The Lost Ones

17 - Lela

I wake up pretty early, 6 am, and everyone else in the girls' dormitory is still sleeping. Peri is lying face-down on the top bunk; Gemma is curled up on top of the sheets like a cat on the bottom bunk. I put on my dressing gown and tiptoe out of the room and into the hallway, stretching my arms and yawning.

It feels so strange just casually strolling down a corridor. The windows are wide open and it leads out to a balcony. Cerise City is just perfect. Then I see someone's reflection in the glass fence.

"Mind if I join you?" Will's voice says. I turn around to face him. He's obviously just woken up and is yawning. "Sorry, I had a bad night."

"It's no problem. I don't think I've ever slept better in my life." I sigh contentedly.

"Lucky duck. But I don't mind. I always enjoyed watching the sun rise back at the house." Will tell me, slightly wistfully.

"Do you miss it? The house, I mean, not the sunrise."

"Yes and no. It was both our sanctuary and our downfall." He shakes his head and laughs.

"How long were you there?" I ask him. I probably shouldn't be asking so much, but I let my curiosity get the better of me.

"Meh. About five years? I don't really know. I got so used to just being there. And then you guys came along and everything was just-" He stops.

"Chaos? Mayhem?" I suggest.

"Different. Everyone's changing, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad thing."

"That's very profound of you."

"Excuse me, I can get deep, thank you very much! Don't sound so surprised, Lela." He grins. "Wait, that sounded wrong. Oh, well."

"Oh, god, I wasn't even thinking that!"

"I bet you were."

"I was not, how very dare you!"

We go on like this for a while, just pretending to argue and joking around. Despite what everyone's saying, I feel that maybe we could get back to normal, if this is anything to go by. We barely notice Maisie coughing to announce her presence.

"Uh, hey guys? Breakfast is served!" She grins, and we follow her to the dining room.

During breakfast, we are seated with Drew, Gemma, Jane and her family. They're pretty nice, but there's something strange about Alan, Jane's nephew, and he isn't talking much. His dad seems to pick up on this.

"Alan, my boy, you're not saying much. That's quite unusual, for you!" Ross laughs, and the others join in. I notice that Adrian, Gemma and Drew are laughing quieter than the others and when they speak they sound slightly nervous. Did they notice the coldness in Alan's stare? I hope I'm not imagining it.

"So, where are you folks off to at this time of year? Heading off on a country road trip?" Jane's husband Colin jokes, causing his wife to nudge him arm playfully.

They're all so easy around each other - minus Alan who looks like he could be a ticking time bomb and Claire who looks like she just wants to shrink into nothing at any moment - but from what small things I've observed at the breakfast table everything seems to be pretty okay.

"Lela dear, would you like a map to the city? I'm sure any one of us would be perfectly happy to show you around the town, but it's the middle of summer and tourist season's starting up again! We're over our heads in work at the moment." Jane smiles warmly, handing me a leaflet with a guide to Cerise City.

"Are you sure you don't want any help with anything?" I ask her, as her arms are heavily laden with breakfast trays which have been emptied of food.

"No, no dear, you go right ahead and enjoy yourselves. Heaven knows you need it." She shakes her head sadly, and something tells me she knows a bit more than she's letting on.

So I say thank you and go to the dormitory; I put on some clean clothes and get ready to go outside. This might not sound very momentous, but for me it signals the possible end of the dark days, maybe for all of us. At least, I hope it's the end.

Unfortunately, trouble seems to be everywhere nowadays.