Tʜᴇ ልςαdεmψ

The Place of Lies

May and Liam sat on the boat tied to the dock, spiritless and banauisic. They were trying to capture fish, but they had seemed to be more slimy and slick than usual.

May sighed with a mixture of sorrow and frustration laced into the sigh. It is strange how just a small exhale of breath can say so much.

"I was told we would go straight to The Academy. Not stay in some dingy tents on the beach and catch fish until we 'proved ourselves.'", she explained her frustration in her particular voice, soft as a plush pillow. Smooth as glass. Soothing like lavender.

May's accusation was true. It was what everyone was told in the letter. That they got accepted into an academy meant only for the best. This happened to the most astute and intelligent in the State of California. 3 children were hand-picked from each county by the headmaster of this academy himself. Lies. Many lies were told in that letter. Instead of this astonishing place they were told they would be at, they were at a crumby beach. Not one of those breathtaking, relaxing beaches. A beach people typically steered away from. With sharp rocks instead of warm sand, and disgusting gray waters littered with plastic. The beach didn't have a specific name. But the children trapped there called it "The Place of Lies." Because it seemed that many lies were told in this dreadful place. It is a tale that is told in The Place of Lies that a girl named Olivia Horne tried to escape once. But just as she was about to become successful in her escape, she was caught. Then, her fingers and toes were cut off with a saw and her buldging blue eyes were poked out with an ice pick.

May and Liam's monitor, Joshua Beck, started to pull them in. They looked at each other in panic. They had barely caught anything in the entirety of the long day.

"What'd you get today?", he asked with complete impatience. He didn't like to be kept waiting.

"A couple of flounders..." May said with fear in her tear-glossed eyes.

That didn't make Joshua happy. He always expected more out of such gifted children.

"What about you?"

"N-nothing..." stuttered Liam.

Joshua raged. Out of anger, he threw the nearest thing into the ocean; May.

Liam panicked. He was firmly jammed and stuck inbetween saving his best friend and facing Joshua, or watching her struggle against the fridged, bitter waters. Out of impulse, he just jumped in to get her. The boy didn't even know why. Of course, they were best friends, but he didn't know why he was so keen of his fellow fourteen-year-old classmate. They attended the same elementary school and junior high. They had always competed for who would come out on top in the class. May struck first place most of the time, but it was still a fun guessing game for the teachers. How'd we get here?, Liam thought as he searched his mind for an answer to the compelling question. He couldn't seem to find a solid answer as he swam against the cold current.

He reached out and felt May's fridged body against his scarred hands. He had to get her back to the beach. And so he did. He didn't have an efficient way of doing this, he just dragged her along as he swam for both of their young lives.

Liam got them to shore after what seemed like hours of swimming. The anxious breathing of himself and May flooded his ears along with his own dull heartbeat. They still had to face whatever punishment Joshua had up his sleeve.

"No dinner tonight. Both of you."

Ah yes, his go-to punishment. Taking away the only meal they receive during the day.

May sighed with exasperation.

"Yes, sir.", she said shyly as she walked back to the tent with her head tilted towards the sandy earth, kicking a seashell along with her.

Liam followed not long after. He felt bad for the girl. She was often times the person who had to endure Joshua's hissy fits the most. Not because she was a misbehaved kid at all. He just made everything out to be May Volkov's fault. Everything.

"If you would've just stayed there then we would both have dinner!", she cried out after those moments of silence.

"I'm sorry! I just wanted to help you. It was my first instinct.", Liam said with mild annoyance. He had saved her. In his mind, she was being ungrateful. But in a way, it made him eager that she was ungrateful for that. It meant that if she ever became grateful, that he did something right. Of course he would have to work hard for her gratefulness just in case she was ungrateful for him saving her life, but anything he could do to make her grateful, he would do it. Wait. . . why did his mind wander into those woods again?

May sighed for the third time in 20 minutes.

"I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be ungrateful." It was like she read his mind. "I am grateful. Truly. You saved me life. I'm just hangry... but all it is is missing out on some undercooked fish and stale bread. Please forgive me.", she said as she enveloped him in a hug.

Liam felt a shiver go down his spine.

"Of course I forgive you.", he replied.

He suddenly knew why he was so keen of the girl.

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Hello! It's the author here! I hope you're enjoying my book! I will put author's notes and updates at the end of each chapter. As of now, this book will be receiving 1-3 updates/new chapters a week. But it will vary over time because I will get a busy schedule soon! So please bare with me. I hope to see you in the next chapter! Happy reading~! ♡

•- averslxo

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