Accessory Wars

Chapter 10-Ki

            The next morning, I woke oddly calm. I almost felt...normal. I still felt off kilter with the world but not so much as before. I requested to see my psychiatrist and they set up an appointment that afternoon. We talked the entire hour and they agreed to back off on the extra medications. By the next day, I was feeling much more myself. I started managing my diet again, which I guess was a big deal because it took only two more days before they released me.

Trevor picked me up from the hospital and we met up with everyone else to celebrate my release. When I got home, I set up all my new prescriptions in my pill box. I used to be ashamed admitting my life was held together by tablets but I grew to accept it. Kaylee told me that if the medications were what made me live a normal life day to day, then I should have no reason to hate them. There was nothing wrong with wanting to be happy.

When I got to my suppression hormones, I paused. What would happen if I stopped taking them? I remembered Colfry's warning about the ERT watching me and it spooked me enough to put the pills into the box with the rest. Knowing what class of Accessory I was wasn't worth the chance of getting executed. It wasn't a thin threat either.

The next day I went out with my friends to the movies. We managed to get our four movie marathon in and left around midnight with headaches and our bodies buzzing from the excess amount of junk food. We almost got kicked out after the second movie but Reagan managed to persuade the cleaning crew with fake sniffles and a dramatic telling of how I almost died. Mysti could barely contain her eye roll.

Now that I had my phone back, I was able to answer all the missed calls, texts and emails. The grocery store manager messaged me he would help me find a new job and I was hired on at a local restaurant as a dishwasher. The hours weren't as good but I got a small pay raise.

With my life back on track, I finally had a talk with my parents. I told them why I lied about my application. I hated the pressure of getting a "good" job in a high salary field. I knew I had some talent for art so I chose graphic design to pursue. But the pressure of college caught up to me and I wasn't able to handle the increasing work load, the extensive tests and surprise quizzes. Growing up, I got decent grades but never any high marks which was why my parents were so supportive of me going into such a difficult field. They were still angry I lied but they understood. We agreed on me taking a break until the next open enrollment season and it would be my decision if I wanted to try college again. At the moment, I was content without it.

On a quiet Tuesday night, I found myself thinking about rock climbing. I hadn't gone since the grocery store incident, as my hands needed to heal, but the stiches were out and I got the okay from the doctor to climb again. I weaved through the mostly empty tables of my workplace, clearing ones with dishes left behind. My ears picked up a laugh from nearby and I peeked over, spotting a familiar face. Mr. Jumpsuit. My curiosity got the best of me and I tried to remain casual as I wandered in that direction. And there he was. Jay sat across from his jumpsuit friend, arm still in a sling, and poked at his bowl of rice and pork. His eyes glanced at me before snapping back, eyes widening. His friend looked up at me and grinned.

"Hey!" the brunette called. He waved me over and I adjusted the dish bin on my hip. "How's it going? Thanks again for saving Jay's ass. He seriously needs it. I'm Derek, by the way."

"Yeong," I greeted, shaking his extended hand.

"Nice to meet you," Derek said. "Jay and I go way back to middle school. I think we've done about everything together. I even landed a sports scholarship at the same school he applied to. How crazy is that?"

"Roaring Ravens?"

Derek nodded and made a bird out of his hands. "You got it! Not the best team out there but since the team's so small, I get to play more. You should come to a game sometime. The food's overpriced but the crowd seems to have fun."