Chaos Walking Childhood One Shots

Viola - Training with Simone

"I spy with my little eye... something white."
"The wall?"
"No, it's harder than that."
"The floor."
"No."
"Your paper."
"Nope."
And then giggles and more giggles as the kids around me play their little game.
I'm busy with my school work, as ever, but I tried to study in the dining hall before getting dinner tonight. 
Which was a mistake.
Right now it's just me and a couple of younger kids at our table. They followed me over here even after I told them not to, they talked after I told them not to, and now they've got this stupid game going and if they don't shut up soon I swear I'm just gonna leave them here by themselves-
"Viola's shirt?"
I look up when my name is called, and they laugh again.
"Yes!"
I give a fake laugh in hopes that they're getting what they want, but, of course...
"Your turn Viola!"
I sigh, "I'm actually really busy, if you don't mind-"
"Please?" One of the youngest girls begs.
"I'm sorry," I shake my head, trying to sound soft even though my head could explode at any second.
"That's okay, I'll go instead," Steff Taylor says, louder than she needs to, coming up to our table to make herself known. "I spy with my little eye, someone really boring."
I shoot her a look as the kids start giggling again. Steff just gives me a cheeky smile.
"Okay," I say, shutting my book and pushing my chair from the table. "That's cute."
"Oh wait," she continues, "I have another one. I spy with my little eye, something big."
"The whole room," one of the kids tries, not noticing the way Steff and I are glaring at each other.
"Try again."
"The table?"
Steff shakes her head.
"Your ego?" I try, not breaking eye contact.
Steff frowns.
"Ha ha," she says flatly.
"What's ego?" One of the kids asks.
"It's when you don't know how to do anything without trying to get attention," I say before Steff can interrupt.
"Well that's funny," she says to me, "because the big thing I was actually thinking of was your mouth."
The kids start laughing again, only because they know what a mouth is.
"Yeah, I'll give you that one," I say. "At least my mouth is bigger than your personality."
"At least my personality is bigger than your future."
"Creative. We're all going to the same place, in case you forgot."
And still we glare.
"Are you still playing?" One of the kids interrupts us.
"Not me," I say, picking my book up and standing from the table. "You can play all you want. I have work to do."
"Viola doesn't feel like being fun right now," Steff says. "Just let her go."

I ignore the remarks as I find another table, leaving the kids to Steff's care.
Not that she knows how to treat a kid, she can't even take care of herself half the time.
But I don't care about any of that right now because my blood is boiling and I can't get Steff's stupid voice out of my head.
I just need to take a break from everything.
"Viola?" I hear my mom call from where she's eating. I glance in her direction and she waves me over.
"Hi," I sigh as I sit down next to her. No chance in trying to get out of it now that she knows I've seen her.
"School work getting to you?" My dad asks across the table.
"Something like that." I put my book on the floor and lay my head down.
There's a quiet second where I guess my parents are giving each other that look they give when they think I'm being dramatic.
"Anything we can do to help?" My mom finally asks.
"Not unless you've got a button that makes Steff Taylor stop talking."
My mom tries to hide a laugh.
"Sorry, I've got nothing like that."
She gets it though, Steff's dad has always been a competitive pilot. I guess their childhood rivalry got passed down to us.
"Yeah, I heard you guys arguing a little bit," a new voice says, and my head jerks up as a hand that's not my mom's scratches across my back a couple times.
Simone Watkin sits down on my other side, and suddenly I'm feeling a tiny bit better.
"Hi," I say again, leaning on my elbows dejected-like.
Simone laughs.
"You walked away though, that counts for something."
"What do you mean?"
"You're smarter than she is. More mature."
"You can say that again," my dad says between mouthfuls of dinner, but it's not the same coming from a parent. I turn to Simone.
"She was playing some stupid I spy game, she wasn't even being funny," I complain. "I know she only got involved to make herself look better to the kids."
"Well, do you wanna know how she looks to the adults?" Simone shrugs, like Steff isn't even worth her concern.
I don't mean to smile, but I do a little.
"See?" Simone nudges me. "She's just being a little kid. She'll get over it one day."
"She's the same age as me," I remind her.
Simone scrunches her nose and shakes her head.
"No, you're older. I don't care what anyone says."
I smile again and sit up a little straighter.
"So what are you working on?" Simone asks, picking my book up off the floor. "Agriculture?"
I nod and let her flip through the book.
"Oh, this stuff is easy," she says. "Doesn't Bradley teach this?"
"Mm-hmm," I nod again. "I'm just tired of it. We have a test next week."
"Are you ready for it?"
"Yeah."
"So what's the fuss about? Take a break."
"What kind of break?" I ask.
"I don't know," Simone shrugs. "If school's not that interesting, I could show you how some of the real training works."
"Really?" I turn to her fast. "Like survival training?"
"Sure. We've got nothing but time before we get to New World, it's never too early to start. And it's better if you can have some fun with it."
I turn to my parents to see what they think.
"I mean..." my mom trails off, looking at my dad.
"I'm jealous," is all he says, with a shrug.
"I'll take care of her, I promise," Simone assures my parents. "Get something to eat, I'll come find you after your classes tomorrow."
I jump up from my seat to give her a quick hug as thanks, then I head off to get some dinner.
I can't tell if Steff is trying to catch my eye as I go, but I absolutely do not care.