EPISODE THIRTEEN:
Andrew and I turned to see who was calling us. On the steps leading up the main entrance’s double doors stood William with his arms crossed and his blonde hair askew. His eyelids were heavy and he let out a large yawn. I smiled when I saw his disheveled appearance. In normal circumstances he would rather die than go out in public with his clothes any less than perfect. Andrew snorted beside me.
“We’re just out for a walk,” I said while hiding my smile.
“Without jackets?” He asked with a smirk.
“Well at least we remembered to put shoes on,” Andrew said, his voice full of mischief.
William’s face turned rosy red with embarrassment and looked down at his feet. His face was full of shock as he discovered that Andrew was, indeed, correct. William had walked outside in nothing but his socks. His head shot up and he glared at Andrew for calling him out. Andrew threw his hands up as if to say that he did nothing wrong and walked past Andrew into the building. I followed after them skipping the entrance steps by jumping over them.
“What are you doing out here, William?” I asked while walking beside him.
“Hm,” He replied while rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, “Oh, um, yeah. Zora wanted me to come get you. She thought you might be on “guard duty” or something like that. Evie, we don’t need guards. You know that, right?”
“Pft, yeah I do,” I said brushing his worry off, “How come Zora wanted you to find us?”
“Yeah, okay,” He said suspiciously, “She wants to have a meeting with all of the people who sided with us.”
I felt a spark of betrayal at the thought of all the people who didn't listen to Zora and instead went off and followed Caspian. Even the thought of his name was enough to put a bitter taste in my mouth. ‘Ugh, who could want to ever follow that jerk?’ I asked myself, appalled at the idea.
William led us up a fight of stairs and into one of the larger classes. I took in a sharp breath as I realized that this was Ms. Navy’s room. She was my Junior year literature teacher. Bookshelves lined the outskirts of the room and posters full of quotes were plastered on the walls. My heart wrenched at the memory of her class and her. She was only twenty nine with no kids and no husband; she was barely even out of school. I felt like crying but I had nothing left in me, I was almost completely numb.
The room was packed with students from the ninth grade to the twelfth. Just as in the courtyard everyone was grouped by class and friend groups. Those in the small groups sat as close as possible as if it was going to protect them. The feeling of nervousness was heavy in the air. My gaze swept the room in search of my group. I found them at the head of the circle of people, sitting behind a table. Zora looked regal in her chair as she looked down at the people on the floor. Lorie was sitting beside her and her face was sullen. She slouched in her chair, her head hanging down but it perked up as she saw William. The smallest smile crossed her face and then she turned to nudge Zora.
“Hey,” I said as we approached the table.
“Hello,” Zora said to the group, “Evie, do you want to sit beside me?”
She patted the seat on the other side of her. I was a bit stunned, ‘She wants me to sit with her!’ my mind swooned. I pushed down my elated reaction and nodded casually reminding myself the severity of our situation. ‘People are dead.’ I sighed.
“Ahem,” Zora said, calling the room into silence. “Thank you, all of you, for coming here. I know it’s hard right now but I’m happy that you made the effort. Yesterday was horrible but we’re still here and that is a good thing. It's hard to stay positive but we should try anyway because focusing on only the negative won’t get us anywhere. For now we just need to focus on getting better. So that means for the next few days just relax and process what has happened. If you feel well enough we could use some people to go out and get some food. I’m sure everyone is hungry,” As she said this I finally noticed the hollow feeling in my stomach. It was on the verge of becoming painful. “So sleep, cry, go for a walk, do whatever you need to do. Myself and my friends will take care of everything else, don’t worry. That’s all for now, thank you for coming and if you need anything please ask and we will try our best to help.”
Zor ended the meeting with a few directions on sleeping areas and then, once again, thanked everyone for coming. People began to rise from where they were seated. They’re motions were slow and elongated as if they were moving through molasses. I felt their pain and their sorrow and it was… heavy on my heart. As the last few people left I turned to Zora.
Her expression was beaten and she looked as if she hadn’t slept. I realized in that instant how much this was affecting her. She slouched in her chair and rested her head on the table with a grand sigh. Andrew was standing behind me with his back against the wall and his arms crossed over his chest. His expression was guarded as he held his head high. Lorie was resting her head on William’s chest with his arms wrapped around her whispering comforting words to her. Everyone looked broken.
An idea popped into my head and I stood up. Pushing in my head I began to walk towards the door.
“Evie, where are you going?” Zora asked, lifting her head from the table.
I smiled softly, my hands clutching the door.
“I’m going to go get some food, don’t worry it’s just downstairs.” I tried to sound as comforting as possible.
“Evie, you don’t have to go alone. I’ll help,” She began to stand up but I held out a hand to stop her.
“No, it’s fine. You should rest. I’ll take care of it,” I responded before she could stand up.
“Are you sure?” She said with concerned eyes.
“Yes, I’m sure. Thanks though,” I quickly slipped out of the room.
I sighed, stood on the other side of the door for a moment, and then began to walk down the hall towards the stairwell. My shoes clicked on the floor tiles creating an eerie sound in the empty halls.
“Excuse me,” I quiet voice echoed through the halls almost like a whisper.
I swiveled around to see a boy, maybe, a sophomore. He was standing nervously beside an open door, the light spilling into the hallway illuminating his face. He was a few inches shorter than me, his head was a rusty red, and freckles dusted his nose and cheekbones. He fiddled with his hands nervously and his posture gave away his severe nervousness. I smiled as kindly as possible .
“You're Alfred right?” I asked.
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A/N
1239 words
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- love from QueenCobra <3 -
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