They laid in the bed. It was springy and uncomfortable. For a long while, neither spoke, and neither could sleep.

Maya stared at the bottom of the bed above her. She laid on the outside, Harper instead against the wall.

Harper kept glancing her away, almost nervously, almost reverently. Something filled the air between them, something hot and pulsating. It was like that invisible twine between them had gone slack, and now was taut once again. The stress of it threatened to break, threatened to fray its edges. It had all come crashing down, and now there was just loud, bleeding silence. For a while, neither tried to speak. Neither thought of it. They only laid there, lingering with the sensation of all that had happened. Maya's mind raced nearly as fast as her heart did. She couldn't seem to get her body to relax. Her fingers absently touched her own lips, as if savouring Harper's taste still lingering against them.

And then she pulled her hand back to her side in the bed, not wanting Harper to notice. But of course, Harper did. Harper noticed everything.

Something was so stiff in the air, so unbearably suspenseful. A question hung that neither wanted to answer. That Maya avoided like the plague. It was written on Harper's face, in her wide, glassy eyes and her much too soft expression.

Something had to be said. The silence was sharper than Harper's blade.

Maya's throat felt thick. She couldn't look her way, didn't dare see that face that would surely ignite all of those things within her again. That hot, beating sensation that seemed to continue growing in her chest, day after day, making her cheeks more susceptible to turning red. She hated that feeling. And she hated even more that she still couldn't quite tell what it was, what it wanted from her, or what it all meant. She couldn't tuck it away. It was just there, breathing, pulsing, loud like a train wreck. She certainly felt like a train wreck.

Her voice came out, cracked and barely a whisper, "Why... did you do it?"

Harper hesitated, her voice soft like the low light, "There wasn't any other way."

"You could have..." But Maya's voice trailed away from her into some distant land. She had no idea what Harper could have done. It wasn't like Jared would listen to any voice of reason.

"He kept saying those things about you," Harper continued, almost rambling on, like she just couldn't help herself. "And I just had to... to defend you. The way you defended me."

It took Maya a moment to realise what she meant. She had defended Harper— numerous times, even without knowing it. She'd defended Harper against teasing and remarks from the other kids. Maya had done so instinctively, just trying to keep a good conscience like her parents had always expected of her.

She dared to glance at Harper. Harper's eyes were unfocused, staring somewhere above, rounded at the edges. Her lashes shadowed them ever so slightly. She looked at the bottom of that top bunk like there were constellations in it. Stars to be counted, little blinking lights to be mapped out and memorized in that working brain of hers.

And now, staring at that unnerving softness, that unnerving stillness in someone so brash, so guarded, so harsh, the pieces clicked together for Maya like they were always bound to find one another. When Maya had absently defended Harper to the group, Harper had taken that to heart, to soul. It had meant everything to her, and almost nothing to Maya. It was likely the first time Harper had ever heard someone defend her before, and she clung to it like a lifeline. She clung to it like she needed it to survive.

There was some sort of understanding there, in that prolonged silence between them. Maya slowly understood more and more about Harper. Finally, some of her questions had been answered, but not without that sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Her own eyes softened without meaning to, her lips parting like she should say something, but couldn't find the right words. Because what words could be right for someone like that? Someone so intensely desperate for love? Someone who'd never known what softness or gentleness had felt like?

Without speaking, Maya pulled Harper's knife from her jeans pocket. It had felt like a weight there, just burning a hole in her pocket.

She slowly handed it to Harper, who hesitated, "Are you sure?" Her voice was so timid, so soft. So real. "You're... not afraid I'll use it again?"

"You used it to defend me," Maya said softly, considering the way the words felt on her tongue, almost sweet. "I'm not afraid of that." It was honest, too honest, those cracks growing deeper, harsher lines in her calm, collected surface.

Harper took the blade and tucked it away like a well-kept secret.

Maya felt bad. Not quite pity, but something like it. Something like sorrow.

And so she offered something real to Harper. Her stare, her eyes. She allowed herself to look at Harper, really look at her, and see her for who she was. A person, just like herself. Desperate for validation, just like herself. Picking herself up as the pieces fell, clicking them back together at awkward angles and hoping nobody around her would notice. Concealed by a shield of brashness and weirdness, absorbed by her special interests. For Maya, that would have been art and poetry and choir. For Harper, it was true crime, podcasts, conspiracy theories...

Harper was always singled out. Always noticeable in a crowd. But here, for the first time, she stood out. To Maya, she was noticeable in a crowd.

And that kindness that Maya offered her, in just a simple, raw stare, offered Harper something real to cling to. Something to believe in.

Maya could read it on her face. That soft glimmer of hope behind dark eyes as Harper turned to look at her. Hope was something that Harper may not have ever felt before. Maya's life was boring, but Harper's life was bleak. And Maya was beginning to grow enraged on her behalf. Harper still stared at her, relaxing now, her breathing softer, her eyes threatening to flutter shut. But they didn't. They still absorbed Maya's reassuring look, her knowing expression. That silent understanding that passed between them, saying, I know you. I see you. And it was real.

And just like that, they fell asleep. Laying beside one another, shoulders touching, facing each other. A new understanding between them. Maya had seen a darker side of Harper, a side she always knew was there, lingering just beneath her surface. But she hadn't backed away. She hadn't turned in disgust.

She had kissed her. She had seen her.

And now, as Harper drifted off to sleep right in front of her eyes, brown curly hair sprawled beneath her, Maya was mesmerised. Harper was terrifying, and Maya liked it.

Sleep came easier that night than any night before it.

When Maya awoke, she was still there, on her side, breathing softly. The light outside drifted in through the window, casting a bright morning light on every object, vacating a square on the floor just for the sunshine to beam through the clouds.

She let herself feel it. She let the butterflies take over in her stomach. She let Harper's soft, sleeping breath touch her face every few beats. Maya inhaled deeply. Harper's scent was uniquely hers. Something like cigarette smoke and fresh linens, something cool like the night. Just her, and remnants of what Maya presumed to be her dad.

Her dad. That was another story. Harper Knox's dad, notorious for being the reason behind some of the bruises and scrapes she'd gone to school with. It was a known secret throughout the school. Maya had never taken it much into account before now, when everything became real and heavy, but lightweight and free at the same time.

Someone overhead stirred. Grace, Maya figured, since she wasn't already talking her ears off. Someone from the adjacent bed stirred. Maya thought it might've been Ben, who was accustomed to getting up early.

Maya should've gotten up, gotten ready for another long, stressful day. But she didn't. She allowed herself to soak in the comfort of the blankets, the comfort of Harper's strange and unsettling presence. She allowed herself to bask in it, like a cat in a window seal, for just a little while longer. Ben stood from his bed and stretched, walking to that square on the floor until he was enveloped in it by the early morning sun. The sky was still grey, the rain still coming down, a little more gently now. The storm had passed, at least for now.

Ben turned and glanced Maya's way.

No— Harper's way. Ben had never liked Harper. Maya would go as far to say that he hated her. But now, in the calm of the morning, he looked for her to join him in his morning ritual of staring out the window, calculating how much food they had left and what the weather might bring and when rescue might come. He caught Maya's eye and raised an eyebrow.

Maya couldn't rest for much longer. She slowly wiped out her eyes and yawned, trying to make it seem like she'd just woken up— when in reality, she'd probably been laying there, staring at Harper's relaxed features for half an hour. The realisation of it sunk in, and she suddenly felt embarrassed, almost creeped out by her own doing. She pushed those thoughts down with a deep inhale, trying desperately to avoid whatever it was that had changed. Trying desperately to be usual, smiling, confident self.

It was a calm morning. A slow, lazy morning.

She slowly reached over the bed, and Harper began to stir. Her eyes flickered open, bleary, and locked on Maya's above her. For a second in time, neither spoke. Neither even breathed. And then Maya pulled back to her spot, letting Harper take in the fresh light of the morning and stretch out her every limb. The girl pulled herself to her feet, and then Maya followed in quiet.

It was as if nothing had happened. The tension had all but melted to make way for the crispness of the morning. Maya watched as Harper joined Ben, unspeaking, in front of the window, staring up at it as if it could give them the answers they so desperately wanted. They weren't unlike one another, Maya considered. Two people, misheard and never really seen, standing side by side as they watched rain droplets slowly roll down the window in the glory of the pale light.

Maya turned and eyed the cots. On the top bunk, Grace sat up, giving a silent morning prayer and then wiping her eyes. Jared and Daniel still slept in their cot, sound and peaceful. She couldn't help but glare at Jared, even in his sleep.

Then she turned her attention back to Ben and Harper and that same, small, high window, just out of reach like everything else in life.

Maya decided to break the silence, considering the window, "If another storm hits..."

Harper finished for her, "They'll all lose their minds?"

Maya nodded, "Basically."

Harper continued thoughtfully, "I wish we could track the storm. None of our phones have service though. We need a radar, a radio maybe... Following the storm could give us a better timeline on how long we might be down here. If we need to ration the food further, it can help us determine that."

Ben almost laughed, a polite smile tugging at his mouth, "Actually, I was just thinking about this same thing last night." He turned from the window to face the two girls, his blonde hair nearly white in the light, "I'm pretty sure my parents have a radio down here for that exact reason. I just have to find it and hope to God that it's charged." Harper and Maya shared an excited glance. Maya could feel the tension ease, hope like a sprig in her heart. A radio wouldn't be much, but it was something. Some sort of contact, some information on the outside world. Some sense of normalcy and getting-shit-done. It would certainly put an ease to everyone's minds.

"Do you know where it might be?" Maya asked.

"I don't know. I'll help you look though."

As the rest of the group began to wake, Ben, Harper, and Maya were already searching for the radio. Maya looked through every box on every shelf. Ben checked the bathroom and skimmed the hallway. And Harper oversaw their work; scanning every item or bag carefully, checking in places no one else thought to check. She never missed anything. And so, it wasn't a surprise when it was Harper who found the radio, neatly tucked away at the back of a shelf, hidden behind a few cans of beans.

She pulled it from the shelf and handed it to Maya, a small smile on her face. She wasn't proud for finding it, but she was happy it had been found.

"You're a lifesaver," Maya told her, and she could see some redness blooming in Harper's cheeks. Maya felt that tension between them again, that string straining as it stretched between them, daring to break. She turned away from Harper quickly, not wanting to get too lost in the moment that only they two recognised.

Ben came over at the word of it, and a few of the others gathered around. He inspected the radio. It was just a grey box with a long prong attached as an antennae. And yet, it felt powerful in Maya's hands, like she'd just won the lottery.

"We'll need to get it someplace where it might reach a signal," Ben said. He glanced around the room, but it was all one level.

"You should try closest to the window," Harper said, "That's closest to outside." Ben nodded, taking it over to the wall. He flipped on a switch, and to his pleasant surprise, it turned on with full batteries. The static echoed in the room. The stout boy lifted his arms as high as he could, before Maya came over and helped him with it. She could almost reach the window with it.

But the static didn't change. Harper stood beside them, in front of the window again now.

"Maybe on top of the bunk bed," she tried again.

Olivia retorted, "I don't want Harper in my bed." She stood off to the side beside the others, arms folded over her chest. Daniel laughed at her stupid remark. Jared didn't say anything. In fact, he didn't even look up from his spot on the floor. He hadn't said a word all morning, though the others had been chatting a little. But he still seemed to brew with something unspoken, something almost like fury. It was still there, hovering by his darkened eyes, in the tension of his muscles, in his brows pressed close together.

Unsettled, Maya took the radio and climbed into the top bunk. The static shifted a little, but didn't change. She rolled the antennae in a circle slowly, seeing if any angles made the static sharpen or dim. A few changed the pitch, but it was all still static. She stared at it. Blank. Like she wasn't even sure what it was anymore.

A few of the other sighed.

Ben shrugged, "Maybe it will get a better signal later. We should leave it on just in case." Thinking twice, Maya left it on the bed so it could be heard if anything changed. Then, she slid down to the floor and made her way back to the group.

"Do I have to sleep with that thing?" Olivia asked. Someone laughed at her for saying it, and she scowled.

"No," Maya said, "We can move it at night."

"Some stations only report at night," Harper said, a little confused.

"Well, we can put it up on the window seal then," Maya said, somewhat to Harper, and somewhat to the group as a whole. "But I guess we'd need to pick people to stay up in case it says anything, so we don't miss something at night."

"I don't want to stay up listening to static," Jared finally hissed in her direction. But his words didn't land like a joke; they landed like defiance, sharp and bitter. "You don't get to make up dumb rules like that."

Harper slowly turned her head to meet his gaze. He met her eyes a little hesitantly. She smiled, a sharp smile that didn't meet her eyes. It read like a threat, and Jared looked away, but his angry expression lingered. Maya wasn't sure if they could control him, or what he'd do if he lashed out again. Or what Harper might do. He had become an unknowing source of fear in the room. Even the others seemed a little tense around him that morning, watching their steps so as not to break eggshells. They could sense it; something in the air around him had changed, had sharpened, like standing too close to him was dangerous.

Maya wondered if it was. She held her gaze on him, steady and confident. She wouldn't show fear. She wouldn't show hesitation.

Not to him. Not to anyone in this room.

But one person could see it still, lingering under her skin. She knew that Harper could.

"I can stay awake with it," Maya finally said. "To make sure we don't miss anything. It's important to me, so I'll be the one to do it."

Harper glanced at her, "I could stay up, too, some of the time, for whenever you want to sleep."

"No offence," Jared said, his tongue sharp, and his voice very clearly meant to be taken with offence, "But I don't feel all too comfortable on the idea of Harper staying awake while the rest of us sleep. Especially knowing that she has a knife."

And there it was. The bomb he'd been waiting to drop on them all morning long. Harper's eyes widened as the shocked room turned to collectively face her. Grace forgot her prayer. Even Daniel took a step back, as if expecting Harper to pull the blade out at any moment and threaten everyone around her. The air was tense. Her expression was blank.

"What the fuck?" Olivia hissed, recoiling, as if she'd been physically attacked, "Why the fuck do you have a knife, Harper?" Almost instinctively, Maya took a step ahead of Harper, acting like a shield and eyeing everyone's reactions.

"It's a keepsake," Maya told them. Her voice was calm, gentle, but sharp enough to sting in the air.

"She wasn't asking you, Maya," Jared stated coldly, "She was asking Harper." Harper still stared at them, a little stunned, like she truly hadn't thought Jared would say anything about it. She had thought he was right there under her wing.

But clearly, he wasn't. Clearly, she would have to push even harder next time in order for him to understand. Maya looked back at her, seeing it printed on her face as her surprise turned to cold, calculated anger. She could practically see the gears turning in her head, thinking of what she'd do to Jared after this moment, what she could do to get him to kneel.

But her expression flickered back to the present, back to the crowd waiting for answers. Her features didn't soften, but they changed from something dark to something unreadable. Just... neutral.

"It's a keepsake from my dad," she said, plainly, like it was the most boring thing she could possibly think of. "I carry it for good luck."

Maya flashed her a glance, but Harper didn't look her way. I carry it for luck. It was the first lie that Maya had ever heard Harper tell.

She knew that luck had nothing to do with it. She knew that Harper wasn't the type of person to believe in luck at all.

She carried that blade because it was the only thing consistent in her life, the only thing she could control. It was, ironically, the only normal thing about her.

But Maya let her lie linger. She let the faces pity her. Because that meant that Harper was safe from their ridicule, safe from whatever it was that Jared had hoped would happen after dropping that information on them. He clearly wasn't satisfied, like his anger was insatiable. He breathed heavily, broad chest rising and falling, and Maya had to wonder how it had even gotten to this point. She couldn't even place what she had done in the first place to make him so irrationally angry.

"Harper needs to give up her knife," Olivia said. Her voice was almost shrill, almost afraid. "I don't feel safe at all knowing that that psycho has it."

"I've had it the whole time," Harper said, "Nothing has changed."

Ben leaned closer to her, almost personally, "Harper, do you really have to hang on to it?"

Her eyes flashed up at him, "Yes, I have to. I don't want it getting lost." Her face was unreadable. But her words were defiant.

He didn't say anything else. He could tell how his suggestion had stung her. In their moments of early-morning silence, Ben had seemed to grow accustomed to her. So from then on, he stayed out of it.

"This isn't up for debate," Maya said, flashing a glance at Jared, "And it isn't up for a vote. Maya's knife is a personal belonging. She doesn't have to give it up."

"But didn't you ask us to give up anything that could be of help?" Olivia pointed out.

"Yes," Maya said, straightforward, "But you didn't have to. If you had said no, I wouldn't have pushed it." Her tone softened with the last few words, landing perfectly with the group. Daniel and Grace murmured to each other, and Jared and Olivia made eye contact.

Olivia, for once, looked like she was actually considering Maya's words.

Maya considered that a win.