Gifted

Chapter16

Rita smiled sweetly, “May I have some more food please? I always seem to be hungry.”

The chef stared at her for a second, his eyes flickered to the large silver lunch tray in her hands, already overflowing with food. “Yes, yes of course. You metabolism is high, no?”

“It is.” Rita agreed with a smile, and watching as he put on two more bread rolls on, her plate, along with another sandwich, and a bowl of salad. “Thanks!” She said cheerfully, hiding her distaste. They had to know what they were a part of, the bosses had to have told them, and they weren’t doing anything. 

Rita carried her heavy lunch tray out of the line and went to the table she had been sitting at all day. Their first class had started at 6:00 and then they had had breakfast, then classes, then lunch, then even more classes, now dinner, and after that, free-time. She sat down at the usual table with Cole, he had saved her a seat. Rita walked up and sat next to him, he smiled at her and waved. 

They had only woken up from their chemical induced coma this morning but their animals were adapting quickly. Cliques were already forming, teens were only hanging out with their group member’s. Which meant, Alphas with Alphas, Bravos with Bravos and, Deltas with Deltas, there were no exceptions. Already there were the populars, the social outcasts, the leaders and, followers, the bullies, and the bullied. 

Unfortunately, this social grouping meant that Amber and Alyssa didn’t hang out anymore, all they had done for the past three meals was acknowledge her and walk away. During breakfast, Amber had waved excitedly, and Alyssa had stared at her friend pointedly before dragging her away. At lunch Amber and Alyssa had walked passed her, only giving her a glance. Now it was dinner, and they walked right past her, not wanting to be seen socializing with an Alpha. 

Rita looked at her plate, wondering why it had to be this way between her and her friends. Zoe and Seth walked up together and set their overly loaded plates down.

“Hey, what’s up?” Zoe asked, moving her plate closer to Seth’s and moving closer. Then she lowered her voice. “And what’re we going to do to get out of here?”

Cole rolled his eyes, he had been giving the same answer all day long; he had been the persistent pessimist at the table. “We’re not getting out, don’t you see? We’re their little science experiments, they don’t care if we are killed. As long as we don’t escape. If we do make it out, they can replace us with the millions of others raised for this project. It’s a hopeless cause.”

Rita sighed, she knew that Cole was right. 

“I just don’t want to kill people.” Rita said softly.

“Well, we’ll be serving our country.” Zoe interjected.

“Yeah, we’ll be serving our country and making a difference.” Seth agreed. “A positive impact on the world, that’s what we were made for, and that’s what we’re going to do”

Rita looked at her lap, she nervously pulled at the golden chain around her wrist.

“I just don’t want to have to do it this way. Ya know?” She said, looking around at her small group of friends, waiting to see a reaction. Her eyes skimmed over Zoe and Seth, and came to a rest as her eyes found Cole. He smiled at her reassuringly before breaking eye contact and fidgeting with his hands. Rita looked at her other two friends, they were talking about their new abilities. 

“Well”, Seth began, “Other than my red hair, I haven’t changed much. I mean, my ears are pointed and I can move them a little, so yeah. And my hearing’s better, so is my sense of smell, and my eyesight is fantastic.” To prove his amazing sense of smell he inhaled deeply and grinned.