Everyone was holding small conversations with one another. You were enjoying your sandwich and everyone else seemed to be too, except Heavy looked underwhelmed by it.

"So," Sniper started, swallowing a bite of his sandwich. "How did your trainin' go?"

"It went well," you responded, taking a sip your water.

"Yes, leetle girl fights well," Heavy added in, finishing his sandwich.

"That's noice," Sniper concluded, taking another bite.

"What's even betta," Scout said through the food in his mouth. "I got ta finally see da Scout stuff on 'er." You hesitantly nodded.

"Um, yeah. I forgot to show him the first time we practiced, so I made sure this time," you explained. Everyone finished their meal and you went off to your room to check your messages. You closed the door behind you and checked your phone. You breath caught in your throat when you saw you had one from Mom... and one from Dad. Oh shit oh shit! What did he say? Should I check it? What if I left it in case it's bad and then I won't have- You mentally slapped yourself. Just check it.

You clicked on Mom's message first, hers had to be more positive than Dad's:

"Hey sweetie! I'm sorry to hear about the crazy schedule, but you're finally being challenged! Do you like the school, though? Are the teachers nice? Do you have any friends yet? Do you have a roommate? Do you know when you can visit? I want to know everything! Love you!"

You smiled and texted back:

"I love the school, thanks for letting me go here. How's Dad? The teachers have personality, but they aren't mean or anything. I have a friend, and no I don't have a roommate. I don't know when I can visit, but I'll be sure to tell you when I find out. Love you, too."

You took a breath and clicked on your Father's:

"What did you do? I told you a clear "No" and you left me here without even a goodbye! I can't believe you left with your mother to go to a school! Do you even realize what you did? What you left behind? I want you home, NOW. I don't want to speak with you until you're home. You're lucky I love you and your mother. I'm willing to look past this when you come home and never speak or even mention that school or Teufort ever again."

You read it over again, in shock. I can't go I'm in a contract until I graduate!... I did leave behind my whol- NO! I have to explain to him why I can't go!:

"Dad, I can't go back home now. I'm in a binding contract until I graduate highschool. I miss you, but this school is advanced. I can't even leave it if I wanted to! I still talk to everybody and they're fine with it, I can talk to you."

You received an immediate response:

"What did I tell you about contacting me if you won't come home?"

You typed as fast as you could:

"I still want to talk to you! I miss you, but I can't leave!"

He blocked your number. The message in red telling you your text "Wasn't delivered" stared at you. No, no he didn't... Now the tears burned your eyes and your throat as you tried to keep them from falling. You called your dad and the call went straight to voicemail. He did. The tears fell and stained your clothes. In defeat, you fell into your pillow and cried.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

You had finally calmed down into sniffles after who knows how long. You checked your phone. It told you 6:24 PM. You missed dinner. You sat up and flipped your pillow over to the dry side. You walked into your bathroom and blew your nose twice. You then walked out and logged into your computer, hoping that you could turn your mood around by watching a video. You were hugging your knees to your chest and trying to laugh at a fail compilation when you heard a knock at your door.

"Strategist? It's Engineer, are you ahlright? Ya missed dinner so Heavy 'nd I brought ya a plate," he spoke through the door. Dad's right, what did I do? These are all strangers! I barely know a thing about them and now I live with them... I'm going to fight beside them with my life in danger! You cleared your throat and wiped your eyes as softly as you could.

"I did? Oh I'm so sorry! Hang on, I'll let you in," you acted like you wanted to see them and rushed to the door. You opened it up and saw Engineer holding a plate of a sausage dish with broccoli, potatoes, and other vegetables on top of pasta. Heavy stood behind him with a worried look. No matter how welcoming they are, they're still strangers. I can't trust them with something like this.

"Is leetle girl okay?" Heavy asked. Why would you care? I'm a stranger to you.

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine. I just got caught up in school work and videos my friend sent me."

"Are ya sure, 'cause the thing is," Engineer glanced and made eye contact with Heavy before turning to you. His voice became barely above a whisper: "We heard ya cryin' in here for a long time, darlin'." Shit! You faked a confused looked.

"What?" You looked at the ground and acted like you remembered something. "Oh right! I was watching a Dr. Phil compilation of people crying about not getting money. I guess I didn't plug my earbuds in all the way." You laughed. "Sorry about that." They shouldn't know, they can't know.

"Is leetle girl certain?" Heavy asked. Tears threatened you once again, the burning in your eyes and throat rising to the surface.

"Yes, Heavy, I'm certain," you managed to choke out before you could feel your voice fail. Heavy didn't look convinced. Just leave me alone! What did I get myself into! Why the HELL DID I EVER AGREE TO BE HERE? You feel your posture start to crumble as you cried out at them in your head. I'm stuck here.

"Ahlright then, we'll leave ya be, here," Engineer handed you the plate and you took it. He turned away, but before he walked away, Heavy put a hand on his chest to stop him and stepped forward.

"I know vhen I hear lie. Leetle girl must tell us vhat is wrong," Heavy ordered. Your eyes started to water and your throat was in flames. You couldn't speak. "Leetle girl is like vone of Heavy's sisters. I will protect you." That's sweet, but I'm fighting where I can safely die, you can't protect me. Your posture crumbled and you tried to push yourself back together. It wasn't working.

"Thanks Heavy, b-b-but r-really... I'm f-fine," you tried to speak clearly. Engineer looked over his shoulder in shock and whirled around. He stepped towards you as if to hug and comfort you, but when you flinched he stopped with arms half-way outstretched. He slowly pulled back and looked at Heavy. They walked in and you backed up into your bed, sitting down on the edge. Engineer sat on your left, his body turned towards you. Heavy sat on your right. With the plate in your lap you held your arms and slouched over. They don't need to know. You don't know them. Pull yourself together damn it! You let out a shaky breath and calmed down enough to speak. "I'm fine, really." The Engineer shook his head.

"No, you're not. Darlin' why can't ya just tell us what's wrong? We're here for you. You can tell us," Engineer tried to put his arm around you, but you flinched away again. Immediately, the flames burst free and you shook as you tried to hold it in. Wimp. Tears streamed down your face and your throat burned from keeping your cries in. You couldn't bring yourself to look up in fear of seeing their reactions. You tried to get a grip like a normal person. DON'T TELL THEM!

"I-It's m-my Dad...," you sputtered out, grabbing your phone from the desk and pulling up your texts. WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Before you came to Teufort, his last exchange was a "Love you!" with a heart beside it. Your hands shook as you watched them read it.

"Ah jeez...," Engie breathed out, placing a hand on his hat.

"Oh no," Heavy whispered and wrapped an arm around your shoulders. Your body tensed up, but you didn't pull away.

"My m-mother pushed f-for me to go, s-so far a-as to leave my d-dad behind with him kn-knowing," you plugged the phone up and sat it on your nightstand. "I let her."

"Ah'm sorry," Engie said, and placed a hand on your left shoulder. You had to focus as to not jump away. Don't. Touch. Me. You stayed still.

"It's not y-your fault. It's mine." Heavy pulled you into a hug. Engie joined, too. You felt like a useless ragdoll, sitting there like an awkward statue. You didn't want to alarm them by pulling away, but you wanted to. You wanted them to think you were fine, but you still weren't. They don't understand. You let the last of your tears fall away. When you pulled apart, you kept from having to say something by taking a bite of the food. "This...um, this is good."

"Thank ya kindly, Ah had to help Medic with keeping everyone away from him while he cooked. They all wanted to steal pieces of the food. It drove 'im insane." You all laughed. You joined in to keep them convinced you felt better.

"Kinda wish I was there for that."

"Yep, Sniper got away with a whole sausage! Medic had to chase him down, but by then, the broccoli was almost overcooked." You laughed again and you continued to force yourself to eat. You weren't hungry in the slightest. Once you were finished, you all hugged yet again and they left you, taking the empty plate. You got dressed for bed and got under the covers. You stared at the ceiling as you waited to fall to sleep.

You chose this, because you wanted it. Own up to it. You're here for a reason, so fulfill it.