Don’t Play With Me
~Euphoria~
“Where the fuck have you been?!”
Niera screamed the moment I walked through the door.
“You just left us at breakfast twice!
You didn’t even finish your food!”
The moment she mentioned food, my stomach growled loudly.
I huffed, a small pout forming on my lips.
“Shoot…
and I was so hungry.”
“Ria, spill it.
Now.”
Niera wasn’t calming down.
If anything, she looked even more intense.
“I…
went to the infirmary…” I answered quietly.
“Why?
Because of the slap?” she demanded.
“And why did a beast drag you away like that?
Why did you let him?”
I flinched.
“I…
I don’t know.
He told me to follow him, so I did.”
“Girl, you can’t just follow people whenever they order you to.”
This time, it was Clara.
“It was like…
I couldn’t say no.” I frowned, trying to understand it myself.
“The authority in his voice…
I felt this overwhelming compulsion to obey.”
I hadn’t even questioned it.
I just followed.
Why did I obey so easily?
“Maybe it’s one of their abilities.” Clara’s voice lowered.
“Maybe they can make humans do things.”
Oh my…
What if she was right?
The thought made my stomach twist.
“So…” Natari spoke calmly, bringing the room back to reality.
“What exactly happened today?
You disappeared after going to the bathroom, and then some beast carried you off to the infirmary.”
I really didn’t want to explain everything.
Not everything.
“I’m really hungry…” I admitted instead.
I looked toward the door.
“Do you think they still have food in the cafeteria?”
“I brought yours back.”
Natari stood from her bed and walked over to the cabinet against the wall.
“It’s cold now, but it’s better than nothing.”
I couldn’t have cared less if it was cold.
Food was food.
And right now, I was simply grateful to have something to eat.
The thought of going hungry today had already made my stomach sink.
Natari handed me a metal container unlike anything I’d ever seen before.
It wasn’t steel or aluminum.
The silver-colored metal shimmered faintly beneath the light.
“Oh!”
My face brightened immediately.
“Thank you.
Thank you so very much.”
“You’re changing the subject,” Niera pointed out.
I quickly took a bite before answering.
“I went to the bathroom…
but I accidentally opened the wrong door and got stuck in a storage closet.”
That much was technically true.
“Then I went to the infirmary.
The nurse was very kind.
She was a beast.”
I smiled softly at the memory of Eleanor.
“After that, I came back here.”
I wasn’t lying.
I was simply leaving out…
Certain parts.
I didn’t want them thinking I was some kind of loose girl.
“I don’t believe you,” Clara admitted.
“But I’ll let it go.”
“But I won’t,” Niera argued immediately.
Natari walked over and smacked the back of Niera’s head.
“Yes, you will.”
Niera glared at her sister.
Then she sighed.
“…Fine.”
She looked back at me.
“Sorry, Ria.
If you don’t want to tell us everything, that’s okay.”
Then she narrowed her eyes.
“But just so you know…”
She pointed at me.
“Your left eye twitches whenever you lie.”
“What?”
My hand immediately flew to my face.
“No way…”
Niera grinned.
“Anyway,” Natari continued before I could panic any further, “you missed an announcement.
We need to be at the auditorium shortly before lunch.”
“We’re getting our welcome packets,” Clara added with a grin.
“My family sponsored them, so I hope you enjoy.”
“That is so kind of your family.”
I’d never received a welcome packet before.
I was actually excited.
“Yeah,” Niera muttered.
“It’s part of how they bought their way into everyone’s good graces.”
“Probably.”
Clara shrugged.
“But I don’t exactly get to choose what my family does.
Sometimes I benefit from it.
Sometimes I don’t.”
Her smile faded slightly.
“Usually, they only make decisions that benefit Clarice.”
She shrugged again.
“This time…”
She smiled.
“I got lucky.”
“You call rooming with us lowlifes lucky?” Niera asked.
“Absolutely.”
Clara nodded confidently.
“You only had to attend school with Clarice.”
She sighed dramatically.
“I have to live with her.”
“You know…”
Niera rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
“When you put it that way…”
She nodded.
“I think you might actually have it worse.”
“Precisely.”
I smiled quietly.
I understood people holding resentment toward certain family members.
I had experienced enough misplaced hatred to understand that much.
But I never understood how families could become so fractured.
How people who were supposed to love each other could become the very people who hurt each other the most.
“What do you think made Clarice that way?” Natari asked.
“Being spoiled,” Clara answered without hesitation.
“When your parents buy you cars and exotic pets for your birthday, while constantly reminding you your older sister isn’t good enough…”
She shrugged.
“It twists people.”
“I’m sorry your home is like that.”
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
“A family should love one another.”
I looked between them.
“They shouldn’t make each other hurt.”
Clara stared at me for a moment.
Then she gave me a small smile.
“I guess my family missed that lesson.”
She shrugged.
“It’s alright.”
Her voice was lighter now.
“I’m used to it.”
Then she looked at me.
“What about your family?”
She tilted her head.
“Any black sheep?”
I hesitated.
The smile disappeared from my face.
“I’m an orphan.”
The room became noticeably quieter.
“My mother and Ba are both gone.”
My fingers tightened around the edge of the container.
“My Ba’s family…
they tolerate me.”
I swallowed.
“But my mother’s family…”
My voice became quieter.
“They blame me for everything.”
No one interrupted me.
“For my mother loving my Ba.”
I stared down at my food.
“For her dying.”
My throat tightened.
“And they hated my eyes most.”
I forced out a small laugh.
It didn’t sound real.
“They used to say I was cursed.”
I looked down at my lap.
“‘Too much water in those eyes.'”
My voice became smaller.
“‘One day you’ll drown the world in a monsoon.'”
Silence settled over the room.
No one spoke.
I wasn’t sure what they were supposed to say.
There wasn’t really anything to say.
Those words had followed me for years.
Sometimes, I wondered if they were right.
Maybe there really was something wrong with me.
Maybe I really was cursed.
Finally, Niera broke the silence. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
“…How are you still so…
nice?”
I looked at her.
I thought about the question for a moment.
“I don’t know how to be cruel.”
I lowered my gaze to my folded hands.
“And the thought of hurting someone on purpose…”
I shook my head.
“It leaves an unpleasant feeling in my heart.”
I paused.
“I know what it’s like to be the one being hurt.”
My voice was barely above a whisper.
“I don’t want anyone else to feel that way because of me.”
No one spoke for several seconds.
“That’s…”
Niera blinked.
“…deep.”
I couldn’t help smiling a little.
The conversation slowly drifted toward lighter topics after that.
Mostly, I listened.
I enjoyed watching people.
Observing them.
Learning their little habits.
Niera loved jazz music.
Natari preferred classical.
Clara…
Somehow loved heavy metal.
That one genuinely surprised me.
She looked so polished and elegant.
She wasn’t at all what I’d imagined a metal fan would look like.
Natari was a vegetarian.
Niera only ate fish.
“I don’t know how you survive eating vegetables,” Clara complained.
“They taste like dirt.”
“And I don’t understand how you survive without a proper diet,” Natari replied calmly.
I couldn’t help giggling.
Listening to them argue over food was strangely entertaining.
“What about you, Euphoria?”
Niera looked over at me.
“You’ve been awfully quiet.”
“Oh.”
I smiled.
“I like sweets.”
“Anything sweet, really.”
I nodded politely.
“Thank you for asking.”
Clara tilted her head.
“Does she always talk this politely?”
“Since I’ve known her,” Niera answered.
She paused.
“Granted…
that’s only been a day.”
“I talk differently?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“Yep.”
“Definitely.”
All three answered at nearly the same time.
My smile faded a little.
“Is…
is it strange?”
I suddenly felt very self-conscious.
“No,” Clara said immediately.
“It’s refreshing.”
“I actually like it.”
“I do too,” Niera agreed.
“It fits you.”
“I honestly can’t imagine you speaking any other way.”
Natari nodded.
“I agree.”
Relief washed through me.
“I truly thought it might annoy people.”
I smiled again.
“I can’t express how happy I am to know it doesn’t.”
“Girl,” Niera laughed.
“Don’t even worry about it.”
We spent the next little while talking.
Well…
Mostly they talked.
I listened.
I’ve always preferred observing over speaking.
There was something comforting about watching people be themselves.
You learned more that way.
Eventually, it was time for orientation.
We gathered our things and headed toward the auditorium.
Today we’d receive our welcome bags…
And our class schedules.
Afterward, we could visit the library to collect the books we’d need for our lessons.
I smiled to myself as we walked down the hall.
For the first time in a long time, I was excited about school.
Not because I had to be.
Because I wanted to be.
“I wonder what our classes will be like…”