The noisy families enjoying their breakfast, the clatter of dishes, and the news channel broadcasted on the tv were just a few of the noises that made Cate want to crawl back into her own skin.
Loud places have always been a struggle for people like Cate and Athena, that can read minds, especially after being in confinement for years.
The diner the group had taken to as they waited to get answers from dean Shetty, was now Cate's worst enemy, but Athena who dealed with her powers without medication for years knew how she felt.
"Try to focus on something else. I know you've had this longer than me, but you've been medicated. Sometimes the thoughts of others are too overwhelming." Athena tried to give the girl some good advice.
"Stop. If your dad would'nt have put us up to all of this woods shit they would still trust us." She snapped, taking out all of her self hatred on Athena, who was probably the only person that knew how she felt in this moment.
"We wouldnt even be in this situation in the first place. I'm not my fucking father. And even if I was Shetty was apart of this too."
"Just fuck off." Cate said a little too loud, quieting the bustling diner.
"You know what Cate. I don't think you want me as your enemy. I know your own potential better than you even do."
Cate just walked away awkwardly, not sure how to respond. Heading towards the table, she stopped for a second to listen to the tv. It was some broadcaster talking about congresswomen Victoria Neman.
When she got to the table where everyone else was, except for Athena who decided to sit away from them, she sat at a seat on the end of the booth that had been pulled over from a table. No one, not even Andre offered to get up for her.
Andre and Marie sat on one side, while Ari and Jordan sat on the other.
"Shetty can't meet right now. " Cate said almost immediately after she got seated.
"The fuck does that mean?" Jordan asked, wondering how she had the audacity to just let Shetty reject her meeting after everything she had done.
There was no reply.
"Where is she?" Marie questioned, when she realized Cate was'nt going to respond to Jordan.
"The city. She'll be back later... "
"So what do we do?" Jordan bent closer to the table, to where they could really talk to the others.
"I'll wait for her at her house, and then when she comes home, i'll make her tell everyone everything."
It seemed quiet for a second, but Athena could hear the others thoughts from yards away, so she could only imagine how Cate felt. It really was overwhelming, even for her.
"I'll go with her." Andre offered, but not out of infatuation at all.
"It's okay." Cate tried to assure them that she would'nt do anything to break their trust again, but it was still too soon.
"No, I'm going." He insisted, he wanted to keep an eye on her.
"You can trust me." Cate smiled, though she knew that wasn't the truth.
"Stay out of our fucking heads.. Then maybe we'll trust you." Jordan said, switching into their male side, to make a point. Upset at the fact that the girl they thought was their friend betrayed them, they walked away towards the exit.
"Jordan, wait up!" Ari followed close behind them.
"Wait! I swear you can." Cate called after her.
Ari just ignored her, she never liked her to begin with, and now she didnt like or trust her, but she knew she needed to for this to work, so she would try.
"Just stop Jordan, stop walking off!" Ari yelled at Jordan once they made it outside, as they were walking too quickly.
"She was reading our fucking thoughts, our thoughts!" Jordan exclaimed, feeling so many emotions at once, but mostly hurt.
"As much as I hate her, she probably doesnt know how to control it." Ari tried making a logical comment, but it didn't work... Even she doubted herself.
"That isn't a fucking excuse. Stop trying to make excuses for everyone."
"Jordan... I made an excuse for you.. Do you want to talk about that? I mean what was that back in Cate's mind?"
They were standing at least two feet away from eachother, the farthest they had been apart when they were together, in days.
" I didn't remember the accident either she era..."
"That's not what I meant." Ari interrupted them. They knew that, they knew what she was really talking about.
"Like I said. I'm a fucking coward."
"You are not a coward. I understand doing something for yourself but you hid it, and Luke was supposed to be your best friend."
"I mean he was.. But you know how I am."
"The power of being Brink's TA tempted you." She sighed. She knew Jordan well. They wanted fame and power, and the only way to get that with their identity was this.
"Yea.."
They both stayed quiet for a second, thinking about their next words... Until Ari spoke up.
"Look. we should just forget about that, it was stupid for me to bring it up."
"It wasn't stupid Ari."
"Yes it was. You know it was. Okay... so, lets just talk about Cate."
"There's nothing to fucking talk about."
"Yes there is Jordan... We need to trust her, atleast for now."
"She's the fucking bitch that read our minds. How are we supposed to?""
"I know Jordan. I know that. But She could fuck with her heads at any time, and she hasn't. So we have to give her a chance, we have to trust that she will get us a meeting with Shetty. She's like the only hope we have at cracking down on the woods right now."
"You're right."
"Yea I know I am... And you need to stop turning into a dude everytime you want to make a point."
"Fine."
"Fine..."
They let the silence fill the air once again, but only for a moment before Jordan pulled Ari in for a kiss, feeling the sides of her face with their hands, it was a sweet, and genuine kiss that made her want more than just that, something rougher, until she noticed someone walking by, so she pulled away.
"Cate is the only person who can get shetty to expose the woods. We need her" She spoke in a soft tone. She really wanted Jordan on her side, they were the one person she knew she could always trust.
"What about Athena?"
"She was Brink's daughter, not Shetty's. She has never been as close to her. But she's still my friend so we can't just do anything to her."
"Okay, we wont do anything to Athena... But maybe we can get proof ourselves. We wouldn't need Cate." They suddenly had an idea.
"How?"
"Shetty's in the city all day... I got the key to her office... I'm her T.A now, remember?" They held the card up with two fingers. "Look, if we find proof about the woods, or what they've done to Sam and those other kids down there. It doesnt matter what Cate does.."
"And then we what? Post it on insta or TikTok? I mean what are we going to do when it seems like everyone is on Voughts side? Not to mention that we're both minorities. I mean i'm an out bisexual mixed race girl, and your'e bigender and Asian. Vought's going to twist it, just like everything else." She stopped for a second, letting an idea come to mind. "Unless... We show the proof to someone people will actually listen to..."
"Like who?"
"Her..." She pointed towards the wall where a graffiti'd over campaign picture of Victoria Neuaman was postered to the wall.
✯★⁂★✯
Without informing the rest of the group Ari and Jordan went to Shetty's office to look for answers.
After searching through files and papers they were finding nothing, Jordan couldn't even get into her computer.
Moving to one of her desk drawers Ari continued, thinking she found nothing when she hit the bottom of it, until she remembered her moms fake bottom of her drawer where she kept her weed when she started to get sick. She lifted it up, discovering a new file.
She sat down in Shetty's chair, opening it to look through its contents. She knew it had to be something good, especially when it was kept hidden.
"What is that?" Jordan asked when they notice the look on Ari's face, a look that said she found something.
"I'm not really sure... but it looks promising. It was hidden in one of her drawers." She flipped through the pages. "Everything in here is about a plane crash. The transoceanic flight thirty seven."
"Yeah, I remember that. It was terrorist right?"
"I mean that's what they said..." She continued looking, even closer. "Holy shit! Look." She pointed to two passengers in particular.
"Shetty, Lily, age 11, and Shetty, Paul, age 46... Her family was on that plane."
Ari was about to flip to another page when they heard the door beep, almost as if on reflex they both ducked down behind the desk.
"Oh, Shetty, Shetty, Shetty." A voice, who Ari had only heard once spoke. "You want me to increase the viral infection rate. Right." He took a long sip out of what Ari could only imagine as alcohol. "Kill them all, she says. And sign my own death certificate." He stopped for a second, before walking closer to the desk.
Ari held in her breath, she almost felt it, Dr. Cardosa was going to find them and they would be locked behind bars, or killed. But he stopped at Shetty's glass collection of whiskey. They heard him take a sip, and set his things down, before unzipping his zipper.
Not being able to tell what he was about to do, Ari peaked around the corner, regretting it instantly when she realized he was peeing in the bottle. She tried not to make a sound.
"How about... you take a long drink of that, Indira." He spoke to himself when he was finish, throwing a folder of his own onto her desk, and leaving the room. They waited for him to shut the door, before Ari spoke.
"What the fuck was he talking about? Infection rate?" She asked, just as confused as Jordan.
"Whatever it is it can't be..."
Ari's phone rang, unexpectedly scaring both of them. She picked it up, though she didn't want to.
"What? Calm down Andre, What are you saying?" She asked after being on the phone for a minute, hearing nothing but fast mumbling from her brother.
She continued to listen before she hung up and set the phone down hard, feeling almost faint. Jordan could tell from her face that something bad had happened.
"It's my dad..." She didnt know how to feel, trying to walk away from the desk, but stumbling.
Jordan held onto her so she wouldnt fall over from the news.
"What happened?" They asked out of complete concern.
"My dad is in the hospital."