Republic of Omisha

Chapter 16: Eliza

 The next week flew by. Eliza easily got engrossed in her classes. She enjoys them thoroughly. It makes her uneasy that she hasn't seen Clay, Hendrix, and Ekon because they have all been in detention.

When they got to the lunchroom that day, Eliza got her food and sat down with Valerie and the other hidders. She noticed that Karma sat alone because she only ever sits with Hendrix, and Ekon. Deceivers are not welcomed by the other groups by their own doing.

Sandra is ranting to Asher, about an upcoming test. "Here, I made flash cards." She lays them out one by one on the table with a smile. Sandra is tall and lean. She is currently eighteen, but she was much smaller when she was in the trials four years ago.

"You are aware that our test in History is on a timeline, right?" Asher asks. He is naturally smart like Sandra, but he is not nearly as worried as she is over academics.

"I know. They have the event on one side and the date on the other. See?" She flips a card around.

Eliza lets her mind drift from their conversation, that Valerie continues to watch. She giggles at their debate. Eliza wishes that she could be as happy as them, as content, but she can't. Not with the knowledge that she possesses. The knowledge that she is striving to possess.

She finds herself glancing around the cafeteria. Her eyes stop when she sees Karma. She sits alone with one elbow on the table and she leans on her fist. She doesn't look up from her meal. She just continues to play with it.

She wishes that she felt bad, but naturally because of how Karma wronged her, she doesn't. She thinks about inviting her over and she realizes that that is what her sister would do. Oh, how she misses Kalea so. Only now she doesn't feel sad, but instead feels the joy of commemorating her sister's kindness.

Eliza decides to honor her sister's memory by showing the kindness that she would. Eliza recalled that her sister had attended church every week and would always say how you should others the way you would want to be treated. Their whole family used to attend church, but after their Mother died Mr. Spero stopped attending and so did Eliza, but Kalea continued to go and develop her relationship in the Lord. Eliza hated of the Sunday School answers that Kalea would give. That was because she knew that Kalea was right and that Eliza needed to hear it. Now it is Kalea's voice and her biblical wisdom that is putting Eliza on the right path. To bad she is only listening to her knowledge after she's gone. There is so much more that Eliza could have learned from her.

She takes a deep breath and stands up with her tray of food. She signals Valerie to follow and walks over to Karma's table with a sincere grin.

"Eliza! Eliza, come back here!" Valerie called out just over a horse whisper. Eliza ignored her. Her mind was made up.

Eliza sits down with a smile across from Karma, who gives her a puzzled look. She takes a bite of her spaghetti and meatballs and asks, "what are ya doin here, 'Freshie'?"

Eliza shrugs, "you just look like you are in need of a friend."

This time when Karma speaks, she sounds like she has lost her edge. "Who says I need a friend... and what make you think that I would want you to be my friend?"

Eliza stays cool. "I never said that I would be your friend, and your vulnerability affirms my assumption about you needing a friend."

"Yeah, well... why don't you just go bother someone else." This time her face is shaky, as if she might burst into tears.

Eliza rises. "I would, though- you know- be your friend if you wanted me to be." Then Eliza leaves. She walks back to the hidders' table.

They are all looking past her. "What are you looking at?" She hears Karma snap and the Hidders quickly avert their gaze.

What was Eliza thinking? What did she hope to accomplish? Was she trying to show Karma kindness or to prove that she was a better person than her? She isn't sure. That was not like Eliza at all. Why was she so cool headed? The only thought that came to her mind was that she was acting like Kalea.

"What was that about?" Valerie asks her when she sits back down.

Eliza shrugs. She isn't entirely sure herself.

Her afternoon classes pass quickly and so does the next day of school. Classes let out at three, but she can hardly wait for dinner at six because it is her "Homecoming" dinner.

It's odd that they call it a homecoming dinner when it celebrates a new student's arrival. It also makes sense because this is their coming to a new home and they get to see their family for the first time since the trials and they get to see one friend from their hometown. It is supposed to be closure on old ways and the opening of a door to new ones,

Eliza goes back to her dorm and sees Clay enter the boys dorm. She knows that she has to talk to him.

She knows that she isn't allowed in the boys dorm, and she specifically was warned to stay away from the boys' dorm. She approaches the dark wooded double doors. She held her breath, weighing her options. She quietly treads up to the door, breathing shallowly so no one can hear her. Eliza presses her ear to the door.

She waits a moment and hears one set of footsteps and concludes that he must be alone. She steps back, staring at the door before she lifts her right hand and knocks timidly.

She has never felt this nervous ever. Her heart pounds as she hears footsteps approaching the door. The door creaks open and there he is. Clay, just standing in the doorway with a worn out expression.

Eliza realizes that she hadn't thought about what to say. Her throat drops into her stomach and she finds herself at a loss of words with a shortness of breath. "Um..." is all that Eliza is able to get out.

She clears her throat and tries again. "Hi, Clay. Um, how-how are you doing." What is this? Since when is Eliza scarred of a boy? Not because of what the deceivers did. No, this was genuine shortness of breath.

Clay is tall, dark skinned, and muscular. He's absolutely hot, and that makes Eliza nervous, but Sebastian was attractive to and he never made her nervous. What does that mean? Eliza isn't sure. Did that mean that she was comfortable around Sebastian, or did it mean that Eliza has real feelings for Clay.

Clay looks Eliza over. "Fine." He sighs deeply. "They made us move these weird blocks out of some sort of odd metal or something."

"'Us'?"

"Yeah, Ekon, Hendrix, and I."