mind, and I shake them off, not understanding their origin.
“I can’t seem to stop myself from holding him either,” she mentions.
For some reason, words don’t form. I’m still stuck on her hair and how much it reminds me of when life was simpler.
“Colton?” she prods, interrupting my rampant thoughts.
“Oh, yeah. Hey, that’s me.”
She laughs, but it’s small and dainty, almost like she’s unused to action. “I’m aware. I’m Noah.”
With her tiny introduction, I find myself smiling. This is Noah, my babysitter for all intents and purposes. Why were they acting like she was some big bad? She’s soft and kind, and I can already tell we’re going to get along just fine.
She explains rooms to me, shows me around and after the first day of her directing me, I’ve already lost my mind. She showed me where bathrooms were, where respected classes were. All of this is so confusing. This place is an estate. It’s like an entire kingdom connected. Halls join every wing, and each wing offers different things. In the end, I feel like I need a map to just find my room. It’s almost pure luck that I’m being escorted to every fucking thing, or I would be lost.
My anxiety can’t handle this kind of maze. Who has a home this large, and why? What happened to simplicity and living within your means? Why do we have to use every respectable fortune for something heinously large?
“So, what’s the point of leaving school to come back to school?” I ask honestly. I just want to know the point of me getting the four or so weeks of winter break to just come here and do more work. Did they not see I’m practically failing out of school? The fuck.
She laughs and nods, her face amused and reminding me much of my own when people say stupid shit.
“Well, this is what they pretend to call an internship. It really only teaches you of the history of Emeralds Vestige.”
“But what’s the point?”
“I ask myself that every day. It’s not like they teach us the good stuff. It’s much like history in the real world. They only teach what not only benefits them but also offers them the best appearances too.”
Interrupting us, my stomach practically screams. Fuck. I haven’t been eating on my required schedule or taking what’s left of my pills.
“Do you know if they have my medication somewhere? I’m required to take it.”
She stares at me, her forehead scrunched while she bites her lip. “I don’t know. What’s it for?”
Not wanting to explain a disorder I don’t quite understand, all I offer is a half-truth. “They’re necessary. That’s all you need to know.”
“I’m sure they’ll have them for you. Don’t stress. Let’s get a bite, and we can chat more about the abnormalities of this hell.”
We both chuckle at that, a knowing friendship somehow brewing between us.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Colt
IT’S BEEN A WEEK.
No contact.
Not when them, not with anyone except Mel and Noah. They’re keeping me sane, even if the moments with Melissa are really weird and forced. Sometimes, when I’m forced to grab things for Elijah, I can swear I hear Jordan. I can smell him in the air, that Penn and Co cologne he loves, and I secretly love on him too.
It’s the fact that I have no outside communication that kills me. No phone, no computer, just me and the meager existence Elijah has forced me to live. Not only has he taken communication, he has a guard on me daily from dusk to dawn, Parris stays outside my door. He’s really sweet. So much so, I’m confused as to why he works for a man like Elijah.
His eyes are kind. His voice is always sweet, and he sneaks me in Jujubes, another thing I’ve been deprived of. He can’t be that old and looks barely older than me. Maybe Cassidy’s age.
When I dress in the lousy clothes Elijah forces me to wear, which is really similar to the uniforms at Arcadia, I decide to leave my room.
I don’t wear makeup any longer. I can’t. Elijah won’t allow it, and my hair isn’t even green anymore. To rebel, I cut it short, dyed it solid black, and make sure my hair matches the way my soul feels.
So far, all I’ve done is read. Elijah basically has me going to school. Mostly Emeralds’ history and English that pertains to learning their terms, rules, and what’s expected of me. He occasionally has me doing weird Home Ec type stuff, like