It’s on the second floor apparently. There were a few stragglers still eating dinner by the time I made it there. Alex disappears when we arrive without a word so I’m left with yet another unfortunate decision: where do I sit?

I grab a tray full of mush and scan the tables, looking for a familiar face. I see one, so I go for it.

Joan is pushing her mashed potatoes around with her fork, sitting alone at a round table. I drop my tray across from her and sit down without warning.

“This shit looks like it’s been chewed and spit back out three times before,” I comment dully. She looks up.

“That’s what happens when you wait until 9pm to eat and get the bottom of the pot. I’m sure the cooks back there did exactly that.”

In silence I stab the mush with a fork and inhale it all before I could even taste anything. I have no appetite but I’ll be sorry in the morning if I eat nothing again. Today sucked ass on an empty stomach.

“It’ll suck ass no matter what,” Joan grumbles across from me. I pause mid-chew.

"Did I say that out loud?" I ask around the food in my mouth. Joan blinks, just as startled. And the realization starts to hit.

“You read minds?” I ask with enough enthusiasm to make me almost choke, though it comes out more like “mruh rey mrends?” She shrugs and continues pushing her food around.

“Sorta. A little, I guess. When I want to.”

My jaw hangs slack for a moment before I swallow hard and wince. “Gross, get out of my head!” I rush to say. She shrugs.

“Didn’t mean to. It just happens sometimes. Trying to learn how to control it.”

“Woah. That's… creepy. Cool, but creepy.” This is definitely going to take some getting used to. Gifts... superpowers... magic.

“You aren’t as weirded out as I expected.”

Butts. Dicks. Elephants on roller skates. Jordan wearing his girlfriend’s lingerie. I think of the most obscure things possible and stare at Joan’s unflinching face. Eventually, she laughs. And I smile too. Might as well make the most of this, right? I mean it doesn’t seem like she’s particularly having a good time either, even having a gift.

“Didn’t know you swung that way, Brooks,” she laughs. I grin.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Wu.”

“Your favorite color is yellow. You have mismatched socks on. You're worried you might have chipped a tooth during training. And you lost your phone this morning.”

I blink.

“Ok so you know some things about me.”

We share a laugh and I feel some sort of small revelation. Maybe I’m not completely alone here. Maybe this’ll be ok after all. 

“You-” Joan starts but abruptly cuts herself off. I wonder why but I’m not left wondering for long. Someone approaches me from behind and gives me a hard slap on the shoulder. I wince and turn around, meeting Nick’s eyes from over my shoulder.

“Ok,” I say tentatively, “Now I know you’re following me.”

“Don’t flatter yourself, this is the first time. Just saw you made it into Class D and wanted to welcome you, that’s all.” Nick wore a blinding smile, one that hid nothing. I smiled and looked over to Joan, ready to introduce them, but Joan’s attention was elsewhere. Her eyes were focused behind Nick, where Emi was standing with her arms crossed. She seemed pretty focused so I let her be.

“You don’t seem all that surprised,” I tell Nick as he sits besides me. Emi stays standing, staring Joan down with a stark ferocity. Joan doesn’t move, doesn’t even flinch.

“You’ve got a fire in you, saw it from the first day.”

“Well I’m not so sure I’m cut out for this, to be honest.”

“Ah. First day jitters?”

“First day exhaustion.” The desperation in my voice makes him laugh. He’s a fairly good-looking guy, with soft features and transparent eyes. But he looks the most like himself with a smile. It seems to be his natural resting expression. It’s infectious. 

“It gets better, trust me.”

“Does training get easier?”

“Hell no,” he laughs again. “But you get stronger.” I flash him a dubious look. “You’ll see,” he insists. “Even by the end of the week you’ll see changes. And I can already tell you’re one of the strongest of the pack.” I scoff and rub my left arm, now bruised from where I fell through the ice.

“Yeah, right,” I say with an eye roll. That can’t be further from the truth.

“You may not have all the muscles yet but you have the aptitude. You have the mindset.”

“Well,” I chew absentmindedly at my bottom lip. “How did you survive it anyway? It’s like torture.”

“The same way you will,” he says with a shrug. Emi finally sits down and spares me a glance.

“If you don’t want to be here then go home,” she says curtly. “No one is holding a gun to your head, newbie.”

“I would if I could,” I say with a frown. “But that…” I think of Lucy and Silva and the burned down buildings and the chaos on the streets. Even this unknown future I’m rapidly advancing toward is a better option than that. Even if I’m wary. “...that’s not possible anymore. I don’t have much of a choice.” I wonder what Silva sacrificed to get us here. And why? And where the hell is she? I need to find a way to get cell reception here.

Nick frowns at Emi, an unnatural look on his soft features. “Play nice, sis.”

“Don’t call me that,” she growled and my eyebrows shot up but I held my tongue. “And I don’t “play nice” so shut up.” Emi sent a final daggered look at me before pushing herself up from the seat and leaving. Joan watches her leave, not having said a single word.

“Sorry about that,” Nick apologizes. “She’s just moody. It’s my fault so don’t take it personally.”

I decide not to press and look back down to my now-empty tray.

“Sister, hm?” Joan finally says.

“Yeah. Sorry, I don’t think we’ve met,” Nick adds while holding a hand out. She shakes it with a nod. “Nick.”

“Joan.”

The two talk formalities and I tune them out. The hairs on the back of my neck raise and goosebumps multiply down my arms. I shiver and turn, feeling eyes on me. I see them waiting in the doorway of the hall, arms crossed over their chest nonchalantly, next to Alex. Alex says something indecipherable from this distance and leaves them in that doorway. I see them advance and can’t tear my eyes away, despite the embarrassment of feeling like I was just unintentionally eavesdropping.

“Ezra,” I murmur as they get close enough to hear me. A smile grows on their cheeks.

“Aiden. How are you finding yourself today? Accustomed to the many features and resources of the Alloy?”

“Um, not quite,” I laugh softly. Something dances behind their eyes.

“That’s to be expected. Give it time. You will see.”

“Sure, I’ll try.”

Ezra leans in closer to me and I back away without thinking. I’m getting deja vu.

“My apologies for the cryptic speech yesterday. I cannot give any information during the exams. I hope you bear no hard feelings.”

“None at all.” I look around me, making sure no one is listening. “But I do have-”

“Questions? Oh I’m sure. But I cannot provide answers quite yet. I do hope you forgive me, even if you do not understand.”

I bite the inside of my cheek and fiddle with the hem of my shirt. “But-” I’m cut off as Nick whips around.

“Ezra!” He says with childlike excitement. I’m left to swallow my words as he turns to me with bright eyes.

“Did you know she was the first person to teach me how to control my gift? She’s practically a saint. Before her I couldn’t be left anywhere around glass or porcelain without worrying I would shatter everything unintentionally.” Joan shares a chuckle with Ezra. I notice Nick uses she even though Ezra is currently wearing a masculine form. They don’t seem taken aback in the slightest so I make nothing of it.

“You’ve come a long way, Nicholas,” They say warmly. It’s odd. They seem to be only a few years older than I, and yet they act decades older.

“How old are you?” I say without intending to. Joan and Nick looked shocked to hear me say those words out loud but my curiosity got the better of me. If they’re offended, they make no mention of it. Ezra laughs instead and rests a hand on my head affectionately.

“This is where I make my leave. Get much needed rest and try the sugar cookies before you go. They’re delicious.” Ezra winks at me and instantly leaves. 

“Did I say something wrong?” I ask the others. Joan’s eyebrows were so high on her head it was almost comical. Nick wore a similar expression.

“It’s rude to ask that to the leaders,” Joan whispers in a hushed voice.

“Ezra’s a leader?”

“Duh,” she says. I shrug. Nick leans in close to us, as though not to let anyone else hear his words. This is also humorous to me, seeing as there was scarcely anyone left in the dining hall.

“Some say she’s timeless. Immortal even. They say she’s been around far longer than we can even fathom.”

“Really? Well how was I supposed to know that?”

“Well now you know better,” Joan says. I roll my eyes again.

“Whatever. I’m going to go,” I say. “I’ll catch up with you guys later. I’m getting tired.”

“Ok sure, bye Aiden.”

“See you tomorrow!”

“Yeah, sure. See you.”

I dump out my tray and, with a brief moment of hesitation, grab a sugar cookie off the table of desserts before leaving the hall.

I feel uneasy and I’m not sure why. What I want more than anything is to listen to music, some really aggressive shit that can overpower all these sharp thoughts. But I lost my phone and, even if I had it, I have no signal and no wifi. I should have downloaded some songs but I didn’t foresee this; any of this.

I end up wandering the dorms until I feel even more trapped. I hit the top number on the elevator and explore the thirteenth floor. There’s nothing much that stands out to me. It looks similar to all the other floors: gray walls and low, claustrophobia-inducing ceilings. I seem to be the only one here, until I hear voices from an opened room. I inch closely, careful not to make a sound. The voice sounds female. I don’t recognize it. But I recognize the next voice. Mizuki.

“I’m just saying there’s a possibility. There’s a chance he really is-”

“Careful what you speak, Zu. Hope can be a dangerous thing.”

“But-!”

“She has a point, Zu,” A male voice agrees. I inch closer until my ear is practically pressed against the cracked door. “What do you think shall happen if Lynch hears of this?”

“But just entertain the possibility, sir, for me. You all are clouded by fear. But there’s something, something about…” she trails off before letting out a frustrated groan. “Ezra,” she says and I straighten. “What about you? You must believe me. You have been awfully silent since this meeting started. If it were to be anyone's son... I mean he's her spitting image.”

“I will ask you to hold onto that thought, Mizuki. We are not the only ones here. We seemed to have caught a visitor,” Ezra announces, louder as though to bring it to my attention that I was not as swift or sneaky as I had thought. My heart jumps in my throat.

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