***
We all go through the motions after dinner. Rose plays pool against Will and soon Charlie joins in. Rose and Charlie are both really good at it and while I don’t really understand what’s happening, Will seems to be getting excited over certain hits and misses.
“Want to play a round, Zoe, for our bet?” Charlie asks.
“No way.” I know I’ll easily lose at it, although it’s not like I care about the bet. I’ll happily kiss Charlie. For some reason, I feel competitive about it. I want to win the bet just to win it.
After ten, we all call it a night and go through the same routines to go to bed. We don’t want anyone to think tonight is any different from any other night.
After a quick shower and brushing of my teeth, I glance at myself in the mirror. I’m still not recognizable to myself, but I can see something different. Perhaps I look a little less haunted? My dark brown hair isn’t so lifeless, my brown eyes aren’t completely troubled and my face doesn’t appear entirely gaunt. A change is happening and I don’t know when it started.
I leave my room and then keep the door ajar to Charlie’s room. I don’t want to have to open the door at two in the morning and have it squeak.
I feel like a pile of nerves lying on Charlie’s bed, thinking ahead to tonight. Will we be escaping this place tonight? Will I be waking up tomorrow somewhere else? Or worse, will we all be caught and punished? If Martha really wants Charlie and me not to be together, all it’ll take is moving us to separate locations. What if one of us gets hurt tonight? Those guards all have guns and if they mistake us for people breaking in, then they may shoot first and ask questions later.
“Zoe, I can feel the stress you’re putting yourself through. Just calm down.”
“I can’t. What if…” I trail off. I can’t say my worries out loud. Not because someone might be listening, but because the words won’t form for me to say.
“Don’t think about that. Remember what I said the other night? Happy memories.” Charlie turns me over so that my head rests over his chest and I let my arm stretch over his stomach. This is much more comfortable than lying on the edge and a better use of the small mattress we share. Charlie intertwines his fingers with my own and we lie like that for hours. I close my eyes at one point and when I can’t concentrate on any one happy memory with Dana, I think about Charlie; his smile, his arms, his protectiveness of me. I allow myself to feel safe and I sink into a dream.
I’m surrounded by wooden features. The walls look like logs and even the ground and ceiling are wooden. I feel warm and safe here as I look at my surroundings. A fire is burning strong and bright. I notice the backs of people sitting around a table as I move away from them. I want to go back and see who they are, but I can’t seem to stop myself from moving away. I turn around suddenly and look upwards, glimpsing a familiar face. It’s Charlie. I’m peering at him from a strange angle and I’m slow to realize he’s holding me in his arms. I involuntarily jerk, fearing being dropped and he looks down at me and smiles.
“It’s okay. I’m just taking you to bed.”
I let myself relax back in his arms as he walks me up stairs and into a bedroom, placing me gently on top of a bed. I don’t bother to take in these surroundings because I only have one thing on my mind now. Charlie. I feel such a strong need to be close to him that my breath catches. I smile when he undoes the buttons on my shirt and rips it away from my shoulders. I help lift Charlie’s shirt off him and seconds later, we are both shirtless and breathing heavily. My breath disappears when he reaches down to kiss my neck—
“Zoe?” Charlie wakes me up with a light shrug of my shoulder and my dream crashes down on me at his touch. I’m still wrapped up in his arms from the embrace we were in from earlier and I go red in the face, embarrassed by the type of dream I was just having. Did I say anything out loud? Does he know what I’ve just been dreaming about?
“Are you okay? It’s nearly time to go,” Charlie whispers to me softly, careful not to speak loudly.
“I just had a dream. One of the future,” I quietly gasp.
“Really? What happened?” Charlie’s interest is piqued.
“We make it out of here, the two of us. I don’t know about the others. We were at a place I didn’t recognize, a cabin or something.”
“What are we doing? What were we saying?” Charlie is clearly eager to hear more.
“Later.” I feel further embarrassment thinking about it. It’s clear what was about to happen in that dream.
“Fine, come on.” Charlie waits for me to move away from him before he gets out of bed. He pulls on a sweater over his shirt and I place a jacket that I left in his room from the other day over me. I quietly put my shoes on and sneak out of the room, trying my hardest not to make a sound.
Will is already out in the hallway, waiting, and I almost go into Rose’s room to see if she’s awake before she suddenly appears. She is dressed in jeans and a dark hoody. How did she manage to score jeans? Her hair is pulled back neatly into a ponytail and I feel incredibly underdressed all of a sudden. I’m still wearing the track pants and thin shirt under my jacket. If we escape, I won’t be able to hide in these very well. Why hadn’t I thought of that?
Rose signals for us to move and I look back at my room longingly before Charlie takes my hand and pulls me forward.
We hold our breath while Rose works at picking the lock, which she seems to have difficulty with. Just when I think she’s going to give up, the lock clicks and the door opens.
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