THE DIFFERS : THE UPRISING

|14|

• ＲＡＩＤＥＮ • 

"We could invite her tonight?" Nara proposed during breakfast, breaking the calm atmosphere. Her voice was soothing as always, yet she resonate with deep emotions.

"Look, I just woke up and I'm usually not a morning person... so can you stop ruining my breakfast, please?" Aria said, her eyes still half-closed, but her frown already evident.

"Fine, but we have to talk about it at some point today." Aria reluctantly nodded and Nara softly smiled while we remained silent.

I was in my room getting ready for another day at school. I just wanted to go for Willow, that was all. I was tired of this routine: sleeping, going to school, working out, sleeping, going to school. I wanted to do something with my life, to make something of myself. But it was too complicated to imagine the future when I didn't even know what was going to happen in the next few weeks, or even hours.

We could either be still in school, doing the same things we had been doing for the last few weeks, living the typical teenage life. Or we could be running for our lives, as vagrants, fugitives.

"Hey Rai, could you describe to me the men you saw at the cliff?" Ramiel came in and sat on my couch, looking stressed and tired.

"Rami, are you okay?" He tried to smile but couldn't pretend in front of me.

"I think May and I are going to stay here today. I slept poorly, and she kept me awake most of the night with her thoughts." I looked at him sympathetically and handed him the piece of paper where I had written the details of what happened with Willow at the cliff.

Not all the details, just the important ones.

"I think things are going to take a turn for the worse from now on. They're making arrangements, it's obviously not good for us. I don't know what they'll do next, first the curfew, then what? We can't just stay here all our lives. They'll find us eventually."

"Yes, I know. We have to do something about her quickly. If we are to leave at any point, she will have to be prepared for it."

"We all have to be prepared for it. I don't think we have a clear idea of what we are in. Of course, we know the situation, the dangers, some more than others. But when the time comes, there will be no turning back. I'm not sure everyone is ready to give it all up and start something we can't even predict." He was right. We weren't prepared for this, even with all our willpower.

Who would want to give up everything to go through hell?

"Yeah, but we have no choice. It's always been like that." He looked at me mournfully and then left, probably to take care of Maya.

The others and I went to school, all lost in our thoughts, an air of anger or stress on each of our faces. Everyone was preparing for what might happen in the future, thinking back to their own past, or simply to our unpleasant present, which was much more enjoyable than what our future promised us.

"Stop staring at her like that, you look like a creep," Adrian whispered to me as I grabbed my tray.

Of course, I'd watched her all morning already, but it wasn't my fault. There was nothing I could do about it. There was something that drew me to her. She made me feel things I'd never felt before, even though we weren't even proper friends. Her mere presence was enough to consume my whole mind and prevent me from concentrating on anything else.

Oh God, I sounded like a fool.

"If you want to talk to her, go ahead. You could even ask her for tonight," Ethan added and they both left to join the others at the table while I stayed there, thinking of her as usual.