The first thing I did when I got home that night was call for a meeting with Anastasia and Matthias. We used to call them BFMs- Best Friend Meetings. Yeah, we were super creative eight year olds.
Thirty minutes after I called for the meeting I was sitting beside Anastasia on her bed, and Matthias was sitting below us on the floor.
"You went where?!" Anastasia screeched after I told them where I had been that afternoon.
I sighed and bit at my lip. I knew she would react this way. "Look, Anastasia, I'm fine. Ander was really nice-"
"Wait, who is Ander?" Anastasia narrowed her eyes, and leaned forward. I had strategically left out the part about meeting Ander. I guess I kind of ruined that.
I bit at my lip and shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. "I met him while I was there. He made sure I was okay while I was there and everything."
At the mention of a boy Anastasia's attitude changed completely. It was like she completely forgot that I was in the Inbetween. The next few minutes were spent answering every question she had about him.
"And he gave me a note when I was leaving. He wants me to meet him tomorrow," I told them. I was a little nervous as to what they would think about that.
"Are you going to go?" Matthias asked, finally looking up from the book he had been reading.
I pursed my lips as I thought about it. "I think I will," I replied, glancing over at Anastasia to see what she thought.
"I know that this sounds nothing like what I would usually say, but I think you should go." Anastasia gave me a smile and patted my arm. "So, what else did the note say?"
Just thinking about it made my cheeks grow red and feel hot. "He said that he thought I was pretty."
Anastasia's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. She was getting a little too excited about this. "Oh. My. Gosh! How pretty?"
I laughed at the question. "I don't know! He didn't specify." I shook my head, feeling a little embarrased all of a sudden.
"Ooh, he didn't specify. That means he's mysterious." Anastasia nodded her head in a matter of fact sort of way.
Matthias leaned his head back so he could see us and raised his eyebrows. "So, if I tell a girl that she is pretty, but I don't specify on how pretty I think she is, that will make me seem...mysterious?"
Anastasia pressed her lips together and nodded in response.
"And is being mysterious a good thing?"
"Of course!"
I chuckled and rolled my eyes. "You guys are ridiculous."
As the room grew silent again I slipped down onto the floor beside Matthias who was now reading his book again. Images of what I saw in the Inbetween started to flash through my mind. The guilty feeling swept over me again, making me feel almost dirty. It was like I wanted to take a shower and scrub off the guilt and every memory of the Inbetween. It scared me, and for a minute I just wanted to forget about it completely. Forget about Ander, forget about Nova, and forget about all those other people who I saw.
But that wasn't what I was going to do. I couldn't do that.
"Guys, I have something else I want to talk about, too," I spoke up, craning my neck to look at both of my friends.
Immediatley, Matthias closed his book, and Anastasia sat up straighter. I guess it came out a little more urgent than I had meant for it to.
"You know all those rumors we've head about the Inbetween? Like how it's a flithy place, and everyone look a bit like the walking dead?"
Matthias nodded and Anastasia cringed about the 'walking dead' part.
"They're true. The Inbetween is awful. Everyone is skinny and their clothes are all ripped up and worn. Ander, the boy I met, is so skinny. He has a little sister named Nova, and I swear she is the sweetest little girl. But looking at her was torture. Her hair was all matted with dirt, and her eyes sunk into her head. No one else looked any better, and there are so many people packed into that disgusting place and-" I was cut off by Anastasia as usual.
She climbed off the bed and sat beside me on the floor. Her wavy hair spiraled around her face and she took my hand in hers. "We'll do it," she said with a sincereness in her voice that I wasn't quite used to.
I knitted my eyebrows together and gave her a confused look. "We'll do what?"
Matthias answered this time. "We'll help them. That will be our mission to get out of this place. If we can help the Inbetween and somehow reveal what your dad has done-" This time I was the one to interrupt.
I shot up quickly with an idea. You know how lightbulbs pop over people's heads in cartoons? That's how I imagine myself to have looked like. "I've got it! Ander said that there is a government in New Jersey that send a boat of food and water over the Hudson River to them every week. They leave the boat there overnight when they send it so that the Inbetweeners have time to unload it. Maybe we could sneak onto the boat and go to the government's headquarters. We could talk to them about it and maybe they could help us."
Matthias and Anastasia both had huge smiles on their faces. I expected it from Matthias, but not from Anastasia. Of course she always had a soft spot for kids. Maybe the description of Nova got to her.
"Yeah! You could talk to Ander about it whenever you go see him tomorrow. Maybe he can get some other people to go with us. The more people, the more convincing we could be. Gosh, Nyx, you're a genius." Matthias raised his hand for a high-five, and I smiled and quickly slapped it.
Maybe this all could work out. Was it risky? Yes. Was it a little crazy? Probably. Would it work? Eh, probably not. But was it worth a shot? Definitley.
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