Surviving Patorum

Chapter 2

Paige Smith. The Founder's daughter. She's the type of girl you'd think is a stuck-up priss like every rich person here in the compound, but she's far from it. Paige is the most caring person I know, and that is why we're such good friends.

I met Paige on the first day of my first year of school in the compound. The combined sixth, seventh, and eighth-grade class met on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at seven in the morning. Paige's first year here was eighth grade, and mine was sixth.

I was such a mess on that first day. I had gotten lost trying to find where they held classes. I took a wrong turn, but eventually, I found my way. I was ten minutes late and dreading what the teacher would say to me in front of the whole class. Right before I opened the door to the classroom, I bumped into someone and dropped all my books onto the floor. It was Paige. She was also running late and didn't see me turn the corner. She helped me pick up my books and introduced herself to me. We both went into the classroom together, and the teacher didn't say a word to either of us. We sat at two desks next to each other. It was nice knowing someone on the first day, even though we were only newly acquainted. It made going to school in a new place feel less daunting. We always paired together for projects and study groups for the rest of the year. We clicked, and when she graduated and left me in tenth grade, we kept being friends. We just started hanging out together in public recently.

I place my food tray on the Dining Hall table next to Dally. The whole compound eats at the same time every day in the Dining Hall. It's Vegetarian Day, so the only thing they serve is the food they grow in Cultivation. My meal is a vegetable soup and fruit salad. By vegetable soup, I mean a dozen or so pieces of potato in lukewarm water splattered with too much pepper. The fruit salad is a couple of strawberries and a handful of cherry tomatoes. That's how much food you get for one ration ticket. I'll probably still be hungry after I eat, which is normal.

"I want fucking meat," Dally says as he picks at his food with his fork. "I'm tired of this shit."

"You know they only have so much food for us, right?" I say and take the first bite of my soup. "It's not all that bad."

"I just want a big, fat, juicy steak." Dally flicks a potato out of his soup, and it lands next to his glass of water.

"At least they're feeding us," I say with a mouth full of strawberries.

A tray smacks down on the table across from me. I lift my head from mine to see Paige climbing into her seat. The first thing I see is her red ruby necklace dangling from her neck. When she's finally seated, it rests calmly on her collarbones. She looks at me with her gray eyes, which twinkle from the Dining Hall's overhead LED lights, and excitedly smiles at me. Her teeth do not have an ounce of yellow on them, and I bet the dimples surrounding her eager smile make them just a little more beautiful. Her face, pale from the lack of sunshine, gleams with a delicate youthful glow. The ponytail of her long blonde hair is lying motionless on her shoulder. It ends just above the hem of her coral-colored blouse. Gold earrings hang from her earlobes, complementing the shimmery eyeshadow covering her eyelids. Her hands grip the sides of her food tray, and I can see a ring on her right ring finger. It has the compound seal on it. The black and gold waving emblem of two doves circling the sun rests on a diamond band that clings to her finger.

"Hi, guys." Her soft voice makes a smile creep onto my face.

"Hello, Miss Smith," Dally says as he takes a sip of his water.

I notice Paige's tray has food covering it. A veggie quiche sits in the middle of her tray, and a spinach salad with cherry tomatoes and cucumber. She has four apple slices in a small cup and a pile of cooked and seasoned green beans on the other side of her tray.