Contained by Love

Chapter 13 - Public Speaking

     I was the last person to arrive. After my slumber, I’d woken up later then I had hoped. When my eyes opened, it was around half past eleven. As I changed, I rehearsed my speech in my mind.

  It was dark in my room, but my eyes adjusted quickly, and I was slipping on my socks seconds later. Normally, I would have worn my comfy sandals, but socks were known to be quieter and make less creaks in the floor.

  Trust me when I say I know this from experience.

  My head peeked out of my door, checking to see if any Fishermen were present. When I was sure the halls were clear, I stepped out, shutting the door behind me as quietly as possible.

  I quickly caught a glimpse of a dark figure slipping around the corner. My breath hitched, and I racked my brain for an excuse to be out this late. But when I saw that it was just Tristan, an enormous sigh of relief is all I feel and I follow him down the hall.

  It was a miracle that forty kids were able to be this quiet, but I applauded them for doing so. Once I had come, they managed to get up and form a small crowd around me without making much noise.

   Jesse picked up a chair and brought it over to me. I stood on it, so that I would be recognizable and easily distinguished.

   The small notepad is tucked away at the side of my belt, just peeking out so that if need be I could snatch it out in an instant. The dance room is deathly quiet, and the faces of the girls and boys looked up at me expectantly, the moonlight reflecting off their faces.

     I could just make out Naomi right behind Charlotte, and they both give me reassuring smiles, which did nothing but make my stomach quake. My eyes search relentlessly for a pair that concerned me the most.

   At first, I thought he wouldn’t show up. After I had fallen asleep in John’s arms, I felt like I had woken up from a coma. He didn’t even enter my thoughts until I was brushing my hair. Once I had picked up the fallen strands on my neck, I noticed I had a fairly large scratch on my neck, probably from scraping it against the wall when I was knocked there.  

   It didn’t hurt much, but it definitely looked like it did. Sighing, I had let my hair fall back down to cover it up. I was in no mood to bring back the scarf I had worn to cover up the marks the Fishermen left on me.

   Would he come to the meeting? And if he did, what would I do? Should I call him out? Announce to everyone standing there what a pig he was? No. I had other things on my mind.

    I had forgotten about him until now, when I saw that I was desperate to know if he was here. Just as I was about to give up, I spotted him standing in the corner.

  Justin’s face was unreadable, but rigid as stone. His arms were crossed, his body at a contrapposto angle. I had never seen such a hard stare centered at me, but I glared at him until he broke the eye contact and glowered at the floor. I squared my shoulders and tried to relax my furrowed brows, determined to make it through the meeting without breaking down.

  My thoughts suddenly jumped to my savior, John. Out of all the guys it could have been, why couldn’t it have been Eli? Now that John rescued me, I felt as if I owed him. And once Eli found out, it would put him in a compromising position. I definitely didn’t want to hurt him, so I had decided to tell him after the meeting.

  To be honest, I wasn’t even entirely sure how I felt. Eli made me feel so happy and like I could truly count on someone in the world.

   And I had only just met John. We probably hadn’t even spoken more than twenty words to one another. But there was something about him…

   I catch myself before I continue in that dangerous direction. I shouldn’t even be thinking about my deranged love life during such a crisis.  

  The remaining thoughts I had about John were placed in a little box in the back of my mind. I didn’t have the time, or energy for that matter, to start obsessing over my feelings.

  I clear my throat and any pair of eyes that wasn’t looking at me before snapped at me until I counted thirty-seven people staring in my direction. Eli was standing at the front of the crowd and flashes me a warm smile.

  I try to shake away the bundle of nerves that can’t escape me. I realized I should’ve made flash cards or something.

   “Hey everyone, thanks for coming.” I look over at each person individually, analyzing their reactions. So far, no tomatoes being hurled my way.

   “I think it’s pretty obvious why I brought you all here. You all want to get out of here as much as I do. Now, I’ve made the mistake of trying to escape alone. And we all know how that turned out. I still have the Taser mark on my ass.” My audience chuckled, and I was glad to bring some humor into my speech.

   “I realize my mistake now. Don’t you think we could defeat her if we all stand together? I mean there are only around fifteen Fishermen in the entire school. Add Madame, and you get sixteen people. Against forty. They will be outnumbered.” I see some scattered faces nod with me in agreement. Some random boy raises his hand in the back. I exhale exasperatedly, knowing what he would say.

   “Yes, I know the Fishermen are armed, but if we get two people per man, we can still do this.” I answer the unspoken question while staring in his direction. He puts his hand down sheepishly.  

 “Anyways, I have a plan. Are we good so far?” The mass of people are wearing the same expression I’m sure I had on my face the first time I walked into the lunchroom wearing my normal clothes. Their defiance was radiant, and their stances virtually shouted for a leader to help them rebel.

   Eli’s beaming smile lifted my spirits so high I felt like I was about fly away. I shot him back a grin, and someone else’s facial expression caught my eye.

  John. His face was equally bright. I could tell in his eyes he would fight by my side and would do whatever it took to fulfill my plan.

Eli and John. I could already envision the triangle. An internal wince passes through me when I imagine them getting into a fight.

  That is, if John even liked me like that. I had to remember these were all my fantasies, and it pained me to admit I was even thinking about him.

  I recognized all the people waiting for my next sentence, so my thoughts central back to the escape plan. With a huge gust of air and my personal feelings going straight out the window and into the night sky, I continue.

  “Okay. Here’s the plan. And listen closely, because I’m only gonna say this once…”

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A/N: I have so much stuff to do I'm barely able to post, but at least I'm posting more regularly now. Anyways, I'm trying to petition to get Meebo back, because I miss it and it was extremely convenient to see the notifications. So go to my about me, and click on the link to the forum post, and comment "I want Meebo back". If we can get enough people, maybe Google will give it back to us :)