The Alternatives

4 | Matchstick

Ronnie sat in front of her mother's mirror, doing her hair before Pyro picked her up to go to this restaurant. God, why Pyro? Cheeky, annoying, king of the Jackasses, Pyro?

She had a funny thought. Many girls would kill for a date like this. If only it were for different purposes in a different place. With a different person. A completely, different person.

She finished with her hair and looked at herself. She had done a decent job with her hair, a twist braid into a bun, with the help of a few bobby pins helping to make her look less stupid. She decided to wear a red long sleeved dress, black stockings and the pair of boots that Ruth had given her. They had three-inch heels at first sight, but you could take them off so they folded out to become knives. Ronnie had never worn heels before, let alone knives.

She glanced at her pill that Luke had given her. Swallow it and the Parall Government could monitor where you go, and could monitor your heartbeat. Efficient to map out the Hexagon, and to know when you're dead. That's what Luke told her.

So for the love of god, please don't die instantly. She swallowed the pill with a gulp of water.

Her phone vibrated signalling the text from Pyro. 'im outside ur house :P'. Ronnie headed outside.

"You are late!" She called out to Pyro, who was standing in her front yard. He looked like he had made no effort, yet he still looked completely perfect. Ronnie hated guys like that. He was wearing a pair of the black ninja-like loose pants that were the same to Luke's, with a purple 'Mortal Kombat CVI' t shirt and a windbreaker. His hair was flopped all over the place and he wore a charming smirk on his face that girls would swoon over. Ronnie wasn't buying one bit of it.

"Well I'm sorry but being late is in my nature!" He called back, cheekily. "So I suggest we leave now before we're any more late!"

They took the bus to the restaurant. They only exchanged text messages so no one would hear their conversations.

'You have a plan?' Ronnie texted.

'Yup.' He replied.

'Would you give me the honour of telling me what it is?' Ronnie texted sarcastically.

'Take this.' He handed her a pill. 'This is a drug-resistant pill. Take this and you can't be affected by any alcohol or anything the Hexagon might force you to take.' Ronnie looked at him. In the two weeks of knowing him, he had never looked so... serious. So...

...Scared.

Ronnie swallowed the pill. Pyro looked a little more relaxed.

The bus stopped at the street the restaurant was on. They walked away as confidently as they could from the bus stop and Ronnie only looked back to see that it was gone. The one thing about this whole operation that seemed remotely normal is gone. Ronnie thought. You can't run. You can't go back.

Don't you dare go back.

They noticed the place. It had a sign on the roof saying, in giant letters: THE EMBERS, BAR AND RESTAURANT.

Pyro opened the door, pretending to be the gentleman that he wasn't.

Lauren and Connor were already seated at a table with four chairs. Connor was attempting to look really cool and talk really smoothly. It was painful to watch. Lauren heard Ronnie and Pyro walk in and she looked at Ronnie that said, 'PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD SAVE ME'. Ronnie wanted to urgently pull Connor to the side and explain to him why it would never work with Lauren. Specifically, one reason stood out more than others.

Ronnie sat down. Pyro offered to get the drinks. First, he handed Connor and Lauren the anti-drug pills. Connor swallowed it without question, Lauren looked like she wanted to protest, but Lauren being Lauren, couldn't reject common sense.