Save me True, those were simpler days.
I sat alone in my usual spot. My fingers fidgeted under the edge of the table where no one could see.
Jinneth’s eyes darted around when she entered with three other girls next to her. I noted her suspicious expression, like she was assessing danger before stepping into the room.
Smart girl.
Relationships budded and broke in the eating hall. The three meals we shared with other Grimsons—early morning, midday, early evening—were the only times people could converse and retaliate for past grievances.
All the drama and flair of young living took place here. Lukain had trained us to be rabid animals, and that was exactly what happened. More often than not, at least one fight broke out during eating hours. Someone usually ended up in the infirmary,which I’d had the displeasure of visiting after Peltos had nearly broken my back.
If nothing else, the eating hall created a constant flow of wounded bodies for the girls training in the infirmary to work on.
Jinneth picked out her food from the wide silver platter on the first table, once the other dozen boys and girls near her had gotten their fill. The three young ladies she had entered the room with quickly skittered off to be with their friends, leaving Jinneth alone. Like me.
Her hand darted to grab specks of food. She retreated to a shadowy corner to sit on the cold ground, hoping not to be disturbed.
I rose from my seat, taking a deep breath. Sauntering to the edges of the room next to the wall, I only narrowly avoided a brawl taking place when two boys wrestled each other off their seating benches. Other boys circled them, cheering them on, which created a good distraction for me to make my move.
I heard a loudcrackof a broken skull as one of the boys smacked the other with his wooden plate. I strode toward Jinneth and stood a few feet from her, making myself tall.
She had her head bowed, eating. My shadow cast over her, and slowly she lifted her eyes. They were brimming with caution . . . and then they bulged when she recognized me. “Sephy?!” she hissed.
Jinneth’s voice was raspy and downtrodden, filled with the same funny twang as before. She had always been a spunky one.
“Well met, Jin,” I said, shuffling closer to her. “Can I sit?”
She nodded incessantly, putting her plate down.
“No,” I said, hand falling on her wrist. “Keep the plate up. Keep eating.”
She flinched when I touched her, which broke my heart. I wanted us to look like strangers conversing for the first time, so no one made the connection I knew her from a past life.
“What . . . what in all that’s holy are y’doing here?” she asked.
“I could ask you the same, Jin.”
We gave each other sheepish smiles.
It was the first smile I had put on my face in months.
“Truehearts bend me over, it’s good to see a familiar face, yeah?” she said.
“Yeah,” I agreed, keeping my smile quaint. “It is.”
“Y’look strong.” She couldn’t stop herself from reaching over and testing my bicep with a small squeeze. “Bulky bitch ye turned into, yeah?”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” I chuckled. “Funny what a few good rounds of food will do for you.” My eyes hovered over her slight body, my gaze insinuating she needed to eat more.
She caught the look, rolling her eyes. “These crazies scare the shit out of me. Always been a light eater anyway. I don’t need much, yeah?”
Our eyes scanned the ongoing clamor playing out in the middle of the room. Now there were four boys fighting. Dust kicked up. I knew it was only a matter of time before Antones or Lukain busted in here to crack some heads.
“You still need to eat, Jin,” I chastised. “If there’s anything good about this place, it’s the food.”
She took a bite of her meat, making a big show of it by chewing with her mouth open. “Happy, yeah?”
I smiled again. “Yeah.”
