The Differents | ✓

S I X

"Wait, 9412! Hold on!"

I turned around to see 8743 waving at me frantically from the threshold to her room. She slammed the door and limped up to me on her crutches, grinning. 

I raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"You're done with your confinement right?" she asked.

"After the meal at midday, yes," I answered skeptically.

"Okay, well everyone's been wondering what happened. Because when you guys were doing the simulation, Instructor sent us away halfway through and told us we could go back to the classroom and have the rest of the period free. And then the next thing we know, you guys are in confinement! What did you do?"

I breathed a heavy sigh and slowed my pace. "It's complicated. And I'm not going to waste my time explaining. If you want the twisted version, go to 6849 and she'll gladly demonize me, but I'm trying to put this behind myself and move forward. I hope you get that." I ran a hand through my hair, knotted and tangled from tossing and turning in bed last night.

"Uh, y-yeah! Totally, I understand," she stuttered, her eyes widening in surprise. "Well, uh, I'll see you later then, I guess." She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and gave me a glance before walking away awkwardly as quickly as she could. I didn't bother saying anything else to make her come back, and sighed. I didn't care if Captain told her version of the story to everyone because I wasn't going to talk to any of them anyway. I chuckled at myself, surprised I lowered my walls enough to let my three teammates in, and furthermore surprised that I actually trusted them for a while. I should have known something like this would happen; it always did.

I rubbed my face and stepped into the courtyard. The air was still crisp and puddles still lingered in the cracks and potholes scattered in the concrete. Fog hung low in the air, shrouding the Core in an eerie silence. My stomach rumbled. Two more meals, I reminded myself. Only two more meals until you're free of them. As I walked to the dining hall, I looked around the courtyard. The silhouette of the gateway I had snuck through last night loomed over me as I passed by it, and as I looked through, the outline of a person standing in the middle of the pathway looked back at me. My stomach lurched and I looked away. I had already gotten in enough trouble with the Masks last night. I didn't want to attract more by lurking around the gateway.

The door to the dining hall approached slowly, and the nearer it got, the more anxious I became to get to it. Finally, I gave in and ran for the door, grasping its handle and slamming it behind me. Standing with my back to the door, I watched the last few tendrils of fog that had slipped in with me dissipate, and my breathing calmed down. From in front of me, I could hear the chatter and the morning buzz of the dining hall, and my stomach ached to be fed. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, reminding myself that I just had to get through a few more hours of confinement and then I'd be okay.

"Arthemis?"

Bear's tentative voice broke me out of my daze. I was staring at the table, my spoon halfway to my mouth. My head snapped up and my face resumed its natural scowl. "What?"

He looked slightly hesitant, as if the slightest wrong move would cause me to explode. I kind of felt like it too. "Can I talk to you?"

I kept my scowl on my face but underneath, a twinge of a feeling I couldn't place pulled at me. I got up and followed Bear out of the dining hall. I watched him close the door, muffling the sounds and step away from it.

Turning to face me, his expression stiffened. "You're acting weird."

I laughed. Spitefully. "Thanks for pointing that out. I had no idea."

"No, like weirder than usual weird. Is something wrong?"

"Weirder than usual? So like, me being weird because of what happened is now considered the usual?" I shook my head in disappointment at him.

"Arthemis--"

"Don't call me that."

"Fine. 9412." Bear paused, shifting his stance uncomfortably. He glanced through the windows set in the doors, looking toward our table. Captain and Sniper were both trying to make it seem as if their food was the most interesting thing in the entire room. He looked back at me. "You're avoiding the question. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm fine."

Bear let out an exasperated sigh and looked down the hall. "Okay. I guess you're not gonna tell me anything." He looked back through the door and put his hand on the handle. "I wish none of this had happened."

"Me too," only left my mouth until after the doors had closed behind him.

I stood in the hallway, the lively chatter from the dining hall flowing into one ear and the eerie silence from outside flowing into the other. I debated going back to my room but ended up opening the door to the dining hall. Sitting down at the table, I pushed my food around on my plate, but my appetite was lost so I snuck a small cardboard box from the kitchen and stuffed the remainder of my food in it. Sighing, I pushed myself up from the table and headed toward the doors, not bothering to look behind me for the withering stare I knew Bear was giving me from the table. My thoughts pulled me back to what had happened with an urgency, back to what that Mask had said. I scrunched my eyes closed; what had he meant?

I was kidding myself. I had known what he had meant from the second he said it.

My mind raced. Was he actually saying that someone needed to escape? And why? And why would a Mask be telling me to escape, of all people? It just didn't make sense. I dropped the box of food on my bed and clutched my head. Even if the Mask believed I could escape the Core, would I even risk it? What if I was caught, or if something went wrong?

But then again, what if I wasn't caught? What if I managed to escape?

I had always disliked the ways of the Core, had always felt they needed changing. I never liked the way they brought us up like robots, in a monotone way. They brought us up to be warriors, to be skilled at everything and to not have flaws. That was the worst thing about it. We weren't allowed to be Different. The more I thought about it, the more it enraged me. What if I wanted to be Different? I liked my flaws, embraced them. I liked having an all-over-the-place growing schedule, liked being Different in my attractions to other genders and I liked how I was able to see things that others couldn't. And all of a sudden I didn't care if it made me Different, it was me. They were trying to take me away from myself, and I wasn't going to let them.

Sitting on my bed, on a day like any other, I came to a decision.

I was going to get out.

*****

Hi everyone, sorry for updating late today. I've decided to update every Thursday or Friday so stay tuned :) And as always, if you enjoyed the chapter make sure to leave a vote to let me know! And feedback is always appreciated <3