The meal was over. Kids had been stuffed to the brim with food. Every meal I had at the facility seemed to be like a grand feast. We were even given dessert, a big slice of cherry pie that was bursting with flavor. As full as I was I always had room for dessert, especially cherry pie. It was one one of my favorites, it was kind of funny that I was lucky enough to receive it as dessert.
"Hey y/n you should room with us!" Emmaline's eyes sparkled. She grabbed onto my arm, clutching onto me with a desperate grip.
"You think so?" I chuckled, my heart skipping a beat when her hand accidentally brushed against my thigh.
"Yeah! Of course! We'd love to have you, you can even share with me if you need to." She offered, pushing back a piece of hair out of my face. Her lip was, slightly smirked up? A freckle prominent on her bottom lip. Was she flirting with me? No, it couldn't be. I was being crazy, delusional even. "Ow!" The redhead flicked her head towards Alf, she rubbed at her shin that had a blossoming red mark forming.
Alf smirked, showing off the toothpick wedged between her teeth. She wiggled it around, staring into my soul. Her eyes piercing into me. My skin burning from the eye contact.
"Don't be stupid Em." Alf tousled her jaw length hair, flipping it around. "She can take who's ever bed that gets taken to the 'safe place'." A small snicker slipped her lips.
"You didn't have to kick me." Emmaline grumbled, sulking on the side.
"Sure, I'll do it." My agreement raised brows and dimpled cheeks. "I'll stay with you guys." Alfalfa seemed pleased with my answer, nestling her chin on her hands.
"Good." She sent me a wink, butterflies erupted in my belly. They fought to get out, making an unintentional cough fall from my mouth. Alf had her shoe between my feet, running it slowly up my leg.
Weird feeling was back. I knew it like the palm of my hand. It was the feeling Gally always made me feel when we kissed. Dizziness rushed to my head, making the room tilt.
This must have been how it felt when I'd accidentally touch one of the boys. How could anyone be around women without crumbling to the floor? Em and Alf were flirtatious like I was and I was getting a taste of my own medicine. They most likely lived years in the maze like the boys had. There was bound to be some kind of gay shit going down. Very, very, gay shit.
"Gentleman!" A voice called for my attention. "Ladies..." I snapped my head towards a man. He was wrapped in a white turtleneck. A sleek black jacket sat on his shoulders. This had to be the infamous Janson everyone was talking about. Victor was right, he did look rattish. He wasn't attractive but he wasn't on the blob fish level of attractiveness. "You all know how this works. You hear your name called, please rise in an orderly fashion and join my colleagues. Behind me where they'll escort you to the eastern wing. You're new lives are about to begin." Wow, his face was sort of punchable. A small parade of claps came from a few kids.
"Who's betting that dude has a foot fetish." I whispered towards the girls, a fit of giggles burst from them. "He looks like he cries after sex."
Alf's head tilted back, her throat prominent as she cackled. Her laugh was delicious. I never knew a laugh could be so mesmerizing. It broke through the cafeteria's chatter, causing eyes to fall towards us.
"As I was saying before I was interrupted." Janson licked his lips, glaring at me with dark eyes. His state made my skin crawl, but I never dropped my gaze. Holding my stare till he dropped his. "I will now read out the list of names."
Ren cowered in her seat. She gripped onto her hands, clasping them together in a nervous fashion.
"Pstt." I hissed, her face tilted up, revealing her deer in headlights look. "You okay?"
"She's just playing chicken." Kitty explained, nudging the girl in her arm. "Little twig thinks she's gonna be chosen." Kitty narrowed her eyes at her. They were a lively green, flicking back and forth. "Jeez Ren, you look like you're gonna piss yourself."
I started to comfort her when someone caught the corner of my eye. Aris was cluttered in his hood, looking like a hermit crab. We caught eyes.
"Bullshit." He mouthed before burying his head in his arms. No, no it couldn't be bullshit. They wouldn't do that to us. These people saved us, how could they hurt us after everything we'd been through? It wasn't possible.
"Connor." Janson read out loud from his clipboard. A blonde boy arose, giving his comrade a high five. "Evelin." A quiet brunette girl stood up, all smiles. What if I was chosen? "Peter." My heart palpitated, wanting to curl myself up like Aris. Where was the east wing? "Allison." They couldn't make me, right? I could just give my spot up to someone else and everything would be alright, right? "Squiggy." The namesake giggles bubble up from the buzzing children, the kids that seemed the farthest thing from nervous.
"What kind of name is Squiggy?" Kitty laughed loftily, examining her nails.
"What kind of name is Kitty?" Alf grumbled, not bothering to soften the frostiness her voice gave.
"Alright settle down." Janson flipped through the clipboards papers. "Franklin, Abigail, and let's call one more." We waited in ominous silence, time ticking agonizingly slow. Please don't pick me. I squeezed my eyes shut, childishly crossing my fingers. "I'll pick..." Please not me. "Florence."
A whimper elicited my ears, coming from our sacrificial lamb. She was frozen in terror, unable to move. Her plaited braids woven as tightly as her iron grip. She did not stand up.
"Ren?" Alf turned peaked over to her, her tough demeanor was lost in that frightened prey like eyes. "That's you." She reminded her softly.
Kitty forgot herself for a moment. The bitchy attitude she carried was replaced with shock, even a little bit of kindness. She wrapped Ren up into a hug, dropping her fork. The blonde squeezed her catatonic body tightly.
"You've gotta go now Squirt." She uttered, releasing Ren. "Go on now, get." Kitty shooed her off as nicely as Kitty could.
"It's going to be fine Ren." I assured, giving her a smile that could hug. She was going to be fine. She was a baby, they couldn't hurt a baby. Trembling, Ren slid from the table.
"Come along now Florence." Janson gave her a toothy grin, motioning for her to join. "I promise I won't bite." Ren nodded, she gave us one last wistful look before slowly making her way over to the other chosen kids.
"I'll see you soon Ren!" I called out to her, unable to bear how sad her lithe body was all hunched over. "I promise."
One guard led their little group out of the cafeteria, leaving a beefy guy to guard his post. Janson spoke with him briefly before slinking off to a corner.
"She's the first of us to go." Em seemed dazed by the situation, her eyes were glossing over. "She's so little."
"She's around thirteen." Kitty mumbled, fidgeting around with her clothes.
"More like twelve." Em breathed. She stared at the door as if she stared hard enough Ren would appear. Thoughts of Chuck swirled in my mind. Turning my head around, I had the irrational urge to check if he was there. He was.
The boy had been staring into my back. A lost puppy dog look molded his face, no sign of the dimples I favored so much. Maybe I should go sit with him. Maybe I should go check if he was alright, then I saw Minho.
Immediately I snapped my figure back towards the girls. I couldn't face him again, not after what he had said. At least not today. Maybe tomorrow I could stand him but today was not the day.
"On the plus side, we have a free bunk. You want it?" Alf asked, her toothpick was dancing around in her hand. She raised a brow at me, a half smirk forming.
"Sure."
This was the right thing to do. The good thing to do, for me. I was making friends, new friends that I could take a break with.
"Hey Teresa!" Thomas's voice echoed from across the cafeteria. His urgent tone demanded my attention. He was up and out of his seat, following a girlish figure through a glass partition that bordered. Teresa?!
My vision slowed her down. Her raven tresses swished against her back. A triad of doctors accompanied her. She gave a quick glance at Thomas's calls. Then she was gone. As swiftly as she was shuffled off, I knew one thing for sure. It was her. The Teresa, in all her passing glory.
"Hey, hey hey hey." A security guard halted Thomas, frustrating him with the words I couldn't catch. The guard remained relatively calm, soothing Thomas quickly. The boy dejectedly slumped back over to his table.
Don't feel guilty. It is okay to care about yourself for once.
Thomas brooded as he sank back into his spot. My heart squashed itself, wanting desperately to reach out to him.
God, I miss the glade. Back when I was selfish everything was easier. Guess I'm out of practice.
"Hey guys, time to round it up." A guard ordered, motioning toward the exit. "Let's get you all into your dorms."
"Come on y/n." Em clasped onto my wrist, leading me out of the cafeteria in the cluster of girls.
"Okay." I allowed her to drag me out into the hall, we got past the guards fine, no suspicious looks. We walked as a group through the corridors, all together. Being with all these other girls made me miss childhood. I wonder if I experienced a sufficient amount of girlhood as a kid.
The heel of one of my shoes was pinned to the floor for a split second. I turned to see who had rear ended me and saw no one other than Alf. The glint in her eyes sold her story out. She seemed pleased with herself that she had captured an inch of my attention. Even if it was negative.
"What you lookin' at?" She said smartly, a smug half smile creeped up her face. Sweat prickled on my skin. I swiveled back around.
"Y/n?" Chuck's voice came from beside me. I almost jumped out of my skin. How did he sneak up on me like that?! "Where are you going?"
"I'm just gonna have sleepover with some friends I made tonight, with the girls." I placed my hands on his shoulders, turning him towards the boy's who were way behind us. "But I'll see you real soon, okay?"
"Oh, okay. I guess I'll see you later." He rubbed at his nose, peaking over his shoulder before rejoining the boys.
This was going to be a sleepover. Alf tugged on the back of my hair. A very interesting sleepover.