Solarity: Away From Home

010: Quinten

010: Quinten

"I cannot believe all of you guys went off without telling us first! You knew what the consequences would be." I listen to Abeo shout angrily. He's pacing around in the kitchen, but the rest of us are scattered in the living room. Some of them look scared, and some look bored. I feel guilty, so I just keep my eyes on the bags of clothes in my hands. I don't even feel like I deserve these anymore.

"We just wanted to have a good time!" Celestia argues from my right. "And to get him to trust us more! Plus, he needed new clothes. He's been wearing the same outfit ever since he's been here!"

She clearly seems upset. I haven't seen her this heated since Mateo got injured back at the coffee shop in New York.

"We were just trying to save them," Ronan adds, throwing the rest of us under the bus for no other reason than to save himself. What kind of leader—

"That's no excuse," Abeo replies calmly, forehead lines creasing. He's trying to keep his cool. "You should have told us before you left, not after you got attacked. This is the second one in the last four days! They could be coming here any second now! And I expected you to inform us out of all people, Ronan. From now on, no one leaves this property unless there's an emergency. Like our Headquarters being attacked. We need to figure out how you guys are being found before we proceed."

There were groans of frustration and uses of cuss words thrown around in the room. I'm sure one of them is directed at me.

"No buts. Also, training workshops every day. Four hours. Seven A.M. sharp. Be there or be punished." The group lets out some discontent replies again, making me feel even more guilty.

"These rascals," Abeo mutters under his breath. He and the other mentors leave the room suddenly after that, and I can't even apologize right there and then.

"That's so unfair! You guys were the ones that went out but we have to get punished too? You guys should've just stayed home," Kira yells. I feel her eyes on me as I continue to eye my bag of clothes. I'm trying my best to let my eyebrows give out my own frustration. Luckily for me, she leaves right after. A few other people follow her out the living room, but I can only make out Abia and Micah.

I feel the sudden urge to leave too, so I get up from my seat on the sofa. Vulnerability has never felt so demanding. "She's right," I sigh, "We should've just stayed here and I should've just borrowed someone's clothes."

I keep my eyes on the floor as I walk towards my room, finding asylum on my bed. I throw my bags against the opposite wall in frustration and I stare at the ceiling, feeling part to blame.

Only a few seconds pass by when I hear knocking at my door, which is already open by the way, and I just let out a weird sound to let whoever's there that they can come in, "Mmmmmmmm."

"Quinten?" I hear Mateo's voice but I refuse to lift my head up to look at them. I feel too guilty to be making eye contact with anyone right now. I feel his strong hands grasp my knees and pull me out to the edge of the bed playfully, but he stops when he sees the serious mask plastered on my face.

Because of him, I'm sitting at the edge of the bed, next to Celestia to my right. Mateo sits on the floor criss-cross applesauce like a child, and I pat him on the head jokingly. His dirty blonde hair feels soft and nice in my palm.

I decide to confess how I really feel, knowing that if it's anyone I can trust in this inescapable house, it's these two. "It's totally my fault. If I had just put my pride aside for just a few more days and borrowed Jae's clothes instead of being stubborn, we wouldn't have had to go to the mall. We wouldn't have gotten attacked. We wouldn't be forbidden from leaving this place."