tornado // h.s.

tornado; three

C H A P T E R T H R E E

"just when you think it can't get any worse, it can. and just when you think it can't get any better, it can." » nicholas sparks

MY EYES widened in shock, my jaw slightly dropping, before I pressed my lips together and sat near Beth, being the only unoccupied seat in the room.

What is this supposed to be?

What are they talking about?

Is someone staring at me?

"Ocean? What about you? Do you have anybody you love?"

I fidgeted in my seat in response.

"Well?"

The whole room's eyes were on me, as if they piercing straight through my soul. I licked my lips before answering.

"Yes, my family," I gulped.

Laughter flooded the room, and I felt a slightly calescent sensation rise up my neck.

"Family doesn't count," a boy wearing framed glasses remarked with an amusing smile.

"Well I love them, don't I?" I raised an eyebrow, shutting him up. My voice came out a bit high pitched, but thankfully no comments were thrown after.

"So this whole exercise is supposed to calm you down, you see. Think of the people you really love and remember how ecstatic you'll be once you get to see them once again, and have your old normal lives back. The government has no flaws," her lips stretched into a seemingly fake smile. My eyes went to him, who's name was supposedly Harry, a name that seemed to suit him quite well. He was grinning at Beth, teasingly raising his eyebrows and lowering them continuously.

"Alright then, so let's do a little exercise to get to know each other, shall we? We'll do these little stations so you get to go through everyone. How many people are in here? 2, 4, 6, 8, oh what was that? 30? Alright. We have an hour left here so let's do it 2 minutes each? That way we'll get you to all be friends, it will be wonderful!" she clapped her hands optimistically. We followed her next instructions, and sat in our seats.

My first pal happened to be the framed glasses douchebag know-it-all.

"Hello girl who supposedly loves her family, you know you can't really marry your dad!" he threw a stupid comment.

I swear to god if you fucking say one more joke about how I can't love my family I will chop off your genitals.

"Ha-ha, very funny," I rolled my eyes, before continuing, "so what's your name?" I asked.

"David," he replied, "yours?"

"Ocean."

"Time's up!" the old woman clapped her hands. I stood up and went to the next person, which happened to be Beth.

"You look a bit pale today, are you sick?"

If you think not putting on as much makeup as usual means I'm sick, then sure.

"Just a bit," I lied through my teeth.

"Oh, well okay. I'm Beth, I love cooking, and I'm an animal activist. Yep, that just about sums me up." she giggled.

"I'm Ocean, I think books are better than people and I have an obsession with Vitamin Water," I replied, plastering a smile on my face. I wanted to imagine Beth as a white girl who types like an annoying 10 year old, but I just couldn't. She radiated such happiness and even while I tried believing the perfection that was herself, I couldn't bring it upon me that this is how she is. We had barely even spoken, but she had branched out to me, even though everything I had said to her so far was always blunt and pointless.

A+ for effort.

"Rotate!"

I sat through several painful chats, all dull and boring, until a familiar sight of loose curls and an aroma of men's cologne came to my senses.

"I'm Harry, I'm 21 and I'm engaged," he spoke in a monotonous voice.

"How interesting, is it Beth? She's nice," I replied quietly, equally as dull.

"Yeah, and she hates your guts. You frighten her,"

"Wow thanks for destroying my pride pal, how kind of you." I scoffed.

I admit I felt a bit insulted when he told me Beth hated me, but it wasn't a surprise. I tend to block out people when I first meet them; it just feels weird mingling with someone you don't know. If they actually had the kindness and patience to wait, then that would slowly turn us into some form of friends.

"You're welcome," he remarked, before the instructor clapped her hands again. I managed to go through the chats without strangling a single person, and I was very grateful that the session was over.

I made it to my second session, which happened to be the kitchen session. We were supposed to be a role in helping out with this safety unit as there were only a few workers. The instructor let us clean the dishes in the array of sinks, and we did as told, making sure to scrub the plates clean. It was a very boring job, to be honest, although towards the end of the session, the chef allowed us to help cook with her, by doing little things like handing ingredients. With these actions, I felt a surge of pride bolt through me. Little acts of kindness never failed to make me feel a bit better wearing my own skin.

"Ouch!" I yelped in pain, my finger stinging from the contact of the knife. I had been trying to slice some sausages and attempted to accidentally cut my finger. I blew on my pink, peeled skin gently and held a frustrated frown. "Sausages!" the chef called out and I sloppily finished slicing the sausage, handing the cutting board to the chef. She wiped up sweat with her sleeves, and continued cooking. "Ocean, can you get some spices from the storage room! It's the safe room. Pronto!" she spoke a bit too quickly for my liking, but I quickly untied my apron and threw it at one of the other students.

I ran through the hallways, as fast as my short legs could take me. When I found the storage room, I went in, my breaths short and vague. I swallowed in my gasps when my eyes found his broad shoulders. He was facing the wall, reading something on the table. I mentally prayed for him to not notice me, and I examined the rack of shelves for some spices.

I cursed under my breath when the shelf of cans tumbled before me. "Beth? Come here," he spoke, not looking at me. I ignored him, trying to be as stealth as possible.

"Beth, what the fu-"

"I'm just picking up some ingredients." I replied, raising both hands in surrender.

He opened his mouth to speak, although he was cut off with the dizzying sound of sirens.

"Evacuate to your rooms now!" the speakers let off more beeps, panic washing over me.

"Fuck," a voice behind me spoke.

a/n

written on my phone and unedited, pls excuse any mistakes oi

thanks @bollywoodzouis for the beautiful new cover, zar is the bomb u should go request some from her aye

crappy trailer on the side, if ur reading on ur phone then just look up tornado wattpad trailer on youtube and u can watch that

toodle doo