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Chapter Twelve

Sara promptly led me down the hall and opened the door Flora had slipped though several minutes beforehand.

Behind it lay a small dining room, which consisted of no more than a round table surrounded by chairs, eight of them, with two extras stacked against the wall.

All of the furnishings were made with a light coloured wood, something I had never seen in any of the homes in the Blonde Sector.

A bowl of food sat before each of the chairs, most of which were already occupied by people. In the centre of the table sat a little jar with a single, wilting flower, purple in colour.

The room was filled with general chatter and the other diners hadn't seemed to notice my entrance. They all appeared similar to me in age, give or take a few years, except for flora, who sat silently in the midst of this chatter, looking even tinier than she had standing at my bedroom door.

Flora was the only one who had noticed my presence and stared at me with wide, unblinking eyes, as if studying me.

Sara ushered me into one of the empty chairs before sitting herself beside me. It was at this point that the others turned away from their conversation and began to notice me.

"Hey look, we finally have another Blondie!" cried a boy to my left, his hair being similar to mine, but even lighter.

"You're Alive," exclaimed the Brunette girl next to him.

Another girl, sitting directly across from me, scoffed and flipped her straight black hair over her shoulder. I couldn't help but stare at her, she was far too pretty to be a Grey.

Her eyes were a pale green but her narrowed gaze was like ice. Her pale skin was flawless, looking as smooth as porcelain, with full lips painted in a deep shade of red.

"What?" She asked in disgust.

I flicked my eyes away, looking instead to the odd looking meal in front of me. The bowl was filled with long string-like things covered in a red sauce. I poked at it with my fork, regarding it with suspicion.

"Hey, dummy," the girl with black hair piped up, "it's not gonna bite you."

"Lay off Tiffany," replied the boy with light hair, "she's not used to stew. In the Blonde sector things that look as ugly as this beef don't come anywhere near us. Besides, Blondie is cute when she scrunches up her face like that."

He winked at me as he delivered that last line and Tiffany scoffed, but said no more.

"My name is not Blondie," I said evenly, trying not to let my voice betray my emotions. "It's Verity."

"Ooh, this one's got some fight in her, I like it." He smirked at me.

"The name's Daniel, and, as you can see, I shouldn't have been born with the Blondes, I'm not the right colour. In fact, I'm not really any colour."

Daniel wasn't wrong. His hair was so light it was almost white and his eyes were a bland grey, but his face was full of life. Aside from the strange colouring of his hair and eyes, he was still distinctly the child of a Blonde. His strong jawline and toned arms reminded me a little of Logan, not to mention his demeanour.

A sour taste filled my mouth as I remembered Logan pressed up against me at the party and I squeezed my eyes shut, trying desperately to rid myself of the memory.

I heard the sound of a door swinging open and I forced my eyelids apart. Alex rushed into the room speaking frantically.

"Sara don't kill me I just left for a second, I swear, but I got back and she had just vanished. I don't know where she-" He cut himself off as his eyes fell upon me. "Oh."