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19

19

I found Emily in our dorm with her back to the door.

"Sam said you wanted to talk?" I asked as I sat on my bed. Folding her arms, she turned to face me.

"Have you got the time?" she retorted.

I furrowed my face while I quizzed, "Okay, why is everyone saying that?"

She scoffed, "Ever since you started working with Tate, you've been too busy for us. He's changing you"

I narrowed my eyes. "Don't be ridiculous! Of course I'm going to be a bit busy-"

"You've been ignoring us completely!" How dare she accuse me of that? I scowled at her but before I could deny it, she said, "Think about it."

She stared at me intensely as I tried to think back. My rejection of Finn's help, Sam asking me to hang out, the tension in the room, my coming back late.

I shook my head free from its thoughts.

"You're over-thinking things, Emily," I objected.

Rolling my eyes, she continued, "Nearly every time we ask you to hang out, you're 'in the middle of something'. And then if you do decide to grace us with you're too good for us!"

Fury boiled inside me but I tried to hold it in. "Well, it looks like it's just you and Sam have the problem."

She let out a humourless laugh. "You don't think Finn is annoyed too? He's just too nice to say anything!"

All hell broke loose within me. I leapt to a stand, my feet loudly slapping against the floor.

"Do you not think I'm doing anything important?" I yelled.

She began to strut closer to me but I beat her there. "Everything I'm doing with Tate is to benefit everyone here!"

"Not us! Not me, not Sam, not Finn!" she roared. Her angry breaths fanned my face as we stood nose to nose.

"That was your decision! That was your choice!"

The door slammed and a thundering of footsteps entered. Someone gripped my shoulder and pulled me away. Finn wedged himself between us.

"What the hell is going on in here?" he shouted.

Ignoring him, Emily glowered at me and challenged, "Maybe I made the wrong decision."

Pretending not to notice my sunken feeling, I responded coldly, "Maybe you did."

My eyes began to burn. I need to get out of here. I swung around on my heel and stamped out of the room. Every person from the building crowded the doorway. On my approach, they parted and let me pass

I sucked in my cheeks and tried to control my breathing while I hurried along. But it kept getting harder and harder to calm it. I put a hand on my chest, feeling it fall and rise rapidly. My cheeks started to dampen as I let my back rest on the wall. Sliding to the ground, I buried my head in my knees. Get a grip, Sine. My nails dug into my head, leaving behind little stabs of pain. A singular pair of footsteps walked towards me and came to a halt.

They waited as I sniffled before ordering, "Stand up, girl."

I obeyed, climbing to my feet. Tate looked me up and down and frowned.

"Are you seriously acting like this right now?" His words stung.

I stumbled over my words as I attempted to defend myself. "I just-"

He sighed and groaned, "Stop there. I thought we've already discussed how to act as second-in-command."

Wrapping my arms around myself, I said, "I know but Emily said-"

He squinted his eyes. "You're hardly lowering yourself to her level?"

What does he mean by that? Shooting him a look, he continued, "Don't get me wrong, your friends are nice help. But you're what's important here. Ignore what she's saying to you. She's wrong."

No matter how much I wanted to believe his words, there was still a glimmer of doubt in me. Was Emily right?

"She thinks I spend too much time working with you," I said, trying to encourage his opinion out.

He laughed and chided, "If you believe that, hah."

In a more serious tone, he added, "What you're doing with me is vital to our cause, Sine."

Taking a breath, I relaxed. He's right. I need to focus on our goal.

"There. Now that you've pulled yours together, lets go see how things are getting on with Sam."

Nodding, I followed with ease.

*****

Dinner couldn't have come sooner. The day had left me tired and starved, so my portion of food did not last long. I sat amongst the circle as everyone was still eating. Although the atmosphere was light and friendly, the underlying tension pecked away at my chest. My trio of friends sat opposite me. Emily kept her line of sight to the side, avoiding all possible eye contact. Sam's eyes also stayed low as they talked among themselves. However, Finn was the only one to let himself glance over towards me.

My face still felt flushed from today's events. From what I could see of Emily's own face, hers was pink as well. Did they really believe that I didn't want to hang out with them? It hurt to think about it. I could see Finn continue to look at me but I didn't dare to take a peek. The same sentence repeated itself in my head.

"You don't think Finn is annoyed too? He's just too nice to say anything."

Finn had been my shoulder to lean on since I've known him. If he is too afraid to say anything to me, what had he really been wanting to say? The thought of having forced him along this journey sickening.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him glance over again. Just do it. I lifted my head. He kept his still as our eyes connected. To my surprise, his face didn't contort into a grimace. Instead, he gave me a slight smile. Emily seemed to notice our exchange as she tapped his shoulder. Murmuring something, the three stood up and left the room.

My shoulders drooped. There was a giggle beside me. Beth sat with a hand draped across her mouth. She had this horrible smirk on her face, paired with a cocked brow. I shot her a glare before turning away to distract myself with the room's conversations.

An hour or so passed before I decided to retire to my room. But I couldn't bring myself to go in. Footsteps wandered around inside. I couldn't bear to face Emily yet. I was standing there silently when I heard the murmuring of voices from across the hall. All I could make out was that it was two male voices. No other words were clear, until I heard one mention my name. Emily's words were back in my head. Frowning, I slid up beside the door.

"I heard you went in to stop that fight," Sam's voice said.

"Yeah, they looked like they were going to kill each other," Finn responded, "Em wasn't holding back."

Sam let out a breathy laugh. "Sine wasn't saying stuff that wasn't true, even if she took it a little too far."

"Give Sine a break," Finn mumbled.

There was a pause before Sam said, "You love her, don't you?"

I froze. "Is it that obvious?"

What? Finn... An immediate airy feeling hit me. My head began to spin. Finn. Shutting my eyes, I saw him. I thought of what Emily had said, but also his face before he left.

Straightening myself, I had made a decision. Before I had the chance to back down, I rapped on the door and let myself in. Peeking in, I was greeted by the two on their beds.

"Finn, could we talk?"

/// Big thank you to@poisonlilac for the trailer! ///