Orphaned

Chapter 10

I wake up with a jolt, and at first I have no idea where I am, as usual. But then memories and images of last night flood my vision and I snap back to reality.

I notice that Luke's body is pressed tightly against my back for warmth, his arm wrapped around my hips, keeping me secure, and his face buried into my hair. I can hear his steady breaths, feel them up against my skin.

I smile pleasantly, but then I catch sight of my dress thrown lazily in the corner. The smile is gone from my face instantly and I stare up at the ceiling of the tent, mortified. I slowly lift up the blanket and quickly pull it back to me as I realize that I currently have no clothes on. This is bad. This is really, really bad. And how am I supposed to retrieve my dress without waking Luke up?

I am about to try to sneak out of Luke's grip when I hear the tent unzipping, and suddenly Caleb is standing in the doorway, in awe at the scene in front of his eyes. The unzipping of the tent wakes Luke up and suddenly there's a lot of scrambling for clothing. My dress over there, his jeans over here. He doesn't bother putting his shirt on, and soon he's running out of the tent trying to explain to Caleb what he just saw. I, on the other hand, sit back down after my dress is back on, and I fix my hair by combing my fingers through it and tying it back into a ponytail. I put my socks and shoes on, and as I walk out of the tent I button up the front of my dress.

There's a huge commotion going on outside between Caleb and Luke. Quinn is trying to stop it, but Anna picks up a short, heavy stick and smacks the tree next to her as hard as she can.

"Hey!" she yells at the top of her lungs. They all stop where they are and look at her. "Who gives a crap about what happened in that tent? We all heard it last night, so we shouldn't be so surprised! Shut the hell up and let's eat!"

Caleb and Luke eye each other but walk towards the fire in the middle of the camp, and Quinn walks towards me.

"Have fun last night?" he asks nonchalantly, putting his arm around my shoulders as we walk to the fire.

"Shut up," I say back, but still trying to hold in a laugh.

"I'm not saying I'm proud of you, but you got some before I did, and I'm three years older. Congratulations. I think."

"We didn't do  anything we shouldn't have done. I'm still a virgin, just to make it clear. And why am I talking to you about this in the first place? I barely know you."

"Well, that's the problem, now isn't it?" he says as we sit on a log by the fire. "I'm your brother, yet you know more about Luke than you know about me. And that's pretty sad."

"Fine, get to know me then." Tin plates are passed around and small portions of egg and rice are scooped onto them by Anna.

"Okay, okay. But you have to go first."

"Alright, um. . . ." I pile some rice onto my fingers and put it in my mouth, trying to think of a question to ask Quinn. "When's your birthday?" is the only question I can think of, so that's what I ask him.

"August 20th, yours?"

I have to think about it, which isn't a good thing. "I don't know my birthday, actually. Back at the orphanage we would all celebrate our birthdays on April 30th."

"I'll help you find out your real birthday when we get back. I'm sure at least one of the others will know."

Others? What is he talking about? I decide not to ask any of these questions because it might ruin our bonding.

He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and throws his tin plate into the pile of other tin plates. He clears his throat and says, "Don't worry. It'll all be explained when we get there. Anyway, it's my turn to ask a question. What's your favorite color?"

"I don't really think about that very much. Back home everything was always bleak and gray. But if I had to chose my favorite color would be teal."

"Wow, I thought you would say purple or something. Mine's pink. Yeah, I know it's a girl color but there's just something happy and warm, but mysterious about it at the same time. I'm kind of deep like that. Okay, your turn."

I think long and hard about this one. "Have you had your first kiss yet?"

He laughs a little, unlike his usual full-hearted laugh. "We all know you have. But as for me, no. I'm not really what you would call attractive to the opposite sex."

"Aw, come on. You're very good looking. You look just like me, after all. You should be a chick magnet."

He rubs his fingers through his hair. "Chicks aren't really my type."

"What are you talking about? You must've liked at least one girl at some point in your life."

He sighs loudly. "Molly, I'm gay. Do I have to spell it out to you?"

I'm confused. I've never heard that word before. "What's 'gay'?"

He face palms and breaths a big long breath in. "I forgot, your place doesn't welcome homosexuality. Being gay means you like the same sex. For example, guys like guys or girls like girls, but in more than just a friendly way."

"Oh," I say, feeling stupid. "I don't see what's so wrong with that. Why doesn't my home have that? I mean, I've never seen or heard of that word my whole life. I think it sounds lovely, everyone loving whomever they want."

"You'd be the first," he says, poking the soft ground with a stick.

"But why has that stopped you from having your first kiss?" I ask, keeping the conversation going as best I could.

"Well, I have a boyfriend named Charley, but we have to keep it a secret from his mother because she still follows that stupid rule that is part of past civilizations. There isn't much time for us to see each other, so we haven't kissed. And he's deathly afraid that someone will see us, and word will make it's way to his mother if we do."

"Well, if he really loved you he wouldn't care what his mother thinks, right? But anyway, what is Charley like?" I ask, leaning forward.

"Well, he has curly black hair and chocolate eyes, and olive skin with tiny freckles on his nose. He's about the same height as me but a year younger, and he's the smartest person I know. He always has keen insight on every subject of learning. But I forgot to mention one thing; he's Anna's brother. So she can't know about us because then she'll go blabbing to their mother. So yeah, that's great."

I am smiling the whole time he's talking because he seems so passionate and full of love for Charley. "Maybe he can teach me some stuff like my friend Esther used to. I could sure use some knowledge about this giant, scary place."

"He would probably love to do that. He loves passing down his knowledge to younger generations because he says the less we pass things down to the youth, the more we forget about our past." Quinn's smile fades and he looks into the fire, deep in thought. "I miss him so much, but I had to go because you're my long lost sister, Molly. And family always comes first."

"No," I say, putting a hand on his back. Love always comes first, no matter what."

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Thanks for everyone who has been reading Orphaned it means a lot to me. It would mean even more if you commented on what you think about the story so far or voted on chapters you enjoyed. Thank you all so much. -xoxoxo