Chapter 1
“Wake up, sleepy head.”
“Leave me alone.”
“Can’t I was told it was time to wake you up.”
“By who? Sadie?”
“...Possibly.”
“Blah, tell her I said five more minutes.”
“Yeah, see, we predicted this, which is why we already gave you your five minutes.”
“ Aidan…go away before I hit you.”
“Come on, sunshine, please? Sadie said she and Noah are going to come up and wake you up if I fail.”
“Why, so I can be introduced to more crap? Haven’t I had enough of that at this point?”
“I know it’s been hard, but hey, at least now you have me.”
“Yeah, now I do. What am I supposed to do when you decide to run as well?”
“Valerie. I’m not going to abandon you. Promise.”
“....Fine. I believe you. Give me a minute, okay?”
“Alright, I’ll be back.”
“Well, is she coming? We’re going to arrive soon.”
“Chill, Noah, she’ll be here in a minute.”
“Fine, but I’m setting a timer. If she’s not back in sixty seconds, I’m getting her.”
“Sadie, why are you so anxious about her coming so quickly?”
“That’s what I’d like to know. It’s not like I’m dying here. Just sleeping. Nothing wrong with that."
"Sure, nothing wrong with that, but now we are here, and you don't have your stuff ready!"
"Sade, it's okay. Val can go grab her stuff and meet you outside."
Sadie took a deep breath and nodded her head. "Fine, but you need to hurry up. We will have check-in and then meal time, and I'm hungry."
"I was just going to go to the dorm after check-in. I'm not that hungry, and I'm really tired."
"Sunshine, are you feeling okay? You slept for most of the train ride here. Are you sick?"
"I'm fine, You guys go ahead; I'll see you at check-in."
"Yes, you will, and then we will walk you to meals. You need to eat, and I don't think you've eaten much today." Sadie answered, leaving no room for questions or comments. Valerie sighed, nodded her head, and walked off.
"You know I worry about her. She didn't have a good summer or school year last year. It's evident everywhere. She doesn't act like herself. She's pushing everyone away." Sadie said after a giant sigh, wrapping her arms around herself.
"We know, but right now, we can't push her too hard, okay? We'll watch her, but there isn't much we can do other than that. Watching her constantly isn't going to make her feel comfortable." Noah said honestly.
"He's right, she needs our help I agree, but when we give it to her we need to reassure her so that she opens up on her own. Don't push her too hard. She'll get better. We all will make sure of it."
"C'mere," Noah says, grabbing Sadie and pulling her into a hug. The three of them hug and walk off to the check-in area.
Soon enough, Valerie found her friends, who checked in together.
"You four are in the same dorm. There are two rooms, one for the women and the other for the men. There will be a door separating you guys. It's going to feel very similar to a house, just having to walk into the other room. Please make sure to set some boundaries and follow the rules already given." The guy started.
"Yeah, we know how this works. We've been here every year; you know us, Koen. Now please hand us our stuff and let us go. You can hand that junk to the group behind us." Sadie says, pointing behind her.
"Fine. Here are your numbers: you are in Hall 14, Dorm room 12." Koen answers, handing the papers to Noah and Sadie.
"Thank you," Sadie says with a bit of attitude while the rest say it normally.
