*Robin Douglas's POV:

(This took place the night of Chapter 21)

It had been about two days since Shimizu gave me the news that he and Danny were planning a revolt against the guards.

I was very doubtful about it. How could we as a bunch of kids go up against highly trained guards? That was a one-way ticket to the afterlife.

At the same time, it was worth a try. I had seen so many devastating and upsetting things at this camp that it was affecting my mental health, and I've only been here for about two days.

I've seen it all, from a girl getting beat with police sticks until she was a bloody mess to seeing many prisoners screaming, crying and begging for their lives as they were being sent away to the death chambers.

I was so ready for the revolt, it was crazy. My heart rapidly beats every time I thought about it. Those bastards deserved to die. They deserved hell because of how much they didn't care for human life. They sent hundreds of prisoners to their early deaths, and I bet they were defending it by saying "I'm just doing my job".

Dickwads. Straight dickwads.

I told Gaia, Kamryn, Katie and Kimberly everything about the revolt and they told many others everything that I had told them. It only took a day, but everyone in Group 2 knew all about the revolt. I've even heard that all of Group 3 knew as well.

The time was 7:00 pm. Two hours from then, it would've been "bedtime", according to the guards.

It was so cold outside, obviously because it was still winter, but the weather was a little too cold for late March.

Gaia's cold was getting worse. She was coughing vigorously, her temperature was going up and she said she felt dizzy at times. She was clearly showing signs of a fever.

I didn't feel so well myself. My throat was hurting like crazy, I had terrible headaches and I could feel my temperature going up. My skin looked paler as well.

Doing work in the harsh cold with nothing to keep us warm was what probably caused our sickness. I was so ready to get the hell out of there, and because it had been about two or three days since I've taken a shower, I didn't smell all that great. It was killing me inside because I usually had very good hygiene, but because there wasn't a shower anywhere in sight, there was nothing I could do.

To escape the cold, me and Gaia, Katie, Kamryn and Kimberly asked one of the guards to clean the cafeteria. They approved and said we could only stay and clean for an hour.

We started by scrubbing the floors of the cafeteria. Dinner time was an hour before, so we were cleaning up the aftermath. Because no one was there and it was just us, we could talk about the revolt. But even still, we chatted quietly, just in case.

"God, I can't wait, in a few hours these guards are going to get what's handed to them" Kimberly said in an excited tone as she scrubbed vigorously.

"Exactly, we're going to send their asses straight to hell" Kamryn said with an evil smirk.

"Patience ladies, patience. Everything will come to pass" I said as I stopped scrubbing the floor and wiped the sweat off my forehead.

"How exactly can you remain calm when you know exactly what's going to happen tonight?!" Kimberly asked me with furrowed eyebrows.

"Because, if you remain calm and act normal, the guards won't get suspicious."

"Hmm, that makes sense" she responded.

"Okay, so we got the whole plan for the revolt down pack, but what are we going to do after the revolt? Obviously the cops are going to be looking for every single escaped experi-baby, especially us. So therefore, where are we going to hide?" Kamryn asked.

"Good question, I don't freaking know. We will figure it out once we get to that point" I shrugged.

Kimberly sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes.

"Perfect, just perfect. So, your boyfriend Shimizu has a plan for us to revolt against the guards but can't even find a place to hide from the authorities that will be searching for us everywhere?! Just great" Kimberly said in a sarcastic tone after she stopped scrubbing.

"Oh, hush Kimberly, we will think of something. Plus, he is not my boyfriend. We are just friends!" I sighed in frustration.

"Are you sure about that? I've seen you guys hanging out all the time, it seems like Shimizu has the hots for you" she smirked. She then flinched a bit and grunted from mistakenly moving her right arm. "Ugh, this damn branding on my arm still hurts like crazy. I can't even move my right arm the way I want to."

I didn't want to believe her about what she said about Shimizu. He was just being a nice guy, that's all. That's why he kissed my cheek. It wasn't because he liked me, it was because he was just being nice, and he cared about me. He stared at me sometimes because he was probably sinking in the fact that he had friends. He blushed when I was near him or when I smiled at him because maybe, he never really been that close to a girl before.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Many people thought we were dating because of the fact that I defended him against a bully, which was Kimberly.

"He doesn't have the hots for me. He was just being a nice guy. Right Gaia?" I asked, wanting somebody on my side.

"Well Robin, he does show signs that he likes you" Gaia responded.

"Whatever. Shimizu doesn't like me and that's that."

"Okay sure. But, what if he did like you? Then what?" Kimberly asked as she continued scrubbing the floor with her left hand.

I paused. I didn't know how to respond to that question.

"I-I don't know" I hesitantly responded.

I tried to change the subject.

"So, what about you Kimberly? Do you have a boyfriend? Or are you forever lonely?" I sneered.

Gaia, Katie and Kamryn giggled.

Kimberly slammed down her scrub brush and looked at me.

"I have you know, I was voted "most likely to get a boyfriend" in 8th grade, so what are you talking about?" she said in a snobbish tone as she flipped her nonexistent long hair.

"Oh please" I rolled my eyes.

"And you were voted "most likely to end up in jail"! Have you forgotten?!" Kimberly said before sticking her tongue out at me.

I looked at her, unbothered.

"Okay and-? What's your point?"

"My point is that you have no room to talk about someone being lonely when you have yet to actually have a boyfriend. If you aren't going to date Shimizu, then why don't you date Beval? He's a hottie. I'd totally get with him" Kimberly said as she raised her eyebrows up and down.

"You better not" Gaia mumbled.

All of us looked at her. She looked up at us.

"Oh, sorry I was talking to this little bug that just crossed my path" Gaia explained as she made a big smiled. She slammed the scrub brush on the floor repeatedly, as if she was trying to kill a bug. "There you stupid bug! Die! Die! Die! Wahahaha" Gaia said with a seemingly fake, evil giggle.

"Okay then" Kimberly said as she scratched her head in confusion.

We awkwardly looked away from Gaia.

"Beval is my best friend Kimberly. Just because he is "the hottest guy in school" doesn't mean I have to like him" I continued.

"Well, if you aren't going to have him, then best believe I am" Kimberly claimed with dreamy eyes, fantasizing over me and Gaia's male best friend.

"Um, who is Beval? I've heard about Shimizu, but I haven't heard about Beval" Katie spoke up after being quiet for so long.

"Oh, Beval is this really attractive guy that so happens to be Robin and Gaia's best friend. He's fourteen I think, but he's turning fifteen soon, so we're going to be the same age for a couple months, even though I am turning sixteen in August. His birthday is in June right?" Kimberly asked me.

"Yeah, June 10th" I replied, but not really listening to Kimberly.

"Now, don't get me wrong Robin, Shimizu is cute too, but Beval is cuter in my opinion" she continued, not knowing I wasn't paying her any attention.

I shook my head and rolled my eyes in annoyance.

"Hey girls, when you see him, you'll know what I mean when I say he is as fine as wine" Kimberly said to Kamryn and Katie.

"How cute is he exactly?" Katie asked Kimberly, seemingly interested.

"Cute enough to be mine" She winked.

Gaia abruptly slammed her scrub brush on the ground.

We looked at her for a second time.

"Uhh, you okay?" I asked her.

Gaia stood up and stormed towards Kimberly.

"Look Kimberly, Beval is not your accessory. He is not something that you wear or bring with you to make you look good. He is a human being and deserves someone that will love him for him, and not only his looks!"

Kimberly got up and looked at Gaia as if she was crazy, placing her hands on her hips.

I stood up too, just in case things start getting physical.

"That's the problem with girls at our school. They only love Beval because of his looks but not because of his personality. No girl ever approaches him because of the mere fact that he is an experi-baby. He doesn't deserve that. Not one bit. And you don't deserve him Kimberly!" Gaia ranted.

Silence filled the cafeteria. Me, Kamryn and Katie just looked at each other.

It was amazing, Gaia stood up to Kimberly, whom was our school bully. She really stood up to her.

Kimberly suddenly burst out laughing.

"Girl, what are you talking about?" Kimberly laughed.

"Huh?" Gaia said, bewildered.

"It's really not that serious, but it's nice that you are defending him like a true friend. That's cute" Kimberly smiled as she patted her shoulder before walking away.

Gaia stood there, batting her eyes in confusion.

I cocked an eyebrow at her. That wasn't the first time I had seen her like that. Ever since Mina's party, she had been acting weird, especially when she was around Beval.

Maybe it was just my imagination, maybe it was just my mind making things up. I don't know.

"So, uh, are we just going to keep yapping or are we going to keep scrubbing?" Gaia asked us as she crouched down and grabbed her scrub brush and proceeded to scrub the floor. She had a nervous look on her face, I could tell she was a little embarrassed.

"Nah, let's sneak into the kitchen and see what's popping. Let's see if we can find some real food. What'ya say?" Kimberly asked as she pointed to the cafeteria's kitchen and elbowed me.

"Eww, I'm not going to try and steal that greasy, mold-infested food" I cringed.

"Oh, come on, we can look and see if they have anything good in there, like bags of chips or some soda or something."

"Nah I totally doubt that. I threw up about two times eating their freaking food" Kamryn protested.

"Dang" Kimberly replied as she gave up.

I stood up and stretched.

"Well, I'm going to go do the dishes. I'm tired of scrubbing this floor" I said before walking over towards the kitchen door.

"Okay" I heard Kimberly say.

"Wait! I'll come with you!" Gaia yelled as she ran to me.

"Sure, the more the merrier" I smiled as I stopped and glanced back at her.

Me and Gaia made our way into the kitchen and walked towards a big sink with piles and piles of dishes.

"Okay, you dry, and I'll wash" I told her as I gave her a towel.

"Okay" she replied.

I began to make the dishwater and placed the forks, spoons and knifes in there first. I placed detergent on my rag and began doing the dishes.

Twenty minutes later went by and we weren't even 1/4 done. The pain of my branded right arm made it nearly impossible to get as much as we wanted done.

But for some reason, Gaia was unusually quiet.

I looked at her. I could tell by her facial expression that she was thinking hard about something. I couldn't tell what though.

"Gaia, are you okay? What'cha thinking about?" I asked her.

She snapped out of her thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine. I'm not thinking about anything" she quickly smiled.

I've been friends with her for eight years or so, I could tell when she wasn't fine.

"Hmm, are you sure Gaia? You don't look so happy. What's wrong? Tell me."

"Nothing's wrong Robin, I'm alright, I am perfectly-"

"Gaia" I interrupted as I gave her a look.

She grew silent for a few moments as she twisted her mouth a bit.

"You know I know when something is up with you, I know all your facial expressions. So therefore, what's the matter?" I said to her in a motherly tone.

She was silent and refused to say anything.

"Gaia. I am your best friend; you can tell me anything. I won't tell anyone."

She inhaled and spoke.

"I volunteered to help you out in the kitchen because I wanted to tell you something while nobody was around. But first, let me ask you something."

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Have you ever liked someone you knew you weren't supposed to like, but you liked them anyway?" she asked.

I furrowed my eyebrows, not really knowing what she meant.

"Uhh. No. Why?"

"Listen Robin, just in case if I don't survive the revolt, I want to tell you something and please don't freak out or laugh."

"You will survive the revolt; I will protect you" I told her as I rubbed her back.

She looked down at the ground while playing with her fingers.

"Gaia, I promise that I won't laugh or freak out. What is it you want to tell me?"

"Please, please don't get uncomfortable. I don't want it to ruin my relationship with you or Beval."

I placed my dish down and put my wet left hand on Gaia's righting shoulder.

"Nothing will ever ruin our relationship Gaia. We are like glue. You, me, Beval and Shimizu."

Gaia looked up at me. Her green eyes met my orange eyes. She was sniffling, she was crying. The tears fell down her face like a stream.

"I had feelings for someone for a long time, but I just realized it on the night of Mina's party."

When Gaia confessed that she liked someone, I was shocked. It was taboo. She was just like me in a sense; never really the type that would be in relationships or have crushes.Who exactly would Gaia have feelings for?

"Do you have a crush on someone?" I asked her, even though she already told me.

She nodded.

"Who do you have a crush on?" I asked her, staring intensely into her eyes.

"I, I don't want to say."

"Why?"

"I already told you, I don't want you and Beval to be uncomfortable around me. I don't want awkwardness between our friendship."

"Gaia please, come on, why would there be awkwardness between our friendship? We have been best friends forever. That's just sill-"

"Because my crush is our best friend!" Gaia yelled.

There was a deep silence between us.

I tilted my head a little, confused and surprised by what she said.

She looked down at the floor, trembling as she was crying.

"Do you-"

I stopped myself for a second, but I decided to ask the question anyway.

"Do you like Shimizu?" I asked, hoping the answer was no.

She shook her head "no" as she bit her lip. I blew my breath in relief.

"If it's not Shimizu, then is it-"

"It's Beval" she whimpered, interrupting me.

That silence between us occurred again. It was even deeper now.

My eyes widen and my mouth opened a little.

"I'm in love with Beval. It took me a while but I had to learn to accept the fact that this was how I felt. I couldn't fight with myself anymore. I not knowingly tried so hard to shake these feelings off for so long, but only for it to grow even stronger when he caught Mina's eye."

I blinked my eyes, perplexed. It had to been a prank. It had to be.

"With the help of a psychologist online, I realized my feelings. Believe me, it was scary. I never had these feelings for anyone before, so they were completely out of the ordinary. You see Robin, Beval means the world to me and I love him dearly, but I don't think he will ever feel the same way about me. He would never like a girl like me. I mean, look at me, I'm most likely not his type. He likes those rich and pretty girls" she continued.

"G-Gaia..." I stuttered.

I stopped myself for a second. This had to be a joke.

She clenched her fist. Tear drops splattered all on the floor and her shoulders hunched as she cried.

I chuckled.

"Wait, Gaia, this is a joke right? You don't love Beval. You're kidding about this whole thing. This has to be a joke."

I laughed out loud, laughing the hardest I had ever laughed. This joke was funny, it was almost believable.

Gaia said nothing. She just stood there.

"Gaia?" I called out her name as I stopped laughing and wiped a tear from my eye.

Her face, it showed anger now. She wasn't crying anymore.

She was gashing her teeth and taking in deep breaths as if someone was pissing her off. Her fist was balled up even tighter. I could see that her eyes were becoming red, most likely from crying.

"Gaia? You really are kidding right? All of this is just a joke right?"

Silence.

"Gaia, answer m-"

Before I could say anything else, Gaia pushed me out of the way and began sprinting out of the kitchen.

"Yo, I'm done cleaning this stinky ass flo-"

Kimberly was interrupted by Gaia bumping into her. She was sprinting through the kitchen door while Kimberly was trying to come in through it.

Kimberly fell to the ground.

"Gaia wait!" I shouted as I tried to run after her.

"She was serious. Oh my god, she was serious" I thought to myself.

"What the hell Gaia?!" Kimberly yelled out to her in anger as I ran pass her.

Gaia kept on running, she didn't stop for anything, not even to look back.

"Hey Gaia! What's the mat-"?

Before Kamryn could finish, Gaia slipped and fell to the floor. The floor was slippery from us scrubbing it. Gaia shrieked as she fell.

"Gaia, please wait!" I shouted as I was running to her. I was getting closer and closer.

"Leave me alone!" she shouted as she got back up. Her voice was shaky. She was crying again.

She ran pass Kamryn and Katie and out of the cafeteria door.

Kamryn and Katie stared at her, bewildered, then glanced at me as I was chasing after her.

"Gaia, stop!" I shouted at her as I kept running. But she wouldn't stop.

"Gaia!" I shouted.

I ran out the cafeteria.

The distance between me and her was growing, she was running faster now, she must've saw that I was catching up.

"Just leave me alone! I should've never told you anything!" Gaia shouted.

I was starting to lose her. Because it was so dark, I couldn't really see her anymore. She grew farther and farther away from me and then suddenly, she disappeared into the night.

I stopped running and just stood there.

I was about fifty feet away from the cafeteria, just staring at the pathway that Gaia ran down.

At that moment, the cold didn't bother me like it usually did.

"Hey, what happened?" Kimberly asked as she, Katie and Kamryn ran out of the cafeteria towards me.

I was speechless. I didn't know what to say, but I build up the courage to speak.

"She told me something" I said, not giving Kimberly any eye contact. I just kept staring out into the pathway Gaia ran down.

"What?" Kimberly asked.

"It's between me and her, so don't go asking her what's wrong. Give her some time, she'll come around" I responded, emotionless.

Kimberly was baffled, but she nodded at me, trying to understand. Along with Kamryn, she went back inside.

"I hope she's okay, and that whatever she is going through will pass on" Katie said to me in a sweet tone.

I looked back at her and made a quick smile.

I couldn't believe it. Gaia was telling the truth. She was in love with Beval. Out of all people, Beval.

She said she felt that way for a while, and the crazy part was that I didn't even know it, and I was sure Beval didn't even know it. Shimizu probably didn't know either, but he was the one who did say that Gaia and Beval would make a cute couple.

Part of me agreed. Ever since Beval gave Gaia flowers for her eight birthday, I've always secretly thought that they would make a cute couple. They had a lot in common and were both interested in similar things. Beval was into written poetry, rapping and making beats. He wrote his own raps and recorded them by himself. Gaia loved singing and spoken poetry. She wrote her songs and recorded them with the help of her parents. She was in the process of making an album.

From what I've seen, Gaia had always seem more open and gentler with Beval than with me and Shimizu.

She must've suffered from this for a while. Seeing her crush in love with another girl right before her eyes and seeing countless girls swoon at the sight of him must've been rough.

This whole thing was going to take a while to process. My best friend was in love with her best friend whom was also my best friend.

I didn't blame her for thinking that it was going to ruin our friendship. I didn't blame her for thinking that it was going to cause awkwardness between us, because it most likely was.

I kept staring down that pathway. I was as still as a statue. Trying to process what had happened.

I promised her I wouldn't laugh, and I did.

I laughed because I thought she was joking, but I unknowingly broke her promise.

She had to been so embarrassed and angry. Coming out the closet like that must've been hard. It must've taken a lot of courage and guts, and here I was, laughing at her, asking if she was joking or not. How could I have been so insensitive?

She was pouring her heart out to me. She must've kept her feelings for Beval a secret for a while, and for me to just laugh, what kind of a friend was I?

"Gaia, please come back" I whimpered as I reached my hand out.

Tears ran down my cheeks and landed on the snow below.

"Please come back" I whimpered again.

"Robin, let's go back inside, your cold will get worse if you stay out here" Katie said to me in a sad tone as she grabbed my arm.

Darkness, and silence was all I could see and hear. No prisoners were around us at the time.

Gaia most likely won't trust me again after this.

"Gaia...Gaia...Gaia" I whimpered as I cried.

"Robin, please don't cry. She will be back" Katie said as she tried to pull me towards the cafeteria, but when I didn't budge, she decided to let me go.

"I'll give you some time then" she said before she slowly made her way back into the cafeteria.

I fell to my knees on to the snow. I felt so guilty. I felt terrible. I felt like a terrible friend.

It may have seemed like nothing to others, but it was serious to me. This was serious to Gaia.

Imagine going through an emotional rollercoaster for a while because you had feelings for your best friend, and when you told your other best friend about it, they laughed right in your face.

I stayed there for a while, hoping she would come back, hoping that we could make up and forget this whole thing.

But she never came back. She just stayed in her cabin and refused to talk to anyone.