The Truth Will Set You Free

Girly Things, Like Shopping and Torture

~Poppy~

            I woke lazily the next morning, my hair having fallen directly onto my face during the night. I brushed it out of the way and lazily poked my head over the divider that separated Peter and I. “Good morning sleepyhead.”

            “Don’t even talk to me…” he grumbled, rolling onto his side.

            “Someone had trouble falling asleep last night.”

            “Yeah, really.”

            “What happened?”

            “I got to observe the crime ring in action.”

            I laughed. That kid was sarcastic all hours of the day. It was quite impressive, actually. “Well talk to me later when you’re ready to tell the truth.”

            I left my brother to sleep and stumbled around for a bit, trying to find Bridgette so she could lead me to the showers-I hadn’t showered since a day before we left our home back in Saorbourne. Instead I somehow wandered into the kitchen-a large area, all of the surfaces black marble. There was another girl there, her hair shorn into a cute pixie cut that really showed off her grey eyes, dressed in a skinny grey tank top with a pink bandana tied around her hair. She was halfway through a bowl of cereal and an orange when she realized I was there.

            “Oh hey,” she said, nodding. “You must be one of the new kids.”

            “Yeah,” I whispered, blushing. Why was I so bashful? Yeah, she was cute-but if you looked up outgoing in the dictionary, I’d probably show up.

            “Wait-let me see your arm.” I stuck out both quickly. She grinned. “No bands, then. Nice. I don’t know how you pulled that one off, but we’re definitely keeping you here.”

            “Wait-keep us here? Why?” They seemed perfectly nice, but I had a home-and it wasn’t with these people.

            “Why do you think?” She laughed. I shrugged. “Oh, so you really don’t know. The bands mean you’ve had a Helios injection-and that means the government can track you. And they make you go in for work every other day in the sewers. Not fun.”

            “Doesn’t sound like it.”

            “But you,” she continued, “You can go anywhere you want. You’re free as a bird!” She jumped up a little bit, staring into the sky. She spun around and I could see a little bit of ink on the back of her right shoulder-I would have to ask her about that later. “You don’t have to go to work, you don’t have to worry about curfew, and when you go on secret missions, you don’t have to use Apokryptos. I’m jealous.” She stood still again. “But that makes you a threat in their eyes. So they’re gonna wanna find you. And that’s why you should stay with us.” She sat down matter-of-factly as I stood there, trying to absorb all she had told me. “Wait-so what did you come in here for in the first place?”

            “Oh-right,” I said, snapping back into the real world. “I was just wondering where the-“

            “Showers are in the second door to your left,” she said as I stared in confusion. “Towels and shampoo are in the teal cabinet.”

            “But how did you know I-“

            She laughed. “No offence or anything, but you stink. I could smell you before you even walked into the room.”