"Psst!"
Later that day when I already lay in bed, there was a small knock on the door. My mind went straight to the story of the boys hiding in a cleaning room at night, so I didn't hesitate to open the door, happy I had chances of making friends.
"Newt?" I whispered once I saw the blonde hair.
"Sounds about right." The kid replied. "Wanna come with us?"
I fidgeted with my fingers, considering my answer for a second. "Sure."
On tip-toes, I followed Newt through the dark hallways. He showed the exact way, which turned out not to be far away from my room. He opened a door that said 'cleaning room' and gently pushed me in before quickly closing the door again.
"Yo!" Minho's voice whispered.
"Hey, Lenora."
"Hello!"
The smell of cleaning liquids filled my nose. There wasn't much space in the small room, since dozens of clean tools surrounded us, but there lay a small blanket on the floor, probably one of the boys'.
"Hi." I peeped shyly.
Newt and Minho shared a handshake, and Alby and Frypan followed. Confused I watched their hands move in weird ways, but it looked cool.
Minho looked up, a sly smile on his face, more like a grin. "Wanna learn?"
"Uh, sure." I hesitantly walked over to him. Minho started explaining the handshake enthusiastically, moving my fingers and hand the right way each time.
After at least ten minutes of practice, I could finally do it. Everyone cheered quietly, making me feel even more welcome.
"So how long have you been here?" Newt motioned for me to sit down on the blanket.
"About half a year," I responded quietly.
"Us too." The boys nodded. They then started a conversation about some other kids they met in the cafeteria. I watched them, almost overwhelmed by how loud and much they talked. I hadn't heard that in such a long time.
Minho kept on grinning while they had arguments, Frypan and Newt laughed, and Alby stayed serious the whole time, which cleared up he was the oldest.
"You don't talk much, do you?" Minho suddenly asked.
I blinked a few times. "Well, am I supposed to?"
"It would be nice to understand a few words, yes. Just body language doesn't say much for me." He sassily replied.
I smiled and pulled my knees up to my chest. "So y'all talk here the whole night?"
"Basically. And we wrestle sometimes, gossip, and talk, of course." Fry explained. "Do you have any girl friends here?"
I shook my head. "No. Honestly, I don't have any friends here."
Newt threw his hands in the air. "What about us?"
"Are we friends?" I almost gasped in excitement.
"If you insist." Minho nodded.
"Yeah. Of course." I said quickly. Slowly the emotion of happiness started to come back until Alby mentioned something.
"We didn't see you the half year you spent here. Where were you?"
My stomach dropped, my chest tightened, and my heart turned cold at the memories again. "I... I just had to stay in my room. They did lots of tests on me before I could get with you guys."
"Well whoever those people are, they're shuckin' bastards." Minho furrowed his eyebrows deeply. "Anyways. What shall we do?"
"Wrestle."
"Gossip."
"Visit Lizzy."
Alby, Frypan, and Newt said in unison. They all turned to me as if it was timed.
"What do you want to do?"
I almost smiled at them caring so much for me and not leaving me out. "Anything is fine."
"Please!" Newt turned to Minho. "Can we please go see Lizzy?"
"Who's Lizzy?" I whispered to Fry as Newt kept begging Minho and Alby.
"It's his sister. They put her with all the girls and they never got to see each other again."
Then it went quite fast. Alby finally agreed, Newt basically ran out of the room, and Minho took my arm and pulled me with them. We didn't have to go far, according to the way Newt abruptly stopped in front of a glass window.
In there was a big room with dozens of bunks, all long-haired girls sleeping in them. They seemed the same age as us.
"That's Lizzy." Newt quietly told me, pointing at a girl who was half under the blanket. She held a stuffed animal, her blonde hair hanging beside her.
I smiled lightly at the thought of Newt at least being able to see his sister, though deep down I knew damn well this was the first family I ruined, and I would never forgive myself for that.
Soon I noticed Newt was crying since he sniffed his nose. Without shame he cried louder, his shoulders shaking and tears streaming. I honestly loved how no one bothered him, or called him lame. It made me feel safe.
"Newt." I tapped him on the shoulder. "Are you o-."
Before I got to finish he already attacked me with a hug. Taken aback and with wide eyes I awkwardly hugged back, though later I actually enjoyed the hug.
"I like your bracelet." He commented when we let go.
I looked down at it. "My sister made it for me," I whispered more to myself.
Newt gasped out of surprise. "You have a sister too?"
"An older one." I nodded. "But I don't know where she is right now."
Before Newt got the chance to reply, Frypan tapped him with a finger. "You're it!"
Not long after that, I realized they wanted to play tag, so I ran away from Newt, hoping Janson or a doctor wouldn't hear us. Minho's figure ran through the hallways as fast as light. Alby and Frypan were running at an average speed and Newt followed behind at a nice pace too.
Chuckles and giggles echoed everywhere and for the first time in months, a real smile stuck on my face. I laughed, my heart slowly healing as I acted like a normal kid.
I looked back at Newt while I kept running, not noticing someone came running at me at full speed. I chuckled at Newt, turning around again, and then, "OW!"
My nose hit the ground when I fell. My elbow swung through the air, right into someone's face. They screamed too, falling right on top of me.
The other boys stopped in their dead tracks, staring at me and whoever fell on top of me.
"I think I just did a backflip." They groaned.
It was Minho.
"And I think you broke my nose," I replied.
"There's blood!" Frypan screamed.
"Fry!" Newt warned. "Quiet!"
"There is blood, Newt!" Alby added in a whisper tone.
I reached for my nose, feeling a thick liquid drip down from it. "You hit my nose, Minho!"
"No! You fell and hit the ground with your nose, then elbowed mine, so you hit mine!" He defended.
"Can you at least get off me?"
Lying on the ground with Minho right on top of me wasn't the most comfortable.
He cleared his throat. "Sure." He rolled off me and jumped on his feet as I did the same.
My nose was aching from pain and more blood trickled down. Minho put a hand on his own nose, frowning deeply.
"Alright. There must be tissues in the cleaning room." Alby grabbed our arms and rushed back to the room.
"I think I'm dying.." Minho muttered.
"Or you're being dramatic," I responded.
"I'm bleeding to death here!"
I giggled and sat down on the ground. Alby and Newt grabbed tissues, sitting down in front of both Minho and me.
Newt moved his hand forward to my nose. It made me flinch, somehow.
His eyebrows scrunched, eyes and face filling with confusion at my strange reaction.
"Sorry," I muttered. "Just go on."
He nodded and started patting on the blood. "No need to apologize."
"Alby!" Minho peeped. "It hurts... where's the real nurse? I need a heart m-."
"Minho, slim it, you slinthead! You're not dying." Frypan cut him off sternly.
I laughed quietly again. I really enjoyed the night, even after the fall. It made me happy. I found my people.