REBEL CLOTHES ✓

SOMEONE ELSE

Tyler excepted to wake up immediately after Josh disappeared, but he didn't. The sensation he felt wasn't from someone waking him up, but someone pulling him into their own dream.

He was in a room identical to his own, except a tan girl around his age sat across from him on the bed, her eyes squeezed shut. She sat in a fetal position, rocking and mumbling under her breath.

Her wavy hair was dark brown but blonde at the ends, and Tyler had the odd feeling that he'd met her somewhere before. She just looked familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on why.

"Find me, find me, I don't wanna stay, please find me, get me out," she whispered.

"Uh- who are you?"

"Clancy!" Her eyes popped open, but her face fell into disappointment when she made eye contact with Tyler. "You're not Clancy."

"No, I'm- wait, how do you know Clancy?" He asked.

The girl curled tighter into herself. "He was the one who was supposed to help me escape last night, but I haven't heard from him in weeks and nobody showed up. I'm afraid that he was lying."

"No, no, he wasn't lying to you!" Tyler insisted, scrambling to her side. "He just can't reach anyone right now. He was taken by the Bishops and he's hurt bad. But I can promise you that you can trust me. I'll get you out."

The girl tilted her head to the side. "Well, if you're here and you know Clancy, then... then I trust you. My name's Debby."

She thrust her hand forward, and Tyler took it.

"I'm Tyler," he said, smiling. "I'm leaving tonight. Come with me."

Debby's eyes widened. "That's so soon, but... I'll do it. How are we getting out?"

Just like that, Tyler's confidence deflated. "Oh, no. I- uh, I- you can take the things I have. Those will help you get out."

Tyler knew it was a dumb idea, but he couldn't leave her there. She was just like him, clueless, curious, and a huge red flag for different. He wouldn't forgive himself if he left her behind, knowing he could've done something to help her.

"But what about you?" Debby asked.

He shrugged it off. "I'll figure something out. But if not, as long as someone is saved, even if it's not me, I'll be okay. Meet me at the corner of the East and North barrier after the sermon. You already know what I look like."

"Wait, I have a question." Debby hesitated. "You look like you've been talking to the Banditos more than I have. Can you- I need to know what yellow is, just so I know I'm making the right choice here."

Tyler grinned. "Yellow? Well, yellow is... yellow is everything Dema isn't. Happiness, faith, love, security. Yellow, for me at least, is freedom." He could see and feel the calm take her over as she sighed and relaxed. "See you tonight, then?"

"See you tonight," she said. "And again, thank you."

He finally woke up to the sound of alarms ringing through his house and throughout the neighborhood. Waking up to that wasn't new, but because of his new plan, it set him on edge.

Tyler swung his legs over the bed, daring a glance at his drawn curtain, and went on with his morning routine. He tucked the tape and packet of pills into the waistband of his pants, and in doing so found a stray yellow petal attached to the back of the packet.

IT WONT WORK WITH JUST ONE PILL, was written in black marker.

Tyler swore under his breath. Jenna knew him too well already.

"Only two pills, what to do, what to do..."

Someone had to be at the Eastern Tower when they tried to break Clancy out.

He grabbed a pen off his desk and scribbled out a half-baked plan on the back of Jenna's note, stuffing it in his back pocket.

Yellow is freedom, he'd told Debby. How he wanted to believe that right now.

Jay was crying again, and Tyler was becoming increasingly worried that it wasn't just because of his cold, which had left over a week ago. He could feel a burning sickness in his little brother, not deadly but not pleasant either. If left untreated, Tyler feared it would get a lot worse.

"Ma, you think we should take him to the doctor again?" He asked as he helped his mother fix up breakfast.

She laughed, though Tyler could feel the anxiety rolling off of her. "Jay will be fine, hon. He just needs some sleep."

"I think we all need sleep," his father laughed. "It'll do us some good not waking up to sirens."

Tyler felt his frustration from all the way across the room, which was not an uncommon occurrence, but before he could stop himself, he blurted, "Why are you always so upset?"

Silence fell over the room except for Jay's crying. His mother pursed her lips and left out a soft sigh. "He's not upset, sweetheart. Nobody's upset."

"Right. Because no one's ever upset in Dema. Except for baby Jay and all those people who leave."

"You better watch your mother, son," his father warned.

"Tyler, honey, what are you talking about?" She shook her head. "You can get punished for saying something so blasphemous."

"If I don't say it, who will? All of you, you're all so stupid and blind. Jay's in pain, he's sick with something worse than a cold, and you don't even care! I can feel it, all the pain, all the self hatred no one wants to feel. I'm the one who feels all of that, and it's driving me insane. Why don't you deal with your own damn problems?"

Tyler flinched as his father shot up in his seat, smacking him hard. His anger immediately gave way to guilt, but Tyler couldn't care less. He stumbled back from the hit, glaring as he touched the stinging flesh.

"Baby..." his mother whispered, backing up in fear.

"I don't wanna leave you. I don't wanna, but I have to if I want to save you."

His father opened his mouth, probably to apologize, but Tyler spun on his toes and and ran out before he could speak. He kept running until he reached the wall, where he lied with his back against the bricks, unable to choose just one emotion to focus on. There was a time that he felt nothing but numbing happiness. Now, with everything hitting him for the first time, Tyler couldn't stop the tears from staining his cheeks.

God, he wanted to tell his parents so badly. He couldn't just leave them there, could he? The guilt would kill him before anything else. But they didn't see what he saw, and they never would.

Tyler sat there until the bells for the beginning of the first sermon rang out, and he felt something else he'd never felt before. Hunger.

Every seat in the sermon was full except for one besides a girl in the second to front row. Tyler slipped into the seat without even looking to his right, focusing his eyes at the nine Bishops in the front. The girl beside him nudged his shoulder about half ay through the service. He glanced quickly at her, not paying attention, but then took a a second look and felt his fears melt.

"Debby."

"You okay?" She asked, nudging him again.

He thought about lying- something he never did before- but he could see the concern in her eyes despite the fact that she hardly knew him and he shook his head. "No."

Debby slipped her hand into his, squeezing it to let him know she was there. For the first time in his self aware existence, Tyler didn't feel alone in Dema.