Page 37 of Wonder

Lucky prick.

My eyes latch onto the weird little group opposite. They have their own unusual dynamic, clearly knowing each other. Buckand Hatter, I know already. Hard not to, given that they’ve always been at Red’s side.

I wonder what they did to piss her off and end up here.

The other two, I don’t know. The tall, muscled fucker looks over to me, his eyes telling me to turn the fuck away before he turns back to speak to Buck, his arm curving protectively over the girl.

The girl.

I glance at her again, my eyes tracing the ragged black dress she’s wearing, her bare legs and feet. She wouldn’t even come up to my shoulder, although she’s tall enough. Her eyes, more of a stormy gray, flicker between the group before darting to me.

“She won’t last beyond the first night,” Aiden says under his breath. He’s watching her too.

A lot of the people in this room are watching her. And she’s… still watching me. A small crease appears between her brows as we stare at each other.

I look away.

“I don’t care about her.” No, the only person I give a flying fuck about is sat next to me.

Aiden shifts. “Kayd, I—,”

“Don’t,” I say abruptly. I don’t want any more of his apologies, his regrets. Fuck knows I have enough of my own without carrying those around for him too. “Just – keep your head up, Aiden. Stay focused.”

He sighs. “Do you really think we’re getting out of here? Because I don’t.”

I scrunch up the wrapper of the sandwich in my fist, crushing it. Take a breath, to stop myself from smashing my fist into his face.

Some habits die hard.

Others die harder.

“Stop,” I say finally. Heavily. “You think like that, and it’s already over.”

He’s usually the brighter one. The one who always sees the positive in whatever shit situation we find ourselves in. He was like it even when we were kids; a too-thin, wide-eyed boy with a sweet smile and enough charm to wheedle his way into getting whatever we needed to get by.

When I try it, it doesn’t… doesn’t feel right. Like I’m trying on a jacket a few sizes too small. Aiden and I may be two sides of the same coin, but he got all the light. And I took the dark.

I swallow down the last of my sandwich, pushing it past the lump in my throat. My voice sounds raspy when I speak again. “We didn’t go through all of that for it to end here, brother.”

“You ever think that maybe we weren’t supposed to survive at all?”

I don’t respond immediately. My eyes drag back to that group, to the girl. She’s smiling, but there’s something else on her face, something that holds my interest as she gets up and walks toward the door with a shower sign on it, the muscled guy following her protectively.

She glances back at me again.

I recognise that look all too well.

Fear, guilt,grief.

But none of it is for herself. She switches her gaze to the man who leans against the wall with his arms crossed, his back to her.

He doesn’t see the agony on her face before she disappears.

Finally, I turn back to my twin. The same expression lingers on his face. An expression I’ve seen every time I’ve looked at him for the last year, since we stumbled into Wonder and never found our way back out. An expression that deepens whenever he looks at me.

I only blame one person for our current predicament. A flame-haired bitch with a penchant for cruel and unusual punishment.

But Aiden only blames himself.