St. Mary's

16

The next day all six boys were off to the compulsory activity, Eli couldn't stop thinking about the boy with purple hair that Caleb had described last night. Had he been refusing the medication? Is that why he was more conscious than the other boys? Either way he knew he had to speak with him. Eli consumed with his thoughts, was completely oblivious to the sombre atmosphere that plagued the rest of the boys.

Jordan and Rory kept throwing awkward, longing glances towards each other, not sure where they stand after holding hands in a rather non-platonic way. Jay was completely ignoring Si and feeling incredibly guilty when he caught glimpses of his sad face. Caleb on the other hand hadn't been able to think about anything but Eli's body since yesterday and hating himself for being such an unintentional pervert. Rory deciding the silence was deafening, decided to spark conversation with the quiet Eli.

"Hey Eli."

"Oh, hey Rory." He spoke in a soft voice, waiting for the small boy to catch up.

"Did you bring Gypsy?"

"Yeah, do you want to hold her?" He asked with a small smile.

Rory just held out his hand, he needed something to distract him if Jordan was going to keep his thoughts occupied. Eli smiled sweetly and pulled Gypsy from his jacket, placing her among his outstretched hand. Now that he's speaking with Rory, he noticed he had a new piercing.

"When did you get that done?" Eli asked, pointing to his nose.

"There's this cabin that does piercings and tattoos, they sell a bunch of stuff too."

"Oh, is that allowed?" Eli questioned with a raised brow.

"No, they bribe some of the guards to look the other way." Rory replied.

Eli noted that, maybe they're the same guards that control the zombie cabin? He'll have to tell Caleb, maybe they could check out this mysterious cabin and ask.

"Why do you want to get something pierced?" Rory questioned.

Eli didn't want to pierce his face, but he had to think of a reason to go, right? Maybe Caleb would want something done or maybe he'd just get something small.

"Maybe."

"Wait, really?!" Rory squealed like it was the best thing he'd ever heard, handing Gypsy back to Eli.

Eli smiled shakily in reply, he knew he should have said no.

"Oh my, I'm going to introduce you to Blue, and you can get your nose pierced too, then we can be matching!" He cooed. "Oh, maybe we can get matching belly bars too! It'd be so cute!!"

"Absolutely not." Caleb grunted from behind them, scaring both boys.

"God, how long have you been there?" Rory laughed.

"Long enough, and no."

"You're not his Daddy, Caleb." Rory wiggled his brows suggestively in Eli's direction.

Eli blushed so bright he was redder than Rory's hair.

"You know, Blue is pretty good-looking Eli. I'm not sure he's gay or anything, but maybe I could set you two up." Rory teased, looking at Caleb.

Rory squealed when Caleb picked him up and threw him over his shoulder, Eli watched with slight amusement and horror as Caleb tossed him over Jordan's shoulder. Rory was kicking to be put down until Jordan smacked his backside, he immediately stopped fighting now spotting his very own blush. Eli chuckled quietly as Caleb caught up.

"You know, it might be a good idea to go to that cabin." Caleb stated.

"I was thinking the same thing, maybe I should just get my nose pierced then?"