After a while, I went back downstairs to the dining hall. I could hear the drones talking, so I decided to eavesdrop.
“Ugh, my hatred for Kayciance is growing every single second of the day. I want to make her the one and only outcast. So therefore, let’s get Quintus onto our team.” One girl said.
“Oh, I’ll do it!” Castellan exclaimed.
“Alright, come on, C!” I could hear the girl giggle and kiss Castellan.
Ew, I thought.
I quickly went back to looking at the table. Castellan was coming over to my table.
“Hi there, Quintus!” Castellan said.
“What do you want?”
“I have something to give to you, Quintus!”
“But you were mean to me just now.”
“I know, and I apologize. Please forgive me.”
“Alright, fine.” He was still on my nerves.
“Tell you what, here. I’ll give you the gift anyway.”
He held out his hand with a box in it. I took the box and opened it.
It had a piece of paper in it, and it read, “Come with us to the common room for our treats!”
I sarcastically said, “Thanks, Castellan. I’ll totally come.”
I knew I wasn’t going to go. But, I went back to the room to plan my spying attack. I’m going to go through the air vents to spy on them to see what they talk about.
I went to the air vent, removed the air vent cover, crawled in, and replaced the cover to the air vent. I may too big for transporting myself through air vents, but it’s successful.
I crawled to the left, then to the right. Then, I had to slide on my belly on this next part because if I crawled on it, I would have make the air vent creak and someone would know that something is up. I kept going until I had reached the living room, where the drones were having their little “tea party.”
Demetri was serving everyone their tea and biscuits. He was asking the drones how their day was, and how much tea they wanted. He’s a nice guy. I personally think that everyone doesn’t appreciate his work and how nice he is. I wonder how he stays nice.
He then left the room and once he was gone, Castellan piped up and asked something to the group. They stared at them in astonishment. Mouths agape, and about to start gossiping.
I decided that this was getting boring and kept crawling into the air vent.
While I was making my way to her room, I contemplated my decision. Should I go talk to her? I was shifting my weight from my left leg to my right leg to prevent creaking noises. I needed to talk to her to get the real reason why she’s like this. I can’t stand to see people promote violence around us by hurting children. I had found a deep hatred for the headmistress.
I knew for one that she is stuck in the prison room, which is basically where you get locked up when you’re a bad person. And therefore, for using old technology to make a stink bomb and yelling at the headmistress, that Kayciance girl is in there.
I’ve never talked to her. I’ve only noticed her when she gets in trouble. Not the best way to get my attention, but it works.
I had finally gotten to the end of the air vent and removed the cover and crawled into her room. I’ve used this as my form of transportation around this place and had proven it useful. I spy using that, and I intend to use it to get to Kayciance.
I stood up. “Hi,” I said.
“Hi,” she said somberly.
“I need to talk to you.”
“I can tell.”
It was really awkward for the both of us. I was nervous, shifting from foot to foot.
“Look, Quintus. You went INTO the air vent to get to my prison.”
“Kayciance, I need to talk to you.” I said, panting.
“Ugh, fine. You know, I hoped for someone better to talk to. But, you’ll work. Sit down with me, and let me talk to you.”
I sat on the bed, about to open my mouth until she interrupted me.
“Why are you here?”
“Well, I did say that I needed to talk to you about this morning.”
“Oh, yeah. Thanks for trying to save me, but you don’t stand a chance against the people here. Now, they think you’re a rebel like me. Congratulations. You’re now officially an outcast and a rebel. You’re also a weakling.”
She stared at my arms and shoulders. I couldn’t help but stand up and stare at her.
“Hey, it’s not like you have more muscles than I do. You’re not any weirder than I am.” I exclaimed.
I sat back down on the bed and she drew in a deep breath.
“Just because I have different thoughts about this place doesn’t mean everyone can treat me like this. But luckily, I’ve gained some skills over the years using the headmistress as a punching bag, so I think I’m ready for the real world.”
“Wait, what do you mean?”
“I want to see the world. Don’t you? We’ve been stuck here for ages. These kids around us are drones. We don’t even get cared for. Our lives are miserable. Are you even paying attention?”
In deep thought, I was trying to contemplate the thing she just said to me.
I stammered, “Those other kids…they’re stuck up jerks created to make our lives miserable. But, how do you deal with them? You’re the one that’s always talked about, even in the darkest of times.”
"As eccentric as I am, I'm not the one of the more-liked ones around here, or the brightest, prettiest, nor am I one of the more...brilliant ones at this wretched place."
She stared at the floor, paused for a brief moment and continued, "They think that I don't get hurt from what they say. It's called acting, stupid."
She stared at me in disbelief and rolled her eyes. “I’ve been acting for so long that I don’t know who I really am. I only know that I can’t trust anything or anyone.”
I thought about what she said. This is all true. I think I’ve finally found someone I can trust.
Kayciance kept talking. “For all my life, I’ve been wishing to find information about my past. How I got here…my real identity. I don’t know what my name is, so I made my name up for myself. I didn’t want to be named a random number, so when I was old enough, I made up my name.”
“So your real name is not Kayciance?”
“No it is not. I just don’t know who I am. My life is a lie.”
