FORSAKEN CHILDREN

CHAPTER 11

Rachel pulled her leg against her chest. Her foot rested at the end of the triclinium serving as her seat.

Around her, it was quite noisy. They had gathered in the cafeteria, getting to know each other better. Pierce seemed to get along well with his trio; in fact, Rachel was sitting right next to Shreya, with whom she exchanged almost nothing. She had nothing to say to her, just like to her colleague on her left, Camil. His voice was so deep that she could barely hear it.

She stared at Leandros, that old dog with hands a little too free. He was at the end of the table. In front of him, Kathryn was talking to Mr. Toothpick named Ajax. She didn't understand how she could stay facing him without saying anything. In her place, she would have disfigured a part of his face.

"Wow, this place is really cute," said the blonde as she approached with her friend Alexandra.

Rachel turned her head to see the blonde arriving with her friend Alexandra. It was true that the cafeteria was rather pretty. In the large room, the columns of the composite order assembled a voluminous capital, with the moldings cut in ovoid shapes at its spine. They joined together in height by the purple fabrics that hung majestically. Suspended from the ceiling by chains, the oil lamps were the only source of light along with those placed on the tables. The latter formed a U, fully revealing in the center of the atrium the statue of a man lying on a triclinium. Well, currently the room was inhabited much differently than the depictions on the walls with scenes of banquets reigning before, much more obscene than for simply celebrating a dinner.

"Alex!" shouted a male voice.

Rachel turned to see Pierce shaking his arm vigorously. Why was he acting like she hadn't done anything wrong by ignoring them? Alexandra pulled the other by the hand towards her interlocutor, seated cross-legged. When she stepped over the cushioned space on her right side, Alexandra caught Rachel's gaze sitting across from her. Why did she have to sit right here exactly?

"We haven't had the chance to introduce ourselves," intervened the blonde, positioning herself in the space between Alex and a young man named Keoni. "I'm Ashley, Ashley Collins."

She smiled at them naturally but artificially. Her green eyes fell on Rachel's, who was not inclined to be charmed.

Pause. Did she just say Collins?

The reactions didn't take long. Pierce choked on his glass of water, narrowly avoiding spitting it all over Shreya in front of him. Rachel, too, seemed affected by this announcement, first frowning and then widening her eyes in realization. Alexandra gently tapped her friend's back, who couldn't stop coughing, laughing lightly knowing the reason for their behavior.

"Damn, it's the same face," Rachel's jaw struggled to reset, genuinely caught off guard.

"Damn! I can't believe it, we have Britney Spears 2015 with us," exclaimed Pierce, running his hand through his tousled hair.

"Actually no, singing isn't my main job," reminded the blonde, giving them a playful glance before glancing at the bronze-skinned guy next to her. Or rather Keoni's hand creeping on her hip to pull her closer to him.

"You missed it, didn't you, Ash?" a voice chimed in from the side.

Ajax, leaning on his arm with his leg on one of the tricliniums, brought his glass to his mouth while watching the blonde respond to him. It was true that the lady hadn't led a life hidden from cameras, becoming a rising star from a young age. Ashley fucking C.O.L.L.I.N.S. Oh God, what was the name of that movie again, where she cries in front of the whole school during a game?

"It's rather nostalgic," she admitted without taking her eyes off her interlocutor, leaning her head on the shoulder of what was surely her boyfriend.

But she leaned back, drawn by another pressure. A boy with short white hair.