These Dreams of Truth

"It was hardly my fault"

I woke up in response to the urgent knocking on my door. As I tried to sit up to greet Silvia at the door, memories of the past events came rushing back in waves of pain.

Although I felt pain all over, there were significant scars that showed where my bare skin touched the wires. I rubbed the tender skin and looked up at Silvia.

She smiled. "It's time for dinner, Cynder. I will give you a few minutes to ready yourself, as you have just woken up. Please come out in the hallway when you are done."

I sat up groggily and rubbed my eyes. My dress was lightly singed in places, so I decided to change it.  I began to brush out my hair as well, but the brush got caught on my two bobby pins.  took them out and continued to brush my hair, putting them in the inside of the bristle cartridge when I was finished. 

I stared into the mirror at my grey eyes that sometimes looked purple. My face was dotted with freckles as well as the rest of my body. I thought about my appearance and then about my parents who I had seen in a dream earlier today. Were they really my parents if I looked nothing like them?

I joined Silvia in the hallway and we walked off in silence. We weren't remotely early, but we were certainly one of the first few to enter. I sat alone at my table, drinking my chamomile tea while waiting for my friends. 

To my surprise, first to show up was Sebastian. I suppose this was good though, because then we could talk in private. 

"What happened?" I accused him as soon as he sat down. He had shoved half an apple in his mouth and stared at me for a few seconds before chewing and swallowing. 

"What are you talking about?" He looked just as puzzled. I forgot he was unconscious at the time and hadn't seen me. 

"Why were you in the Sparkler Room?" He could tell I was impatient

"Oh, well, I was- wait, how did you know I was there? Cynder did you go there?"

"Yes, but that's unimportant. Why were you there?"

"I'll only tell you if you promise to tell me too." Damn his stubborn self.

I sighed. "Fine, screw you."

He shrugged. "I attacked my nurse with a scalpel."

I nearly spit my tea on him. "What?"

"Your turn."

"What? No! Elaborate!"

"Well, everyone left my room including my ward and she was trying to give me shot in the leg. I didn't want to get the shot, because I had just received three others, so I figured that if I grabbed the scalpel next to me and threatened her with it, I could get out of getting the shot. That's not how it worked out. I did grab the scalpel and cut the inside of her forearm. It was enough of a shock to her that I could run out the door, but my ward was waiting outside and I was weighed down by a partially numb leg. My ward grabbed me and checked on the nurse, seeing that I had cut her. I think if I didn't cut her I they would have been a bit more forgiving, but I did end up bleeding quite a bit from the wires." He pulled back the collar of his shirt and showed me his back. It was slightly difficult to see which scar he was talking about because he had so many scars, but I figured it was the one that looked freshly scabbed over. "It was hardly my fault. Now your turn."

"Lie detector. I guess I lied to many times and my doctor found it upsetting."

He broke into a fit of laughter, but stopped and winced when his shoulder shifted the sore skin.

Astella came to our table. "Hi guys!" She said with an excitement she was lacking at lunch.

"Hey, Astella." I began. "How's your day been?"