Light from the lamp above Opal's bed cast soft shadows against her face.

"Hey, Mare -- Noura -- do you guys mind if I play some music?"

Noura was perched beside her, wrapped in a soft yellow throw, while Gracie and I slumped in bean bag chairs on the floor. 

"Yeah, that's fine -- just let me know when you're going to press play." Leaning back, I slunk further into the formless chair, letting its shifting innards cradle my neck, back, bottom and legs.

"Go ahead — I'm good." Noura closed her eyes, wrapping the blanket tighter around her slender shoulders. Under the lamplight, her cheekbones were sharp and haughty. Just like her personality! My lips curved slightly at their corners as I tasted my private joke.

To be fair, Noura's icy facade was starting to melt; I'd even noticed her fingers forming a tentative wave when Opal called me over to our table at dinner. Exhausted from Meta's mental
Olympics, we'd scarfed down our food and left the Great Hall to debrief in the comfort of Opal's dorm room.

"Okay!" Opal reached for her phone. "Three ... two... one... play!"

A woman's voice unfurled through the squat speaker on the bedside table. As she sang, husky and slow, I let my lashes flutter shut. Taking a breath, I welcomed deep cerulean hues that lapped against the back of my eyelids while the song ebbed and flowed, then slowly exhaled the color away. When I opened my eyes again, Opal was looking at me expectantly.

"We good?" I nodded at her and she turned to Noura, who did the same. "Alright, I guess I'll start! So, I spent the afternoon in artistry testing with Dr. Lemay. She split our group into students with fine art skills and those with musical aptitudes. You should see the massive studio on the second floor, by the way. It's insane." Opal's hands danced excitedly in the air as she spoke.

"Anyway, half the room was set up with easels and the other side was a cozy lounge with comfy couches and chairs. Dr. Lemay sent the fine art students to choose their favourite mediums — you know, oils, watercolor, pastels; that kind of stuff  — while the musically inclined kids like me sat down."

Opal's words came out quickly, and she twisted her long dark braid around her hand as she spoke.

"There was a basket filled with a bunch of satin sleep masks in the lounge — at least that's what they looked like to me — and she told us to put them on."

"'Cause that's not weird at all." Gracie piped up from the depths of her bean bag, a smirk crawling up her lovely cheek.

"Put a sock in it, Grace," Opal wisecracked. "If you consider anything about today normal then you're even stranger than I thought."

Gracie raised her hand in a jaunty salute. "Well said, Cho. Well said."

"As I was saying," Opal rolled her eyes and heaved a weary sigh. "We put the masks on and Dr. Lemay played a song she wrote for us, over and over for an hour. Kids at the easels had to create whatever the music inspired them to make, and the rest of us memorized as much of the song as possible, even though we'd never heard it before."

"So, all you had to do is stay put for an hour, huh?" Gracie snapped her gum.

"Shut up, Peanut! Seriously, Gracie, I'm getting to it!"

Gracie elbowed me with a snicker. She and Opal loved to tease.

"Anyway," Opal cleared her throat and gave Gracie the finger. "When the music finally stopped, Dr. Lemay dismissed the visual students, saying she'd review their work later. After they left, she called the rest of us up one at a time to pick our favourite instrument. Then we had to play as much of her song from memory as we could."

"So, how did you do?" Always keen, Noura perked up to quiz Opal on her results.

"Nailed it, of course." Gap-toothed smile gleaming, Opal bent at the waist in a mini-bow. "I mean, it was an intricate piece, so Dr. Lemay looked a little surprised I aced it, but intricate pieces are my specialty. We'll see what she's got for me tomorrow." Rubbing her hands together, she giggled with glee. "So, who's next?"

"Dr. Nakoa kicked our asses at the field house. I'm going to be so sore tomorrow," Gracie winced. "If I can't get out of this bean bag, feel free to leave me here for the night."

"And wake up to you drooling in the corner? No thanks." Opal winked, and Gracie stuck out her tongue.

"Anyway, the drills were hardcore, even for those of us who train everyday. They're obviously serious about making sure only the best get streamed in kin."

"It's pretty competitive around here, isn't it?"
I wondered out loud. "Archer was in cognition testing with me today — he said his dad will flip if he doesn't stream kin, but he and I finished top two in Dr. Kelly's simulation. So, who knows how things will turn out." An image of Archer's wide eyes flashed in my mind before I blinked the vision away.

"Aw, poor baby! The sad little soldier shared his sob story with you, then?" Noura interrupted me, her voice saccharine-sweet laced with acid.

My eyebrows shot up. "Geez, Noura, what's your problem? He seems nice."

"Not that it's any of your business, but he cozied up to a friend of mine last year, then ghosted her when she went through a rough patch. Does that seem nice to you?" Dark eyes flashing, her nostrils flared.

My cheeks blazed. Ghosting someone was never nice, but I didn't appreciate Noura's poisonous attitude.

"Come on, Noura. None of us knew how to help Katie." Gracie's expression was uncharacteristically serious. "Maybe he didn't handle himself well in the moment, but I know Archer feels badly about it — he told me."

Archer dated Katie? Come to think of it, he'd been a little vague when his connection to Opal came up in conversation. Katie must have been the "mutual friend" they'd shared.

"He told you he was sorry, Gracie? Maybe the coward should have told her. Some soldier he'd be! Not that any of you have given her a second thought lately. Didn't take you long to nab a token fourth friend to take her place, did it?" Spitting out her words, Noura jutted her chin toward me and I flinched. "I mean, can you imagine how shit she'd feel if she could see us all now?"

Tossing the yellow blanket to the side, she picked herself up off the bed.

"Noura," Opal raised a calm hand. "You're not being fair. I understand you miss her — we all miss her. But you know she's not coming back this year, so why don't we work on making this a happy place for her to come back to when she's ready?" Her tone was firm. "And leave Marin out of it. She's done nothing but hope to make some friends around here, and God knows we all need that."

I looked down at my hands and realized I'd been clenching them, my palms littered with half-moons where my nails dug into the skin.

When I looked up again, Noura's chest was heaving and she was glaring at Opal. Slowly, her features unscrewed and she swiped a hand through her dark hair.

"I'm ... sorry." A deep sigh whooshed from her lips and she looked down at her toes. When she spoke again, her voice was small. "Today was hard. Worse than I expected. There's just so much pressure ... and you know how my mom is."

Noura's chest heaved and I wished my beanbag would swallow me whole. "Katie always understood me. No matter what. I tried reaching out when I left perception testing today, but she didn't answer. She hasn't been responding to my texts lately, and I don't know why." Her face crumpled and Opal reached over to hug her.

"Listen, we're a team, remember? But we have to start acting like one, otherwise we'll just fall apart. Next time you're scared or upset, try telling us what's going on first, instead of freaking out, okay? I know it's tough; Meta sucks. But we've got this if we can get through it together."

Stepping back, Opal studied Noura's face, grabbed a Kleenex from her desk and handed it to her. "Here. Your liner's running. And Noura, I'll try reaching out to Katie too. You're right, it's not like her to stay quiet for long."

Nodding, Noura looked over at Gracie. "I'm sorry, Grace. I was a jerk but I didn't mean it. I won't do it again. Promise. We're still friends, right?"

Gracie groaned. "We must be, because I'm about to leave this bean bag to give you a hug, even though my thighs are on fire." Leaning over the side of the plush chair, Gracie winced and pushed herself to her feet.

"Get over here," she crooned, wrapping Noura into a long-armed hug, kissing her on the cheek with a loud smack.

Wiping Gracie's smooch off her face, Noura turned to me and extended her hand. "Marin, I haven't taken the time to get to know you, and that wasn't fair of me. I know we got off to a bad start but I'd like to try again, if you'll let me."

Well, I'm glad she didn't come in for a hug. Neither of us were there yet, and we both knew it.

I looked down at her palm, the tattoo on her index finger standing out against her skin. Were any of us really "FINE"? After this was all over, would we be better versions of ourselves, or was our perfection just a figment of a geneticist's dream?

I turned the thought over in my mind and chose to be better version of myself. So, I grasped Noura's hand and shook.

It's taken me a while to update, but I've chosen to elaborate on personalities, dynamics and struggles in this chapter. What do you think of the girls, and what are you hoping will happen next? Are there any characters you'd like to see more — or less — of? Please vote and I'd love to hear your comments if you're enjoying the story!