[Discontinued] Not Equal

nine//surreal things

I open my eyes wearily. The air feels nice and cool on my face, and rays of sunlight are already coming through the golden windows.

Wait a second.

I sit up, rubbing my eyes. Golden windows?

Where am I?

I look around. I am not in my home unit. The room is vast and immense, twenty times-no, fifty times the size of the little room I grew up in. There are huge walls composed of pearl and quartz and stone. Jewels are set in the magnificent walls. The doors are huge, made of gold and silver.

"So you finally awoke." A voice chuckles from my right.

I turn startled. Cole is standing there, leaning against the wall, a book in his hands.

"What are you-" I cut off once I realize that I'm asking a Question.

Cole sets down his book and takes a seat next to me on the bed. "The real question is, what are you doing here?" He laughs. "This is my room, you know."

"Your...room." I echo disbelievingly. Does he have a room all to himself? Such a thing was so bizarre to me.

Cole smiles. "You snore loud, Caddilyn." He says, a smirk in his voice.

"I do not!" I protest, eyes widening at the accusation.

"You're right; I just wanted to see what your reaction was." Cole's voice falters, and he looks down at my clothes. My eyes follow his, and I blush when I realize what he is looking at. I am wearing a simple gray shirt and pants, which we always wear at home. It is tattered and dirty, and there are rips in my pants.

Since Mother does not have an important job, we do not have very nice clothes. We wear our simple gray garments at home, and we have our Pairing dresses and outside outfits. I didn't expect to be outside today, so I didn't-

"Wait for a second," I whisper. "What happened?"

Cole laughs softly at the Question. "Tsk tsk, another Question, Caddilyn." His eyes suddenly go all serious. "After you fainted, I took you back to my room because I did not care to ask where you lived, and then I went to the Chief Elder and cleared you of your crimes."

"Cleared me of my crimes." I echoed softly. "How did you do that?"

Cole's eyes harden. "Weren't you taught not to ask Questions, Maddie?"

I bite my lip in shame. "Yes, sir. Sorry, sir." I lower my head. I can't keep on forgetting who Cole is, no matter how cute he is. He is still a Male, and he is still above me.

Cole eyes me, tipping his head to the side. His hand cups my chin, and he lifts my head. "Don't lower your head like that to me." He says. "You'll cover up your beautiful eyes."

My heart stops. "Y-yes, sir," I whisper.

Cole smirks, satisfied. "Now, do you need any breakfast before I send you off to your home unit?" He asks.

"N-no, we just had breakfast yesterday." I stammer.

Cole frowns. "Alright, then. But-" He fingers my shirt. "I rather you change your shirt." He says. I look down to what he is talking about. Sure, it is tattered and dirty, but the whole side piece and half of the back portion of the shirt have ripped off and is now showing my skin. I flush a little, wishing I wore another shirt.

"It's alright. Mother can fix it at our home unit." I insist, turning to get out of the bed.

"No," Cole says. He grabs my wrist. "Change your clothing. Please." I don't understand why he is so urgent about changing my shirt, and it's not a big deal. "I don't have any clothes," I say finally.