Part 7

After my complete breakdown, I heard a bell, and then the voices of dozens of excited kids. Must have been dinner. I wasn't going to go, as I had no appetite. Besides, I had already embarrassed myself and Alex. Neither of us needed any more.

About 15 minutes later, I got up to wash my face. I saw a thing that reminded me of a birdbath earlier, but there were no birds as far as I could tell, and my window didn't open. So I washed my face and looked in the mirror that hung over my desk. My eyes were kind of bloodshot, but they always had that appearance. So I wasn't too worried about it. But just as I was going back to my separate space, I heard a knock at my door. "Go away, Alex! I don't want to talk to you."

"Alex isn't here," a kind voice said. Just listening to her voice made me calm, like I could listen to it forever. Then I shook my head. Where were these thoughts coming from? They certainly weren't my own. I needed to get her away from me. I needed to strengthen my mind again.

"Ok. But I still don't want to talk to you."

"That's fine. I'm just here to tell you that dinner is ready. You should eat."

"I'm not hungry."

"That's also fine. But dinner is mandatory. The other meals you can skip. But everyone is required to go to dinner. I understand not wanting to go. I was also taken from everything I knew. Sometimes I hate it here. But if it makes you feel better, no one is going to make you eat. We all understand what you're going through. Even Alex," she added as she started to walk away.

With a quick realization, I knew that I had no idea where the dining room was. So, quickly, I opened my door and called out, "Wait!"

"What is it?"

"I don't know where to go."

"Just follow the smell. It fills the whole cabin. And if by some miracle you find the kitchens, be sure to let the rest of us know." And with that, she was gone. Like, she was literally there one second, and now I had no idea where she would be. Great, she has invisibility. I slowly inched forward, to the place where she had been, and gingerly put my hand forward. When I didn't feel anything, I kept going.

After I was sure that I wasn't going to run into her, I started walking a little more briskly, following her advice: 'just follow the smell.' It was this sweet aroma, that perfectly mixed the smell of chicken, lasagna, and cooked squash all together. It was enough to make the mouth of even the hardest person water.

As I continued to follow it, I came to a staircase. Half of it led to another floor above, where I could hear voices. But the other half lead to a floor below, and that was where the smell was coming from. As I debated which way to go, the smell suddenly got stronger, and a short, pot-bellied, jolly-looking man came around a bend in the staircase. He held a platter with some of my favorite foods on it, and it was the source of the smell that I had been following. I backed up to let him through, and he almost did, before he noticed me. "Oy," he said, in an accent I didn't recognize. "Why aren't you at dinner with the rest of 'em?"

"I was just on my way, sir."

"But the bell rang almost fifteen minutes ago. So, where were you?"

"I was in my room. Today was my first day, and I didn't know that dinner was mandatory."

"Oh. My apologies," he said in a kinder voice. "Well, follow me, and I'll show you where it is."

We walked up the stairs, and down a long hallway, to a huge set of wooden doors. There were three people in front of the doors: two guards, and the girl from before. Now that there wasn't a huge tension between us, I finally got a good look at her. She was wearing a black, leather jacket, and light blue-colored jeans. She had a white shirt on underneath her jacket, and a thin chain around her neck. Her short hair was loosely wrapped in curls, ending just above her shoulders. She had soft brown eyes and a tan complexion, that somehow fit the look. But instead of black boots or heels, she had running sneakers on. And they were very worn.

"About time you found us," she said, a little harsher than the last time we spoke.

"Well, this place is deceptively big."

She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes, which had now hardened. "Well, you might as well eat," and with that, she threw open the doors. It led to a round table in the middle of the room, and twelve other teens were sitting there. I could tell that they were in the middle of a conversation when the doors opened because they all turned to look at me. I was not used to this. I was used to being the one that looked at everyone else, not the other way around. I was so nervous, I felt the tiny appetite that I had been building up slip away immediately. But I wasn't going to show them that I was the stereotypical girl who cowered when she got the spotlight. So, with a deep breath, I walked through the doors.