track #03 in gwyneth thalia anderson

itzy // nobody like you

I PACE back and forth in the corridor a few minutes after Kunboss forcefully leaves the household, worrying about Aiden and Tristan's safety, and even Kun himself. Why did he put himself in danger by leaving the house?

I begin carrying out daily tasks as usual, vacuuming the floor and letting the loud whirring sound relieve myself of the stress that has been bottled up inside me. As every piece of dirt and hair is sucked up by the hose of the vacuum, I feel like one myself.

A vacuum cleaner.

People doing the chores supposedly have it easy – because a vacuum is easy to control and use – but in science, we once studied the anatomy of a vacuum cleaner.

The hard cover is just a shell of itself – the electric motor and filters in the middle are the ones actually doing the work.

People give me the responsibilities and assume I can handle everything on my own; because you can't tell how complicated a vacuum cleaner is from how effortless it looks.

Inside me now, the filters are falling off, getting tangled, but the cleaner is still forced to do what it usually does without any fixing, lastly being thrown to the side because it's not 'useful' anymore. But how many people actually know what's wrong with the vacuum and try to fix it?

Just like toxic people who pretend to be all-knowing, those people who throw the vacuum away without even trying to understand what's going through don't deserve its service – the ones who do are the ones who make an effort to at least try. I used to think Kunboss was like my twin brother, like the one who actually understood me more than anyone else or even myself – but it turned out to be false. He was the one who never understood me from day one.

I knew I shouldn't be wasting my energy on him – but I couldn't. The pure friendship we shared overruled everything else.

Just as I let out a sigh and set the cleaner aside – along with the stress and worry that comes with – after finishing my chores, heading to the sink to wash my hands, the door cracks open, revealing a happy Tristan and Aiden in the foyer. A gush of relief runs through me, and I smile just a tiny bit. I can't explain the feeling – I feel relieved that they're back, but also mad at them for not replying to any of our messages.

I look at them expectantly, as if to ask them where they were, and Aiden explains giddily, "We went to the fair since we wanted a day off. We went for rides, played minigames, and had a lot of fun!"

Once Aiden finishes his sentencee, he says he wants to go to the bathroom and takes off at full speed to his room and its en-suite, and I turn to Tristan, asking a million questions with my eyes just staring into his.

"Don't ask-," he starts, but I've already started spewing everything that's been bottled up inside of me.

"I could tell that was an excuse, Tristan. Where have you been, and why have you guys not been replying to our messages? We were worried sick!" I exclaim, exasperated, running a hand through my medium-length brown hair.

"Did I not say don't ask?" he says sarcastically. "Do you not think I would have come back at six yesterday evening or happily replied to your messages? I did it for the sake of Aiden."

I raise my right eyebrow, waiting for further explanation. "I'll only tell you since Aiden isn't here," he says in a hushed voice. "Know his girlfriend? Anson Ambers? She... Well, she passed away last night. She was shot by a person under James. I knew Aiden had to put everything down even if it was just for one day, so I spent the day with him. At the fair."

I exhale and then nod. "It must be hard on him," I say. "I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, of course. Byrok got Anson. And he was about to give her a promise ring too," he says, flopping onto the couch. "I'm beginning to think Byrok is up to something. Our team – it's slowly breaking apart. First, Kunboss, then now this?"

I sigh in understanding – "I know. I wish I could somehow turn time back and change stuff to the way it was before – like ten years ago – or at least when we all understood each other for real. Kun left about a few minutes ago amidst us stopping him. Nothing's going according to plan."

"Something was going to happen to our team either way – it just happened to be Anson," Tristan says again, adjusting his posture. "At this point it's no longer a coincidence – Byrok is trying to break our team apart from the inside, starting with everyone's weaknesses. Someone is going to be next."

A repetition of the Games once again – as I thought, James knows each and every one of us more than we think he does. I thought that while the arena twist was being announced for the Second Games – they had used everyone's greed and desire to protect their loved ones against us, pitting us against each other; yet now even as the Adelaide Woods is united as one in war, everyone needs to perform their part in order for the whole thing to succeed. And that's what they're aiming for.

To break us apart so they can attack easily.

I shake my head. "He probably thought about this long and hard while in jail awaiting his revenge. He knows each of us front and back, analyzing our behavior during the Games – every tear shed, every weapon drawn, how we react when our friends are in danger. James is always playing dirty, this isn't the first time."

Suddenly, the landline phone rings, and we both frown at the same time. Barely anyone uses this phone – it's always been just here. But then again, it's a special landline that Atlas, who is now a specialized engineer, created for us a few years back. It doesn't use the internet and is connected to the world database, making it extremely hard to track.

Tristan jumps up and races towards the phone, as do I, but I'm obviously slower. "Come on, Trissy! It's mine," I exclaim in defeat as he grabs the headset off its stand.

"Hello?" His arm wavers in the air in shock before he quickly hands the phone over to me.

"Did anything happen?" I mouth while simultaneously taking the phone from him and greeting the person on the other end of the line. "Hello?"

My mouth drops open as the caller replies. "Is it really you?"

I can hear the smile hinting at the corners of Mom's lips as she says, "Yes, honey, it's me. I'm in the woods right now calling from that old-fashioned phone you told me not to keep. They don't know I own this."

"M-mom? You escaped?"

My mom, Angela Barlowe, chuckles. "I knew you could do it, sweetie. Remember what I told you when you were reaped, in that small room, where I had absolutely no doubt that we were going to see each other again?"

I laugh too, melodically, all those troubles disappearing into thin air. "No, not really," I lie, just for the sake of hearing Mom say those encouraging words to me again. "Can you tell me?"

"How forgetful you are," she jokes. "I told you that I would do anything in my power to protect you and spare you from any pain the world may bring. I told you that you have been the biggest blessing in our lives. And nothing in the world can change that. You will always be my beautiful, kind, gentle little girl, Gwyneth."

I smile through the tears already rolling down my cheeks. "You're doing well. Believe in yourself, okay? There's nobody like you in this world. And no matter what happens, Mom and Dad will always love you."

"Tell me where you are again?"

"Around the border of the woods. I doubt Byrok will find me."

"Mom, stay where you are. We're coming to find you. Now."

I hang up, holding back a hiccup, and turning to see Tristan, who's been listening to our conversation.

"Trissy, send a message to the groupchat that we're relocating the hoverhouse. Missions will be stopped until we find my mom, and she's going to live in another guest room. No negotiations."

He smiles and nods, taking his phone out immediately and typing a message, but hesitates. "Should I tell Kun? Since, you know..."

I scoff. "Don't yet. We'll decide later. Just send it to everyone separately... wait, actually never mind. Don't send it. Everyone except him is here. Just go upstairs and tell them. I'll take care of this. Oh, and also tell Cady to find an underground spot for the hoverhouse and meet me in Control immediately."

As Tristan runs up the stairs to inform our friends, I head to the control centre – where I turn the house back to its hovercraft mode, speeding to the woods in pursuit of my mom.

Cadence joins me in a minute, showing me her tablet screen, where the spot she found is circled in red, and I nod in approval.

We ask Eunice and Zoey to clear up the orange-colored guest room on the top floor and set it up for my mom, and they smile. "On it!"

***

Finally, the hovercraft arrives in a fairly secluded area quite far from the borders, and Tristan and I get off, leaving Cadence to figure out how to get to our new location and program it into the hoverhouse.

We walk in pursuit of my mom, separating one to the left and one to the right, before Trissy shoots me a message saying he's found her, so I retreat to the hovercraft and prepare some clothes for my mom.

A few minutes later, Tristan appears in the hallway with no one but my mom, dressed in clothes that couldn't possibly look more like rags, and I immediately burst into tears at the sight, burying my face in Mom's shoulder, even though I'm taller than her, and sobbing.

When I recover, she goes to her room to change, and Tristan laughs out loud. "You know, your mom keeps telling me how I'm very responsible and asking me to take care of her clumsy daughter?"

I roll my eyes at him. "Lay off," I say, sticking my tongue out at him, and he follows suit.

Cadence yells, "Taking off now!" and with a whiz, our hovercraft takes off towards our new location, leaving Trissy and I wheezing in the foyer. 

– a/n: if it was sad any longer i'd probably start wallowing, so happy chapter for you :) reunion and deeper exploration into our mc gwyneth's thoughts!