The Brave and the Broken

Unstable Foundations

Dissension: disagreement that leads to discord

     I woke again on the small bed in the small wooden room. This time, though, the door was open and Jeff was standing in the corner of the room, looking anxious. Upon seeing me awake, he left the room, leaving the door open behind him. I didn't even try to get up this time, fearing the same results as last time. Jeff returned a moment later with Clint.

     "Where's Newt?" I asked as soon as they walked back in.

     "What? Why?" Jeff questioned.

     I didn't have the time or patience for this, I needed to talk to Newt about what had happened. "Where is Newt?" I asked again.

     "Slim it," Jeff said. "He's fine. What do you need him for?"

     "I need to talk to him," I said, annoyed that he kept asking questions rather than just going and getting Newt like I obviously wanted him to. "If you don't go get him, I will," I added, starting to get up and wincing slightly at the pain but trying not to show it. I was hurting but I needed to talk to him. We had to discuss what had just happened. I wasn't even sure what had just happened. I stood and left the room, despite the many protests coming from Jeff and Clint and, not to mention, my pounding head.

     The room spun as I looked around. The rest of the building looked as poorly built as the small wooden room. The walls were covered in ugly dark-brown wallpaper. I walked, the floorboards creaking beneath me, and checked the doors on either side of the narrow hallway. Most of the doors were open, their lights off. One, however, was closed, but there didn't seem to be a light shining under the door. I opened it, anyway, and went quietly inside, leaving the door open behind me. It wasn't too dark in there that I couldn't see anything; it was bright enough to see the silhouettes of things. I walked over to where the bed was and checked it to see if Newt was in it. He wasn't, no one was. I walked out of the room and turned right, away from the way which I had come.

     I came to a stop at a set of wretched-looking stairs. I gripped the railing and went slowly down the steps, wincing at the loud creaking sound each step made. I counted the steps as I made my way down, twelve in total. They led down to an open area at the bottom. A few boys were spread about the room, talking among themselves. I kept my eyes glued to the floor and walked quickly past them, silently praying that none of them would notice me.

     "Hey, Greenie!" I heard from behind me. It wasn't a voice I recognized, so I kept my eyes down and continued walking, hoping whoever it was would think I didn't hear him. "Hey, Shuckface, I'm talking to you," he added. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I whipped my head around quickly, simultaneously shoving his hand off of my shoulder. I swayed slightly on my feet in response to the sudden movement and my vision blurred for a moment. I tried to ignore it and not show how disoriented I was.

     "What do you need?" I said, not wanting to stay in this building a moment longer.

     The boy just smirked smugly at me, seemingly unfazed by my small outburst. He was tall and scrawny with messy blonde hair and pale blue eyes.

     "So," He said, "You 'n Newt, huh?"

     "Me and—What are you talking about?"

     "Oh, did you really think people wouldn't notice how buddy-buddy you shanks have been? It's all anyone's talking 'bout."

     "I literally just got here, hun."

      "And you've been with Newt most the time you've been here, hun."