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Sense Memory
Aug. 19th, 2013 07:31 pmThe second day in a row of waking up with a hangover, and Nore bumps into a gross of rice-crispy treats on her way out the front door. After the initial curse, she recognizes what it is. It's a gift. It's a memory.
*******
She didn't realize how hungry she actually was until the snack was shoved her hand while his body sheltered them from the sight of the teachers. Not that they would have cared. Like prison guards who learn to work with certain prisoners who have status as suppliers, they've learned his necessity. Elenore doesn't question it then. She just broke it open, and ate for the first thing for days. It was the first time in her life she's forgotten to eat for that long, but it wouldn't be the last. The relief of the sudden rush of sugar is better than just about anything she's experienced up to that point.
"Why?" she finally asks, the rice crispy bar mostly gone. Still too young to remember to ask about price before doing anything. She'd learn better, just not for a while yet.
"Can't have our newest celebrity starving." And he smiled and left her without asking anything.
The fact he didn't bother her for a few more days made it a little unbelievable. Everything had a price in the competitive school. Especially if it came from Alexander. It was practically a law. She almost forgot about it by the next time he dropped one of the treats off. Stressed and about to break, she was barely eating again. The metallic teal wrapper was enough to make her stomach growl.
"What do you want?" she asked, a little wary this time. Once was a nice gesture. Twice was a bribe.
"Same thing everyone wants in this shit hole," he leans close, making the profanity a shared and entertaining secret, "a friend."
A few years later and the offer from a boy who was older and cool as much as there was room for in their lives would have confirmed her suspicions. But now it's a relief from all the unfriendly, cautious watching ever since she made Steve pay for hurting hers. Cool water on a burn. The fact it's the same way she'd later train feral animals never occurred to her.
"I'd like that."
*********
Decades later, she knows better. Nothing comes for free. Even friendship comes with an emotional cost. Especially the kinds of friends she picks for herself. Which leaves her with a load of food in her parking lot, and the question of what it's going to cost her this time.
*******
She didn't realize how hungry she actually was until the snack was shoved her hand while his body sheltered them from the sight of the teachers. Not that they would have cared. Like prison guards who learn to work with certain prisoners who have status as suppliers, they've learned his necessity. Elenore doesn't question it then. She just broke it open, and ate for the first thing for days. It was the first time in her life she's forgotten to eat for that long, but it wouldn't be the last. The relief of the sudden rush of sugar is better than just about anything she's experienced up to that point.
"Why?" she finally asks, the rice crispy bar mostly gone. Still too young to remember to ask about price before doing anything. She'd learn better, just not for a while yet.
"Can't have our newest celebrity starving." And he smiled and left her without asking anything.
The fact he didn't bother her for a few more days made it a little unbelievable. Everything had a price in the competitive school. Especially if it came from Alexander. It was practically a law. She almost forgot about it by the next time he dropped one of the treats off. Stressed and about to break, she was barely eating again. The metallic teal wrapper was enough to make her stomach growl.
"What do you want?" she asked, a little wary this time. Once was a nice gesture. Twice was a bribe.
"Same thing everyone wants in this shit hole," he leans close, making the profanity a shared and entertaining secret, "a friend."
A few years later and the offer from a boy who was older and cool as much as there was room for in their lives would have confirmed her suspicions. But now it's a relief from all the unfriendly, cautious watching ever since she made Steve pay for hurting hers. Cool water on a burn. The fact it's the same way she'd later train feral animals never occurred to her.
"I'd like that."
*********
Decades later, she knows better. Nothing comes for free. Even friendship comes with an emotional cost. Especially the kinds of friends she picks for herself. Which leaves her with a load of food in her parking lot, and the question of what it's going to cost her this time.
