Difference

Chapter 8

 We finish eating just as the bell rings. I still jump in my seat, and I might have screamed a little. Other kids just jump and then laugh at themselves. I hope I get used to this soon, seeing as I won't be going anywhere for some time.

It seems like everyone goes to their room after lunch, so I head to mine. I walk with Tess until we get to her hallway, which looks identical to my hallway.

"Meet me exactly where we met Jakob at dinnertime," She instructs me, then disappears through her doorway.

I walk past two more hallways until I reach what I think is mine. I pull my key out of my pocket and walk over to my door. I check to make sure the key number matches up with the door number before I try to unlock it. The key slides in the lock easily, and I turn the door handle. I'm still stunned by the grandness of my room when I walk in. It's not that it's fancy, it's just so much more than I would've expected.

I start to go through the clothes. I never realized that someone had changed my clothes, and I am now wearing a gray T-shirt and jeans. I start with the dresser because I want to go through the magnificent closet last. It's mainly just pants, socks, and underclothes. I can tell Carrie picked most of this out, because it's the exact same things I would wear if I was at my old house.

I move onto the closet, and I'm actually kind of excited. I've always loved new clothes. I pull open the doors and am again amazed. I sift through all the shirts, letting each one run over my fingers. Some of them are ones I had before I came here, and the smell of my old home comforts me. It lets me know that not all is lost, and there's still hope of return. Maybe not to my old house, but at least to Ohio.

There are other accessories along with the shirts, like scarves and belts. I go through all of the shoes, marveling at how much all of this must've cost. A section in a corner of the closet catches my eye, and I tug on two handles, revealing rows and rows of jewelry. It's not all fancy, most of the stuff are simple bracelets and necklaces, but I feel so overwhelmed with all of this. I resolve to, when we leave, bring lots of this home with me.

I look through the closet for another half an hour, and then pick out a long-sleeved white shirt and a new pair of jeans. I'm changing into my pants when I see my door swing open out of the corner of my eye. Not gonna lie, I shrieked. I hurry to pull my pants on and face the intruder.

"Whoops! Sorry, Erinn. I didn't mean to scare you," Tess laughs. I breath a sigh of relief.

"You scared me anyways. Next time, knock," I tell her. She grins sheepishly.

"Well, I just got kind of excited. There's an assembly in five minutes, but I remembered you don't have a phone yet so you don't get the texts. We'll get you a phone after dinner, but we need to get to the Big Room right now. That's what we call it because it's giant," She adds, "You ready?"

"I have nothing else to do," I shrug.

"Great," Tess says, and grabs my arm. She pulls me out of my room and drags me down the hallway. We suddenly stop halfway.

"Lock your door," She tells me, and I race back to my room and lock it up. Then I run back to Tess, who's tapping her foot impatiently.

"Hurry up, it starts in two minutes," She rushes through the maze of hallways, and I'm panting trying to keep up with her.

"Someone's a little crazy," I mutter, and Tess whips her head back for a split second to roll her eyes at me.

"I'm not crazy, I just hate to be late. It could be really important," She yells over her shoulder, "Now stop talking, we're almost there. They might already be talking so we shouldn't be shouting."

"Look who's shouting," I say.

"What?" She yells back, "Never mind. Stop making me yell!"

I laugh at her because I know she won't be able to hear it. Her sandals are extremely loud when they're slapping against the hard floor. I just have on gym shoes.

We get to the Big Room, and it really is a big room. It feels like a stadium to me. It's absolutely huge, and I'm guessing this room makes up one fourth of the whole building. Tess sees my wide eyes and open mouth and grins.

"Told you it's big," She snickers. I can only nod. Kids fill up most of the room, but they're all sitting down in orderly lines. Tess pulls me over to a seat and we sit down.

"What's this about?" She whispers to the person on the other side of her. They shrug.

We sit for another five minutes before someone walks into the middle of the room in front of us. Tess squeezes my arm.

"It's him, it's actually him!" She squeals.

"Who?" I ask.

"The big man, the boss, the guy who runs this whole place. I never thought I'd actually get to see him."

"I thought you hated this place and wanted out of it," I'm totally confused. She looks at me.

"I do hate this place. But I've lived here for six years, and I've heard so many stories about him. Lucky you, I've been here for about three hundred weeks and I've never met him and you meet him before you've even been here for a week. He's practically a celebrity here," She explains.

"You've never met him?" I question. She shakes her head.

"This has to be really important if he's actually going to talk to us," Tess gets serious. I agree with her.

Mr. Boss raises his hands, and the room becomes silent. He smiles at the crowd of us.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why I've called you here. But first things first, those of you who don't know me, I'm Mr. Orion. I own this place, and I've dedicated my life to helping you children, and some adults I believe," He pauses, and Tess and I both roll our eyes, "I brought you down here to tell you about something we were recently informed of. Our scientists working here have found out that you do not need to be eighteen to be cured. We are lowering our age to seventeen."

My blood runs cold and my heart stops. I feel Tess stiffen next to me. Most kids react differently than us, and a cheer erupts that makes me sick to my core. I grip Tess's hand, and she holds mine even tighter. I feel like I might pass out.

"Thank you," Mr. Orion continues, "If you are seventeen, you will be cured very soon, as soon as we can get you in. I know how much you all want to go back to your family and friends, and I'm happy to say you now have a year less of waiting."

Another cheer breaks through, which Mr. Orion quiets with his hands.

"That is all I have to tell you, but I'm sure you'll be satisfied with that information. You may go back to your rooms in an orderly fashion, and we will all join again for dinner in thirty minutes," He dismisses us.

"No, no, no," I can hear Tess mumbling next to me. I'm doing all I can to stop myself from crying right now, in the middle of a mass of kids. Tess slowly wobbles up next to me, and I stand as well. Her eyes keep darting around, like she's afraid of something. I can't blame her. I'm terrified for my life.