INTERIM · BEN PARISH | ✓

Sixteen

I TURN LEFT, right, then run down the staircase. It seems the pill Evan gave me is already wearing off.

Next, I'm running past the infirmary, where Dot lies. I stop for a moment to look at him, where he is, as a result of cowardice and stupidity. My cowardice and stupidity. I should be there, not him. Anyone but him.

Then next to his bed is the one I'd occupied for a few hours. It's just as messy as I'd left it, but there's something I hadn't seen before. There's a small white pill on the counter of the table on the side we shared.

Is it...

No. It can't be.

But it could be.

I walk into the room and take the pill, sliding it in the small pocket of my pants. I'll need it later for sure.

I've never felt so conflicted in my entire life. A part of me wants to stay in the safety and protection of Camp Haven, but really it's just another base to torture children. Then there's Ringer, whose logic all makes sense, but it's scary to think the ones that saved us really want to kill us.

Then it clicks. Everyday, more and more bodies to collect, steal from, and dispose of. We're just doing their dirty work, letting them get into our heads and drive us all to suicide.

Dammit, Ringer, I hate it when you're right.

•••

Evan Walker. I hate you. And I kinda love you. 

He was that all-American boy and Lauren was an all-American girl. They just fit. Everyone saw it. They knew the two were perfect for each other.

When Lauren first introduced me, it was really awkward and silent. He had this thing for filling up silence with empty talk, or really deep ones. So he filled up the silence with a really weird paradox, something like, "Pinocchio says, 'My nose will grow now!' Will it?"

And I stared at him like he was from another planet. "Excuse me?"

"Will Pinocchio's nose grow if he says, 'my nose will grow now'?" **I feel like I punctuated this incorrectly, sorry please bear with me.**

Then after a minute of staring, I told him, "I guess.. Well.. he's telling the truth if it does grow... but he's saying a lie... causing it to grow which proves the truth.. dammit."

He laughed and shook his head. "It's been bothering me for two months."

"Wait. Which Pinocchio are you referring to though?"

"What do you mean?" his smile was replaced with a quizzical expression.

"Are you talking about the real boy or the puppet?"

"Well, most people would remember Pinocchio as the one with the growing nose, so they apply it to that time in his life."

"But they never take into account whether or not they were talking about the real boy or the puppet."

"It's already presumed that what they refer to is the one Pinocchio is known for."

We talked about it for a whole hour, then Lauren came back. She had this priceless expression when she put her hands on her hips and shook her head. "I can't believe I come back from practice to find you weirdos talking about drowning in the fountain of eternal life."

"What? It's a paradox," I clarified.

"It's meant to be weird and a big headache to those of a philosophical mind," he added. I high-fived him there. 

"What about.... which came first, the chicken or the egg?"

"Egg," Evan and I said at the same time.