Eternal Flame

Chapter 6

Jackson

From my table, I see Kyle coming out of the changing room, head down, trying to avoid the gazes of passing guards. I wave to get his attention, but he seems to be lost in his own thoughts.

I am about to go over to him, but Taylor beats me. She puts a hand on his left shoulder, and he lifts his head, but says nothing. Taylor says something, and Kyle looks over to me. I notice his posture is changed from when we just arrived, and his face is red, as if something or someone recently made him angry.

The two of them come over to my table, where I have been preparing my speech and project.

"Why the sudden change in mood, dude?" I ask, trying to sound as cheerful as possible.

"You will not believe what just happened in the boys' changing room." His voice is hoarse, as if he has been yelling.

I look over at Taylor for any indication of the story, but she just shrugs.

"This girl jumped into the changing room from a window looking for something to steal but I stopped her and told her to leave and she told me why she was stealing things but I yelled at her and she ran away and holy crap I feel bad." He said this without taking a breath, quickly, without making any sense.

I frown at him. Kyle usually isn't someone who freaks out, so whatever happened in there must have been important.

"You mind telling the story again, only this time slow down and make some sense?"

Taylor shoots me a look of disapproval, and I remain silent.

Something crashes suddenly on the far end of the Dome, near the changing rooms where a table stands, isolated from the other tables. The boy assigned to that table cries out, a look of fear and shame washing over him.

The boy couldn't be more than ten years old, with a wrinkled T-shirt and worn-out jeans. His hair is tousled, as if he woke up and ran here without brushing it, and his face is dirty from days of not showering. He is forced to come here to get money for the family, a son sacrificed to face the reality of this world a little too early.

"Jack," Taylor whispers. "Come."

A single command from Taylor gets me moving without questions, and I jog to catch up with the two.

"Why?" I ask, curiosity making its way into my brain.

"He might need help," she says casually, as if helping that little boy will benefit us in any way. If we help that boy, we can be caught by the guards, yelled at, punished, and kicked out.

"You do realize we can be kicked out if we help him right?" Kyle says, matter of fact.

"It doesn't matter. That boy can't be older than eight, he doesn't deserve the punishment he's going to get."

Taylor, the girl who has such a kind heart, the girl who comforts and aids others, not asking for anything in return, that is the girl I'm in love with.

We're a few feet away from the table, and already it is crowded with guards ready to take instruction from whoever is in their earpiece. I turn, and see every head from every table shifting their attention on us. Not the boy who made the ruckus, but the group of friends who decided to interfere with the boy who is about to be scolded.

We watch from a distance, listening to the two guards who are having a conversation with their tiny earpiece. One is short but brawny, the other is tall and skinny.