Rachel did not listen any further but instead flapped her arms at Lelly to show her where the girl was. As Lelly led the way, Rachel was pulling out her cell phone from her pocket to call 911. Harmony stood behind completely forgotten. Clive was already rushing after Rachel to assist.
Deflated, Harmony stood in the hallway for a moment. She was emotionally exhausted and couldn’t worry about this girl Deb whom she didn’t know.
“Do you want me to walk you to your room?” Arrow asked, stepping up beside her.
Normally she would’ve said no, but she was feeling scared and wanted the company. Besides, Arrow was the one who had protected her from the apparition at the gas station.
“Yes, that would be nice.”
He smiled and said, “Well, show me the way, miss.”
Harmony nodded and began walking up the stairs with Arrow alongside. “So, Zion said the apparitions aren’t violent and can’t hurt us, but that one at the gas station seemed pretty solid.” Harmony ventured.
The realization of this fact dawned on Arrow’s face and he said, “Yes! You’re right. How does that work?”
“I don’t know.” She bit her lip thoughtfully and they walked in silence the rest of the way to her room. Both seemed to be lost in thought about everything that was going on.
“Is this it?” Arrow asked when they stopped in front of her door.
“Yes, it is.” She looked up into his scruffy face. He wasn’t beautiful, but his face was interesting to look at. It seemed like every time she spoke to him, she saw a new line, freckle, or secret in his face. “I’m not sure I feel safe.”
“I’ll scope it out and make sure it’s safe.” Arrow said as he rubbed his hands together. She unlocked the door and let him go in first. He marched in with an over-exaggerated gait and whipped his head around left and right. “A’right, apparitions! Git!” He then started to flail his arms. Harmony lost her composure and began to laugh. Encouraged by her reaction, he began to play it up even more by checking under the bed, army crawling across the floor, and diving onto the couch screaming “Come out, come out wherever you are!”
“Shhh…” Harmony walked into the room and pushed the door until it almost shut and flapped her hands at him. “Men aren’t allowed to be in here. You are gonna get us kicked out on day one.”
“Oh, right.” He said from his lounging position on the couch. “Well, I’ll sneak out.” With a grunt, he sat up and approached her. “In all seriousness, are you sure you’re okay?”
“I…” She was having a good time and didn’t want him to leave. “I like you better sober.” She said finally.
Arrow’s face dropped the smile and was replaced by a blank mask. She immediately regretted mentioning it. She felt stuck in that moment and was afraid he was going to leave her after she said something so silly.
“I don’t like me at all.” He said quietly. “Speaking of which, I better dispose of some of my drinks before they check the rooms.”
“Okay.”
“You take care of yourself.” Arrow saluted and made his way around her.
She didn’t turn to watch him go. She stayed frozen until she heard the door click.
***
Harmony barely slept and woke to a sinus headache and throbbing behind her right eye. Even though she wasn’t a fan of coffee, her mom had told her that caffeine sometimes helped alleviate headaches. Once she was showered and dressed for the day she proceeded downstairs. Several other women with unfamiliar faces were also heading the same way, but everybody seemed to be half asleep.
When she walked into the dining and kitchen space, she went to the coffee machine. It felt like she had woken up at a hotel and was now taking advantage of the continental breakfast.
Rachel stood nearby greeting everybody. When she noticed Harmony, she bustled over and began to apologize. “I am so sorry for abandoning you last night. One of our rehab patients had a seizure. She is going to be okay, but it was a lot of back and forth and paperwork.”
“It’s fine.” Harmony said sincerely. “Arrow walked me back to my room.”
Rachel said nothing even though she looked like she had more questions. Harmony was relieved that she didn’t pry though. She was still feeling the shame from embarrassing Arrow. She hadn’t meant to hurt his feelings.
“How did you sleep last night?” Rachel asked, her eyes wandering around the room trying to keep track of everything.
Harmony attempted a sip of her coffee before speaking and was shocked by how bitter it was. She reached for the sugar packets and said, “It’s hard falling asleep in a new place, but I finally managed it.” One, two, three, four, five packets of sugar later she took another sip.
“You like sweet coffee?” Rachel asked, chuckling.
“I don’t like coffee at all but I thought it might help get rid of my headache.”
“Well, no pressure to do any heavy lifting today. If all you want is to rest up, you can do that.”
Harmony nodded. “Thank you.” She then grabbed a few more things for breakfast and casually glanced around the room for an empty seat. She saw Clive by himself near the window. Sitting with Clive was better than nothing so she joined him across the table.
“Good morning.” He said joyfully. He picked up his mug and took a long sip. “Doing better today?”
“Mostly.” She said and began stabbing at the scrambled eggs on her plate. “How about you?” She asked, trying to be polite.
“Great!” The glint of an extra sharp canine tooth flashed behind his crooked smile.
Harmony couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or if he was usually this chipper in the morning. “Where are the other guys?”
Clive shrugged, but this insufficient answer wasn’t as annoying as it could have been since Pat chose that exact moment to make an appearance. Both Clive and Pat were in the public eye, but Pat seemed to try to make himself as small as possible in the large space. His shoulders rolled forward and his head bent down. A few of the residents tried to make small talk with him but he was obviously uncomfortable. After rebuffing several people as he prepared a bowl of cereal, he came over to Harmony and sat next to her.
“Where’s Arrow?” Harmony asked without bothering to wish Pat good morning.
“Upstairs. Drunk.” Pat took a bite of Cheerios without a concern in the world.
Harmony’s breakfast caught in her throat and her stomach swirled. She tried to swallow but the lump remained in her esophagus and she could feel her chest tighten as her breathing became more labored. Everybody around her was behaving normally, but the turmoil inside her was slowly escalating.
