Separation

                                    

                                          
I can feel a fire starting in my stomach as my heart begins pounding. The people I thought I could trust attacked me, and now the other people I thought I could trust are right across from them? A flame burns inside of me, and before I know it, I'm walking right up to their table.
	"Tori, wait, that might not be such a good idea." Cassie says. I ignore her and keep moving. I reach their table and stand at the end of it.
	"Hey Tori, did you want to join us?" Emi asks. "We saved you a seat."
	"Yeah, right over there." Simon adds. His accent makes me want to rip my ears off.
"Fuck you." I say.
"What?" Evan says.
"Evan, Emi, these people are dangerous. I'd recommend you stay away from them." Emi gives me a confused look. I lift my shirt up a bit, revealing a dark purple bruise that remains on my stomach.
"Oh my god, how did that happen?" Emi asks.
"Why don't you ask your friends?" I reply.
"I'm so sorry that happened, but I, I don't know what you're talking about." Maya responds. "When did that happen?" I clench my fists tightly, unsure of how to respond without fully throwing myself onto them. Eli lightly puts his hands on the back of my shoulders, letting me know he's there. I can't tell if it's meant to be comforting or a reminder that I should not cause a fight in the middle of breakfast. I turn to Emi and Evan, waiting for one of them to make the right choice. But neither does. 
"They did this three nights ago." I say.
"We didn't do anything, these are some pretty serious accusations." Simon says. "And wouldn't you have reported it to Cheryl?" I feel my blood turning to adrenaline.
"I'm sorry Tori but I don't know why they'd do something like that. Why don't you guys just get some space and eat your breakfast elsewhere."
"Famous last words." Cassie replies. She puts a hand around my arm and lightly tugs it towards her. I turn around and follow her. I don't even look back at the table. The three of us sit at another table, far away from them. I haven't even seen our friend Eric yet. I don't want to.
"Ignore them. We don't need them. We've got each other." Eli says.
"Then I need to tell you guys something. And you'll probably call me crazy, but you have to promise me that even if you think I'm out of my mind."
	"You have my word." Eli says.
"Mine as well." Cassie adds. I take a deep breath.
"Alec and Carly, my siblings who came up for Visiting Day, did not come because they missed me or anything. They came to tell me my brother Fang has gone missing."
"Hold on, your brother's missing?" Cassie says.
"There's more, so I need you to wait until I am done. Basically, they said he went out one night and didn't come back. They covered for him with mom, because that's what we do for one another. But then, he was gone for more than 48 hours, so they searched his room. Fang sometimes gets caught up in sketchy stuff, so they wanted to make sure he's safe. They found a note behind the photo of me and my siblings that he keeps on his desk. It was addressed to all my siblings, except John, because he's the youngest and wouldn't comprehend any of this, and it said he went to visit a friend and would be back in three days, maybe longer, and that we couldn't tell anyone. That's why they came to visit me. Carly also brought me my phone so I could stay in touch with them in case there were any updates. I've been hiding it in my dresser. I haven't been able to check it since the attack."
"Is that it?" Cassie asks.
"Yes. I reply.
"That's nuts." Eli says. "Why wouldn't you tell us earlier?"
"I didn't think you'd be on board."
"Well I am." He responds.
"And so am I." Cassie adds. "Do you think there's any chance the stuff with Fang could be connected to this Test?"
"I don't know. But I need to know, and I need to check that phone."
"I'm with you, Tori." Eli says. "Even if it means jeopardizing my shot at winning this Test."
"Me too." Cassie adds.