share one of our fatal flaws?” he offered.

Everyone looked at him like he was mad, but then they all slowly agreed, caving in.

“I’ll go first,” Casey offered with a smile.

“Okay, Casey what’s your fatal flaw?” Dannon asked.

She took in a deep inhale before answering, “I’m scared of the dark”

Everyone looked at her dumbfounded. I swear I could hear crickets chirping in the background from the stunned silence. “I have been ever since I was five. I still sleep with a nightlight and I have to sleep with a teddy bear otherwise I flip”