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12

12

Sneaking out of the dorms at this stage is becoming second nature to me. With Emily in tow, I was outside in the silent night wind. Two stagnant figures stood waiting near the fence. A wordless greeting sufficed before clambering through the familiar hole.

The walk was eerie, but not in a bad way. We walked together, our shoulders bouncing off one another. The small ping of pain was comforting in a strange way. It was a nice reminder that I wasn't alone. Despite the cold air, I could feel Finn's warmth radiating onto me. A foreign, fuzzy feeling lit up my stomach as his hand bounced against mine. What is this feeling? My eye crept over to the corner to look at him. His face was illuminated by the white light of the moon. After a moment, he noticed my look and moved his eyes to look back at me. He smiled. The brush of our hands changed to his fingers gently interlocking with mine. It was such a small movement I couldn't be sure it wasn't an accident. But then his eyes dropped down to look at what was happening before returning to meet my gaze. That wasn't an accident.

*****

After arriving at the written location, I began to doubt myself. The building looked derelict and that no one had been inside for years. The four of us stood still as we silently thought. Then, a short bang sounded from the alley beside. I was the only one to jump. Emily's face lit up with curiosity as she darted forward. I jogged up to her and analysed the alleyway. From what I could see, no one was there and the source of the bang was a rolling metal bin. With caution, we walked towards it with the boys following.

The bin stopped rolling when it hit off Emily's feet. Empty.

"Well, what now?" She questioned.

I didn't answer. Instead, I turned around to look at the brick walls surrounding us. There has to be a door or something around here. My eye was drawn to a tall dumpster. Judging the speed of the bin, chances are that it started up near there. Beside the dumpster was an old doorway. Instead of a door was planks of wood. Now, how do we get in? I kneeled down on the ground to get a closer look. I heard my friends' footsteps come up behind me as my hand pushed against the planks.

"I'm trying to see if any of the plants are loose so we could pry them off," I said.

A hand rested on my shoulder and moved me over to the side. Sam stepped towards planks, raised his leg, and kicked it through the bottom planks. They broke in half. He used his foot to bend away a clearer opening. Straightening up, he nonchalantly said, "It's getting cold, lets go."

***** 

I clambered through the gap first, trying to avoid the splinters. As I stood up and dusted myself off, someone cleared their throat ahead of me. Julian Tate stood ahead of me with a cocked brow. He lifted his hand to take a drag of his cigarette. He beckoned me over with a gesture of his head. Once I got close enough, he blew the smoke out of the side of his mouth. The smell assaulted my nose. How can people smoke those things? I didn't expect them to smell so musty and stale. This is the first time I've ever seen one in person. They were far more common in the lower sectors.

"You made it." His voice was husky. He nodded behind me. "And who are your companions?"

I glanced back to watch them as they made their way through the hole and walked towards us.