flower | newt ✓

TWO

chapter two;
secret admirer

THALIA SAT WITH ARIS FOR DINNER. As if she hadn't been for the past week. Thalia was grateful that she didn't have to eat another plate of mashed potatoes. Instead, they gave them a plate of a rather delicious omelette with bacon. In a week that they've been here, Thalia learned that dinners are when the food taste at its finest.

Thalia also learned that dinners are when names of kids will get called out to be taken to the safe place.

"You got yourself a secret admirer" Aris joked. Thalia furrowed her eyebrows.

"What?" she asked as forked a slice of bacon in her mouth. Aris pointed at something behind her and she turned around. The new group of boys were staring at her, including the blonde one. They both looked away as their eyes locked. "Oh my god" Thalia rolled her eyes as she chugged on her water bottle.

Aris smirked at the girl. Thalia raised her eyebrows. "What?" she asked. Aris shook his head but kept that smirk.

"Nothing, nothing" he shook off. Thalia rolled her eyes as she kept eating her bacon. The room suddenly went silent as sounds of footsteps were heard. "Oh no" Aris muttered. He pulled his hood up and looked down at his empty plate.

Ratman- that's what Thalia and Aris had been calling him since they saw him- walked in with a few guards as he held his clipboard. "Good evening gentlemen, ladies" he greeted. He stopped in the middle of the room before continuing. "You all know how this works. If you hear your name called, please rise in an orderly fashion, and join my colleagues behind me" he said motioning to the guards behind him.

Thalia turned her attention to Aris who was being very very quiet. Meaning he was nervous. He knew that those people who were caught weren't going to a 'safe place. "Hey, it's okay" Thalia assured him. He looked up to her and slightly nodded.

"-they'll escort you to the eastern wing and your new life will begin" Ratman concluded. A series of claps erupted the room. Aris rolled his eyes.

"Bullshit" he muttered. She glanced briefly at him before turning her attention back to Dr. Janson, although the name Ratman fits him better.

Janson opened his clipboard and began to called the names. "Connor" he called. Thalia turned to a boy who happily high fived his friends before made his way to the front. "Evelyn" he called.

"No, not Evelyn.." Thalia muttered as she turned to the beaming girl who stood from her seat as she made her way to the front. Thalia had known Evelyn for quite some time. She had talked to her when she arrived and Evelyn was a really nice girl. Evelyn flashed Thalia a smile and gave her a small wave. Thalia smiled weakly at her as she stood at the front.

"Justin, Peter" Janson continued. Thalia turned to where Justin seated when she caught another person's eyes on her. It was the blondie that arrived earlier. He glanced at her and gave her a smile. That smile. She had seen his smile somewhere, she knew it. She smiled back and they stayed that way for a while, until Janson finished calling out all the names.

"Now, now, don't get discouraged, if I could take more, I would. There's always tomorrow. Your time will come" he said as he walked away with the people that had been called. Aris scoffed.

"What a load of bullshit" he commented. Thalia nodded at the boy. Aris continued to rant on about Ratman while Thalia looked down at her plate, thinking. Aris' words just sounded like muffles in her ears as she tried to find a memory about the boy. Unlucky of her, no luck. She just nodded at the boy in front of her as she ate her last piece of bacon. She stood up to returned her plate and Aris followed, and together they went back to their room to get a goodnight sleep. Or so they thought.

━━━━

Thalia couldn't sleep that night. She got out of her bed and glanced at the top bunk, seeing Aris peacefully asleep. She walked to the bathroom and opened the door slowly, hoping not to wake Aris up. Well, he's a heavy sleeper anyway. Not even a sound of bomb exploding will wake him up.

Thalia turned on the tap and splashed her face with water, letting the cold water drip from the side of her face. She grabbed a small towel beside the mirror and wiped her face with it. She took a look of herself at the mirror. Her brown hair was pulled into a ponytail, which gave a clear vision of the dark circles under her eyes. She clearly needed more sleep. Thalia sighed as she opened the bathroom door when she heard shuffling.

Who could it be? Aris? But Aris was asleep and he only wakes up if someone woke him up. He never woke up by himself. Thalia walked slowly from the bathroom towards where she heard the shuffling, that's when she saw Aris trying to get under her bunk.

"Aris? What the hell are you doing?" Thalia exclaimed. Aris looked up which resulted to him bumping his head to her bed.

"Uh.." he stuttered. Thalia raised her eyebrows. Aris sighed and he crawled out from under the bed. He stood up and brushed off his t shirt.

"What the hell were you doing down there? Checking any monsters under my bed?" Thalia asked with her hands on her hips. Aris stopped for a minute, thinking. He was debating wether or not to tell Thalia about his sleepless nights in the vents.

"Okay, I've been crawling in the vents lately..." he started off.

"What?!" Thalia asked wide eyed. Aris sighed, thinking about how he's going to tell her.

"I've been going in the vents, but don't worry! It's not dangerous at all! You'll be surprised about what I've found down there" he rambled.

"Not dangerous?! You could've get caught! You could've been seen!" Thalia exclaimed. Aris scratched the back of his neck nervously.

"Sorry" he said sheepishly. She rolled her eyes at the boy.

"You said you found something. What is it?" she asked. Aris turned his head to her and his expression dropped.

"A lot. A lot of things" he said. He then began to crawl back down the bed.

"Aris! What are you doing?!" Thalia asked. Aris popped his head from under the bed and motioned Thalia to come down there. "You want me to come with you?" she asked.

"It's hard to explain. I have to show you. C'mon we're going to miss it!" Aris said, his voice getting more and more quiet, meaning that he's gone in the vents. Thalia groaned before finally following her friend in the vents.

EDITED
01/05/2019