Waiting for War

kally

ken is asleep with his head against the glass, his beautiful hair falling over his eyes under his black hood. he looks like an angel, even with the dark circles under his long golden lashes.

then i feel a hand lightly against my shoulder as she passes. it's katie. she sits in a seat behind ken, reaching through the gap in the seats to put a hand on his arm. i watch his face relax as though the pain is ebbing away. she stays there silently, none of us daring to move in case we wake him. we all know how dangerous this is. the fact that she's here. the fact that he's so weak. the fact that the government wants her dead. none of us want to move in case all of it crashes down on us. kassie isn't with me. she's still trying to avoid me. i don't mind, especially with katie here. she'll think i'm a traitor and if anyone from the government sees kassie she'll be branded for life.

strange how time changes so much. i mean, it was always a risk to be around katie because she was on the opposing side, but now it's something different. a different beast entirely.

and as the train continues rolling the more i think about how risky this year will be. how insane our future is about to become. it all feels surreal and unreliable.

"kally," luke hisses next to me. "keep your eyes out this level, they said it was getting harder from here on out and none of us knows what that could mean," he sounds concerned. i understand why.

"you don't think they'll try and pull something right away?" i ask. they being the government.

"they've proven to be reckless until now, it's only fair that that continues to the future," my heart stops for an infinitesimal moment as i look at katie. luke follows my gaze. she's looking out of the window, her hand still on ken's arm.

"boo," luke and i jump. "what is that serious look for?" it's amy and she has one hand on my shoulder and one hand on luke's.

"trying to figure out if the love birds will make up," she continues, ignoring our shock and our hands brushing her away. "honestly she's really good at holding grudges she won't even talk to her mom. the odds are slim gentlemen," she continues with a heavy sigh. "but love might prevail anyway, we've seen stupider love stories work out," she shakes her head as if this is a horrible idea.