No Time To Bleed

“Looking for someone?”

The cigarette smoke lingered in the air and I tried to not to hack up a lung. “Excuse me?”

I turned to see Antoinette down a hallway, an empty hallway. She was leaned against a wall with the embaying flakes of orange at the end of the cigarette’s bud.

“Are you looking for someone? You look like you’re looking for someone.”

“Well, then I guess you answered your own question.” I internally combatted at whether or not I was being rude. I didn’t want to be rude to this girl. “Why are you smoking?”

She shrugged, closing her eyes. “I know it’s bad for me. It just calms me down before I get too angry. I have anger issues.”

My knuckles were still hurting from the punch to Alex’s face.

I smiled. “Me too.”

Her eyes opened and snaked over to me, seeing my knuckles. “So who’d you punch?”

“A guy.” I laughed.

“This happen to be a guy that you like?”

I leaned against the wall across from her. She mashed the flaming cigarette to the wall behind her and grinded the rest in the carpet.

Probably a fire hazard.

“Is it a guy you like?” she repeated.

“That’s a complicated question in need of a complicated answer.” I was still staring down to the spot where she’d grinded the cigarette into the floor.

“So, where are you from anyway?” she asked.

“I used to live with my dad. Then I moved here a month and a half ago.”

“Perfect timing for the shit to hit the fan here.”

I laughed. “Right.”

“What made you leave your dad?” It was weird the way she was looking at me, like she was inspecting me or something.

“Family stuff.” I guess my heart was becoming lighter because I was able to talk about these things without that heavy weight there. “He cheated on my step mom.”

My voice croaked on the last sentence. “My life’s fallen apart. This state was supposed to be my new state.”

I usually was never forward with people like this.

“Don’t worry. I know the feeling. I thought my life was finally good. I was out of foster care. I had a family and even that only lasted for 6 months. Even me and Kyle, we’re just getting to know each other basically. He came 2 months ago.”

“What were your parents like?” A group of adults walked by at the end of the hallway.

“Nice. Clean. Normal family.” She sighed. “They’re all dead now like everyone else’s families.”

That made me think about Uncle Trevor and Aunt Meg. Had either of them survived?

“Lexicon is crazy.” I uttered.

She snorted. “I knew that, knew that since the day I came here. They do weird stuff to people in here, poke their eyes out and torture them.”

I didn’t even get to finish the rest of my words before Cece found us at the head of the hallway. “Jasmine! Antoinette! What are you guys doing here?”

“I’ve gotta pee.” Antoinette rushed out the hallway, nearly bumping over Cece in the process.

“Wow, what is that girl’s problem?!” Cece uttered.

I shrugged and walked over to her. We started making our way through the airport.

“You wanna go get some food?” she asked.

My stomach started to cave in at the suggestion and we made our way to the hot buffet.

I decidedly filled up my plate with all the warm and cozy necessities: mashed potatoes, gravy, French fries, a little bit of steak, and more.

I had to say it was a great difference from the slob the Psycho Family had tried to feed me.

“So, what was the deal with the whole Alex and that other guy thing?” She twirled a mass of strands of spaghetti and hammed it into her mouth.

“God, Cece, ever heard of restraint?”

She giggled, the red sauce dripping down her chin. “When you grow up being held captive by a murderous global company, you learn to appreciate good food.”

I took a plastic spoonful of my mashed potatoes and savored the steaming substance.

“So, what the deal with those two guys anyway? Who was that new boy?”

I sighed, crossing my legs under the table. I was guessing at the time and it had to have been to at least past 2 am.

“Jesse was a guy who went to my school. Total creep out pervert and the time, but he was there to help me when the Rogue Virus hit.”

“So, what happened?”

“We were with two other people, this girl, Jessica, and my friend, Ryant. We were escaping our school and Ryant was saying he had to find his brother. He left us and I tried to go after them. They tried to stop me, so I fought them off.”

“Sounds intense… How bad was the fight?”

I ran my hands through my hair. The doctors had let me use a hair dryer which I was thankful for even though they’d probably been bought off by Brett Wiggins.

“I used my bat, knocked out Jesse and practically killed Jessica.”

“You don’t hold back, do you?”

I shook my head. “Hell no. I needed to find my friend.”

Cece’s eyes looked to me, stating the never mentioned possibility. “Do you think we’ll find him?”

“I think so. I mean he couldn’t be hurt or anything…”

But, Ryant could be. He could be dead, but I’d never settle for that.

“And what’d you talk to Jesse about?”

“Catching up on some stuff until Alex showed up and was a total ass. He deserved me punching him in the face.”

Her spoon dropped. “You punched Alex in the face after slapping him yesterday?”

I shrugged. “So what? He knows who the boss is.”

“That’s still fucking amazing. I haven’t known Alex the longest time, but he never takes crap from anyone. Except you.”

My face started to burn and I felt my ears turn to steaming cartilage.

“Why do you think that is?” Her knuckles pressed beneath her jaw as she stared to me, red streaks of hair above her head.

“I don’t know. He wants to be my friend?”

Cece shook her head. “Dear Lord, are you that stubborn? Alex is falling for you.”

My hand snapped over her mouth. “Shut up!”

“Why?!” She pulled my hand from her mouth. “It’s true!”

“Cece, are we really gonna do this girl talk? I’m not one of those hormonal induced teenage girl.”

“Come on, Jasmine. Can’t you give me a little satisfaction? Some drama?”

I had to say she was more screwed up in the head than I’d originally judged. “Well, you’re not gonna be getting any drama and why don’t I flip the tables? What about you and that Kyle boy?”

Cece’s cheeks warmed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh come on. He’s totally into you, even if he is a creep. Do you like him?”

Her hands ran over her hair and she exhaled. “I guess. I’ve only known the guy an hour or two.”

Laughter could be heard a number of tables away and it was Kyle, laughing it up with his friends and nearly snorting milk out his nose. Antoinette was eating alone and flipping through a book.

“Isn’t he charming?” Cece sighed, a loving breath from her lips.

I rolled my eyes.

Kyle charming?

Cece had a lot to learn about teenage boys.