Chapter Six: 1/3

Noah:

Another wasted day.

I honestly didn’t care anymore; I was done with this.

I wanted out; I can’t sit through another one of Baird’s speeches.

He said one more day, and I gave him that. No more.

“Noah.”

Not right now.

I turned to see Raisa standing only a few feet away.

“Raisa.”

“You busy?” she asked, twirling her hair with her index finger.

I never really put much thought into it, but her pale red eyes match her personality. She was not someone I wanted to be around. Every time I felt a moment of weakness, I knew I could bury myself in her and not have to deal with her feeling rejected once I was gone.

“And if I said I was?” I asked her.

She shrugged.

“What do you want, Raisa?” I asked.

She wasn’t typically one to beat around the bush.

“I want you to come up to my room with me,” she said simply, and I felt disgusted with myself for actually considering it.

“I can’t right now,” I said.

“Later then?” she asked, running her hand down my arm.

“That all depends,” I said, “Are you going to burn me again?”

She laughed, “Come on, don’t tell me that little thing bothered you?”

“If you mean annoyed me,” I stated, “Yes, it did.”

“Poor baby,” she said, making a mock sad face “I can kiss it better.”

Fuck.

“Raisa,” I said.

“Whatever,” she rolled her eyes, waving me off.

She walked away, and I was surprised how little fight she put up.

She used to be… a lot worse.

That didn’t matter right now, I needed to speak to Baird.

I waited until the last volunteer left the building, and I approached him.

He sat in his usual chair at the end of the table. Two other chairs faced each other on either side of him.

“Noah,” he greeted “How was your day?”

“Baird,” I said back, “The same as it has been the last two weeks.”

“Still nothing?” he asked, examining the computer in front of him.

“Still nothing,” I stated.

“That is,” he said, “Unfortunate.”

“Yes,” I said, “It is.”

He turned to meet my gaze “So, then you truly want to take a break?”

“A permanent one,” I nodded, “Yes.”

“I already said,” Baird stated, “It is not up to me.”

“And if I just stop showing up?” I asked.

“Noah,” he said in a warning tone.

I didn’t like it when Baird acted like this. We could usually come to him with all kinds of our problems, and most he would document, but few depending on their sensitivity, he would keep to himself.

“I’m losing my mind Baird,” I admitted.

“I am sorry, Noah,” he said, “Truly.”

I didn’t want to be here, I wanted to get out and drink.

“So, then I won’t see you here tomorrow?” he asked.

“No, Baird, you won’t,” I said.

“Take the long weekend,” Baird said, “I will expect you back here next Thursday.”

“That is a long weekend,” I said, nodding. “Thank you, Baird.”

“Noah,” he said, “You will be stuck here anyway if you refuse to participate, you know this.”

I did know that. I just hated this.

“Thank you, Baird.”

“Enjoy your time off.”

I just nodded as I left.

Shay:

It was all too real now.

Jody got here almost an hour ago, and we were about to do our ‘Spa Stuff’ as she called it.

Tomorrow was the day.

My nerves were all over the place.

“Here,” Jody said, “Put this on.”

She threw a pair of shorts at me and a sports bra.

I frowned before doing what she said.

I traded out my day bra with the sport one, and I removed the jeans I wore to replace them with the short cotton pair of shorts.

“Spa day,” she sang.

I just smiled at her, even though I was still feeling too nervous to be excited.

Why did I feel so damn nervous?

“Come on, Shay,” she said before tossing a face mask at me “At least pretend like you’re excited.”

“I am,” I said, “I’m just more nervous than I am excited.”

She sat next to me, “Well, let’s take it a little bit at a time and go from there.”

“That’s what she said,” I whispered to her without even blinking.

She narrowed her eyes at me, thinking about what just came out of her mouth.

“Fair,” she said, “I will allow it.”

I nodded before grinning at her.

“Now put the damn face mask on,” she grabbed me by the face and slammed me into the bed.

“Okay,” I said with her hand still over my face.

“Good,” she said, retracting her hand.

I couldn’t help but laugh, she scared the hell out of me with that face grab.

I sat up a little to tear open the mask, and she was glaring at me.

“What?” I gasped.

“Just making sure you’re doing what you’re told.”

I narrowed my eyes at her.

I managed to pull the mask out and unfolded it.

“What does yours smell like?” Jody asked.

“Smells kind of like coconut,” I said before placing it on my face “What does yours smell like?”

“Rose,” she said, lying down next to me.

It actually felt relaxing.

“Jody,” I heard my brother say.

We both sat up to see Cody standing in the doorway.

“What’s up, Cody?” Jody asked.

“Can I play too?” he asked.

She made a noise, “Of course you can. Get in here.”

He grinned before walking in and sitting on the bed.

“What kind should Cody have?” Jody asked me.

“What kind is there?” I asked.

“Uh,” she said, looking through them, “Pomegranate, Cucumber, lemon, and charcoal.”

I looked at Cody, “Which one sounds better?”

He smiled at me, shyly, “Can I have the Pomegranate one?”

“Absolutely,” Jody said, handing it to him, “Do you need help putting it on?”

He shook his head, “I can do it.”

We both watched him to make sure he could do it, and he did.

“Me too!” Connor ran in the room, “Me too!”

“Cucumber,” I told Jody.

“Already on it,” Jody said, opening the Cucumber for Connor.

“What are you guys all doing in here?” Andre asked.

“Spa day bro,” Jody said, “You want to join?”

“And I would do that, why?” he asked.

“Andre,” I said half sitting up, putting my weight on my elbow just to look at him “Because she has a charcoal one, and nothing is manlier than charcoal.”

He sighed before walking into the room, “If I fall asleep in here, it’s your fault.”

“Okay,” I said.

Jody handed him the charcoal face mask, and we all settled on my bed and stared up at the ceiling.

The ceiling fan going around and around was actually relaxing. The dark brown wood color blurred as the fan spun.

“This is nice,” I said.

“Feeling better?” Jody asked.

“Much,” I said.

And I meant it.

Funny enough, we all fell asleep on my bed.

Noah:

I was going to do whatever I could to avoid staying here today.

No way in hell was I going to chance Baird dragging me back to the trial center.

I was up a good twenty minutes before the volunteers would be arriving. I needed to get the hell out of here.

I dressed quickly, and I didn’t care what I did next. I just needed to go.

I found myself going to the other side of the facility where the other programs were being run.

My eyes landed on Griff, and I felt relieved before I saw Breena.

I stopped, and she looked at me.

“Noah,” she greeted “What brings you here?”

I glanced at Griff, and her gaze went to him as well.

“I was going to ask if he wanted to hang out today,” I said, “Outside of the facility.”

Griff looked at me, confused.

“He can go if he wants to,” Breena said, “There isn’t much planned for this morning.”

Griff shrugged before walking over “What’s up?”

“Just get out of here with me for a while?” I asked.

“You don’t need to tell me twice,” he said, “Just let me change.”

I nodded.

It felt like I was quite literally itching to get out of here. My skin prickled, and I just felt like I had to get out.

Griff was quick to change, and we headed out.

“What did you want to do?” Griff asked me.

“Honestly?” I asked him, “I want to drink.”

Griff grinned at me, “You know I’m down for that.”

We went to the liquor store not too far from the facility, making sure to get a few bottles.

“Where to next?” I asked Griff.

He shrugged, “There is a pretty good drinking spot by the lake.”

“Let’s go,” I said.

He led the way, and I was just relieved to be away.