Manipulate
Chapter Twenty-One

I smile when I feel the texture of the rose. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt a real rose. Donatella always had those stupid fake flowers displayed in vases around her house. The sharp pointy thorns have been trimmed off.

I scan the room and see most of my age unit. The younger unit is nowhere to be found. Nick lays on his bunk with his disc open and typing on it. Theo has a book open in front of him.

Theo looks up from his book. He has a smile painted across his face. His straight white perfect teeth show when he smiles.

“The younger unit is down at the training room because they failed miserably earlier this morning,” Nick comments as he swipes on his disc.

Theo rolls his eyes at Nick’s comments. I ball my fists but I release them just as quickly. Nick leaves the room and goes to the bathroom. Theo gives me an annoyed look.

“Is he always like this?” I ask.

“All the time. He thinks that he practically owns the place,” Theo says, rolling his eyes again.

Nick comes back and lays down on his bunk. “What were you guys talking about?” He asks with lip curling.

“Nothing,” I lie.

Theo gives me a small smile. Nick rolls his eyes and opens his Disc, opening a game on it.

“Abhaya, come with me. I want to show you something,” Theo whispers.

I look at Theo. He has a sly smile on his face. I nod and follow Theo out of the dorm and into the hallway.

“What are you doing?” I ask as Theo pulls out his Disc.

“I’m going to kick Nick off of the internet,” Theo says with a smile.

I feel the corners of my mouth curl up. “Do it,” I whisper.

Theo smiles and types in a passcode. After a few minutes, Theo successfully kicks Nick off of the internet.

“Hey! Who did that?” Nick shouts from the dorm room.

Theo shoots me a smile. I put a hand over my mouth to stifle my laugh. This is the best prank that I’ve ever witnessed. Nick storms out of the dorm with a scowl on his face.

“Why did you do that?” Nick hisses.

“So, we could see your reaction,” I shoot back.

That’s when Nick snaps.

“That wasn’t cool Theo,” he sneers.

“Well as the oldest person in the dorms, I do have the right to kick people off of their discs with Rae’s permission,” Theo retorts.

Nick rolls his eyes at Theo and walks back into the dorm, slamming the door behind him. A smile tugs at the corner of my mouth.

Theo sucks in a breath. He looks uncertain about what he is about to say. His ocean blue eyes glance around the hallway and then back to me.

“Is there anything else that you wanted to talk about?” I ask.

Theo looks at me. His eyes are hard but they carry a softness in them. He stares down at the ground like he’s searching for something.

“Um... well I just wanted to say that, I’m moving out of the dorm soon,” Theo says with hesitation.

“Is that good or is that bad?” I ask.

“Well, that means a new person will move into the dorms and I have to move into an apartment,” Theo explains. His voice sounds hesitant. And his eyes are glued to the ground.

“You mean that you’ll have to live in the adult’s quarters, right?”

“Yep. That’s exactly what’s going to happen,” Theo says with a small smile.

“When are you leaving?” I whisper.

“After lunch tomorrow,” Theo answers.

I don’t answer. But for some reason I wrap my arms around Theo’s neck and hug him. Theo doesn’t stiffen or tense up. His eyes meet mine. He has a smile on his face and his face is slightly pink. Theo responds and wraps his arms around my stomach. He holds me close to his chest. So, my head rests right above his heart. Theo’s chin grazes the top of my head. It sends an electric feeling down my spine.

This is a feeling that I’ve never felt. But I like it. I like it too much. Just too much.

Theo doesn’t let me go for the next five minutes. He just stands there with his arms wrapped around my stomach, holding me close to him. It’s been a long time since I’ve let anyone hold me this long. Aj was lucky that I let him hug me. But that was only for a few minutes though.

My arms stay wrapped around Theo’s neck. He’s much taller than me and my arms begin to feel numb from the position I’m in. I rise up onto my tiptoes and bury my head into Theo’s shoulder. Theo only responds by tightening his grip around my stomach. One of his arms cradles the back of my neck.

I sigh into his shoulder and close my eyes.

“How’s your head, Abhaya?” Theo whispers.

“Better. It’s not as bad as it was at lunch.”

“Good. So-” Theo gets cut off by Nick opening the door.

Nick stands in the doorway. His face is painted with a scowl. His arms are crossed. Theo doesn’t unwrap his arms from me. I unwrap my arms from his neck. When Nick steps into the hallway, Theo unwraps his arms from my stomach. But his hand lingers on the small of my back.

“What do you want?” Theo sighs.

“Can you please put me back on the internet?” Nick asks.

“I will if you give me five minutes,” Theo responds.

Nick strides toward Theo. In a flash, Nick hits Theo square in the jaw. Theo stumbles back into a wall. Adrenaline in my veins rush through my body. I step between Nick and Theo. My temper flares as I stare at Nick.

“Are you going to hit me?” Nick sneers.

Before I can make a comeback, I pull my fist back and I hit Nick in the nose. Nick stumbles back with blood gushing out of his nose. My fist is coated thick with blood. Theo’s jaw looks fine but his face is red.

“Is Nick always an asshole?” I ask.

“Yes. And I feel bad for you. You’ll have to deal with him,” Theo states.

I shake my head. “It’s fine, Theo. I had two stepsisters growing up and Nick is nothing compared to them.”

Theo smiles at me. “Well, I’d better let Nick back on the internet before he punches me again.”

“You know that you don’t have to do that right? You should tell Max or Alia when they get back. He’s only trying to put fear into you.”

“Yeah I know. You’re right, Abhaya. Thank you.”

Before Theo walks off, he comes and wraps his arms around my stomach once again. “Next time we go see Rae, make sure to ask her for a key card. It’ll be useful,” Theo whispers in my ear.

I nod and Theo lets me go. When Max and Alia return later with the younger unit; they’re all covered in sweat and paint. Abi comes and climbs on my clean bunk. I just washed the dirty sheets that morning and I got clean ones from a closet in the hall.

“Abi can you please get off of my bed please? I just changed the sheets this morning,” I ask.

Abi looks at me with her brown eyes. But her smile is bright. “Okay,” she chirps.

She hops down and looks at me.

“How did your paper go?” I ask as I climb down off of the bunk.

“Great. I got a ninety-nine percent on it!” Abi exclaims.

“That’s amazing! Nice job,” I say, giving Abi a large hug.

Abi’s smile beams like the sun. Bright is how I would describe her smile.

The bell for dinner rings and everyone runs out of the dorm running, yelling and screaming like there’s no tomorrow. Not again, I think as the wild ride begins. Again. I walk along the wall with Abi chattering away. My head wants to hurt again. But I won’t let it.

The line in the cafeteria moves at a decent pace. That night they serve four cheese pita flatbread pizzas with roasted squash soup. I pick up two slices of the pizza and spoon some of the soup into a small bowl. The soup smells sweet but not too sweet. It only smells sweet because of any seasonings they used and the squash too.

I replace a spot at a table in the back. Theo, Trey and Peter come and sit down next to me. Peter whispers something to Trey. Trey looks at Theo and laughs. Peter joins in on the fun too. Theo turns away from his friends in embarrassment.

“Did you let Nick back onto the internet?” I whisper.

Theo looks up from the ground. “Oh yeah. I did.”

“Did you choose to? Or did he threaten you?”

“He came up and threatened me.”

I sigh and look at Theo. “You need to tell Max or Alia. Soon. Maybe now,” I urge.

Theo glances around the cafeteria for Max or Alia. “I’ll go talk to Max. I found him over there.”

Theo leaves the table to go replace Max. I spoon the pureed squash into my mouth. The flavor is sweet but it has a tiny kick to it. I feel someone brush past me. I look over my shoulder and see Nick standing next to me. He sits down next to me and starts shoveling food into his mouth.

Gross, I think as I stare at Nick in disgust. Theo comes back with a smile on his face.

“What happened?” I ask.

“I’ll tell you after dinner,” Theo responds.

“But the game’s after dinner.”

“On the way back to the dorm then.”

“Okay.”

I pick up the pizza and take a bite out of it. The crust is flakey and the cheese is warm and melts in my mouth. The alfredo sauce blends in with the cheese and the crust. I finish the pizza and I spoon the soup into my mouth. The spices and green onion add flavor to the roasted squash. Nick kicks my leg continuously as I focus on spooning the liquid into my mouth. The soup sloshes in my spoon and the hot liquid lands on my leg.

The heat of the soup stings my leg as it goes through the rip in my jeans. I bite back a hiss as I mop up the mess. When I remove the napkin from the stain, I can’t see anything. I can’t even feel where the soup burned me.

Nick doesn’t apologize nor does he say anything about the accident. He just carries on with his own life. Nick yells at someone across the room. He waves his hand back and forth. Back and forth until the person he was waving at comes over.

“Hey, Lee! Over here!” Nick calls out.

Lee dashes over to the table. Bumping into it in the process. The bowls, plates, cups and trays rattle from the impact of the hit. Theo scowls at Lee as his cup of water spills. Theo mumbles something about Lee being irresponsible.

Theo gets up from the table and goes back to get more food. Nick and Lee sit across from each other throwing food at one another, laughing, talking and kicking the table. Theo comes back with another serving of pizza and two slices of caramel cheesecake.

Nick reaches over to snatch an item from Lee. In the process Nick hits the table and causes the whole table to shake like an earthquake. Theo glares at Nick as he sits back down next to me. Theo hands me a slice of TID Cheesecake with a smile. I accept it without rejection or question.

“Thank you,” I say in a small voice.

Theo smiles at me. His gestures say more than his words could ever.

I slice the cheesecake with my fork. The graham cracker crust melts in my mouth and the sweetness of the cheesecake blends with the hint of salt from the caramel.

The bell rings and everyone runs out of the cafeteria filled with excitement and laughter. I spot Theo in the crowd with his brown hair standing out of the crowd. I push my way through the crowd to catch up to him.

“Hi. Can you tell me about what happened at dinner?” I ask, breathless.

Theo looks at me and smiles. “I found Max and he’s revoking Nick’s Disc privileges for the next week.”

I clap a hand over my mouth to disguise my laugh that was about ready to escape my body. “Oh my God. That is- can I say amazing?” I ask.

Theo nods at my request.

“That’s amazing,” I say with a smile.

Theo returns a smile to me. His face turns pink as he eyes turn into a deeper shade of blue every second. The hallway fills with screaming and yelling as we turn corners and walk down hallways leading to the dorm room.

Nick and Lee begin to yell and shout at the top of their lungs. Max and Alia enter the dorm and they’re greeted with screaming and shouting.

“Are you guys ready to kick the adult’s butt’s?” Alia asks.

A chorus of cheers echo through the room. Max shakes his head at Alia as she rambles on and on about the game and how we’ll win this year.

“Alia. Alia. Alia!” Max snaps.

Alia whips her head around and glares at Max. “What?” She asks.

Max shakes his head and sighs. “Alia, we need to review the rules, give them their protection gear, paintball guns, and paintballs.”

“Oh yes. You’re right. Everyone let’s go down to the training room then,” Alia says with a smile.

Alia and Max lead us to the training room. While Alia is busy with explaining the rules of the game, Max hands out protection gear and goggles.

“Make sure that you always wear your goggles. You may never take them off; even if you want to.” Max explains as he passes out the gear.

I observe everyone as they put on their gear. I break apart the Velcro and wrap it around my knees, elbows, chest, and stomach. Alia distributes black short sleeve overshirts and paintball guns to everyone. Max hands each one of us a helmet with a shield on it to protect our faces.

“Now, follow us and we’ll go and play some paintball!” Max yells over the chaos.

Everyone follows Max out of the training room and down the hall. Rae stands at the end of the hallway waiting patiently for us to meet her.

Rae beams at us when we stop and look at her. “Everyone, since there is a large number of you; you’ll be taking either a bus or the train to get to the St. Louis Wheel. If you are twelve to fourteen; you’re going to be taking the bus. If you’re fifteen to nineteen; you’ll be taking the train. Have fun everybody and I hope that you win.”

Max reads off a list. “Twelve to fourteen-year old’s follow Alia. And everyone else follow me.”

Max leads us to a dark platform outside the exit of TID. A horn blare as the wind rushes past us. My hair flies in its long ponytail behind my head. Luckily I chose to slick it all back into one long ponytail; and not into a ponytail with my side swept ‘bangs’.

I stare down at my hands. I almost forgot that I was holding a paintball gun. My hands are numb from holding the gun for too long.

The train stops. Causing a loud screeching sound in the process. The light reflects off of the dark wall. I feel a sudden chill in the air as Max steps on. He motions for us to follow him.

We follow suit and climb onto the train. Everyone stands packed against the wall holding their guns. The guns point down at an angle. Lee and Nick stand next to one another. Great. Now they’re going to goof off and try to kill one another, I think as I stare at them from the distance.

The train lurches forward as the tracks start to rattle with speed. Theo pushes his way through the crowd effortlessly. He smiles when he replaces me at the back of the car. I smile back at him.

I observe him. The black overshirt barely conceals his tattoo. And all the dark colors on him, make his ocean blue eyes seem darker than they really are.

“Are you nervous?” Theo asks.

I guess he notices my anxious behavior. Every time I get anxious or nervous, I always do something with my feet or fidget with my hands.

“No,” I lie.

“You’re lying,” Theo presses.

“No, I’m not. Since when would I lie,” I retort.

Theo backs away from me in surrender.

“Woah. Geez I didn’t mean it like that. I was just wondering,” Theo responds.

“Sorry. Maybe I am a little nervous,” I admit.

Theo smiles. His teeth shine like pearls in the sun. Blush creeps up my neck and I feel it spread through my face.

Oh God, please don’t say that he sees me blushing, I think as the train rushes through the tunnel.

Everyone in the car stands shoulder to shoulder talking and laughing. While others stand pressed against the wall of the car discussing strategies for how we’re going to win. I stay pressed against the wall next to Theo and Mia.

“Abhaya, do you have any ideas for how we’re going to win?” Mia asks.

“No. I haven’t thought about that yet.”

“Well, are you smart? I mean do you have good grades?” Mia presses.

“Yeah I have good grades,” I reply.

“What’s your GPA then? Mine’s a three,” Mia brags.

“Do I really have to answer that question?”

Mia nods and I sigh. “Five.”

Mia’s jaw drops and her eyes go wide. “What? You can achieve a score higher than four? That’s impossible.”

“No, it’s really not if you study and pay attention,” I say, while tapping my chin with my index finger. “I also took the advanced classes with the added weight.”

I glance around the car. My eyes replace Theo’s. His lips curl into a smile when his eyes catch mine.

The train lurches to a neck breaking stop when we arrive at the Wheel. Everyone pours out of the train like water rushing out of a dam. The lights around the Wheel dimly glow as we pass graffitied walls, attractions and booths.

There’re words sprayed like Coca Cola, Red Bull, Powerade, and many other words that I’ve never heard of. We have milk, tea, coffee, and water. I’m guessing that life before St. Louis became isolated, was fun, festive and full of people and laughter. Now St. Louis looks almost like a graveyard.

It’s dark and monotonous now. The streets are full of people and the trains and buses still run; it’s just not like what they show or write in our history books.

My eyes bounce around the scenery. I see the still water of Lake Michigan in the dark cool night. Mom and dad would take Aj and I kayaking every summer on Lake Michigan. Or all of Dad’s side of the family would meet up with us and we’d have a picnic.

That was when mom was with us and Donatella hadn’t made her dramatic entrance into my life. Donatella tore our families apart and I haven’t spoken to any of dad’s relatives in a long time. The only people that I’ve ever come in contact on his side is Will and my Aunt Emma.

Max leads us to the Wheel. We wait about five minutes before Alia and the younger group shows up. Then the TID-Born arrive with her. Alia smiles as she steps into the dim light of the lamppost.

“Are you guys ready to beat the adults tonight?” Alia asks us.

A series of cheers tear through the empty night air. I catch Alia and Max exchanging smiles to one another.

“Does anyone have any questions?” Max asks over the cheering.

One hand goes up in the air. “Has anyone ever died during a game?” The kid squeaks.

Max shakes his head. “Not that I’m aware of. I’m sure that it has happened in the past by accident but that shouldn’t happen tonight. Any more questions?”

The crowd is silent in the still night. Max and Alia stand in silence for a moment.

“So where are we going to hide the flag?” Nick asks.

“Hey, Smartass, we’re trying to figure that out at the moment,” I call out.

Nick shoots me a death glare. I feel a sense of pride in my chest. He may have tutored me and taunted the other people in the unit; but he’s still dumb even if he thinks that the world revolves around him. It really doesn’t. The world revolves around the Sun.

“We could hide it in the trees over there,” Peter calls out.

“We could. But the adults could replace it easily,” Theo reminds him.

“We could hide it in the window of that building over there,” I suggest.

Everyone turns their heads to look at the building that’s five feet away from where we’re standing.

“We could hide it in the window and two or three people stand guard of it,” I add.

Everyone murmurs and agrees that’s the strategy we’ll use. Max and Alia step back and let us take control of the game plan. Peter and Trey hide the flag in the window in the deserted building. While Abi and Mia stand guard and watch the flag.

“I thought that we were playing just regular paintball,” I whisper to Kayla.

Kayla scoffs. “Anything here in TID is anything but regular.”

I nod and look at Kayla. Her gloves turn a flaming orange. “Are your hands okay? They’re turning orange,” I point out.

Kayla glances down at her hands. She removes her paintball gun and hands it to me. She undoes her gloves and looks at her hands. They glow an ember orange. Like fire. Nick makes his way through the crowd.

“Hey Fire Girl, can you throw balls of fire at the adults so we can win?” Nick calls out.

Kayla glares daggers at Nick through the dim light. Nick shrinks in terror as Kayla strides toward him with her fists clenched.

“Shut the Hell up Bishcuit. And leave me alone,” she growls.

Nick rolls his eyes and walks away with Lee following him.

“What does ‘Bishcuit’ mean?” I ask stupidly.

“It means many things,” Kayla starts. It can mean, bitch, asshole, dumb, stupid. It’s basically an insult.”

I nod my head like I understand what she’s saying. Max and Alia come back.

“The game will be starting in five minutes. Alia will hand you your paintballs and you’ll load your gun with them. Do you all understand?” Max asks.

Everyone nods and we wait for Alia to pass out the paintballs. Moments later, the sound of clicking and loading fill the still night. I glance up at the night sky. I can see a full moon with stars twinkling in the sky. There’s not a cloud in sight.

A siren blares in the distance. Everyone scrambles for their positions. Even in the dark night I can see Mia’s and Abi’s silhouettes run toward the flag to guard it. I snap out of my daze and I start running with the crowd.

Everyone charges toward the adults like its war. I run toward the Wheel as soon as I can. Paint flies through the air. I stare up at the white looming death trap I’m daring to climb.

I take a deep breath. Inhale through my nose. Exhale out my mouth. You’ve been through worse. You’ve seen worse nothing can compare to climbing a damn Wheel, I think as I stare at the white and rusting structure.

I wrap one hand around a rung. Sturdy, I think. At least for now. I sling my gun around my back as I start to climb the Wheel. The cool breeze blows in the still night as I climb rung by rung on the Wheel.

I make it halfway up the Wheel before I feel a shift in weight. I look down and see a boy’s silhouette climbing in the dark night.

“Abhaya, you are crazy,” he says, breathless.

“Theo is that you?” I ask, calling into the dead night.

“Yes, it’s me. But you didn’t answer my question,” Theo replies.

“I just thought that I could get a better view from a higher point.”

Theo looks up at me and nods. I notice that his paintball gun is also slung across his back. I keep climbing each rung at a steady pace. The rungs creak with old age as I clutch each rung.

Before I can catch myself, one of the rungs in my right-hand snaps. My breath gets caught in my throat. I feel the wind hitting my face. Please don’t fall, please don’t fall, I chant in my head as my body weight gets pushed to the left of the ladder.

Before I lose my grip on the ladder, I feel two hands wrap around my waist. My face heats up from Theo’s touch. His fingertips barely skim my exposed skin from my shirt. Theo shifts me back onto the ladder with ease.

My muscles tense in my body at his touch. My breathing slows down to a normal pattern.

“You good?” Theo asks in a low voice.

“Yeah,” I say with a nod.

“Okay. Try not to fall again. It’s a long drop from here.”

I nod my head and I keep climbing. I feel my lungs begging for air as the cool crisp air bites my lungs. I look down at the ground and see paint everywhere on the ground.

“Is this high enough?” Theo asks.

“Almost. Just a little higher,” I reply.

“Okay. I guess,” Theo says in a shaky voice.

Theo and I stop at the top of the ladder. He looks down at the ground. I spot a neon orange flag in the distance. The flag hides on the roof of the same building that we hid ours in.

“Theo, look over there,” I say, tapping him on the shoulder.

Theo turns his head and looks in the direction of my finger. He nods and we climb back down the long and deadly ladder of doom.

“Don’t slip this time Abhaya,” Theo reminds me.

I nod. “Don’t worry. I learn from my mistakes the first time.”

I see Theo smile in the dark night. The dim light makes him barely visible in the dark night. I skip the broken rung with Theo’s hand guiding my ankle down.

The blood in my veins rushes at his touch. I manage to keep my breathing in control this time.

Theo and I make it down the rusty and old Wheel without it breaking or one of us slipping. That is pure luck, honestly.

I start darting through the paint stained field with my paintball gun in front of me. I still have all the paintballs that Alia passed out earlier. An adult jumps out of the dark with her paintball gun focused on me. I aim at her arm and shoot her there. A loud splat echoes through the night.

I start running with the paintball gun loaded in front of me. I feel multiple paintballs hit me on the arms, legs and chest. Thank God that they invented protection gear for this. I shoot two paintballs at one man and it hits him square in the chest.

I run to the other side and replace the rest of my team. They’re all stained in paint. No one has their helmet off; but I can feel their eyes burning into me.

“I found where the adults hid their flag,” I say, breathless.

Everyone looks at me. “Are you sure? I mean come on, you’re new here and you don’t know their strategies. Abhaya, you’ve been here for only a week and why should we trust you?” Nick asks, removing his helmet.

“Because she showed me.” Theo says abruptly behind me.

I feel my body tense up at his sudden appearance. Murmurs go through the crowd. My face flushes from heat and embarrassment.

Nick rolls his eyes and sighs. “Fine. Show us where they hid the flag then.”

I smile. “Come on.”

Everyone who didn’t have their helmets on put them back on and follow Theo and me. I motion for half the group to follow me and the other half to follow Theo. I go left and Theo goes right.

Five adults stand guard on top of the roof where the flag is poorly hidden. The neon orange glows in the night as we creep closer and closer to the adults. When we’re close to the roof, everyone takes their paintball guns and start shooting at the adults.

“Go! Go! Climb up the trees and ladders!” Theo calls out, in a muffled tone.

We scale trees and the few ladders around the roof. The adults start shooting out paintballs and some people fall to the ground or slip. One girl dangles off the edge of the gutter. Before I can grab her wrist, she slips and falls to the ground.

I’m the only one left climbing the trees. I stand on a branch and tightrope walk the branch all the way to the end. I take a giant leap across to the roof. I land roughly on my feet. The impact stings my ankles.

I take my paintball gun out and shoot the adults with my four remaining paintballs. I hit their shields with the paint. The paint stains their shields yellow and pink. I dart pass them and I snatch the flag.

I wave it in the dark night. Cheers erupt in the dead night from my unit. Sweat beads my face and neck as I wave the neon flag in the dark night.

A siren blares in the background signaling that the game is over. Mia and Abi run out of the building without their helmets on. I climb down one of the remaining ladders with the flag balancing across my shoulders.

Max and Alia push their way through the crowd and take the flag from my hands. Max holds the flag up in the air as everyone cheers once again.

“Okay, everyone! Hey settle down!” Alia calls out.

The crowd goes silent.

“Everyone in the transfers unit, you are riding the train back to TID! All the TID-Borns you’re taking the buses back to TID! Great job tonight and congratulations on your guy’s win!” Alia yells, with her hands cupped around her mouth.

I feel a sense of pride flutter in my chest. I don’t want to take all the credit but tonight I think I can take it all. I truly helped my team and I feel more confident than I could ever in my life. I really do.