The Drafting

Unspoken rules

The dinner hall is crowded. Everywhere I look I see army green. The line moves forward and I can finally grab a plate. I stand next to Mason handing him a plate. I look back at the others they seem to be cowering from the mass amount of people but I don't mind it, I can handle my own.

A boy, probably a few years older than me and Mason cuts in front of Cole who stands a couple people in front of us. I can't barely hear the argument with so much noise but I can definitely see it.

Cole steps out of line pushing the other boy into a table, the other boy gets out of Cole's hold punching Cole square in the jaw, after that it becomes a wrestling match on the floor with empty chairs being kicked and blood starting to show. The fight soon ends when what looks to be an officer arrives to handle the fight. Cole and the other boy soon disappear into the crowd and then out of the building all together.

Where did they go? I think. Why did everyone around them act like nothing was wrong? Questions fill my head at the strange things that go on here, how no one talks about it and no one is really informed on what the rules are.

The line moves forward and soon my plate is filled with pasta and a dinner roll. I sit at a table in the back with Mason, Carl, Eight, and Lemon the others at a different table on the other side of the hall. We eat in silence except for the occasional comment on the food but other than that everyone acts like everything is normal.

Me, Carl and Mason are anxious,  we glance at each other every now and then but we don't talk since no one else is. Eight picks up on our confusion and tells us to lean in towards her so we do, Lemon stays on look out.

Eight's voice barley a whisper,  she tells us the rules, "There is no fighting allowed unless it's in training,  all problems such as line cutting are to be resolved with an officer. If you are seen fighting out side of practice you are taken away for awhile,  usually a couple days two ta' three".

Carl asks a question, "Where do you go?".

"Where? I don't know I've never gotten into a fight".

"Does Cole know about the rule?" Mason asks.

"Course he does, he has been here for two months, he's not the fighter type of guy so I don't know what got into him".

"Maybe the guy said something?" Carl suggests.

"Could be".

"Why does everyone act like nothing is going on?" I ask.

"If you get involved you get sent away".

"But you can look at the people fighting and not get in trouble?".

"Yeah, but you have to make it look like the fight is something boring, like it's not a fight".

I want to ask Eight more questions but a bell rings signaling that dinner is over even though I haven't eaten anything but a few bites of pasta. I bring my tray to the nearest rack throwing my food into the bin labeled scraps and my plate into the bin labeled plates,  then I stack my tray. 

***

The moonlight keeps me up along with my racing thoughts about tomorrow, my first day of training. I do eventually fall asleep only to be awakened later in the night from a glass shattering. I move quietly out of my bed and to the small kitchen where I see Cole.  What is he doing here? I hear Eight's voice in my head, "you are taken away for awhile, usually a couple days".

Should I confront him? Ask him why he is here early? Or should I just act like I know nothing about the unspoken rule? I walk forward and into the kitchen, Cole sees me asking, "What are you doing up? You should be asleep first day of training is always the hardest".

"Did you break something? I heard a glass shatter and woke up".

"Yeah I did, you got good hearing".

Cole looks me straight in the eyes and I look right back. Examining his now bruised jaw and slightly swollen eye .  I move my eyes away from Cole and to the small sink where I see a shattered glass.

"Did you get angry or something?" I ask moving forward towards the sink to look more closely.

"Yeah, its been happening more frequently" he says hinting to dinner.

"Where did they take you?".

"It doesn't matter you should really go back to sleep".

"Was it that awful?".

"Red, I would tell you but I can't".

I look up at him.

"Plus why do you want to know so bad? Planning on getting into a fight?" Cole adds.

"No, I just want to figure this place out".

"Good luck its the impossible puzzle".

"That's why you did it... You wanted to get into that fight, you wanted to be taken away!" I exclaim.

Cole comes in close to me taking my arm, "Look.... stop while you are ahead, you don't want to be where I am... In my position".

Cole looks deep into my eyes as he speaks, his words making me want to know more. I know what he's saying, he's saying stay low, follow the rules, act like everything is perfectly fine.

"What if I don't want to stop, what if I want to know more?" I ask.

"Ignore your feelings, because once you begin there is no going back. Get some sleep Red you will need it" And with that Cole leaves to his room and I am left to make a decision.