The bell rang shortly after, and Craven’s lecture was cut short. With five minutes to get back to class, we headed over to the cafeteria exit to throw away our trash. I watched them toss their scraps in the shiny gray bin without a second thought as my own eyes stayed focused on the quarter of a burger that sat pathetically on my plate. I hated to throw it away when it was a perfectly fine meal. Who knew when the next time I’d have one would be? My hand trembled as my tray hovered over the gaping abyss of scraps, packaging, and mold. Glancing over my shoulder, I checked to see if any of them were watching. Luckily enough for me, they were all facing forward, sauntering down the hall toward our classroom. I snatched the burger off the plate, letting the dish fall into the trash.
Then I shoved it in my jacket pocket.
Putting my hands over it, I quickly caught up to them, acting as though I’d never fallen behind. The burger sat like a moist stone in my pocket, thumping against my thigh as I walked. I could faintly smell it wafting up from my stomach, and quickly went to praying no one else would notice. How would I explain myself?
“So, you up for coming down tonight?” Craven glanced over at Alden, arms crossed over his chest. “Or are you busy again?”
“Oh, I should be able to come by. Though my mom’s been struggling to get food down for the past few days, and I hate to leave her alone with food in case she chokes, I got her to eat a pretty good breakfast this morning. She usually won’t eat more than one meal a day, so she’ll be okay until tomorrow. I can’t leave all the responsibilities to you all, now can I?”
“You forget that we’re all as in on this as you are. You’re not forcing us to do anything. We’ve all got our own reasons for joining you. You just keep us organized, though I’m sure some of the older members could handle things for a few more days if need be.”
“I don’t doubt that they could, but they’ve got their own things they need to worry about. I’m the one who was trusted with the responsibility of keeping us all organized, and that’s just what I’ll do.”
“Are you gonna let,” he glanced over his shoulder at me. I quickly acted as though I were focused on a speck on my hoodie, “him come over?”
Wow, way to make me feel included. He could at least whisper if he were going to gossip about me.
“Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I?”
“As I said before, he’s a security threat. Being the son of the top family means he’s going to have more eyes on him than any of us combined. Even if he agrees to our rules, I’m not sure that letting him come to our hideout so soon is a good idea. Maybe we should wait until we’re sure he’s dedicated to the cause and that his parents haven’t bugged him.”
“We don’t have time to wait,” Alden’s voice was uncharacteristically firm. “If we’re going to get out of this place, we need to do it as soon as possible. We need to be out of here before they even get a whiff of what we’re doing. The longer we wait, the higher our chances are of being found out. Brash has made it awfully clear that he’s dedicated to our cause, and he’s an incredibly valuable resource. He’s got knowledge, intel, and opportunities the rest of us couldn’t even dream of. He can get close to his parents and figure out the inner workings of the system. We’ve been trying to figure that out for years, and he can probably do it in weeks. Once we know how everything here works, we can find the cracks and slip through without issue.”
So I was just a resource then? Puffing, I crossed my arms, hamburger grease dripping from my left hand. When no one was looking, I quickly licked it off. Through the lint and a few strands of hair, it was just as good as when I’d first gotten it. I’d have to take little bites before I got home to see if the flavor soured with time.
