Rebel

Chapter Fourty Nine

    I gasped loud enough for everyone to hear. Why had she taken a step forward? Didn't she know that volunteering was a bad idea? The odds of things going wrong were way too high! What was she thinking!?

"A-Alexsandra! What are you--"

"Thank you for volunteering, Miss Jones." Marcus said, his voice cutting right across mine, "Your willingness to help will be greatly appreciated."

Alexsandra nodded meekly and took a step back. I gaped at her and so did all my other friends.

"Alex!" Aiden cried, "What the heck are you doing!?"

Alexsandra shrugged, before tilting her chin up, "I'm h-helping the cause." She said, and I could tell that she was forcing herself to sound brave.

"What are you talking about?" Harvey cried, "Do you understand the risk you're taking? What could go wrong? All in the name of science." He spat out the last word like it disgusted him.

"Well I think she's doing the right thing." Olwyn declared, staring down her nose as if daring us to disagree with her, "I will do anything in my power to stop Morsie from taking over the world. You all should agree."

"Not if it includes risking Alexsandra's life!"

"All of you shut up." Eliza declared, walking up and standing next to Alexsandra with her arms crossed, "Alex has made her decision so there is no point in giving her crap about it."

Alexsandra glanced over her shoulder and shot Eliza a grateful look. Eliza nodded and glared at anyone who looked like they wanted to speak against her.

All I could do was stare and watch my friends try to argue. Horror curled itself around my gut, preventing me from saying anything. Alexsandra could die in Sanctuary's little science experiment. Did she even understand that? One little thing goes wrong and she could die.

"A-Alex..." I managed to choke out, but then Marcus walked up.

"Well, Miss Jones." He said, staring down at us all, "Are you ready to start the process?"

"Um..." Alexsandra glanced at us all before looking at Marcus, "Yeah." She took one step forward when I lunged forward and pulled her into a tight hug.

"I can't stop you, can I?" I muttered into her shoulder.

"Probably not." Alexsandra muttered back.

I sighed, "Well then." I paused, keeping my arms tight around her, "Then... don't die, you hear me?"

She chuckled weakly, "I hear you." She pulled back and I could see tears in her eyes. Just that was enough to make my own eyes well up. "See you soon." She said, before turning around and walking away with Marcus, towards a door in the back.

"Goodbye." I whispered.

We walked silently down the halls, the only sound the rhythmic pounding of our footsteps. I could hardly breathe, my own lungs still left where Alexsandra disappeared. The tension in the air was so thick that I could choke on it. What if she dies? I thought, What if I never see her again?

We all stopped just outside the cafeteria, but none of us moved to go in. I stared at the floor, my throat and eyes burning.

"Well." Aiden muttered, breaking the silence, "What now?"

"Now we wait." Bailey said, tilting her chin up, "We wait to see if the people of Sanctuary can really pull through."

No one had anything to say to that.

I cleared my throat, still not looking up, "I, er, I'm just gonna go to my room." I muttered, turning around to walk away, when Dario stepped forward and grabbed my shoulders, keeping me from walking away.

"Oi, you're not about to walk away." He said, staring into my eyes, "We know you're hurting, we all are too, but you're not in this alone. If you're gonna suffer, suffer with the rest of us."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Even Bailey, although she didn't look too happy about it. "You're not alone, Sage, now stop trying to isolate yourself." Harvey said, offering me a somewhat weak smirk.

"Yeah." Aiden agreed, clapping a hand on my shoulder, "Now let's go sneak on the roof and eat so much that we'll never be able to get out of debt."

I managed a weak smile before glancing down, "Yeah, okay." I muttered.

"Great, let's go." Dario said, putting an arm around my shoulders and steering me towards Alexsandra's secret roof hideout.

"I'll go get the food." Bailey said, somewhat stiffly, "I have a great taste. And I can be very persuasive anyway."

"Got it, thanks Bai." Dario said over his shoulder.

I didn't miss the red flush that passed over her cheeks at the nickname. Bailey nodded and turned towards the cafeteria, but before she could leave, Olwyn spoke up, "I'll come too, I can help carry stuff."

Bailey nodded and the two girls disappeared down the hall.

"Fresh air, here we come." Harvey said, draping his arm over my other shoulder in addition to Dario's.

"Heck yeah." Aiden said, pumping a fist, "Let's go."

I could tell they were putting forth an effort to act cheerful and try to distract me from Lex. I appreciated it, even if my gut was still twisted in knots. We walked down the hall towards the trap door and ladder. Many people shot us suspicious looks as we went, but no one stopped us. Smart of them. It would be a grave mistake to ruin my day any more than it already is.