Road to Entitlement: Seven

"What is that?" Dion asks, as an insect is found on the matress Alessia gave to us. Dion picks it up with his index finger and thumb, stares at it as it wiggles it's tiny legs, or arms? I am uncertain. "It is too long, and it is fat, can I flick it?" I ask. He just reply with a laugh, I continued to flick it anyway.

"Hey! It got hurt!" Dion says, and caress the tiny thing. I haven't seen this kind of insect back in our faction. Now I have to deal with two things, I have to deal with Dion complaining about sleeping on the floor, and now this.

"What are you guys doing?" The door behind us opens, it revealed Alistair and Alessia, holding more blankets, but only Alistair has pillows.

"I got scared when I heard long and thick. I kinda thought Amara and Marvelus is here." Alistair says.

"I have a baby brother and baby sister sleeping here! No monkey business!" Alessia says, dropping the blankets on top of the matress where we took the tiny insect from.

"You do realize, I am 15." I say, I mean yes, I know. Some classmates already did it, but not me.

"Yes, and it is such a hindrance to my moves." Dion continues, I smack him on top of his head, making the insect fall off his fingers.

"Oh, this is what you guys are talking about." Alessia says, picking up the insect.

"This is a bed bug, not all of us can afford fancy bedframes and matresses. It won't hurt you, although it will leave a nasty hive so check you matresses first before sleeping." Alessia continue, pulling me beside her.

"You will be sleeping with me, missy. Your boyfriend will sleep with Alistair." Alessia says. Distancing me from Dion. I always feel like Alessia is built differently, for someone who only had 2 years ahead of me. She acts maturely.

I saw the face of Dion changed. He will be complaining later, that's for sure. Dion loved the comfortable life, we went camping once, my dad and his dad just laugh as Dion refuse to lay on top of a sleeping bag, because he tells them he can feel the mud under pile of grass. I was 7 and he was 10 but I can vividly remember it.

"Can we all just stay in one room?" Dion asks, attempts to slowly move near to me. Alistair stops him with his elbow.

"No," Alistair says with a cold tone, Dion backs off a little bit. "It is common courtesy to sleep separately." He continues, drags Dion away, Dion says goodbye before disappearing into thin air.

"Your boyfriend is funny, and I own him a whole lot of thank you." Alessia says as she covers the matress with the sheets she have brought. I help her, "She is not my boyfriend." I assure her. I try to recall the last time we are with each other, I know it was a confession. Indirectly, maybe. But I didn't respond. Not when I had to deal with the chosen.

"But I can see the way he looks at you, plus to go to such lengths, I am certain, He wanted to see you, not help me." Alessia continues, and prepares herself to sleep. I lie down beside her.

"But, I am uncertain if I can reciprocate what he felt, I am not ready." I say. I have a lot currently on my plate, if he had confessed before the chosen, I might have said yes.

"I understand. It is all too much, and It is okay to be uncertain. I am too, especially right now." She says, I turn to face her.

"I am sorry for your loss." I say, I never actually apologized. She got mad along the way. "I am the one who owed you an apology, I am sorry if I acted that way, it was the grief talking, not me." She says, I reply with a smile. All of us started on a wrong foot, but I am glad we are starting to warm up with each other.

I was awaken by the sound of wood being cut, I look beside me and see an empty bed, I stand up and see Alessia, cutting wood. The smell of wood amazes me, it smells like coffee, but less stronger. I walk towards her. She stops to acknowledge me.

"Did I wake you? I am sorry." Alessia says, puts all her might into the axe and plunges it into the wood infront of her. I watch in admiration, I never learned how to cut from my father.

"I got awaken from the cold, so I decided to cut some more." I touch the wood, I cannot help but admire it, it looks so familiar.

"We export it to faction 7." Alessia says as she molds the wood, I sit beside her. That's why it looks familiar, it is the same wood from our porch swing, the one that my dad made for weeks.

"We just don't have the means to enhance it the way faction 7 does." She cuts off the last piece of wood, puts it into her basin and walks away, I follow her.

She walks toward the fireplace and sits there. I sit beside her. I hear a twig snap, look behind and saw Alistair scratching his eyes, awaken from his sleep as well.

"It is breezing cold." He says, snuggles up to Alessia's side and sleeps.

"Faction 5 is a warm place, so he easily gets cold." Alessia says, putting more blanket on him.

"I miss the centrus. The heater, it warms me well." Alistair says, I laugh to the thought of him breezing to our weather.

"You would hate faction 7, we're mostly snow." Alistair looks at me, contemplating whether he should speak.

"I will have to stay in faction 7 if I win the chosen, I guess I will only then start to like the cold." Alistair says, moves a little bit more to the fireplace.

"This is what my mom does for a living, my father died when I was 11, my mom used this woods to feed us." Alessia says, I didn't know what to say, especially when all my life i've lived in comfort.

Alistair stands up, "I can't sleep." He pulls away the blanket that covers his feet. "Receiving no news is good news right?" I look at Alistair as he asks, i don't know who he is pertaining to, but when I slowly realize, Alessia speaks up.

"I hope this is the only thing we had to deal with that is needed to go outside." Alessia asks, and then stands up.

"Would you like to sip some tea?"

The next morning, I awake to an empty side of bed, Alessia told me that the next day, she will be attending her mum's funeral, the local retirees which are past the chosen contenders and winners, fixed her mom's funeral, she had to look after her siblings, that's why she stayed the night here. I went outside and find Alistair cooking meal, Dion currently playing with Alessia's siblings, "Where is Alessia? Shouldn't the kids be with her?" I pointed them.

"Alessia needs to fix things." Dion answers and the young girl look up to me.

"We know that our mom is going somewhere and she won't be back." The girl whispers, looking at the young boy who is currently playing with Dion.

"I wanted to be quiet because i didn't want Sonny to hear, he will cry."

I lean to her, "What is your name Darling?"

"Dothy, and my brother. Sonny." The young girl reply. I laugh in my mind, Dothy for daughter, Sonny for son. I laugh again.

"Megayi Alessia says you can always laugh, but can you please tell me why you are laughing?" I laugh again.

"Your name sounds special."

"Then why is that funny?"

"Because that proves how special you are to your parents, and it is making my heart flutter."

She leans forward to me, cup my ears with her tiny fingers, "Megayu Alistair is making my heart flutters, but he always looks at you." I laugh a little when she added a "s" at flutter, then look at Alistair who is currently tossing food on a wok, then looks at us.

"You don't like Megayu Alistair?" Dothy ask, putting her palm on my cheeks and forcing them to face her.

"I don't think you are fit enough to know like."

"I know like, my father likes Mama. And Alistair looks at you that way, I thought you like Megayu Dion, but you never look at him, you don't look at anyone."

The flutter in my hearts stops, in my faction, I don't look at anyone else besides my family, I don't look at my surrounding, and even now, I have seen greater things, I still don't look at anyone.

Dion snatches Dothy from me, lifts her off the ground, Sonny hugs his knees and Dion started walking. "I am a giant, you must let go off me or I will eat you." The children exchange laughs before finally letting go.

Alistair arrived with plates of meal, "Eat plenty children, Adults, portion yours." Alistar jokes and puts them on top of the table. Dothy sits beside Alistair, Sonny sits beside Alistair so I sit with Dion.

"Are there any dairy in these?" I ask, completely remembering that I am with Dion, and he is lactose intolerant. "Ah, no why." Alistair says, starts stuffing his mouth.

"I am lactose intolerant." Dion says, I scope some food for him, and give it to him. He deserves pampering after all he has done.

"I want the greens." I scope some for him, and put it in his plate. Sonny looks at him and me.

"You're already a Megayu, why are you letting Megayi Ernilla to scoop food for you? If you were with Mama, she will say start scooping food for you because you're already big." Sonny says, before loading his spoon with all of the food except the greens.

"You know why he's big? He eats the greens, you better too." I says, scooping greens and giving it to both of them.

"Megayu Alistair doesn't need to be scoop food from, why does he?" Ask Dothy, Alistair lets a huge laugh. Dothy eyes are widen, opens her mouth and speaks up very loud.

"Is Megayu Dion your Boyfriend?" Alistair choke up his food, Dion seems to keep his cool about it, I shrug the thought out of me.

"No, we were friends, childhood friends." I reassure both of them, but mostly, I wanted to draw a line. I didn't want to deal with any of this. Not unless the chosen has already ended.

"Yes, Dothy, we were friends. But Megayu Dion is willing to wait." He snatches the pitcher infront of me and pours a glass of water for me and for him.

"I just went out and now you're declaring love in the comfort of our home?" We all turn our heads to Alessia, coming inside.

The kids scream, run towards her and gives her hug. Alessia carefully picks up Dothy and Sonny follows her.

"I am just saying the truth. When I first know you will be joining the chosen, I ran straight to you." Dion says, he did. He actually did.

"I think this is not the suitable time for you to be telling me everything, especially when considering the audience." I say, looking at Alessia and Alistair, including the twins infront of me.

"You are right, I will patiently wait for you at home." Dion continues to eat, Alessia picks up a plate and joins us. Afterwards, I did the dishes, as I was wiping my hands on my shorts, I hear Alessia gathers the kids.

"We are going to see Mama." Alessia says, both of her hands on top of the shoulder of the kids. I turn around. This is a private moment for them, I decided to leave. I went inside the room I slept in, but Alessia's house is too small, for me to be able comprehend everything.

"Mama is coming home?" Sonny asks.

"Yes, Mama is coming home. But not to us." Alessia says, I tighten my fist. I can feel a teardrop coming.

"But this is Mama's home, what home are you talking about?" Sonny asks.

"Mama is going to heaven, Sonny. She will be joining Papa." Dothy asks, Maybe she had to grow up too fast too, just like Alessia.

"But Papa didn't came back, Will Mama too?"

There is dead silence. I wanted to run, I should not have heard this. It is too much.

Things started breaking, I can hear glass shattering, "I want Mama!" I hear Sonny say, another thing breaks, sounds like Sonny is throwing everything away. I don't want to hear this. I don't want to hear Alessia's pain.

All I can hear is Sonny's cries, but after a few minutes, Dothy follows, with all her might, Alessia tries to calm them both, holding her composure.

"Mama would not want this Sonny, let's go see her, if you do this, Mama won't leave pain free, she will be hurting continuously, Do you want that?" Alessia says, I hear her try to hold her mucus, by sniffing it back. Sonny didn't reply.

"Let's go." I hear tiny footsteps, eventually, when I no longer hear them, Alessia lets out a cry. I wanted to go out, but as I open the door, I hear someone come in.

"Hey...." It is Dion.

I didn't hear any response, so I went out, saw them two hugging. Alessia didn't deserve any of this. I didn't bother to let them see me. Alessia had to pull this I am okay face infront of the kids, She needed the cry.

I run towards the woods, I needed a good shout, I never thought this happens to me. I never thought that outside comfort, there are things happening like this. I let out a huge scream. I cry, I shout, when there are no tears, I shout again. I wanted to take my throat out again.

"Stop crying, You're not the one who lost someone, stop trying to make Alessia's pain your pain." I hear someone says, I look around, I see Alistair entering the place through one of the trees. He grabs me by the elbow.

"Stop making this your pain. It is not yours."

I cry even harder. This is not my pain, yes. But this is something I am not used to dealing with.

I wipe off my tears before speaking, "Yes, this is not my pain, yes, I didn't lose someone, but I have the right to sympathy with Alessia, when you see something wrong, don't you want to make it right?" He lets go of me.

"So you admit it, something's wrong." I nodded.

"Don't you want to know why I am mad at your faction?" I look at him straight in his eyes as he says this. I didn't even nod yet but he continued speaking.

"Because you're faction is thriving, everyone can thrive, everyone can help. But because your faction owns the most wins in the chosen, you are a rich faction, it is okay if you are only rich, but no, your faction makes everything hard! We have to keep up with you! Your faction is the basis for everything, but only your residents can keep up, how about us who have barely enough?" Alistair walks out of me. He paused when he is about to enter the tree where he came from.

"What do you want me to do? Do you want me to forfeit the centrus?" I ask.

Why is everything leading to me forfeiting the centrus? Is this the universe way of saying I do not belong here? If I don't, where do I belong then?

He turns around, stares at me before walking towards me again.

"No... I wanted to win fairly. And there are other factions, they own most of the wins." He stutters. I just look at him.

"Tell me what I can do, because I am in hell as well. I don't know anything anymore."

He pulls me in, gives me a hug.

"Please, if you ever won, now that you have seen this, let others shine. All of the faction deserves a little change."

I don't know how it happen. But he lowers his head, lock his lips through mine. I close my eyes. It felt like my feet has been lifted off the ground.

"Please..." He says as he pulls over. Still in shock, I don't respond.