The Girl Who Dared to Think by Bella Forrest (e reader for manga TXT) 📕

because Tian just seemed to naturally exude happiness—but it was hard to hold on to the moment with my worry for Zoe looming over me.

Grey cleared his throat softly, and I looked up past Tian’s head to see him giving me a crooked smile. “Cali did leave you some fresh clothes while she’s cleaning your uniform.” He gestured to a pile of black fabric folded up on a chair next to my hammock.

“Thanks,” I said, picking up the pile. “I’ll just get dressed and—”

“You’re not allowed to leave this room until you take a shower,” Tian said primly, cocking her head. “We all voted, and you have to. Just like when it’s my bath time.”

“And just like Tian when it gets close to her bath time, you smell a little bit.” I looked over at Grey to see his eyes sparkling with mischief, and rolled my eyes. I didn’t need him letting me know that I was more than a little ripe. More importantly, he didn’t need to know that. It was embarrassing.

Tian grinned at me, and nodded, her white bob bouncing up and down. “You smell a lot a bit.”

And just like that, I was smiling again. I was getting the feeling it was impossible to feel any form of negativity around the impish girl. Maybe we needed to bottle the exuberance she was exhibiting—it beat the hell out of any pills the Medica was pushing.

“All right,” I said, raising one hand in defeat. “Message received. Help a girl out by directing her to the showers?”

Tian pointed, her arm stiff and finger outstretched. “Up the stairs,” she said primly. “There’s soap and towels already in there. We’ll wait here for you. Grey is going to teach me a game, so take your time!”

I looked over her head at Grey, and was surprised to see him smiling widely at the young girl, a deck of cards already spinning between his fingers. “Today, I’ll be teaching you an important lesson about losing—specifically how to do so gracefully,” he announced, and Tian tittered, one hand coming up to cover the crooked smile on her face.

The two of them wandered to a nearby table that had seemingly manifested out of nowhere. They must’ve moved it in for me, because it was covered with a few pill bottles and the remains of two meals. That meant people had been keeping me company for at least two days. I absorbed that as Grey looked up from where he was now pushing in Tian’s seat, his eyes finding mine and a small smile tugging at his lips.

I stared, my heart pounding, as I suddenly connected the dots. I’d been here for four days. I’d been sick for at least two of those four days. And he’d been sitting with me. Vague memories tugged at me, flashes of his brown eyes brimming with concern, a strong hand wiping the sweat off my forehead with a cold cloth, the sound of his voice... No words, just the sound, strong and steady and soothing.

He broke the connection to sit down across from Tian, and I turned tail and ran, desperately needing a shower and a moment to collect myself before deciding what to do next, what I was going to do with or about Grey, and how I was going to convince Cali to at least let me check on Zoe.

The shower definitely helped me to center myself. The water was hot, and as I cleaned off four days’ worth of sweat and grime, I began to feel more like a human and less like a zombie. I took some time to dry off in the small locker room, then donned the black clothes. These weren’t microthread, and had a heavy, slightly cumbersome feel. The pants were a bit snug in the rear, the shirt a bit long in the arms, but overall they were a good fit. Still, I couldn’t help but feel I was carrying around too much on my skin.

I stepped out of the shower and walked back down the stairs. Grey and Tian were still sitting at the table, and I could hear Grey’s loud laugh over Tian’s shrieking one, followed by a slamming sound as they both slapped their hands on the table. I smiled as the laughter cut short and was quickly replaced by suspicious eyes as the two glared at each other. After a long moment, they withdrew their hands and looked at the cards they had just thrown down.

Grey stood up just as Tian grabbed her face and began to moan in a dramatic fashion. “The winner and still champion!” he crowed victoriously, fists pumping in the air.

Tian’s head rolled forward and planted cheek-first onto the table. “Nooooooooooooooo!” she groaned, her hands sweeping back and forth and dislodging the cards there. She didn’t do it hard enough to knock any of them to the floor, but I still couldn’t help but laugh, especially when she spotted me and sat straight up, with a card stuck to her cheek.

I doubled over, laughing, too entertained by their cuteness, and Grey began laughing as well. Tian looked around, blinking.

“What?” she asked, completely oblivious to the card on her face. Then she reached up, touched it, and ripped it away from her cheek with a theatrical eye roll.

“You two are sooooooooo immature,” she said, her nose lifting up in the air as she flicked the card at Grey. She pushed off the chair and stood up, smoothing out her short skirt, and my laughter faded back into bemusement at her antics. “Ready to go see Quess?” she asked once our laughter had died out.

“Yes, please.” I was beyond ready. My lashes were my life, and even though I had definitely needed the shower, making sure my equipment was okay was a very close second (since I had to wait anyway).

Tian smiled and began skipping her way to the stairs leading back to the hall and the kitchen. I made to follow her, and Grey fell