Retrospect

Nineteen

   Reeves shoved Miles, who was taken off guard, into the wall of Room 767 right after we'd entered. I was pretty sure Reeves had been waiting all day for us to get back. He had a dangerous look in his gray eyes. "You weren't supposed to leave!" he declared.

   Murl and Ana had already been back for a while and Reeves definitely knew they had left as well, their "new" clothes in their bags. Before Reeves could continue, Murl piped up from his spot on one of the couches. "We went out too."

   Reeves clenched one of his fists at his side, while his other one latched onto Miles forearm. "I don't care! I know it was this idiot's idea," he shouted, face beet red as his grip tightened.

   Miles scoffed, never breaking eye contact with his competition. "Really? I'm the idiot? I'm not the one keeping us locked up in here when we have stuff to do."

   Reeves' fingers were now crushing his arm, but Miles was able to fight back and he swung his free fist, colliding with Reeves' nose. The gray-eyed man drew back with a grunt, then recovered almost immediately and threw a punch right back at Miles' head. Alvin and Rich got to their feet as if they were going to do something about the fight, yet they remained glued to their spots.

   Nobody was doing anything while Miles and Reeves were yelling and shoving and punching. They all just watched wide-eyed. Even Murl stayed quiet which I found annoying since Miles was his cousin. The gray-eyed man gave a sharp blow to the side of Miles' head, which caused him to fall against the wall, hands shaking as he covered his ear.

   Reeves wasn't stopping, taking a step towards Miles who glared up at him from the floor. I had to do something before the fight got any worse. That was when I intercepted the gray-eyed man, standing in front of him as I blocked Miles.

   Everyone's eyes flitted over to me: Rich, Alvin, Murl, Ana, Reeves, and Miles who pulled his bloody hand away from his ear, all looking at me. There was a long moment of silence and the spotlight was shining on me now. My heart skipped a beat as Reeves stood just a foot in front of me. I made sure I knew where my pocket knife was just in case.

   They were waiting all for me to speak, so I took a breath, eyes meeting Reeves'. "Does making it into Hale even matter anymore?" I asked, a little above a whisper.

   "Of course it does!" Reeves burst out, his gaze murderous as sweat beaded on his forehead. I was surprised I didn't flinch, but my entire body was paralyzed as I looked up at Reeves.

   "Then what are we doing?" I furrowed my brow. It was hard not to give in to the need to look away. I went on. "It doesn't seem like we're doing much. Just sitting around or trying to knock out the people on our side."

   Reeves looked past me at Miles who was still on the floor, back against the wall. The gray-eyed man didn't say anything, daring me to continue.

   I glanced around the room. "We can't be doing this," I paused, "we have to get out there and just take our chances." Drawing in a breath, I willed myself to go on, looking to Ana. "We have to forget about whether people pay attention to us or not and actually work together. It's the only way we can do this." Ana rolled her eyes and put her boots up on the couch she was on. I turned to Reeves, heart racing, palms sweating. I let the words escape my lips. "We have to forget about what happened then and start figuring out what to do now."

   That's how bad I wanted my parents back. I gave a whole speech to a group of strangers staring me down, judging my every move like they'd kill me right then and there if I messed up. When I felt it was safe to remove myself from the situation, I looked down at Miles. "We need to have a plan, and I think Miles is right. The aquarium is where we have to go next."