Briar Preparatory Academy

The Aftermath

Celeste POV

The loud ring of the alarm clock on my bedside table caused my eyes to fly open. I blink several times before pulling the covers up over my head. I let the clock continue its incessant beeping until I heard the clicking of a button as Kate turned it off. I didn't move to even glance at her. I never wanted to leave my bed again.

I could sense Kate standing over my bed, and I could practically see her giving me that familiar disapproving look, her hands on her hips.

"Celeste you need to get up. You need to check into the infirmary." Kate tells me carefully.

"I'm fine. Why does everyone think I'm sick or something?" I ask her with a loud sigh.

"Celeste, you were in there for over 45 minutes, and your hands were severely burned. The medics need to make sure you don't have any smoke in your lungs and they need to wrap and dress your hands. You could get an infection if you don't stay on those antibiotics." Kate tells me, always the logically thinking one.

I let out another sigh, which is followed with another round of unwanted coughing; basically proving Kate's point. I gasp to get air in, doing my best to hide it as not to prove Kate's point any further. I roll over and kick my legs over the bed and stand up. I go into our bathroom and change into a uniform and brush my teeth. I pull on some boots and a winter jacket before running a brush through my hair and leaving it down.

Kate grabs her backpack and I do the same. We step out of our room and into the hallway. Kate shuts the door and we head down the long twisting hall lined with closed doors. I need to report to the infirmary before breakfast, and Kate, being the supportive friend she is, always comes with me. We walk down the long stairs and pass the other dorms. A few other students are lingering out in the hallway, talking in low voices. As we walk by, they stop talking and stare at us. Everyone knows what happened the night of the fire, and no one was truly ignoring it either, though we all tried to. Everywhere I go, whispers follow. They all know I ran in and tried to save Rory. They all know I failed.

We walk out of the sleeping quarters and down the sidewalk side by side in our matching parkas. The snow litters the ground around us like a white blanket. But even that blanket can't cover the burned library. We pass the dining hall and continue walking. As we pass the library, I risk a sideways glance at its remains. The burned out shell is crumbling. The weight of last night's snow is crushing the building.

Just remembering that night gives me chills, and I turn my head and look away. I shake myself back to reality as Kate opens the door to the infirmary and we walk in together. We head straight to the back room where Dr. Alicia waits to see me. I pull open the door and walk right in.

"Good morning girls." She says. We mumble a greeting in return and I sit on the exam table as Kate pulls up a chair in the corner.

"How have you been Celeste?" Dr. Alicia asks me. Most people would've thought she was asking about my physical wounds, but as a spy, I easily recognized that there was so much more to that question than that.

~~~~~~~~~~

I sit down in the mess hall for lunch and eat in silence. It's been three days since the fire, and the images and sounds still haunt me. I've been going through my classes in a daze, nothing interests me. I push my food around on my plate, not eating anything. Seth sits on my right side and Kate on my left, carrying on a casual conversation as if nothing ever happened.

"I say we do it..." Seth says with a mischievous smile on his face.

"I dunno...what do you think Celeste?" Kate says, trying to join me in on the conversation.