I get ready with the others, borrowing a dress from Marlene. Black, short, spaghetti straps and lace-covered cut-outs. My hair gets curled, my eyelids covered in golden glitter. I do not get the eyeliner right. How Marlene does it in one single line every time I will never comprehend. Every now and then my hand comes to rest on my neck, the spot where Eric injected me with the serum.
“Are you okay?” Sammy asks, sitting down next to me. He looks fabulous in his deep purple, only half buttoned shirt.
“Hmm? Oh sure. Just a lot on my mind right now”, I say and try to smile.
“I don’t believe you, darling. Is it the job offers? You can always ask for others, you are second place after all.”
“No, the offers are great, and I think I might want to combine two of them. Initiate training does seem like a lot of fun.”
“And you could spend more time with your boy toy”, Sammy grins.
“Oh, I could also take leadership if I wanted that.”
“You got offered leadership?”
“A training post, yes. Hendrix might take on less of a workload. So I might want to do a part time job in leadership, but SAT and/or special weaponry sounds great too. I haven’t decided yet.”
“Whatever you choose, you’ll do great. Don’t worry too much about it and enjoy the evening. Things will get serious soon enough.”
How right he was about that.
The bar and adjoining hall are filled to the brim, additional stands have opened up, serving alcohol and sodas, warm pretzels and stew. Music is blasting and already, people are dancing, Marlene and Uriah join on the dancefloor with drinks in their hands, Lynn has disappeared, leaving me and Sammy at the bar.
“Just some lemonade today, please”, I order, Sammy raises his brows, but doesn’t ask questions. We too join the others on the dancefloor and for some time I can distract myself with the music. Letting myself be lulled in by the beat, moving my body to the rhythm and forgetting. But as Sammy goes to refill my glass, I let my eyes wander around. All these people trusted their leadership blindly, and all these people will be used as robots that kill in their name soon enough. I excuse myself, give my friends a hug, Sammy a kiss on the cheek and move back through the hallways, grab a hoodie that almost covers my dress completely and make my way to the ladder that leads up to the rooftop.
It is a clear night, the moon high in the sky. I sigh and pull at the strings of the hoodie, tightening them and look up at the sky. Hundreds and thousands of stars shine back to me, a few constellations I can name. And suddenly I feel incredibly small. Tomorrow I won’t be able to help, and will be dependent on Toby and Tris. Two of them against…all of us. Maybe even against me. I sigh, cover my hands with the too long sleeves of the hoodie that still smells faintly of Eric. He injected me with that serum, to make sure I was safe. To make sure I wasn’t a target. For a moment I feel that pricking in my neck again, but when I turn around, the roof is empty.
Back at the dorm I am one of the first people back. To think I might miss this shithole of a sleeping arrangement. Miss my friends sleeping next to me. Yet privacy and warm water for longer than 3 minutes sounded very nice as well. But if tomorrow worked out, everything would change. No matter which side won.
YOU ARE READING
Spitfire - Eric Coulter
Fiksi Penggemar"Four like the number?" "No like the letter." "Haven't I told you to shut your damn mouth, Stiff?" "You did. And I told you that my name is Tessa." "Have you enjoyed my misery enough yet?", "Well, I believed you'd pass out after four laps, so...no."...
