Aromatic

F I V E

F I V E

"Oh good, you're awake." Kenny said as soon as Claudia opened her eyes. His shadow hovered over her, curious to see if she was actually awake, blocking the sunlight obliviously. She immediately reached out her fist to punch him, but Kenny instinctively dodged it.

"What are you doing in here! How long have you been there?" Claudia questioned, her words full of fear entangled in anger.

"Sav told me to wake you up, but you looked too peaceful." Kenny responded, realizing how close he was as he leaned backwards, "sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"How long have you been there?" Claudia asked, feeling violated as she grabbed the blanket and pulled it toward herself.

"Just a few minutes. Anyway, get ready, we're heading out soon." Kenny stood up. He was uncertain whether or not it had been a good decision to agree with Savannah for once, but he did believe that it was not a good idea to make someone feel like a prisoner. Savannah had made several good points, all of which convinced Kenny. "Sav told me to give you this." He gestured toward a pile of clothes on her bed, new, fresh and clean.

"Heading out?" Claudia asked, glancing around the room quickly and realizing it wasn't her jail cell. There was no Travis to haunt her here, just a bunch of overly-kind strangers who clearly wanted her to trust them. Claudia recalled Savannah entering her room the previous night and informing her of a scavenging trip. She had thought it was a dream.

"Yeah. Sav said..." Kenny began, but Claudia cut him off.

"Are you an aromatic too?" She quickly asked, her gaze skimming the bookshelf behind him, landing on a particularly interesting book. Kenny smirked, standing by the door. The room was different in the sunlight, more cluttered. Claudia wondered who had occupied the room before her.

"Nope, I'm just human," Kenny said.

"Is everyone here aromatic? Are you the only human?" Claudia asked, her curiously had reached its peak and she could no longer stop the thoughts in her head from jumbling out of her mouth. She watched as Kenny uncrossed his arms, taking slow steps toward her. He looked intimidating, tall, muscular, handsome. If Claudia didn't have a soulmate timer, she would've easily fallen for Kenny.

"Why so curious?" Kenny approached, squatting so that he was face to face with Claudia on her bed. His arms rested on his thighs as he met her blue eyes with his brown ones.

"I...I've never met... I my... my.... the trapped... robot." She was stuttering, her heart stammering along with her words. He was attractive.

"You okay?" He asked, his brows furrowed as his smiling gaze grinned wider. He remained squatting beside her for a couple minutes, staring at each other. Claudia was mesmerized, she felt so powerless and didn't even mind it. "So... how did someone like you end up escaping the north?"

She could feel his soft breath fanning her face, a sweet minty scent indicating he had just brushed his teeth. She shivered, it was a strange feeling, one she hadn't encountered before— at least not that strongly.

"I ran." She managed to say, her words choked as she forced herself not to look at his deltoids. She gasped out of nowhere, pulling herself out of the trance that was Kenny.

How could she possibly think of romance at a time when survival was crucial? How could she think of a stranger like that when she had a soulmate?

"I'll wait outside, freshen up. I'll lead us downstairs." Kenny said, standing up and exiting the room. His presence lingered in Claudia's mind as she stared at the door, angry at herself for feeling anything toward someone she wasn't meant to be with. She quickly hopped out of the bed, her feet landing on the warm carpeted floor of the 'abandoned' dorm room. She took a deep breath in, immediately turning to face the brown bookcase and pulling out the book.