Prisoner

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Six

I'd never had friends.

Not a single one.

Most of the other kids at the compound just wanted to beat the shit out of me or make fun of me, then carry on with their day. I had nobody to share stories with or talk to or learn communication through. My experiences with people, especially people my age, were poor and far between. My assumption upon meeting people was how this person was a threat to me and how I could navigate this situation in a way that keeps me safe.

Since the compound, I'd only ever interacted with Hades and his family, which changed depending who I was talking to. If I was talking to Cain, I was going to antagonize the shit out of him until he had an aneurysm or until he tried to pin me down. If I was talking to Cerberus, I'd still give him shit, but I would know to stay just out of his reach or so close to him that he couldn't react fast enough to get me. If I was talking to Lucy, I'd have to be prepared for hours and hours of misplaced fluffy ooey gooey angel affection and come up with an excuse to get the fuck outta there before I got diabetes.

Now I've spoken to a few people at the mall, broadening my horizons.

But talking to people who already knew each other and were fucking insane?

Whole new ball game.

"Jesus Christ, Holly, it's his first time drinking with us. The least you can do is not scare him away," Keros, Seven's boyfriend, was chiding his sister at the booth we were seated at in the restaurant. Beside him, Seven just smiled awkwardly while Holly hooted and hollered at one of the workers, who just grimaced at her. Keros and Holly were twins, and I could see it right off the bat. Holly was just a prettier, less hairy version of Keros. Or maybe hairier, considering her hair was so long that it brushed her hips, even when it was in a ponytail.

"Ah, let her have her fun," Daphne May said from beside me, bumping her shoulder against mine with a grin, "She'll fail with this one too. Holly's got a curse on her." Daphne May was another cousin, the daughter of Zelios and Noe. She was real cute and cheeky. There was something about her that told me if I pissed her off, she'd be the wrong person to piss off, though. She was small and friendly, but that didn't mean she wasn't dangerous.

"It's not a curse," Holly gasped after chugging a whole pint of beer, "It's just that there is no one in existence who can handle all of me."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, baby," Amenti said with a grin, patting her on the shoulder. Amenti was the daughter of Menoetius and Arikos, relatives of the King of Atlantis. She was nice enough, but she kept glancing at me out of the corner of her eye, almost like she didn't trust me, which I totally understood. She didn't know me well enough and I'm sure Seven didn't have any nice stories about me, if any at all.

"It's almost six! Where the hell are Wren and Floki?" Daphne May exclaimed, taking out her phone and leaning on the table to punch some numbers in before holding the phone to her ear. I glanced over at Hadrian, who was smiling at something Three said to him in his ear. He laughed, covering his mouth, then shook his head and leaned over to say something to Six, who blushed and shook his head frantically, which made Three laugh. I looked at the others, who were all chattering excitedly.

This was weird. So weird.

It reminded me of the lunch tables back at the compound. Everyone had their group of friends that they'd sit with at the table and they'd all be loud and having a good time.

I always watched those tables from my own corner, or on my way out of the cafeteria to my room to eat by myself. I'd never been allowed to join anyone else at their tables. In the beginning, I'd tried to sit at a few tables, just so I wasn't sitting alone, but everyone would get up and move away, so I was tired of the rejection and just focused on myself.