Twenty Fifty-Six

-13-

I sneak out of my bed and into the bathroom.  It's been two nights since I had that conversation with Aria.  She wasn't there last night. 

I open up the door and look around.   She's not here tonight either.  I guess it's a good thing.  It means at least one of us is getting sleep.  But it feels lonely. I've enjoyed our late night conversations.

I sit down against the wall where I've sat with Aria.  I pull my knees up to my chest and just sit there.

My whole life has changed in a week and a half.  Two weeks ago, I was living a normal life.  I had friends.  Beth, Maddy, Joanne, Ashlyn and of course Tasha.  I really do miss them.

"Amber?" a voice asks from the door of the bathroom. 

I look up.  "Tess?  You aren't asleep?"

"No.  I was worried about you.  Are you okay?"

"Meh."

"What's up?  Miss your family?"

"Yeah."

"Other problems?"

"Sorta."

"Like what?"

"Stuff."

"Amber.  Really!  A week ago, when we first got here we were like, best friends.  Now you reply to me in one word sentences and can't even make eye contact with me.  What's changed?"  She asks, her voice breaking at the end.

Tess looks really sad.  I feel bad for her. 

"Tess, I- I just.  I don't know!"

"Amber.  Obviously something is wrong.  What is it that's so terrible that you can't bear to tell me about?"

"When we first got here, we were roommates and best friends.  We were telling each other everything."

Tess's face contorts when I say 'everything.'

What else was she keeping from me?

But I continue.  "Then we started having little disagreements.  You wouldn't let me borrow that navy shirt,-"

"So you hate me over a shirt?  What the heck Amber!  I didn't think you where that shallow!"

"It's not just the shirt thing Tess!  Let me talk!  Then when I saw Mitchel, we fought about that.  All you cared was whether or not he was single, and I was overwhelmed by what was happening.  Then I thought we made up that night.  You opened up to me about your past, we talked.  I thought things were getting better.  And now we're here.  I just don't know want to do or say Tess."

"We fix it," she says simply. 

"But how?" I ask.  "Why?  Is it even worth it?  I don't know what the point is Tess."

Tess sighs.  "I guess it's for the better," she says, almost as if she never meant to fix this messed up friendship, and leaves the bathroom.

What have we done? 

---

The clock beside my bedside now reads 3:39am.  I haven't slept all night, and it'll catch up to me pretty quickly in this morning's classes.  I know I need to sleep, but I can't.  There's too much on my mind. 

Why was the ADCCG created?  That's all I wanted to know before.  Now I've all but forgotten that goal.  Why does the government need us?  It's so confusing.  This could be a movie.  There's so much drama, it's basically just like we're at a small, rich, weird, boarding school.