Erin

"Let's play a game," Adrienne whispered. I looked over at her. She was sitting in the dent in her mattress, which was so soft that it had collapsed shortly after she got it.

Currently, the light was on. They trusted us enough to leave it on for around seven chimes, though if it was in the night or day, I had no clue. All the windows were covered with duct tape and cardboard.

I sighed and smiled, ignoring the burn in my legs as I turned to look at her. "Yeah, okay."

Adrienne beamed and clasped her hands together. "Alright. How about truth or truth?" she asked.

I raised my eyebrows. "Truth or truth?" I muttered, trying to remember hearing about that in elementary school. Though nothing came back. It seemed that it just didn't exist until now.

Adrienne nodded, "It's my own invention. We can't very well get up and do all the dares, so it's just truth"

I nodded my head, smiling. "Wow. That's incredible. Good thinking there, Adri."

She smiled and flipped her hair off of her shoulder. "I know. I'm brilliant."

I laughed lightly. It had been so much nicer since she had come to join me, not willingly, but still. Having a companion in the dark was a huge relief off of my aching shoulders.

"Alright. Truth or truth?" Asked Adrienne, beaming.

"Truth," I smiled.

Adrienne nodded thoughtfully. "Good choice." She thought for a moment, tapping her chin. "Alright. What is something that your friends think about you that is totally untrue?"

I blinked, I hadn't really expected something so deep for the first question. I tapped my foot. "They think that I care about what's happening in the celebrity world, when all I care about is my garden."

Adrienne laughed. "Good. You go now."

I hummed in the back of my throat, going through questions in my head. "When was the most inappropriate time you farted?" I finally decided on.

Adrienne blushed bright red, "Well, Once I was at a great uncle's funeral, but I had ice cream the night before, let's just say that was the day I found out I'm lactose intolerant."

I laughed, great laughs from my belly. "That's horrible."

Adrienne nodded and blushed. I laughed for another moment before Adrienne said her own question. "What is the biggest lie you've ever told?"

I smiled. "I once told my mother that I had a field trip, but I actually cut class with my best friend."

Adrienne beamed. "That is incredible."

I shrugged smugly. "I try." We both giggled and I said my next question. "What do you regret most?"

Adrienne bit her lip and looked at the floor. "Running away. If I had just stayed by the car, I would still be at home right now, fighting with my mom and shrieking at my dad. I really wish I had stayedl. So.. So badly I wish."

I bit my lip as I watched her wipe her eyes. So quickly the mood dropped. Just as quickly as it had grown. It seemed ever since I had come here that everything rose and fell so quickly. And now was another.

Adrienne looked like a sad puppy, she held herself together by her elbows. She looked just like a puzzle, or a shattered mirror. I brushed her hair out of her eyes and she smiled, leaning her face into my hand and letting the rest of them leak onto my hand and run in streaks down my arm.

I hugged her gently, knowing that her sad mood would pass. And just like a snap, it was gone. She cleared her throat and brushed tears off of her face. "What lie have you told that hurt someone?"

I didn't have to think about this one, it really was a no-brainer. "In sixth grade, my best friend really loved to make fun of this girl two grades below us, Kimberly Russell. She had really short, straight hair and round glasses. She never wore anything in fashion, and my best friend hated it. One day, Kimberly asked me if I was feeling okay. She was really nice. She never seemed to care who you were or what you were doing, she always stood by your side. Even to me, even though I teased her right alongside my friend. I just spat at her and told her I hated her and that she was a fat pig." I watched as Adrienne shuffled her feet, not making eye contact with me, "She started to cry and I just watched as she ran away. Nowadays, she has a lot of problems, and I always try to smile at her, but she always looks away, and if she does smile, it never meets her eyes."

Adrienne pulled herself closer to me and smiled. "Don't worry. When you get out of here, you'll have the courage to talk to her. You'll never be scared of anything ever again! You'll always be confident!"

I blushed. "Right. Now, What is the meanest you have been to someone who didn't deserve it?"

Adrienne frowned, tapping her chin in an impression of the great thinkers and their stereotype. I smiled as she thought, watching her lovely mind think over everything. Finally, she nodded to herself and said, "You."

I blinked, "Me? You've never been mean to me. You're always nice."

She shook her head sternly, gesturing to the chair. "When I broke my nose, you fixed it for me. And then, I ignored you for three chimes." I realized with a nod not only that we had started calling hours chimes, but that she was right.

"I suppose you did. But you had good reason too. You really didn't mean to be so cruel. You had just been taken from everything you know, after all."

Adrienne shrugged. "What's the worst thing you've done, that nobody has figured out yet?" She quizzed, easily dismissing the topic from before.

I sighed, but answered, "was the one who broke my youngest brother's radle, his favorite, even though it was blamed on our dog."

Adrienne smiled wide, "You have a dog? What kind of dog is it? What's it's name?"

I chuckled, whenever I brought up animals it seemed that all of Adrienne's focus immediately switched to it. "Well, we actually have three. My parents have Bella, she's a Saluki, I have a Bichon Frise named Polly, and my older brother has an American Alsatian named Tucker.

"Oh!" Adrienne squealed, "How cute! I really do love dogs you know."

I nodded. "I do. We get a dog on our twelfth birthday, I got Polly, but my parents couldn't resist Bella, so they got her as well."

Adrienne smiled. "I wish I lived with you guys, then I would have a dog of my own."

"Don't be so sure, I may take care of Polly, but she prefers Dean over me." I shook my head. "I can't tell you why."

She laughed, tiny dimples appearing by her eyes as her smile pulled even wider.

"Okay, okay. My turn." I chattered, interrupting whatever she was going to say. "What's the most embarrassing nickname you've ever had?"

"Poodle. It's what my dad calls me, because for the majority of my childhood years I would always pretend I was a Poodle." She giggled.

I jumped at the opportunity to laugh, and she did as well. Together we giggled quietly, careful not to interrupt whatever was happening upstairs. We went on for almost two straight minutes before we had to stop, our sides aching. Adrienne swallowed back more laughter. "What is something you do that you don't want your parents to know you do?"

I bit my lip. "Well, whenever I rode with my brother on his bike, I didn't wear leather. Though the time has come for me to regret that."

Adrienne nodded, gently touching the bandages on my face with the tip of her finger. "Yeah. I can tell. Is it scrapes?"

I shook my head, ignoring the throbbing that came with the slight touch of her hand. "Road rash. From not wearing leather when we crashed."

Adrienne hissed. "Ouch. That sucks, Erin. I'm really sorry."

I shrugged. "It's my own fault, and besides, you never even knew what was coming.Or that I even existed."

She nodded, "True. But that doesn't matter right now, what matters is that I pick truth and you need to ask me a question."

Although I rolled my eyes, as she asked, I asked her a truth. "Tell me something you don't want me to know. "

Adrienne frowned, "Of course you would ask that." she groaned and slid her hands through her hair. "I guess that I didn't want you to know that I didn't trust you for a while. Until after you shared with me what not to do around Viktoriya."

I nodded, not at all surprised. "Yeah. That makes sense." I paused, watching her relax. "I mean, I didn't trust you at first either. It's natural."

"Right. Have you ever let someone take the blame for something you did?" She inquired, watching me as I thought it through.

I opened my mouth and then closed it again, trying to get through all the crap in my head and to what I actually wanted. "No," I answered, though a little unsure. "I don't believe so."

Adrienne nodded. "Well, that makes you a better person than I. I used to do that all the time in grade school, not anymore though."

"Alright, so what's the most expensive thing you've stolen?" Adrienne hissed at the question, looking a little unsure.

"Hm... Cigarettes? Maybe. I think." She said, though it sounded like a question. "So what is the most childish thing you still do?"

I raised my eyebrows, a little surprised. "Wow," I muttered. "I think... Probably that I still occasionally call my parents Daddy and Mommy."

Adrienne nodded, smiling, "Me too."

I laughed lightly, "Right. What's the silliest thing you have an emotional attachment to?"

Adrienne beamed and giggled. "I think it's probably this little, stuffed tiger I have. My grandparents bought it for me on the day I was born. It's missing an eye and it's lost a lot of fur, but it's still me, and it's still one of my most favorite things in the entire world."

For some reason, that warmed my heart, I watched in her eyes as she remembered her little friend, and it was quite lovely.

Adrienne was quite cute. She always seemed to wear her thoughts on her sleeve, and it was nice in comparison to Michelle and her groups' mystery, happy masks over their crying, pained faces.

She clasped her hands together, beaming, "Alright! So, what is something you've never, ever told anyone?"

"I hate her. I hate Michelle. She's rude to everyone she meets, even me, and she always takes it upon herself to raise herself up by lowering others down. I wish I could stand up to her... But she's so horrible that I just can't imagine it. As soon as I get home I'm going to smack her straight, I swear it."

Adrienne grinned, a fire in her eyes. She looked like a queen, so bright and dark, even wrapped in rags she was strong. I shivered. "You'd better. I don't think she sounds like the kind of girl such an amazing person such as you should be hanging around. So believe me, you won't be seeing this Diva as a friend ever again."

I smiled and laughed, "Alright, Adri. Now, what would you do if you were a boy for a month?"

Shuddering, Adrienne wrapped her arms around herself. "Oh, that's so horrible to think!" she dramatically placed her hand on her forehead. "I can seldom bear it."

I burst into peals of laughter, though I wasn't quite sure why, and Adrienne soonfollowed suit. We laughed loud and strong, much better than we felt, and going strong. We rod onto the floor, laughing so hard we were sobbing.

Above us, something banged on the ceiling, a stomping foot. "Quiet down there!" Screamed someone. Adri. and I, altogether worn out, giggling to each other in the tiny basement. After so long, it felt quite like a home down here, and we rarely had guests. I had met many of the people who worked for Danny, anyone from around here. But everybody else seemed to avoid us. I looked on the chain on my ankle and smile to myself.