Chapter 3:

/Embi/

Lou


I still remember the time spent in the baby room, faintly enough. I don’t know the exact specs on my memory, but I believe we were in there until age 6. Then we got moved here, where we are now. I don’t know when or what the next step up is, though.

In the baby room, they made us take all sorts of tests. Plus, they would tell us over and over that these tests were of the utmost importance. I mean, you can’t blame me for not trusting myself to do good enough when they put it that way. They didn’t so much as bother mentioning what would happen if I wasn’t up to par.

So, I cheated off of the boy in front of me whenever I could. The buzzcut boy I would never forget.

Sometimes he would have his paper sort of to the side, and it would be easy for me to copy his answers without looking too conspicuous. If I couldn’t see his paper from either side, I’d stand up, and tell the adult in the room that I was stretching. They fell for it every time. While I was standing, I’d look down at his paper and memorize as many answers as I could. Then, I’d sit back down and write them as quickly as possible before forgetting.

When it came to physical tests however, I couldn’t really do much in terms of cheating. I’d just try my best to keep up with him. I’d be watching the back of his head, not letting it leave my sight.

That was my life in the baby room. I survived by leeching off of my host, up until the very end. While most of my memories from that far back are dim, there’s one that I can always go back to, and enjoy again like I’m really there.

It was the beginning of the second quarter, April 1st. AKA, our birthday. Our group had its regular celebration, and then we were moved to the other building.

We all walked in a single file line, one behind the other. It didn't take me long to notice that I was still behind the same boy, even now. ‘Maybe I should talk to him,’ I thought. But I didn’t act. I didn’t have it in me to talk to the boy who saved me. Not yet, at least. I’d have to study this time. There was nobody I could cheat off of to get this right.

When we arrived at the new building, the leading adult had us all sit down on a long bench. She was speaking, but I wasn’t really listening. He was right next to me. The boy. And for the first time, I could see more than just the back of his head. After gazing at his side profile for countless minutes, I looked lower and read his nametag.

Bowey… What a strange name.

..

.

..

….


“That monocle boy had a name. His name was Lou, and he was my friend.”

“And like I said, he was in my way, so-”

“So what?!”

She’s talking like she knows something. She’d better spit it out quick, or broken rules will be the least of her worries.

“So…” Embi brings her hand to the side of my face. “When I saw the opportunity, I disposed of him.”

“W-what…” I don’t even know what I want to ask. “What are you saying?”

“Well, it’s quite simple, really,” says Embi, still with her hand caressing my cheek. “I saw you sneaking him to your room. I mean, I’ve never even been to your room before, so naturally I got a bit jealous. To be completely frank, your lack of respect for any potential admirers was almost a turn-off. But anyway, I actually came up with the idea fairly quickly. Everybody knows it’s against the rules to go to another kid’s room, so all I had to do was tell an adult and they took care of the rest. Piece of cake.”

So that’s what happened. That’s how we got caught. Our sneaking was just fine. Lou didn't raise his voice too high. Nobody cared that he was holding my hand. This girl snitched.

“What’s wrong with you?!”

I finally pushed her hand away from my face. Then, I grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved her against the wall.

“There’s nothing wrong with me,” says Embi, with the biggest smile on her face. “I told you, I love you. You’d prefer that I told you the truth from the start, right? Or is dishonesty more attractive?”

I’m tightly clenching her shoulders, not able to come up with a single word of response.

Then, a grown-up walks over.

“Good afternoon, you two… Bowey and Embi. Is there a problem here?”

At that moment, my flight response kicked in and I let go of her shoulders, then took two steps back for good measure.

“No, there isn’t any problem here,” Embi replies.

The grown-up simply nodded his head and walked away.

“You wasted so much time talking to the monocle boy about things he didn’t care to hear about. You know, my TV is the same as yours. We could root for Major together. It would be fun.”

She grabbed me by the hand.

I feel like one of the grown-ups right now. My mind is totally blank. Actually, even a grown-up would probably have something to say in this situation.

“You’ll come around to love me too, eventually. I truly believe that. But if I need to get rid of a couple more obstacles for it to happen, I won’t hesitate. Not one bit. Don’t you forget that.”

After that declaration, she lets go of my hand and hugs me. Once she finished the embrace, she looked in my eyes for a moment longer before deciding she was done with me.

“See you later, Bowey.”

Victorious, she walked away, presumably to her room.

I have to get to my room too. Who knows what’ll happen if the doors close before I get back.

Taylor Victoria
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