City of the Fallen - unedited

Chapter Nine

I have been staring at the blank ceiling for about an hour now and I have never been more startled when Stacy pounds at the door. All of the horrible reminders of not having Brooke with me flood my brain and I shove a pillow into my face.

I answer the door this time and Stacy smiles at me.
"Any better today?" She asks.

"The same."

"Excited to leave?" She looks up at me. Her eyes sparkle and I admire the beauty within them. I can't wait for my eyes to look like that.

"Very."

The walk to training is very lonely, but many of the people around me are alone as well so it helps a little.

Sitting in my usual spot in the auditorium, I jerk my head to the side when Tanner sits down next to me.

"Hey." He nods his head.

"Where's Jack?" I inquire as the lights get dimmer, signaling us that class is about to begin. The two of them hardly separate.

"He's with some girl I think. I'm not too fond of her so I thought I would come sit with you. If that's okay." He lowers his voice while Mr. Conner begins speaking. The room is so big that I doubt he would hear or even see us conversing. I never talk to Brooke during class because she would shush me as if we were in actual school.

"Yeah that's fine." I reply. It's too late for him to move anyway. Maybe I would enjoy his company. "Who's this girl he's with?"

"Just one of his little flings, nothing important." He says so casually.

My heart drops for Brooke. I can't tell her, but she was so naive to think that a douche like him would ever talk to just one girl. People are cruel even in the Afterlife. I guess it isn't the utopia everyone thinks it is.

I told her that it wasn't a good idea and now I'm right. I just wish I wasn't.

"How are things going without Brooke so far?" He asks.

"Alright, I guess. I feel a little out of place, though." I whisper back.

He nods. "I probably will too when Jack leaves."

I roll my eyes and lean away from him. "You're friends with basically everyone, I'm sure you'll be fine, Tanner."

He shrugs. "They're all acquaintances, I only have one or two actual friends." I don't believe him but I nod and turn to face the screen up front. When we were at his dorm, he was constantly talking to somebody whether it was Jack or someone else that I didn't recognize.

I doubt that he is going to have to worry about surviving stage one alone. Besides, all we do is go to training and hide away in our dorms, so it's not that hard to be alone.

So far my day isn't so bad, thanks to Tanner.

Mr. Connor dismisses us and I tell myself over and over again: two more days, two more days, two more days.