-------------------------------------------------That same night--------------------------------------------
Lilac was sitting on the porch of the winner's "cabin" (In her opinion it looked more like a small hotel), feeling like anything but a winner. She felt confused, angry and alone. She wished that things hadn't become so complicated so fast, wanted to try and refrain from being overly attached to anybody, seeing as they would later become her competition. "Good work with that.....", she thought glumly to herself.
Suddenly, a pair of sneakers appeared right outside her peripheral vision, she looked up to see that Ray had come to sit next to her.
"What's up, sister?" Ray asked, allowing his southern accent to slip through. "Wouldn't you rather be in there than out here?"
"Not really, no." Lilac said, close to tears. Ray said nothing, waiting for her to continue. That was the first time she had ever really paid the short boy any attention. He seemed to have a small scar right above his left eye, and his eyes, a striking green, looked kind enough.
"I was gunna ask you why you're so down, but it's not hard to figure out...", he said, sounding uncomfortable. It was clear that his forte was not with words. "It's easy to spot a broken heart."Ray pulled a robotic bird, as well as a screwdriver, out of his pocket, and began to fiddle with some of the gears. Lilac noticed a ring on one of his fingers, a bronze ring with circuitry carved into it, as well as a piece of rusted copper in the shape of a half heart on top, giving it a reddish-black color.
"What's with the ring?" she asked, happy to have her mind off of all the stress.
Ray's eyes immediately darkened with sadness, and he began to fiddle with the mechanical bird some more. "We all go through some heartbreaks, sister.", he said. "If it's any consolation, he did say that he liked you."
Ray's eyes lit up again. He put the bird in Lilacs palm. "I'll give you the honor.", he whispered.
Lilac looked down at the bird now resting in her hands. Its entire body was intricately carved and measured, she could tell. There was a small winding key embedded in its back, and, assuming he meant for her to start it up, she began to wind it. Once she let it go, the bird immediately jumped up and began to hop small circles in her hand, emanating a small mechanical tweet every so often. Lilac smiled and chuckled to herself.
"Did you build it?", she asked Ray, who was now playing with the ring on his finger.
"Down to the last detail.", he said. He began to get up and patted Lilac on the shoulder. "You keep it.", he smiled. "Enjoy." And then he went back inside.
Lilac looked back down at the bird, who's thin wings were now oustretched, and the mouth frozen mid-tweet. She touched the beautifully made mechanism, smiling all the while, put it in her pocket, and walked inside...
----------------------------------------------------The Next Morning-----------------------------------------------------
Lilac had gotten much more rest that night than she had the previous, and woke up feeling energetic and much happier. She looked around and noticed that almost all the girls were still asleep. Except for Jasmine and Zoey. Zoey had probably gone off to be with Mike, which didn't surprise Lilac, but she had no clue where Jasmine was. 'Hopefully gone and flushed herself down the toilet.', she thought to herself, chuckling. She began to prepare for breakfast, taking off her night clothes and putting on a pair of jeans and a black tank top. She looked back at her bed to make sure that things weren't too untidy (she had a small issue with messy rooms), and noticed Ray's bird lying on her pillow. She had been toying with it all night, trying to figure out how a guy like Ray could make a contraption so beautiful and precise. She was still looking down at it when she heard Chris suddenly call for everyone to get to the dining hall in five minutes, which had woken all the other girls in the cabin. She walked out of the cabin and headed towards the smell of a nice, five-star breakfast.
