The Guadeloupe Squadeloupe

Chapter XXXVI: Alice

"Hold hold hold me close / I've never been this far from home."- Sleep Alone // Two Door Cinema Club

  I haven't heard that many screams come from a boy before, but that's what's waking me up this morning.

"What?" I hear Guad grumble from the couch. I want to say the same thing, but my mouth feels like Punta Arenas' dirt roads.

When I climb out of the luxury king sized bed, I can finally look around.

Now I don't blame Perry for screaming.

The entire room is covered with the insignia: The walls are draped with banners of the insignia. A blanket around my own shoulders has the insignia a thousand times over. The insignia is sketched crudely on stationary pads. The walls are stamped with the insignia. Rugs on the floor all have the insignia on them. My backpack has a post-it with the insignia scrawled on it. It's like the entire room is shouting: "GET OUT."

And amidst it all stands Perry with his feet planted and his gold hair is sticking out all over the place. But what he's wearing captures more of my attention: In the night, a leather jacket with the insignia etched on both shoulders had been shoved onto him.

I almost want to say it suits him; it certainly makes him look handsome. But HEXA put it there. They've been here. They're watching us right now.

It's no wonder he screamed.

"Perry," Diana stutters, peeling off an insignia sweatshirt that had been put on her.

"S-sorry," he mumbles. Like Guad, he's been the one to keep their cool, but I can tell he's shaken with the intrusion.

"We never should have come to this hotel," says Janis, mirroring my thoughts perfectly.

Bob stands up from where he was sleeping on the bed next to Perry, and he runs a finger through his unruly brown hair. "My fault." He turns to Guad, who sits on the couch and rest his head in his shaking hands. "Debemos salir," says Bob.

I've gotten so used to other people speaking Spanish but even Bob and Guad normally speak English. So when Bob turns to his friend and consoles him in his native language, I find myself smiling.

"What's your problem?" Janis asks me from my side.

"Hmm?" I glance to her. "Feels."

"Tienes razón," says Guad quickly. He kicks an insignia throw pillow away from himself. "Obtiene comida, entonces vamos salir. Necesitamos-"

"Guad," says Janis, "although I fully understand what you are saying, some of our more dull friends need a translation."

I pout at her. It isn't my fault we didn't get stranded in Germany.

"Really, Jan-Jan?" I snide. "I totally could have sworn I knew Spanish."

My twin snaps her head to me and flashes a glare before turning to the squad and saying: "Guad was suggesting that we get food and leave this place. As fast as possible would be best."

"A small problem," says Diana, who normally doesn't suggest anything when we decide how to travel. I tune my ears. "How are we going to get anywhere? Do we have any money from the plane crew?"

"Yes actually," answers Perry to his sister. Anxiously, he shrugs the fine leather jacket off. "I know it looks like a bad idea to use money from them," he gestures to the insignias sprawled across the room, "but it's just cash. And frankly what other choice do we have? All I want to do, to be honest, is get home."

Yes, I think. That's all I want, too. The foster family Janis and I are with at the moment isn't even particularly good; just an annoying pre-teen boy and a toddler girl. But anywhere besides this foreign, confusing continent is welcome. I just want to be in America. Home.