Flora

Chapter 12

"Do I have to?" Flora asked, picking at her nails.

"Yes." Alejandro told her from the driver seat. "It's important for kids your age to interact with each other."

"Aye!" Soap said, nudging her in the ribs with his elbow, "You don't wanna become a hermit like Simon, do ya?"

Ghost shot him a glare through the mirror from where he sat in the passenger seat.

Flora shrugged, "I dunno. Ghost is cool."

Ghost had to look away so that the others couldn't see the crinkling of his eyes as he smiled.

Alejandro was taking them to a community center for children. Apparently, there were quite a few from displacement situations. Plenty of English-speaking students that Flora could, hopefully, make friends with. They all assumed, correctly, that Flora had never really done much interacting with anyone outside of idle pleasantries since she was little. Other than the team, she hadn't bothered to try bonding with anyone. Now that she had a little practice with them, they wanted her to meet some people her age. Socialize herself as Rodolfo had put it.

They parked a block away and all piled out. This was the first time Flora had been truly off base. Las Almas was busier than she had been used to in Washington. Just walking down the street there were lots of conversations happening around her, people walking, living their lives. It was a little overwhelming. She tried to focus on the back of Alejandro's head as he led the way.

She noticed a few people stare at her as they passed through her periphery. They were probably quite the sight. Three soldiers, one they knew well, another in a skull mask, escorting a very out of place girl down the street. She imagined there was sure to be some sort of town gossip about them later.

The community center was a large building. Kids of many different ages were milling around both outside in the courtyard and inside. Coming and going at their leisure. Playing soccer, playing on some swings, coloring at folding tables. Talking. Laughing. Socializing with each other.

"Alright. We'll be back in three hours." Alejandro said, spinning around to face her. She must have looked a little extra pale because his expression softened, kneeling down in front of her. "We'll be right in the car where we parked the whole time. You have that radio. If you need us, call us and we'll be there. No questions."

She took a deep breath and nodded at him. She felt a squeeze on her shoulder and looked up to see Ghost looking at her.

"We'll be back." He confirmed. Easing some fear she didn't even realize she had.

Soap gave her a pat on the back, ruffling her hair. Alejandro reached forward and gave her arms a reassuring squeeze before standing up. Then they were walking away. She watched them until the went to turn the corner out of sight. At the last second, Soap turned around, walking backwards to wave at her. She gave a tiny wave back that she was almost positive he couldn't have seen.

She took when last deep inhale and exhale before turning around to check out the inside of the building. The inside was one big space, there were little sections with tables and chairs. Kids and teens milled about playing games and doing crafts. They were all in semi-established group already. She really didn't know how or what she was supposed to join in on. She didn't want to interrupt whatever they all had going on. She was used to avoiding people, fading into the background so that she wouldn't be noticed. Now she wasn't sure how to be noticed.

There was a staircase in the back that she made her way over to. On her way she almost ran into a pair of girls that were crossing her path.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" She quickly said when she bumped into one of their shoulders. The girl in question glared at her and scoffed before walking away with her friend.