Chemical Imbalance

Chapter 3

AS SCARED AS I WAS, I WAS CURIOUS AS WELL. Jayden and Ryder were silent as I trailed behind them, so I kept my mouth shut too, even though the silence was awkward.

We didn't walk very long before coming to a stop. There were a few sleeping bags, backpacks and tents, which I found odd, since we were in the sewers and all.

I also saw a girl sitting there. She made eye contact with us as we neared closer and she sprung to her feet. She was tall and skinny, with wavy blonde hair, green eyes and rosy cheeks. She was extremely beautiful and I paled in comparison with my dull brown hair and brown eyes.

She rushed toward us, and I was prepared for her to attack but she tackled Jayden into a hug, and much to my surprise, he chuckled as he hugged her back.

"I was so worried, Jay," the girl says, her voice filled with raw emotion. Relief, I think. She lets go, smiles at Ryder and then turns to me. "This the one?"

Ryder nods. "Yeah, everyone else tested neurotypical," he says. "Not her, though. Kat, this is Melanie. Melanie, this is Katrina but everyone calls her Kat."

"Nice to meet you, Melanie," Kat says.

"You too." I wasn't sure what else to say.

Kat smiles, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

I heard a bit of laughing and giggling coming from inside one of the tents. I frowned, but Kat, Jayden and Ryder didn't seem too bothered by it.

Ryder must've saw my worried expression because he said, "Don't worry, those are the other members."

Members? Members of what? I was too scared to ask and so I remained silent.

Kat studied me. "You don't talk much, do you?"

No.

I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling anxiety wash over me.

"She's had a rough day," Ryder tells Kat. "Can you go get the others?"

Kat nods, and runs to one of the tents. The one I could hear faint talking from.

Jayden plops to the floor, which I couldn't help but feel a bit disgusted by, but Ryder sits down too. We're literally in the sewers. I sighed. I didn't have room to judge, especially if they did save me from a bad fate, so I sat down too.

I avoided looking in the direction of the tent, but I heard several pairs of footsteps walking in our direction.

"This is the newcomer," I heard Kat say from just beside me, and that's when I allowed myself to look. Aside from Kat, there were three others. A boy with blonde hair and a goofy grin, a boy with black hair and pale, almost sickly skin, and a girl with dyed blue hair and black skin.

"Hey, I'm Melanie," I said awkwardly, as the four of them sat down with us. Why is everyone so okay with sitting in sewers? Don't they know that germs are a thing?

Jayden rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything, which I was thankful for. I have a feeling that he doesn't like me, even though he doesn't even know me. It's a shame, because he's actually really cute, but it's wasted on his bad attitude.

"I'm Cleo," the girl said. I stared at her a bit, because I just love her blue hair. I've always wanted to dye my hair an unnatural color. Maybe pink or purple, but my mom would never let me because she said it's a sign of mental illness.

That wasn't true, of course, but there has been history with mentally ill people having unnatural hair color. It was actually quite common back in the day. Now, though, people try their best to stick in and not draw attention to themselves.

The blonde hair boy grinned. "Hey, I'm Marcus!" he says. "And he's Zachary."

Zachary seemed like he wanted to be anywhere but here. I wondered if he was okay. He looked nauseous.

"Nice to meet you guys," I said politely.

"She has borderline personality disorder," Ryder suddenly says, causing me to tense up. Why does that matter? Why did he have to say it?

Kat, Marcus and Cleo looked at me with widened eyes. Zachary, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes at me.

He stood up suddenly, his fists clenched. I was prepared for him to punch me. Not only am I mentally ill, I have a personality disorder, which is something people hate and fear the most.

"So instead of rescuing Izzy, you bring back another girl with a personality disorder," Zachary says. "You're trying to replace her!"

Ryder stood up, seeming annoyed. "You think I could just replace her?" he demanded.

"Well, you're clearly trying to!"

I stared down at the ground, feeling out of place. I glanced up to see Kat intervening. She was talking in hushed whispers and I couldn't hear what she was saying and then Jayden joined in. Jayden took Ryder to the side and Kat took Zachary to the other side.

Marcus frowned and exchanged glances with Cleo. "I'm sorry about him," Marcus tells me, sounding genuine. "Just..."

Cleo sighs. "Zach's a good guy," she tells me, "and he probably didn't mean to be a jerk—"

"He most definitely did," Marcus interjected, "but he's always a jerk if he doesn't know you, so just give it time, okay?"

I wanted to ask who Izzy was, but she sounded like a touchy subject, and I didn't want to be inconsiderate and make them hate me, like Jayden and Zachary already does.

"How much did Jayden and Ryder tell you?" Cleo asked.

"Nothing," I answer.

"Oh, you're probably so confused," Cleo says. "Don't worry. I'm sure Ryder will enlighten you shortly."

I hope so, though I wonder why Cleo couldn't do it herself. Was only Ryder able to? What about Jayden? He had brought me over here, too.

I definitely hope that Ryder explains to me why the hell were in the sewers.