A Sky Full Of Stars [ON HOLD]

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"But people are Oceans," she shrugged,

"You cannot know them by their surface."

~Beau Taplin \ Surfaces

***

Inside the dining hall was utter chaos.
A good two hundred people were crammed in a space the size of a small school hall. A huge queue wrapped around the edge of the hall, surrounding dozens of little tables. All the chairs that were against the wall earlier were now scattered around the tables.

Emma and Sophie looped their arms together and half ran to the end of the queue, beckoning me to join them. I smiled following them. As we got closer to the counter, we collected some blue trays from a stack, copying the people in front of us.
3 soldiers were serving the food from behind the counter and I was given a plate with a jacket potato with cheese and beans. Again I copied the soldiers in front of us and grabbed an apple, quickly muttering my thanks. By the time I'd got my food, Emma and Sophie had vanished along with Bethany. So much for going together.

I stood there, lost for a few moments before Ben standing beside a table waving his arms frantically in my direction. I quickly checked behind me just to make sure he was gesturing to me, before walking over.
"Finally!" Ben exclaimed as I got closer, "I thought you got lost or something." He grinned so brightly that I just smiled weakly back at him. Little did he know how right he was.
"This is Lucas." He then said gesturing to the guy opposite him. Lucas was tall with a mop of curly red hair, he looked maybe 24 or 25. Lucas looked up from his plate and stared at me, scowling. My smile faded slightly as I hesitated, unsure what I'd done wrong.
"And this is Louise," Ben pointed at a small girl sitting, almost hidden, besides Lucas, "He's her guide." The girl had dark blond hair with a small single plait hanging from the side, the end of the plait was strung with colourful clay beads.
"Hello," she said, looking at me with curious green eyes, "My real name is Louise, but everyone calls me Lo. Who are you?"
"Tori, Tori Hellebore," I replied, she looked as though she was only 10 or 11 making me wonder why she was here and not with her family.
"How old are you?" Lo asked as I put my tray down next to Ben's.
"I'm 17, what about you?"
"I'm 11 but I'm really nearly 12."
I nodded my head thoughtfully then opened my mouth again, but before I could utter a single word Ben said, "Why aren't you with the rest of your family? I thought only those over 15 were separated."
Lo frowned, "There wasn't enough room in the van and I'm the oldest so they sent me here instead."
"You have a big family then?" This came from Lucas, the first words I'd heard him say.
"Yep." Lo nodded grinning widely, "I have three brothers and two sisters." She paused, grabbing something from her yellow dress pocket. "This is my whole family." She triumphantly held up a photo, "That's my mama, papa, and Maybel," She pointed at a young couple at the back of the photo both mid-laugh, the women had a small child on her hip. "And that's gran and gramps." She moved her finger towards a grey-haired lady and a seated man, both elderly. "That's me, I'm next to Danny and Nat. Then that's Milo and Gracie; they're twins."

There was a sort of organised chaos about the photo, everyone was where they should be but no one was really focused on the camera.
"They sound nice," Ben mumbled through a mouthful of potato. I too started attacking my food, only just realising how hungry I was having last eaten early this morning.
"I miss them," Lo muttered quietly, rubbing a hand across her face.
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll see them soon." I smiled at Lo in what I hoped was a comforting way.
"Yeah and anyway you've got us now." Lucas slung his arm over her small shoulders as I stared at him in disbelief. Talk about finding comfort in the most unexpected places.

Suddenly Ben's face lit up and he waved at two oncoming soldiers. One of them I saw was Elias but I didn't recognise the other. He was quite tall with short black hair and the beginnings of a beard. He put his tray on the other side of Ben before bending down to give him a quick kiss after saying, "Hey babe."
Ben flushed slightly turning to me, "So Tori, this is my... My boyfriend Joe." He smiled nervously at me. Unlike some people I knew from back home, I had no problem with people being gay, you can't help who you fall for. So I just smiled back at him, turning to Joe
"Hi, I'm Tori."
Joe grinned, extending his hand for me to shake, before turning to Ben with raised eyebrows, "I told you that you didn't need to worry."

Ben rolled his eyes chuckling softly.

"I would offer you my hand as well, but..." Elias' voice made me jump in surprise, I'd almost forgotten he was with Joe. He'd put his tray down next to mine and was shaking his hands in my direction. His pale skin was smeared with black ink.
"Yeah, I think I'll pass," I nodded my head slowly eyeing the dark stains. "Did you get into a fight with a squid or something?"
He smirked then faced Lo.
"And who may this lovely little lady be?"
Lo giggled softly, "My name's Lo. What's yours?"
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance." He half bowed over the table, "I'm Elias."
Lo giggled again then stood and curtseyed making Elias laugh, a low sound that filled the table with warmth. 

The conversation dipped to a gentle hum, lulled by the relaxed atmosphere. Over the next hour or so, I learned more about my new companions as we talked and laughed together.    

Soon we were the only people in the hall, everyone else had left for the common room or their dorms.

It was Lo's nonstop yawns that eventually drove us from our seats up to our beds with promises of meeting tomorrow still fresh on our tongues.