Emeros X

Day 2.1

The next morning, Erin woke up to the sound of her alarm clock, with her mom nowhere in sight. She assumed that her mom figured the first day was over, so Erin could wear and look however she wanted for the next two days, or at least for that day. She walked to her closet, pulling out a pair of jeans and a plain shirt, throwing them onto the bed while she walked to the mirror. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, leaving a few strands out around her face. At least she would look somewhat put together.

Erin walked out of her room, grabbing her bag that was hanging on her door before walking into the kitchen. Violet was there, but her mom wasn’t.

“Are you taking me today then?”

Violet nodded, munching on a granola bar, what she almost exclusively ate for breakfast. Erin walked toward the front door while Violet followed, unlocking the car doors.

On the way, Violet asked an endless amount of questions. Was the guy cute? Was he nice? Does she think the pill worked? Of course it did, her sister thought.  

Erin just nodded at the end of each question, distracted by the idea of the pill not working the second day. Perhaps there’d be an opposite affect this time. That happens with medication all the time, doesn’t it?

Richard was standing outside the doors as Violet pulled up to the drop-off.

“Is that him?” Violet asked.

Erin smiled before getting out of the car, telling Violet not to say a word.

“Hey, there you are! I thought you were skipping out on me,” Richard said, leading Erin inside.

“Aren’t we not supposed to see each other until we’ve taken the pill? I heard that’s what you’re supposed to do,” Erin asked.

“Well, we just happened to walk in at the same time. There’s no harm in that, right? Hey, I’ll meet you up there in a bit. I just saw someone I know.”

Richard went down the hall towards another room while Erin made her way back to the room she was scheduled to be in. Through the elevator doors, she could see Richard talking to someone who looked to be at least in his late twenties. The man looked somewhat disconcerted and stern, as if Richard said something wrong. Erin tried to dismiss the thought, focusing on getting up to her room and following procedure.

The room she walked into looked the same as before, but the doctor was already sitting at the table, waiting for her.

“Good morning, Miss Foster. I just need to ask you a few questions before we start today,” he said, motioning for her to sit across from him.

Erin dropped her bag by the door and sat down. She was starting to get tired of answering questions.

“Yes. To start off, how do you feel today? Did you sleep well last night?”

Erin nodded.

“Good, good. Now, was your experience yesterday pleasant? Did you enjoy Mr. Beecher’s company?”

“Yes? Isn’t that the point?”

“Of course, Miss Foster. We have to ask the same questions to everyone on the second day. Let’s see, so you bonded well with Mr. Beecher yesterday?”

“I did, yea.”

“and do you think that he did with you as well?”

Erin nodded, looking down as Dr. Peters wrote her answers down on his clipboard. He too looked a bit out of sorts. Erin hoped it was simply a boring day in the office, or some rumor was floating around, as that often happens, she supposed.

“Yes well, that would be all Miss Foster. You’re free to take the second pill and in an hour, you’ll go back across the hall,” he said, gripping his clipboard and walking out of the room, the door slamming behind him.

Erin slowly rose out of the chair and walked to the bathroom. The pill was the same color today, but a bit larger. She had to split it in half to be able to swallow it comfortably. It tasted disgusting, like someone had mixed flour and salt and made it into a pill. The flavor stuck to the roof of Erin’s mouth for a while, causing her to rub her tongue against the top of her mouth in a desperate attempt to get rid of it. That only made it worse.