The S-Force

7: Jacqueline

I scanned the cafeteria for an empty seat and came up blank. Deciding to go eat in my room, I turned to leave but I was stopped at the entrance and prevented from leaving. I settled for finding a seat with the least amount of people.

I spotted the girl from the training room sitting alone not too far from the centre of the room. Summoning up some courage as well as a friendly smile, I walked up to her.

"Hey." She jumped at the sound of my voice. "Oh sorry." I quickly apologised.

"No it's fine." She assured me.

"Um... I just wanted to know if I could seat with you, every other table is crowded."

"Yeah sure."

"Thanks." I sat down in front of her. "I'm Jacqueline."

"Kylie."

"Nice to meet you."

"Yeah likewise."

We ate in silence, the chatter from other tables surrounding us instead.

Kylie wordlessly finished and stood to go after bidding me a brief goodbye.

I finished my food alone and found my way to the common room, hoping to probably socialise or something. I took deep breaths and went in, chanting words of encouragement in my head.

I walked over to two people playing Scrabble. "Can I watch?"

"Are you going to distract us?" One of the players asked, not looking up from the board.

"No I won't." I replied.

"Sit on the empty side and try not to make any sudden moves." The other player instructed, his attention focused on the board.

They played for a long time, their focus never wavering for a second. Each word was carefully thought out and they never made a mistake. By the end of the game, they both looked up and drank from the bottle of water they had beside them. Then they looked down at board as it brought out their score.

"Player 1 715 points. Player 2 721 points." The robotic voice announced.

"Wow." I said, awestruck.

"Shit!" The player who had been player one swore.

"Better luck next time Dae Woo." Player two taunted him.

"I demand a rematch."

Player two rolled his eyes. "Whatever. You can have your rematch tomorrow but I'm still going to beat you."

"Not this time." Player one vowed. He walked away and out of the common room.

"Pay him no mind." Player two laughed before turning to face me. "He can be a sore loser sometimes."

"Well he shouldn't be so hard on himself."

"That's what I always say." He said with a concerned smile on his face. "I'm Spence."

"Jacqueline."

"Well Jacqueline. It is nice to meet you." He said with a flirtatious smile.

"Yeah... Nice to meet you too."

"So when did you come in?"

"Just yesterday."

"I came in two days ago. So did Dae Woo."

"Did you come together?"

"He's from the East Asia facility. I'm from the European facility."

"Oh!"

"Yeah we met just yesterday. He beat me at chess and I beat him at a few card games."

"That's cute."

Spence gasped in mock horror. "Cute? I would have you know I can actually be quite manly."

"Of course you are manly. Only a manly man could win a game of Scrabble."

"Exactly!" Spence laughed. "See she gets it!"

"Hey are you still using the Scrabble board?" A group of kids around our age walked up to us.

"You want to play a game of Scrabble?" Spence asked me first.

"I'm not very good so I have to pass this time."

"Oh..." Spence's face fell and he did not bother hiding it.

"Maybe tomorrow we can play and you'll give me a few lessons." I quickly said.

Spence's face brightened. "That would be great."

"So you guys aren't using the Scrabble board right now right?" The boy who spoke to us when he approached us spoke up again.

"It's all yours." Spence stood up from his seated position by the board and I followed suit. "Are you leaving now?" He asked me a moment later.

"Yeah. I should probably get some rest."

"Same. I'll walk you to your room."

"Thanks."