The Future isn't Bright

Ten

I opened my eyes wide and sat completely still, hoping I could blend into my background like a chameleon.  

"Are you going to come down?" he asked, with that ever present smirk on his face. I managed to not let out a whimper.

"F-Fine," I stuttered, "But if you try anything funny-"

"He won't." Rory cut me off, coming closer to Oslo with Chloe trailing behind him slowly, observing her surroundings. I quickly made my way down the tree, mainly out of nervousness. If I was in my right mind, I never would have agreed to come down. I twirled off of the last branch and landed on my feet gracefully.  

"High bar rebound. Well done." Chloe smiled, and unlike Oslo, her smile didn't make me want to crawl to a corner and die.

"Thanks… What are you doing here?” I inquired slowly.

"Well, we saw you wander off into the forest," Rory explained, "We were bored." I somehow doubted him.

"That still doesn't explain why you dragged me along." Chloe muttered.  

"You seemed so lonely, we couldn't just leave you like that." Oslo told her in a mocking voice. Chloe rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, save it." she said, obviously annoyed by him. The boys snickered.

"Jeez, Chloe, take a joke." Oslo playfully punched her in the arm, but before he could make contact, Chloe caught his fist and shoved it away from her.

"Don't touch me," She said through clenched teeth. I guess I wasn't the only one that didn't enjoy Oslo invading my personal space.

"Let's go, Donna." she said, and I instantly turned my head to face her. I didn't really want to go, but I did not want to be left alone with Oslo. We started off back toward the hall. Suddenly, my arm was grabbed from behind.

"What the-"  

"You're not really going back there, are you?" Oslo asked, suddenly stern.

"Well-"

"The Gatherings are jokes, I know you don’t want to be here," I looked into his big blue eyes. One of them looked bloodshot while the other looked normal. He instantly looked elsewhere when I noticed. He had a point, I hated Gatherings with every fiber of my being, and I might have as well stayed.

"I'm only staying if Chloe is," I looked over my shoulder at her. She stopped walking and grimaced, obviously not wanting to stay in the company of the two boys.

"Fine!" she said. I gave her a sad, thankful smile. She looked at me and exhaled. We all walked over to Rory, who sat on the ground with his back against a tree. After Oslo sat down by him, Chloe and I took the hint and slowly we formed a circle.

"So... What do you usually do out here?" Rory asked me.

"Well, this is only my second Gathering. I haven't really worked out a schedule," I told him. Folding my hands in my lap uncomfortably.

“Let's face it, we're all obviously here because we hate Gatherings. That means we share something in common," Oslo looked up from across the circle, seemingly at me.

I nodded in agreement.

"So what if we just met here instead of attending those stupid things?" he suggested.

"We can't meet here every Gathering, they'd surely notice our absence," Chloe countered.  

“She’s right,” I mumbled, thinking no one else could hear.

"Are you scared of getting in trouble?" Oslo raised his eyebrow at me, a smile appearing on his face.  

"No..." I mumbled.