Difference

Chapter 7

 "You're Jakob!" I say without thinking. He looks confused.

"You've heard about me?" He questions. I nod.

"Peter told me about you. He said I'm kind of like you. I think he meant our differences are similar," I explain.

"What's your difference?" Jakob asks me.

"I'm fast. Fast runner. Fast healer. I'm probably fast at other things too, I just haven't experienced them yet," I tell him, "What's your difference?"

"I think quickly. My brain just processes information really easily. I guess Peter meant we're both fast," He says.

"Yeah, that's probably what he meant. He's very straightforward," Tess adds.

"Hey, you two should sit with me at lunch," Jakob suggests.

"I told my other friends I'd sit with them today. But you should, Erinn," Tess says.

"Okay," I respond.

"Erinn, how about we go back to my room and wait for lunch. Jakob, meet us by the cafeteria doors," Tess instructs. Jakob nods, waves, and then walks out of the room. Tess and I leave right after him, but not before we get our bags of Doritos.

We're just chatting about our lives before we were brought here when a thunderous noise blasts through the room. It sounds like the world just cracked in half. I actually almost pee my pants. Tess laughs at me, though.

"I guess I forgot to tell you what the bell sounds like," She chuckles, "Don't worry, you get used to it."

"Why does it have to be so loud?!"

I calm down to a point where my heart's not threatening to beat right out of my chest anymore. Tess pulls me out of her room and down the confusing halls. She seems to have them mastered, though, and we fly down to the cafeteria. When we get there, Jakob is waiting by the big wooden doors. He smiles when he sees us, and walks over to meet us halfway.

"Hey," He greets us. We both say hi and then Tess leaves us to go meet up with her friends.

Jakob looks at me, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Tess just forgot to mention that five airplanes crash into the building when it's time to eat," I reply, still shaken up. Jakob laughs.

"She does that a lot. She's been here for a while, and she loves to meet new people. And she somehow always ends up forgetting to tell the newbie about the bell. I personally think she just likes to get a good laugh from it. Just tell me if you need anything," He says.

"Thanks," I say, not knowing what else to say at the moment.

"Let's sit over here," Jakob points to a table towards the far right. We walk over at sit down at the end of it.

"They'll call us up table by table. We just have to wait for our turn," He explains. I nod.

After five minutes of waiting, they call us up. We stand in the line to get our food for about two minutes, and then we're actually in the kitchen. 

The food here amazes me. I feel like I'm at a fancy restaurant. They have ten different salads, all with fresh lettuce and who knows what else. There's chicken tenders and fries, hamburgers, hot dogs, seven soups, mini pizzas, grilled cheese, and eight different sandwiches. The food is set up on the plate so neatly that I feel like I'm at a restaurant, not here, and I'm with one of my friends, not this Jakob guy who I just met today.

I end up taking just the chicken tenders and fries. We move on to the drinks section, and my jaw just about drops when I see that this section is almost as big as the food section. There are actual refrigerators like the ones you get your milk out of at the store. One refrigerator is just all milk. Plain milk, chocolate milk, strawberry milk, and some I don't even recognize. Two refrigerators are filled with pop. Any kind of pop, you name it, and it's probably here. The other drinks are random ones like lemonade and water. There's even a small section where you can make your own coffee, but it's not open right now.

We finally make it out and walk back over to our table. I notice we don't have to pay.

"Free food?" I ask Jakob. He smiles.

"Yep. Free food, free place to sleep, free clothes, and all of that just to get our difference out of us. They must really care about us and what would happen to other people if our difference 'became uncontrollable'," Jakob responds, and I can sense the sarcasm.

"That's it? I mean, we're getting all this free stuff just so they can help us? I never thought someone would be that intent on helping a bunch of kids," I say. He shrugs.

"Apparently they are. I'd just like to know who the boss is here," Jakob says.

"You don't even know who the boss is? How long have you been here?" I inquire.

"Almost three years. They took me in when I was fifteen because my parents couldn't handle the stress anymore," He sees my confused look and adds, "They were stressed because they thought I was going to do something. Something dangerous. I mean, my difference is my brain. It's not like I'm going to learn how to create electricity with my toes or anything."

"Three years is a long time," I comment. Jakob shrugs again.

"Some people have been here longer than I have. Tess has been here for six years."

"Six years?!" I try not to raise my voice, but it's hard, "What has she done for six years?"

"She's tried the swim team, basketball team, soccer team, volleyball team, you name it. She hated all of it and decided to spend her time welcoming new people," Jakob explains.

"That's an interesting career," I note.

"Yeah. She never was the sporty type," It's too late to warn him about the tall girl standing behind him. Tess sits down next to him.

"I'm glad you feel that way about me," She says.

"Hey, I'm just stating the facts," Jakob defends himself. Tess steals one of my fries.

"So what else did you say about me?" She reaches for another fry and I slap her hand away.

"Eat your own food!" I exclaim. They both laugh, but it's short-lived.

"Down to business," Tess gets serious, "There's something we all want. I know we all want out of here. Jakob, don't say anything, I know you do. We can come up with a plan. We go outside all the time, but getting beyond the gate will be tricky. And then there's the guards."

"Why will the gate be so hard to get past?" I ask. They look at each other.

"To open the gate, you need a fingerprint. All the staff's fingerprints are in the system, but none of the student's. If you put your finger on it and the fingerprint isn't programmed into the system, not even kidding you, you'll think the world is exploding because the alarm is so loud," Jakob explains. I know my eyes are huge right now.

"Even louder than the food bell?" I question. Tess smiles weakly.

"Trust me, the last thing we want to do is make that alarm go off. You can't climb over the gate, either, so don't be getting any ideas. The alarm will go off if the gate senses motion on the top," Tess tells me.

"Someone has tried to go over before, haven't they?" I guess. Jakob nods.

"A year ago. His name was Tommy Ferret. He had just turned eighteen, so he was ready to go into the room. Only he had a fear of that room. He thought something really bad was going to happen to him in there. So the day before he was to be sent into there, he tried to escape. Of course, he didn't know about the alarm and he fell off the gate when the noise reached him. Keep in mind, the gate is extremely tall," He says.

"What happened to him?" I wonder. Jakob starts to answer, but Tess interrupts him.

"He only had a few broken bones. They sent him into the room, took out his difference, and put him into the nearest hospital so he could heal," She says hurriedly. Something in their eyes tells me that that's not the whole truth.

"Was he really fine?" I watch them glance at each other. Then Jakob sighs.

"He resisted when he was in the room at first. He wouldn't let it work. They got his difference out, but he was never really the same. I had a couple classes with him, so I knew what he was like before the incident," Jakob replies. This is alarming to me, because I know that if I have to, I'll probably resist the room. Tess sees the fear in my eyes.

"It's okay, Erinn. We're going to get out of here," She reassures me.