The next wake up call pierced through Insie’s restless slumber, as did the scream that immediately followed it. He rose from the cot, marked one more scratch on the wall, and swung his legs over the side of his bed. That wall had almost two thousand scratches on it, one for each day he’d been there. One for each day he’d suffered. He drudged over to his bucket with leisure, not at all concerned about the people sprinting passed his cell with starved desperation. He brushed his teeth and wiped off his face with one of the many rags he had stored in his cell. He began making his way to the cafeteria just before the general population would begin to swarm through the halls, absentmindedly wondering if The Coves’ newest greenhorn would be able to find his way back to the cafeteria from his own cell without getting lost or absorbed by the swarms. Stepping into the cafeteria, he was surprised to see that Jamie had beaten him there and was already exiting the line in a hurry. Insie got into the food line from muscle memory alone and was already walking back to his table with the same force compelling him to. He saw Stri and Elle sitting at their table as he approached, Elle talking animatedly about something unknown to Insie while Stri smiled and nodded along. Right as he was about to come upon the table, Insie noticed a very conflicted looking Jamie standing, tray of gruel in hand, somewhat hidden behind a partial wall that was out of sight of the table while clearly debating something with a pinched brow and distracted gaze. Insie walked over to the boy with a quizzical expression on his face.
“You do know that I said 4 days, right?” he reminded.
“What?” Jamie said, jumping at being startled from his trance.
“Yesterday,” Insie continued, “when I told you that you had to find a pack to sit with? I said you had 4 days, not 1. It isn’t like you’ve gotta hide behind this wall or anythin’, you still have 3 days left to figure out where you want to sit.“ Despite realizing that this wasn’t what caused Jamie’s confliction about sitting with his pack, rather, a conversation from yesterday, Insie could tell that his words had quelled the boy’s inner debate for now and he strode over to the table with Jamie close behind. When they got to the table, Insie noticed that Stri had gone somewhere Insie couldn’t guess and Bahrya and Bee had appeared with their food as well. Sitting down, Insie couldn’t help but smirk upon noticing Jamie’s newfound panic when the greenhorn realized that none of them were sitting in the same seats as yesterday, therefore depriving him of his only advantage to remember their names. Elle was concerningly quiet, Bee looking around timidly, and Bahrya talking far too much. Apparently, Insie was the only one unable to feel the awkward tension at the table, as when Rodent blessed all of them with her presence, she didn’t make any snide remarks or say anything else for that matter. Well, only Insie and the ever unaffected Stri. Stri had reappeared with an uncharacteristic smirk on his face, catching the attention of Elle, when he suddenly dropped a vividly ripened orange upon the table. Instantly, there was an uproar from the pack with even Bee reacting, albeit silently, with delighted surprise.
“I knew it! Stri could rob us all blind and none of us would even notice if he managed to snag that! Pay up, Chippy!” Bahrya exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at a stunned silent Rodent.
“Hey!” she reacted, “How was I supposed to know he could be such a successful thief?!”
“It doesn’t matter!” Bahrya retaliated, “I knew it and everyone else did too, but you wouldn’t believe us! Even Bee could’ve told you that!” Bee just shrugged with an amused grin at the mention of her name and a flailing Rodent whipping her head in her direction. Stri gave her the orange he had swiped, which she gratefully accepted with a smile of gratitude that made her eyes shine.
“Well, I want a rematch!” Rodent scrambled, “Let’s do all or nothing! Or are you too scared?” The girl certainly was clever and knew exactly what buttons to push to get a rise of out nearly anyone in their pack, which stood true then as well.
“I am not! That’s just ridiculous! You want a rematch? Fine! What’s your new bet?” Bahrya demanded. Rodent thought for a moment, her eyes searching the room until finally landing upon Jamie with a dangerous glint and a slowly emerging wolfish grin that made even Insie get a cold chill. Jamie’s violet eyes were the picture of mortal terror and he began looking around at the others at the table as if begging someone to make her stop looking at him with such a terrifying expression, yet found no help to be gained.
“I bet,” the terrifying girl spoke, “that I can convince our new friend Jagger here to take off his shirt right here and now by the end of breakfast.” Jamie’s eyes somehow appeared even more terrified than before, despite that not seeming possible, and Insie laughed loud enough to get the attention of the entire table directed at him. Calming down enough to speak, Insie ignored the impressively subtle death glare that Jamie sent his way in favor of advising Bahrya.
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“Bahrya, if you take that bet you are guaranteed to win. I know he might not look like it, but Jagger over there is the most stubborn greenhorn I’ve ever seen, and even the cocky little Chipmunk next to you won’t get anythin’ out of him. Either you take the bet or I will.” he said. At this second opinion, Bahrya smirked and shook hands with the very self-assured gambler next to him. All at the table turned their eyes to Jamie as soon as they finished and Insie resolved to sit back and enjoy the show.
Rodent spent the next 10 minutes trying to reason with, bribe, threaten, and even physically force Jamie to take his shirt off, all to which the nunker would not budge, while everyone else merely enjoyed the show while eating their breakfast. Elle looked like she couldn’t possibly have been enjoying the show any more than she was at the time, while Bee and Stri looked on with curiosity mixed with mild amusement and Bahrya grew more and more pleased with himself by the minute. Insie employed all of the self-discipline he had in favor of not laughing at the petulant expression that crossed Rodent’s face, then used double that to restrain the involuntary shudder that his body tried to express at the return of her horrifying grin that meant she had had yet another brilliant idea.
“How about you and I make a deal of our own, hmm?” She inquired. Every person at the table except for Jamie recognized her tone and knew exactly where she was going with; they all fought back laughter and tried to keep their expressions from altering the cornered greenhorn in their presence. To his credit, Jamie’s only response to Rodent’s initial question was a slight narrowing of his eyes in defiance. That only lasted for three more seconds, vanishing as soon as she stood up. She rose from her seat at the table and slowly sauntered over to her newest target. Once she stood over the frozen greenhorn, whose hand twitched at her proximity, Rodent leaned down to his eye level and whispered something the rest of them couldn’t hear into his ear. Within an instant, Jamie, apparently fond of beating his own records, turned such a bright shade of red that his blush should have a new word attributed to it on its own. The entire pack burst into laughter, excluding the very frustrated Rodent and flustered Jamie, with Bahrya laughing so hard tears came to his eyes and Elle laughing hard enough that she accidentally snorted twice. It was clear that Stri was trying valiantly not to laugh, but was very unsuccessful at the challenge, much to Rodent’s chagrin. That had been Rodent’s last chance to coerce the shirt away and everyone at the table knew it. After Jamie’s blush faded a minuscule amount, he, despite the glaringly obvious flush he was sporting, managed to produce an embarrassed yet stubborn expression, and shook his head no for the final time.
Rodent reluctantly admitted her defeat and looked about to return to her spot, until, in a last-ditch effort, she grabbed all four of Jamie’s ice cubes and, in one swift motion, threw them down into the back of the greenhorn’s shirt. Her victim squeaked in surprise and discomfort, then started desperately flailing to try and get them out, but one of them had gotten wrapped up in the baggy shirt and was now stuck directly against the spot in the middle of his upper back that he couldn’t reach. Try as he might, Jamie just couldn’t seem to get it free and was suffering for it. The pack was in a frenzy; everyone was simultaneously cheering Jamie on with his efforts to relieve the cold sensation biting his skin, laughing over their own words, and yelling general nonsense as encouragement for something they couldn’t name. Insie knew he could’ve easily solved Jamie’s problem for him, but he didn’t want to confront the wrath of an enraged Rodent that would surely poison him four times over. Bee, the brave soul that she was, sprung into action, having been the subject of one of Rodent’s attacks before herself and understanding exactly how Jamie felt. She whipped out a broken rubber band, grabbed her last remaining ice cube from her tray, and placed it within the middle of the rubber band, and, stretching it back with her left hand with a stoic expression on her face, aimed it right where she could see the wet spot soaking through Jamie’s shirt. She hit the ice cube that had gotten stuck dead on, successfully knocking it from its entanglement with the t-shirt and rescuing Jamie from the frigid block.
Rodent was once again stunned and now scandalized as well, and she looked at Bee with utter shock and betrayal, who smirked at the astonished blonde and held her left hand up in a peace sign with a wink in response. That was where the matter truly ended, Rodent finally giving up once and for all, telling Bahrya that he had won and she would never make a bet against him nor Insie ever again, even though they all knew that she would do it again within the next week. Things calmed down after that and Insie could hear the clamor of the cafeteria once more. Then, the transition bell rang. The entire room, still full of multiple hundreds of rowdy teenagers, instantly fell silent. Nobody moved. Insie’s entire pack made eye contact with each other at the sound, and Jamie looked both alarmed and confused. Insie hadn’t told him about this part yet, but everyone else in the room knew exactly what that sound meant. Five silent seconds ticked passed with not a soul daring to make a sound nor movement. Insie was the first to rise, knowing what would happen to anyone who didn’t make it to their station by the next tone. His pack followed his example, each rising one after another with hesitant knowing glances to each other. Slowly, the rest of the cafeteria began to rise from their seats, many exchanging fearful glances and hugging before each individual would hesitantly go in one of three directions. Insie directed his gaze to a very frightful Jamie. Sighing, Insie answered the question that Jamie seemed too afraid to ask with downcast eyes and a weary voice.
“Come on, kid,” he said, “It’s time for you to see what they brought all of us down here to do.”