I walked into the cafeteria and found chaos and the smell of smoke. I saw flames spewing out of the kitchen windows. Emergency exits were being pushed open and people were hurriedly running out of the buliding, alarms blaring. I widened my eyes as the handlers threw buckets of water on the fire and sprayed it with hoses. The fire went down but the kids refused to calm down. I turned to exit the buliding and found a huge crowd of kids blocking the door. Although I knew the fire couldn't reach me, I felt myself panicking. The exits were all blocked by crowds of kids frantically escaping. I turned around, facing the panicked cafeteria and making myself freak out more. I froze as I felt hands grab my arms and pull me away from the exit. I started screaming, the panic going to my head. Juvy pushed me against a wall and said, "STOP SCREAMING!" I closed my mouth and let myself be calmed by his angry sea foam green eyes. He pulled me away from the wall and pushed me toward the exit with the smallest crowd. He forced me through the crowd and outside of the building. I gasped for air, smoke exiting my lungs. He pulled me toward a tree and pushed me down so I was leaning against the trunk. He sat down in front of me and stroked my hair, staring into my eyes. I closed my eyes, letting myself float away in the feeling of Juvy's hand on my face. Suddenly I felt his lips on my cheek and my eyelids flew open. He put his head on my shoulder and said, "Never put yourself in danger again."
"I didn't actually do it on pur-" I started, but he put his hand on my mouth and said, "Be more careful." I nodded and let him keep his head on my shoulder as I marveled over the feeling that still lingered on my cheek. A handler walked over to us and cleared his throat loudly. I jumped up but Juvy looked totally unworried and slightly annoyed. "Juvy, we need to check your-"
"Yea. I know," Juvy replied in an irritated tone. The handler waited and Juvy sighed and stood up, walking away behind the handler in the direction of the nurse's office. I watched them walk away and wondered what they were checking. Was he allergic to smoke or something? No, it couldn't be that, he wasn't having any physical reactions. I sighed and started walking over to a table where food had been set out. The fire was gone but the cafeteria was still filled with smoke. I took a plate with food and headed back to my cabin. "That was scary," a girl said from her top bunk. I looked up and saw that KG was the one who had said it. It was weird sitting with all the girls in the cabin before lights out time. I was surrounded by brunettes and red heads but I realized that there wasn't a single blonde in the room. Figures. During the first couple weeks here, the girls in this room had been the only people I talked to. I sat with them in cafeteria and snuck out to the lake with them every night. Then I met Juvy. I realized that I hadn't snuck out to the lake for quite a while. Jick hung upside down from the top bunk and Madeline tied her hair into braids. It made no sense to me why we all got along so well. I supposed it was because most of us weren't really criminals, just people who had messed up, made a bad decision, done a one-time-thing and gotten caught. And we were all paying the punishment.
© 2009
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