“What on earth do you think you were doing?” Arthur grabbed his chair and shoved it into his desk. Wren jumped in her seat while the other three kept their heads bowed. “Lydia.” She looked up. “I know this was your idea. What did I tell you?” He cut her off before she answered. “I told you to leave it to Sylvia!” He scrunched his eyes shut and exhaled through his nose. “All of you are confined to your rooms until further notice. You’ll only go to training. Dismissed.”
They turned to leave, but Arthur called Lydia back to her seat. He gripped his chair tight, his knuckles about to burst through the skin. “This has to stop. I’ve been lenient so far, but I won’t tolerate disobedience. Clear?” She nodded. “Good. You can go.”
When she reached her room, a security guard was carrying her television away. Wren clung to his leg, wailing and moaning. “No! Please, tonight’s the season finale of ‘Fairy Tales in Suburbia’! I need to know if Alice chooses the Mad Hatter or the March Hare and who the Big Bad Wolf killed!” He dragged her along her belly, one step at a time, trying to shake her off every few feet.
Lydia shut herself off from everyone the rest of the day and punched a couple holes in her wall. Not even a name. She was furious at Heather and at herself. A few more minutes and she was sure she could’ve broken Heather. That’s all she needed. That was what she planned on.
Later that night, however, when she recalled how poorly the interrogation had gone, she yelled into her pillow. How could things have gone so wrong? She should’ve been on top of it, but her emotions got the better of her.
At lunch the next day, Jando and Aidan convened with Lydia and Wren, grilling her for information. “Did she say anything? Give you any clue?” Aidan asked.
“Nope,” Lydia said. “Nothing.”
“Great,” Aidan said. “A waste of time.”
“What happened? I thought you were watching the hall, Jando.”
“I was,” he said. “But Lenny feared he caught something. He called in sick while in the restroom. Another guard came, found us, and then told Arthur.” He stabbed at his food. “Didn’t even put that many laxatives in. Guess he has a really weak stomach.”
“Guess so,” Lydia said.
“Sorry that our movie night’s canceled,” Jando said. “I was looking forward to it.”
“Me, too. We’ll just do it another time.” She caught the odd stares from Wren and Aidan and turned to her food.
Wren cornered Lydia in their room later that night. “I’ve been hearing some things,” she said. “Some things that happened in the game room between you and Jando.”
“And?”
“And normally I would be happy that my friends are dating,” she said. “But I know he’s not who you like.”
Lydia cracked open a book and pretended to read. “I’m pretty sure Aidan and Dariela don’t like each other either, but I won’t say anything.”
Wren tilted her head. “What? Then why are they dating?” Lydia gave her a knowing glance and watched the cogs turn in Wren’s mind. Eventually, her mouth formed an o. “So they-? And you-? I see. So you’re fighting fire with fire? Getting back at them?”
“Why not?” Lydia said.
“What about Jando?” she said. “He doesn’t know. He thinks it’s real.”
Lydia hadn’t considered that, and her conscience made her feel guilty, now that Wren mentioned it. “He’ll be fine,” she said, trying to sound reassuring. “You know Jando. He’s a ‘flavor of the week’ kind of guy. He won’t take it seriously.”
“He’s serious when it comes to this.”
“Yeah, right,” Lydia said. “For all of the thirty minutes he’s dating anyone. We haven’t even had our movie night or done anything official. I’m sure he’s had ten other girls ask him for a date this week alone. He’s probably out on a date with one of them already.”
“He takes his girlfriends pretty seriously. Stops even looking at any other girls.” Wren crossed her arms and grew somber. “I don’t like it.”
Lydia touched her shoulder. “He’ll probably find some girl he wants more and dump me soon enough.”
“Then what will you do?”
“I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.” She turned the page. “Jando will be fine.” She repeated that to herself and hoped it was true. Lydia didn’t want to hurt him. That won’t happen. I’m another fling to him. Then again, he had been flirting with her for an awfully long time, compared to his other pursuits. She pushed the issue aside. Worrying about unlikely occurrences wouldn’t help.