Chapter 44 Boring
SOMA
It’s time for lunch, but I stay planted in my seat. Sheila and Maeve file out of our last shared class for the day, giggling at personal jokes. Suspicion coils in my belly. I can’t prove it, but I can’t shake off the feeling that my cousins are behind the mess of this morning.
The room soon empties, my classmates pushing back their chairs in their hurry to leave. I have two options: the cafeteria with its noise and stares, or back to the quarters where Jade is waiting.
Before I can decide, the door creaks open, and Helga pokes her head in. “Hey. Not heading for lunch today?”
“Of course I am.” Snapping my notebook shut, I slide it into my bag and stand. “Need to grab a few things first.”
We stop by my locker, and my pulse hitches when I find it clean. Too clean. No sour smell or any trace of the prank from this morning. It’s almost like it never happened.
“All done?” Helga asks from behind me.
“Yeah,” I say, shutting the door after changing the combination.
As we start for the cafeteria, I consider telling her about this morning, but I hold myself back. I can’t report every scrape or cruel little trick to someone else. If I want to survive here, I’ll have to learn to fight for myself too. To grow a backbone.
The hallway is mostly quiet until we near the cafeteria’s doors, and the low roar of voices reaches us. Helga slows, pulling out her phone.
“Oh, hang on,” she says. “I’ve got a call.”
That’s fine. I can wait. I’m in no hurry to eat alone. But she gestures toward the double doors ahead.
“Go on without me. I’ll catch up.”
My chest dips, but I nod. “Okay. See you soon.”
The last two days passed smoothly, but after this morning, I feel less confident than I did hours ago.
As soon as I step into the cafeteria, everything hits me at once. The laughter, chatter, clatter of trays, and the smell of roasted meat, mixed with a sweeter, sugary delicacy. So much money goes into our feeding, and it shows. Tables stretch row by row, filled with uniforms in neat lines, though the order is more illusion than reality.
Crowds shift and voices rise. Someone calls across the room, and another answers with a whistle. It’s chaos. Controlled, but chaos all the same. I grab an empty tray and wait in line for my turn.
Helga says I don’t have to. I don’t even need to be on the line. Someone can serve me, but I don’t want that. Sienna might look natural giving orders, but when I try, I feel like a fraud.
When the line eases, I move, stacking bread and a bowl of soup beside the main dish. All done, I turn and clutch the tray tighter. My eyes dart from table to table, searching for an empty spot, a place not too exposed.
The tray feels heavier with every step. I’m so focused on the table at the far end that I don’t notice anything else until someone’s shoulder slams into mine. The impact jolts me sideways. I stumble, trying to steady the tray when another body brushes past my legs. It seems accidental, but the grip is enough to catch my foot.
My balance slips. The tray tilts, and my breath snags as I brace for the worst. But hands close firmly around my wrists, hating my fall before it happens. My whole body jerks with the sudden stop. I haven’t regained balance when I look up to thank the person and freeze.
Kade looms in front of me with a proud smile. His eyes lock on mine with an intensity that strips the noise of the cafeteria away. Panic floods my chest so fast I can’t breathe. I don’t know which is worse. Tristan’s aloofness, Kade’s silliness, or Brynne’s cruelty. Either way, I know his abrupt appearance doesn’t spell good news for me.
“Sexy top,” Kade drawls.
The depth of his gaze unsettles me. He’s staring so deeply, like he wants to peel me open, layer by layer, until he has uncovered my deepest secrets. I try to look away, but I can’t.
Something heavy presses against my mind, clawing for a way in. But just as quickly, a fiercer force within me pushes back, refusing to yield to that invisible presence.
“Interesting,” he mutters.
The sound of his voice finally snaps me back to the present. My throat works, and words spill out like armor.
“Get your hands off me.”
His mouth curls into a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “You’re supposed to say thank you, but okay. There, done.”
He releases me too fast. Since I’ve not fully regained my balance, my knees buckle, and I crash to the floor. The tray tips, the food toppling with a loud clatter that draws every eye in the room. Soup splashes across the tiles, bread skids, and the meat slides greasy across the floor.
Gasps and muffled laughter ripple from nearby tables. Kade shrugs, and my hands tremble as I try to gather the mess off the cafeteria floor. The food is everywhere, and the smell mixes with my humiliation.
Just as I'm about to pick up the mess, another hand enters my line of vision. Slim fingers with painted nails that nudge mine aside.