Whatever the reason, Masha took every opportunity to harass me—tripping me in the hallway or other equally mature exploits—and, at the moment, I really wasn’t in the mood. Hoping to defuse the situation, I lowered my chin to indicate respect, while forcing my eyes to meet hers. Masha was one of the more advanced Guidons, and Guidons didn’t like being ignored. “I…”
Hands clenched my shoulders from behind and shoved me back in my seat. “Yes, little Acari. Don’t leave. We’re not done with you yet.”
CHAPTER SIX
The new set of hands clawed into my shoulders before releasing me. “You haven’t even finished your lunch. Waste not want not, isn’t that right, Masha?”
I recognized Guidon Trinity’s voice as the one attached to the talons.
Double crap.
I snuck a glance. Trinity was the last person my friend would want to see. Ever since Emma had backed out of the challenge, Trinity had been harboring a real hard-on for her. And the funny thing was, they were two of the only redheads on the island. It was bizarre, like some sort of ginger fight club.
Other than the hair, they were opposites. Unlike North Dakotan slow-talking Emma, Trinity had a crisp, northeastern accent and stank of East Coast privilege. I’d bet that, like Lilac, she’d traded boarding school for juvie before finding herself in this place.
“That is exactly right.” Masha toyed with the thin tip of her whip and shook her head, making a tsk sound. “People go hungry, and yet this Acari thinks to leave food on her plate.”
Trinity sat down, and her eyes glinted as they settled on Emma. “But not Emma. Acari Emma is still eating.”
I felt other Initiates come and hover around the table, not about to miss the spectacle. They didn’t sit down, though. Apparently, this was to be Masha’s and Trinity’s show.
“Chewing like a cow,” said Masha.
Trinity leaned in. “Did you have cows on your farm, Acari Emma? Because I think you still stink like shit.”
Emma was pretty stoic, her face often void of expression, and it was no different now. Unfortunately, this had the effect of riling the Guidons. Trinity especially looked like she wanted to get a rise out of her.
“Look at her,” said Trinity, and as her voice grew louder, the other kids in the dining hall got quieter. “Shoveling that food down like a hick. Are you extra hungry? Or is that just how hicks eat where you’re from?”
There was the barest flash of emotion in Emma’s eyes. I had no idea how she was going to handle this, and she didn’t seem to, either. The hall was silent now—everyone would enjoy the show, nobody lifting a finger to intervene.
“Acari Drew.” Trinity’s eyes hardened on me, and I felt the attention like a slap. “Give me your tray.”
I stared blankly.
Masha mimicked my stunned, open-mouthed expression. “And they say she’s smart.”
“She sure looks like a retard to me,” Trinity said, then continued, enunciating each word clearly and slowly. “I said, give me your tray.”
I kicked myself that I hadn’t eaten every last crumb on my plate. I shot a worried glance at Emma and knew that was a mistake. She’d be the one to suffer for my moment of solidarity.
Trinity snatched the lip of my tray and slid it to my friend. “Pick up the bread.”
Emma stretched a hand out, tentatively holding it over the heel of bread I’d left uneaten. It’d been too crusty for me to chew—stupid me and my stupid childish tastes.
Trinity slapped her hand onto Emma’s, slamming it onto the bread. “Now.”
She curled her fingers around Emma’s hand, and I saw by Trinity’s white knuckles how her nails clawed into my friend’s flesh. “Pick it up.”
Trinity pulled their hands up and smashed them into Emma’s face, using fingers to poke every last bit of crust into her mouth. “And eat.”
Emma chewed the oversized mouthful, her cheeks stretched out like a squirrel’s. I forced myself to watch—I could do that for my friend, at least. She swallowed and swallowed again, and I saw by the red in her eyes how it’d scraped her throat going down.
“That’s the way,” Trinity said.
Masha began to snap her whip between both hands, holding it taut, then loose, then taut, then loose. “I think she’s still hungry.”
The eyes of the two Guidons met. “Soup?” they asked in unison.