Forfeit Day

Chapter 2 ~ Watch what you eat, Friends

Lydia stirs as she wakes. Her limbs flying around in her grey sheets at one last attempt to savor warmth. She sits up as she tries to calm her hair, looking down to her forearm; twenty-five dark blue marks. She takes her hand down from her mess of bed head and rubs her eyes, trying to focus on her surroundings.

The room she has spent almost two weeks in is quite small, not that anyone's rooms are any better. The whole house, in her opinion, is very bland. Her room consists of a dark brown door and a small window on the opposite wall, a small closet with all of two outfits, and a bed against the wall with the window. 

The window is somewhere Lydia has stayed by quite a lot. The window is sealed shut, the blinds are shaggy, and the view is just a run-down brick wall, but it's her only option of sunlight. Not that the place is dimly lit, there are many lights in every room, but there is something about the sun that feels off to her, so she spends time trying to pinpoint where the weird vibe is coming from and is still unsuccessful.

Looking at her window reminds her she has to get up, so in order to protest against actually being active, she rolls over and pulls her sheet above her head. She is on the verge of falling back asleep when her door is slammed open.

"Lydia! Lili!" Screams her intruder. A weight is then plummeted on to her making her groan. She pulls off her sheets to the point of her eyes to see her current only friend smiling mockingly at her.

"Hayden, leave me alone," Lydia says as she rolls over, her back in the direction of her friend. After Lydia helped Hayden on the first day, Hayden clung to her like a leech, not that Lydia complained though, it felt nice to have someone to rely on her. 

She had been meaning to ask her friend what was actually going on when they first met, but she didn't want to make anything uncomfortable between them. What they had was nice, especially since the others were very complicated. 

Hayden had a simplicity to her that made Lydia feel safe and like she could trust her; she was feisty, big-mouthed, mean, funny but knew when to be serious, and she cherished the ones she cared for, protecting them at all costs.

"Lili, I would but breakfast is ready and the others aren't up yet. I wanted you to have the first serving with the food." Hayden says patting Lydia's legs. Lydia had been having a debate on whether to kick out Hayden and sleep again or getting up and being productive, but at the mention of food her mind was instantly decided and she got up, pushing Hayden out to get ready.

Once Lydia has calmed her hair and changed into the skinny jeans and a gray shirt that filled her closet, she went downstairs and into the kitchen. She saw a small man with an apron around his gray shirt and jeans. He was munching on bacon and looking at the food he most likely prepared probably deciding what to pick at next. 

Lydia walked up next to him and grabbed the strawberry out of his hand. He quickly turned in confusion only to smile at the sight of her.

"Morning doll." He greeted looking back down to pick up a plate and fill it with food.

"Morning Liam!" She greeted back cheerfully. Smiling at him when he handed her the plate with her favorite foods and went to fill his own.

"Hayden is waking up the others still?"

"Yeah, she said she wanted me to have the first serving, she's so sweet."

"Hayden? Ha, she's mean! Your just her favorite."

Liam looked back up to her, being shorter than anyone else there, smiling. Lydia loved to get him alone. He was usually very shy. He didn't like attention or being shoved into the spotlight. Lydia knew he didn't feel pressure around her, he often treated her like a sister. Always calling her little pet names and never let her put her own food onto her plate. Other than Hayden, he was the only one she felt fully trusting with, and she enjoyed that.