"Okay, you're all set," Brenda says as she starts taking the sensors off my fingers. "Now remember, you can't tell anyone what questions we asked or what tasks we had you complete. You were one of the first to be assessed, so you're going to be getting questions all week. At a minimum, you'll lose the advantage you earned by finding those sheets if you're caught."
I nod. "I won't say a word."
"Then you're free to go." She opens the large metal door and lets me out.
I step into the hallway and take a deep breath. I know everyone said that today's results mean nothing, they're just a baseline, but I still hope that went well. Today's results need to line up best with Coterie's values, and my results a year from now need to line up with today's. Either way, that lie detector better reflect my candor.
The stone walls look less scary now that my test is done and I secured that head start, but I still don't want to be stuck inside them for the next year.
I make it back to the dormitory and start heading over to my bed in the back corner. I pass Nick's on the way and look down at his sheets. His bed is made, and his basket is beneath it. Now that I know a bit about his past, I guess it makes sense that he tries to keep his belongings hidden instead of leaving them out in the open.
I reach my bed and take a seat on my mattress. I'm glad I can eat all my meals with Jeremy every day, but I wish I could see him more. We're too far apart in Collation to do any of our training together, I know that. It just would've been nice to have a friendly face around while I have to learn so many new skills at one time. Someone to encourage me and help me figure out how to survive.
Olivia, the girl from the van ride last night, makes her way over and joins me on my bed.
"Hi," I say when she's silent. "If you're gonna ask what the assessment was like, I can't tell you."
"I know what you're doing. It won't work." She shakes her head.
"What?"
"I'm gonna be the one who ends up with him. You won't get him to choose you."
She can't possibly mean Jeremy. They probably haven't even met yet.
"Who are you talking about?"
She rolls her eyes. "Don't play dumb, Coterie. I know you're interested in Nick. And I know you're just using that guy you were with at breakfast to make him jealous."
I don't know what makes me more uneasy: the fact that she thinks I could ever be that manipulative and use another human being, the thought of being interested in someone from Inimical, or the fact that she's clearly been watching me.
"I'm not using Jeremy." I shake my head. "We're both from Coterie, I've known him my whole life. We've been together for over a year."
She gives me a slow nod as she gets off my bed. "You just told me everything I need to know."
"What are you talking about?"
"You defended your relationship, but you never denied having feelings for Nick. Watch your back, Coterie." She turns and walks away without another word.
At least she didn't try to get me to tell her what the assessment was like.
"Hey," Devin says as she starts walking over to my bed.
"I can't tell you what the assessment was like."
"I already know what it's like." She laughs. "I told you where to find your sheets, remember?"
She's got me there.
She nods toward Olivia. "What was that about?"
"She thinks I like Nick and apparently so does she."
She smirks. "Didn't have you pegged as a cheater."
"I'm not!"
"Really? Because you just implied that Olivia also has a crush on Nick instead of implying she's delusional and she's the only one with a crush."
I think about my words for a minute. I did make it sound like that, didn't I?
"Relax." She laughs. "I'm not here to interrogate you about Nick. Just wanted to see if you ate your chips yet. There's still an hour until dinner and I'm starving."
I shake my head. "I forgot they gave us a snack." I grab my basket off the floor and dig through the clothes until I find my bag of chips. "Gross, barbecue."
"I got sour cream and onion. Trade?"
"Please." I eagerly hand over my bag and take hers.
"So do you love him?" she asks.
"Who?"
"Nick."
"Devin!" I groan.
"I'm kidding." She laughs. "That guy you were with at breakfast."
"Oh, Jeremy. Honestly, I have no idea."
"How do you not know?"
I let out a sigh. "I'm sixteen. I still have Collation to get through. We might not even be placed in the same province at the end of all this."
She rolls her eyes. "Now give me the real answer."
"That was the real answer."
"You're so full of crap." She laughs.
"Am not!"
She stares blankly at me for a few seconds.
I roll my eyes. "Okay, I love him. I got jealous this morning when I saw him sitting at a table with a bunch of other girls. I missed him like crazy these last six months. I'll be crushed if we aren't placed in the same province. Is that what you wanted to hear?"
She gives me a satisfied nod. "Have you told him any of that yet?"
"No way. I can't be the one to say it first."
"You absolutely can, you're just being a baby."
I roll my eyes. "New topic of conversation. How do you have so much information that nobody else does?"
She smirks. "I have my ways."
"Do I want to know what they are?"
"I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you." She shrugs.
"Inimical?" I ask.
"Perspicacity. Learn to take a joke, Coterie."
"Hello, Sheet Girl," Nick says, inviting himself onto my bed. "Other Sheet Girl."
"It's Devin." She rolls her eyes. "Call me anything else again and you're gonna lose a hand."
"Feisty."
I look over at Olivia and see her glaring at me. For someone who just met Nick, she's got some pretty intense feelings for him.
Unless they didn't just meet.
"How well do you know Olivia?" I ask him.
"Mackenzie," Devin says. "You are skating on Asking for Trouble Lake."
"She on thin ice?" Nick smirks.
"She will be."
"Well, to answer your question, I don't know her well at all. We just met."
"Through Collation?" I ask.
He nods. "Why?"
"Just curious."
"You're from Coterie." He rolls his eyes. "You don't get curious for no reason. Spill."
"Olivia likes you," Devin says.
"Oh, so you're jealous." He laughs.
"I'm not jealous." I roll my eyes as my heart starts to race. "I have a boyfriend."
"And she loves him." Devin smiles.
"Of course she does, she's from Coterie. She probably loves flowers and sunshine and fruit, too."
Devin laughs at that, and I give her a sharp glare, silencing her immediately.
"That was pretty good." Nick laughs. "Now say a curse word."
"You're so annoying."
"I may be annoying, but just for your peace of mind, I don't have feelings for Olivia."
That shouldn't give me a sense of relief. I'm with Jeremy. I love Jeremy. Besides, a relationship with someone from Inimical would never work.
"What'd you come over here for?" I roll my eyes.
Nick pulls a deck of playing cards from his back pocket. "Wanted to see if you guys wanted to play poker. Any takers?"
"I'm so in." Devin smiles. "This place is boring."
"I'll play." I shrug.
"You're kidding," Nick says. "This goes against Coterie's rules, does it not?"
I take an exaggerated look around. "Nick, sweetie, we're not in Coterie."
"I didn't think you had it in you." He shakes his head with a smirk. "I hope you're a fast learner because I'm not explaining the rules twice."
"You don't need to explain them once. I know how to play."
Thank you, Dad!
"You're kidding," Devin says.
I shake my head. "My dad taught me."
"He originally from Inimical?" Nick asks.
"My mom was."
"Didn't realize you were from good people. You just got way more interesting," he says as he starts shuffling the deck. He deals the cards and I eagerly pick mine up.
"You so rigged this against me." Devin shakes her head. "I fold."
"You're folding already?" Nick raises his eyebrows. "They don't play cards very often where you came from, do they?"
She shrugs. "We have lots of other ways to keep ourselves entertained. Guess that's just one thing we have on Inimical."
He shakes his head with a laugh. "What about you, Coterie?"
I look at my two aces and two kings. Not bad. That two of hearts is dragging me down a bit, though. I pull it from my hand and set it face-down on my bed. "One, please."
"Bold." He passes me another card in its place, and I add it to my hand.
Another king.
Devin looks at Nick's cards before looking at mine. "You've so got him," she whispers in my ear.
"Would you like to fold?" I smirk.
"No shot." He sets his cards down on my bed. "Two aces and two queens."
"Not bad." I nod as I set mine down. "Two aces and three kings. I believe they call that a full house."
He shakes his head. "I underestimated you."
"That you did." I smile.
"You may be better at this Collation thing than I thought." Devin smiles.
I smile back at her. I hope I'm better at this Collation thing than I thought, too. Coterie is where I belong. Dying before I have a chance to make it back there isn't an option. Then again, it may be the one thing better than being placed somewhere else. I can't imagine having to live in another province. One without my parents, my friends, Jeremy.
What if I'm placed back in Coterie and he isn't? What if he is and I'm not? I don't like either of those possibilities.
A/N
Happy Wednesday! Thank you so much for reading this story, and I hope you loved this chapter!
~Kel💘