“Look’s like you took the morphine anyways” A smug voice said, awakening me.

                I opened my eyes, taking in my surroundings. I had curled up into a small ball, my back against the wall. I rested my head on my arm, lifting it up a little.

                “What?” I asked, confused.

                “The needle?” the girl asked, gesturing towards the ground by my head. My eyes followed her hand to where an empty syringe sat near me. I looked from that and down towards my inner elbow where a slight bruise had formed.

                Had I really risked my life to put whatever mystery medicine was in there, into my body?

                I racked my brain, trying to come up with any memory of this.

                Nothing.

                “I…. I can’t remember” I whispered, more to myself than to her.

                She laughed to herself “That’s one of the side effects.”

                “Memory loose?”

                “No, just not remembering that you took the morphine”

                She lowered herself next to me, leaning against the wall next to me. I took notice at how close she let herself get to me. I raised an eyebrow curiously, not saying anything.

                I rearranged myself so that I was sitting upright, legs crossed. I frowned, realizing something. I pulled out my wrist, examining it.

                “It’s healed” The girl said. I glanced at her quickly, twisting my wrist around painlessly. “The first drug was meant to heal it quickly, the second to make it painless”

                I nodded, amazed. It didn’t hurt. There was no way we had something like that back on the Boy’s Side.

                How had the girls managed to create something as amazing as this without our knowledge? We had always known so much about them.

                “Thank you” I said, finding it the only appropriate thing to say.

                I didn’t like this girl, but I was glad she had helped. She gently took my wrist, applying pressure to certain areas. Her eyes were focused as she felt my wrist, examining it.

                “It doesn’t seem like anything is out of place” She muttered, placing my hand back in my lap gently.

                I nodded, caressing my wrist lightly.

                “Are you hungry, Boy?” She asked quietly.

                “No” I lied.

                “You’ve been asleep for twelve hours. How are you not hungry?” She questioned

                My stomach growled, giving away my cover. I wrapped my arms around my waist, looking away. She smirked, standing up.

                “I’ll bring you food”

                I let her walk away without a word.

                She returned a few minutes later with the same tray as before. She walked over, setting it down on my lap gently. My eyes widened as I recognized the food that was before me.

                Peesh.

                The memory hit me like a title wave.

                “Do you like it?” I asked Ellie curiously watching as she took another bite of Peesh. She nodded, chewing quickly before taking another bite.

                She finished quickly, long before John nor myself would. Ellie licked her fingers, savoring the taste. I watched as her eyes traveled hungrily to my piece before she met my eyes.

                “What was that?”
                “Peesh” I explained.

                Ellie scrunched up her face adorably “That doesn’t sound as appetizing as it tastes”

                I felt my eyes fill with water that threatened to spill over. I took a deep breath, leaning back. I had to clear my mind of Ellie. She was gone.

                She would never come back.

                Forgetting was my only hope at this point.

                “Hey, are you ok?” The girl asked me, looking concerned.

                I kept my eyes closed, shaking my head from side to side. I didn’t speak, for fear that my voice would crack.

                She didn’t force me to answer, letting me sit in silence. The girl waited as I tried to calm myself down. I forced a deep breath into my lungs, steadying my body.

                “I’m fine” I muttered, taking a bit into the peesh.

                The familiar flavor flooded my mouth, sending pain into my heart. I paused, resisting the urge to cry out in anger.

                It wasn’t fair.

                None of this was.

                I shoved the rest of it into my mouth quickly, trying to rid the memory from my mind as quickly as possible.

                She watched me silently, her eyes scanning over my body. I didn’t feel weird or anything, fully knowing she was doing that. I let her without complaint, knowing she was curious about boys.

                I would have preferred her to have asked, though, instead.

                I chugged the glass of water she gave me, trying to vanquish any taste in my mouth. I wanted to forget this memory so badly.

                I just wanted to close my eyes and never wake up.

                I set the glass down rather loudly, causing the girl to raise an eyebrow. She took the tray from me, setting it off to her side.

                The girl crossed her legs, hands in her lap “That was quick”

                I shrugged, not having a response.

                “Look, uhm.” She sighed, struggling to find the words she wanted to use “I want to talk to you about something”

                “Continue” I muttered.

                “I know you have no reason to trust me, and I have no reason to trust you” She started “But I need you to be honest with me. Can you?”

                “Depends”

                “I need a real answer”

                “Fine” I said angrily.

                “Why did you come here?”

                “I didn’t try to” I said “The stupid Speed sent me here”

                She rolled her eyes. “Have you guys honestly not figured out that the Speed was designed too yet?”

                My eyes widened “What are you talking about?”

                “The Speed was created so that we could trick idiots like you into coming onto our side so we could easily get rid of you”

                Anger flared up inside of me. They had been tricking us into believing in this so that they could have easy pickings? That was low. Even for the girls.

                “Calm down. I don’t approve” She tried to soothe my temper.

                I shook my head, clenching my hands into fists. “I’m. Fine.”

                “Clearly you’re not.”

                “Look, is this what you wanted to ask me?”

                She shook her head cautiously “Actually, I wanted to know why you went through the Speed to begin with”

                I felt a new wave of anger course through my veins. I had to take a deep breath before I could even manage to speak through my gritted teeth “John killed her.”

                “Killed who?” the girl asked gently.

                “Ellie”

                “Who’s Ellie?”

                I stood up abruptly, turning around and slamming my fist into the wall. I could feel pain shooting into my hand, probably threatening to crack a bone. But I ignored it, throwing my fist at the concrete again. The girl shot up, grabbing my fist back before I could do it once more. I struggled against her, needing to release my anger.

                She slapped my face, turning me around so that I was against the wall. Goose bumps filled my arms as the cold touched my back. The girl stood in front of me, one hand resting on my chest, the other pressing a finger to my hips.

                Her harsh eyes bore into mine deeply and sternly. “Don’t. Make. Loud. Noises.”

                I bit my lip, looking away. I knew she was right, and it pained me to admit that. I unclenched my fingers with a sigh.

                She pulled down hesitantly before moving to sit back on the floor. I remained standing, realizing just how short the girl was compared to me.

                Ellie had always been but a few inches shy of my height. This girl would have only come up to Ellie’s nose had they been standing next to each other. Her petite body was only truly expressed when she walked.

                I had never realized until now.

                “What are you doing?” the girl whispered.

                I turned to her, “You’re short”

                She rolled her eyes, her face growing irritated. “Thanks, I haven’t been told that before”

                “No need for sarcasm” I snapped “I didn’t realize how short you actually were”

                “Excuse me for not understanding your ignorance” She retorted “Not everyone can be tall. And for your information, I’m five foot three and proud of it”

                I snorted “Whatever”

                “Look, let’s just back to the topic”

                “I don’t want to talk about that” I growled.

                “Fine, fine. We won’t.”

                “Good”

                She paused before asking, “But why did you come through the Speed?”

                “I already told you.” I hissed

                “Yes, yes, John killed her” She waved her hand, ignoring that bit “But what possessed you to go into the Speed in the first place?”

                “I need to kill him” I said, the urge for vengeance fresh inside of me.

                “And how do you expect to find him?” She questioned “You have a whole planet to search. He could be anywhere”

                I looked away, realizing my dilemma. “Uhm….”

                She hesitated before answering “I could help you…”

                I met her eyes “Really?”

                “If you do me a favor” She finished.

                “What is it?”

                “You’ll find out when the time’s right”

                “Tell me now” I frowned, not liking this.

                “Do you want to find this guy or not?” She growled “I’ll help you find him. You just have to repay the favor”

                “Tell me what I have to do”

                “You’re not really in the position to negotiate, are you now?” She asked smugly, a smirk across her lips.

                I glared at her “Fine.”

                “Good” She smiled mischievously. Her face sent chills down my spine.

                “How are you going to find him?” I asked curiously.

                “I’m going to take the data from the Speed and analyze the wave lengths coming from the solid masses, liquid masses, and gas masses as they cross through. Then I take the numbers and compare them to the amount an average girl should have and times it by a one and a half. After that I—”

                I held up a hand, stopping her “Please”

                She smiled crookedly “Sorry, I keep forgetting…”

                “Are you calling me stupid?”

                “No!” She said quickly, not wanting my anger to spark up again.

                I studied her carefully “Can you summarize it?”

                She nodded, a strand of hair falling out in front of her face. “Of course. Basically I’m going to figure out which atoms recorded belong to this man and trace where they went to”

                “Sounds complicated” I muttered, eyebrows raised in awe. This girl was clearly smarter than any guy I had known. Even Blasé couldn’t have figured that out. If all girls were this smart, how was it that they hadn’t taken over already?

                “I’m in accelerated classes” She mumbled, her face tinting red “It’s really not that hard once you know the formula…”

                I shook my head, “Please don’t begin to explain the formula”

                “Don’t worry, it would take too long”

                “So after that, what do we do?” I asked, hoping to stay away from topics that would make me seem foolish. I was going to have to let this girl lead the way since I was foreign in this area.

                “Assuming he’s on the Girl’s Side, we hunt him down” She said.

                I was surprised she was going with this. I know I wouldn’t have if Ellie had asked me those many years ago.

                “Thank you” I whispered gratefully.

                She smiled, nodding slightly “Just don’t forget you owe me something else”

                “As long as I get that bastard” I promised.

                She nodded, standing up. I heard the joints in her legs crack as she stretched, bending down to pick up the empty tray.

                She picked it up quietly. “Just don’t forget to stay quiet please”

                “I won’t”

                “Your life isn’t the only one at risk if you don’t” She said barely audible. I didn’t think I was meant to hear it.

                I pretended as if I hadn’t, “What did you say?”
                She blinked looking at me “Nothing, just… nothing”

                “Alright”

                It was silent. The girl’s eyes met mine. We locked gazes, neither of us daring to move. I held hers strongly, trying to show that I wasn’t as fearful as she thought I was.

                The girl looked away first.

                “Do you have any of that medicine you gave me before?” I asked, feeling a dull pain return to my wrist.

                She nodded “Do you feel the same extreme of pain as before?”

                “No. It’s not as bad.”

                “I’ll give you a quarter dose” She mumbled to herself. Her eyes flickered down to my elbow where a faint purple-ish circle was. “And be careful plunging the needle in. Gently”

                I rolled my eyes “I apologize that the pain was clouding up my mind.”

                “Whatever. Stick it in the same area as before”

                “Got it”

                “That means in your bruise”

                I flinched. That wasn’t going to feel too good. “Alright”

                “I’ll be back with the medicine in a few minutes, ok?” She said, taking a step away.

                I nodded, watching her. The girl held my gaze for a few more moments before turning away and taking a step away.

                I noticed how short she was again as she retreated.

                When she was almost at the stairs, a though crossed my mind.

                “Wait!” I called out to her as loudly as I dared.

                She paused, turning her head towards me. “Yes?”

                “You never told me your name”

                She simply smirked and looked away, walking up the stairs quickly.

***HEYY GUYS. I need you to do me a favor. So I now have THREE covers for the story and I am at a lose at which one I want as the cover. I love ALL three of them, but I've decided to let YOU guys vote [if you wish]. Here's the link to the poll:  http://quizilla.teennick.com/polls/18019738/which-cover-appeals-to-you-the-most If you don't have a log in for that, post the letter name in the comment!

Hint: The more votes I get for that, the faster the next chapter comes!

And thanks for all the name suggestions!!(: Got any more, you can leave them in a comment below!**