Counterfeit

-eight--

--eight-

BY THE TIME I had passed through the clearing of trees, I was already being swarmed with questions from Kinley and Ava. It was no surprise to me that Kinley didn't listen to Charleston's request; they must have been waiting for me, wondering what he could possibly be wanting to say to me after his unexplained staring at dinner. I was right. 

"What did he do?" 

"What did he say to you?" 

"Did you ask him about the staring?" 

"Where is he now?" 

There were too many questions being thrown at me to be able to consider a coherent answer. "Guys!" I silenced them. "Slow down!" I breathed out, holding my hands up as I tried to compose myself. "He just told me to..." I considered my words, "be careful." 

"He threatened you!?" MiKinley shouted with an anger that made me back up from him. His hands turned to fists at his sides, he bit down on his lip, fuming. "Stay away from him, Pip." 

"No," I sighed, frustrated. "Kinley, it wasn't like that." 

"What'd you mean?"

"He was...nice." 

He just scoffed, obviously amused by my statement. 

"I mean it, Kin. You just got on the wrong side of him or something. He probably just heard you shouting at me and must have not liked it." 

"Wait, wait, wait," Ava spoke up, "shouting? What the heck happened between you two?" 

I turned to MiKinley to see if he would answer the question, but he rolled his eyes and looked elsewhere. "He thinks that I don't have a right to dislike this place." 

Ava looked at me with question eyes. "You don't like it here?" 

"Finally." MiKinley muttered. "Someone else finds it absurd." 

I sighed, then faced MiKinley and spoke firmly in annoyance. "I never said that." Once I knew he had listened to me, I continued. "I just don't understand why we have to be kept here." 

"I already told ya that!" MiKinley interrupted. 

I shook my head. "You told me why you liked the idea of being here. But," I directed, now, to Ava, "I don't see why we can't see our family. I mean, we're Insusceptible, aren't we? It doesn't matter where we are, the disease can't harm us." 

"She's got a point, y'know." Ava reasoned with me. 

"Oh-" He didn't finish, and I was certain he would have said something cruel. "Course you're gonna take her side!" 

"Oh, stop being so stupid, Kin. You can't tell me that you never want to leave this place, right?" I almost lost my breath for a second. Whilst I felt relieved that it seemed someone else disliked this place, I was also in shock, because I had felt so alone with my worries for months now.  

"Why wouldn't I?" MiKinley spat, folding his arms at he took stance. 

"I could give you a hundred reasons why you should." Ava protested, walking up to him, their bodies inches away. It was natural instinct to want to pry them apart from each other, but we were not allowed, so I was left the difficulty of only having my words to try and control them. That being said, it was much harder than I'd have liked. Everyone leads you to believe that words are the most powerful thing we have, but when it comes to defense, words don't feel a thing.

They continued with their dispute, my head aching over their relentlessness.  

"Name one." He challenged her.  

-eight--

❝I'm governed by loneliness, fueled by rejection. Living in perfect mess like it's alright.❞

An important line (of the above song) which really captures and foreshadows an important element of the story. 

Sorry if this chapter is too dialogue heavy. I'm still learning, and also experimenting with trying to figure out how the characters' voices differ.

Please comment your thoughts and feelings about this story so far! Would make my day!