Spectrum

10.3: White

Awe, Talon, are you getting all emotional over little ol' me? I'M RIGHT HERE, BROTHER! DON'T CRY!

 

-

As eight teens filed into Mrs. Juliet's office, Caleb stood open mouthed at the male before him. Torn jeans adorned his legs, a dirty tee-shirt, his shoulders, but the blond could never forget that face, the face of someone who made his heart shatter over and over again like a type of twisted self harm. 

In front of him was Luke Stowe. 

"Caleb, listen…" As soon as the boy began his sentence, Caleb flipped. 

"No, Luke, I don't want to listen to what you have to say, because as soon as I do, you'll just find another loophole to hurt me even more!" Looking up, he saw that Luke wasn't paying any attention; he was staring at Talon, who was walking down the hall, looking for Gryphon. He caught the visitor's eye and waved awkwardly, before running off down the tiled hallway, spurred by Caleb's glare. "I have feelings for you, okay? Or at least, I did," the words cut through Luke's heart like a shard of glass. "I don't know if I even can anymore. You hurt me, okay? A little 'sorry' isn't going to fix it." Luke looked at him, taking a step closer. 

"I don't want to say sorry to fix it…" he said huskily, "I want to do this." He claimed the boy's mouth with his, kissing him in the middle of the hallway. It was Caleb who pulled back, anger crossing his facial features. 

"No, Lucas. I'm not going to let you do this again." With those words spoken, Caleb turned around and walked away, making Luke's heart hurt as the boy he cared for disappeared before his eyes again, and probably for the last time. 

-

"All your lives you have been told to trust, am I correct?" Juliet had a slideshow going in front of the group as Caleb snuck in the back. "The dictionary defines trust as reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, of a person or thing; confidence." Murmurs rippled across the small pack of teens, each of them trying to gain their bearings around those who they had never met before in their lives. Micah seemed to be getting along with a girl named Copper, and Thomas had been talking with India; they all seemed to find someone who made them tick the right way. "Well, let me tell you what our parents never could: here at the SRU, we have our own way of saying trust. Treat, Record, Understand, Supply, and Train. That is what we are doing in you, we are trusting. You see, I am about to tell you something that only one of our agents knows, something that only one of you know." Juliet took a breath and met India's eye. The teen's eyebrow was raised, knowing exactly what she was about to say. "This is all our fault." A video began playing behind her, and the girl recognized it as the video December had shown her on her laptop. The bomb slowly flew up, and murmurs of 'what the hell is this?' and 'does this have a point?' were heard from behind her. "I assure you, you all will want to see this…" Juliet said, and the group was hushed. She knew that they could all read what was written on the bomb, and was focused on their faces as it went off, coating everything with its various colors and life in a black and white. 

"Miss?" Copper's voice could be heard, followed by an audible groan from Autumn beside her. "So, you're trying to say that you guys are responsible for everything we've gone through?" Juliet grimaced at the question, knowing that Copper had gone through more than the rest of the Spectrums to get to the SRU.