Page 18 of The Compound

“Fine,” I said, and Becca said something I couldn’t hear.

He took out a carton of orange juice and drank from the carton. He drank in long gulps and made anahhsound when he finished. He put the carton back in the fridge. “Sorry,” he said. “I’ll use a glass next time.”

“Please do,” Becca said.

“I got a razor this morning,” he said. “Man, was I delighted. All I had to do was tickle Susie until she cried.”

He didn’t understand why we were staring at him. He opened his mouth, then closedit.

“Good morning,” the voice said. “Discussion of Personal Tasks is forbidden. This is the last warning before action is taken.”

A handful of others piled into the kitchen. It was obvious who was atfault from the stricken look on Gav’s face.

“Idiot,” Marcus said.

—

The first taskwas to talk about pets we’d had and how they died. For this we got a long tube of glue. I wasn’t particularly excited about that reward, but Jacintha shouted with glee when she saw it. She ran to the bathroom, and I followed her. “Here,” she said, holding one side of the sheet. “Hold this up—put it right there.” I did as instructed, and she glued the sheet to the frame of the door. I could only see her vague outline through the sheet as she continued to apply glue liberally.

“So,” she said. “You and Ryan?”

I looked down the hallway to check that we were alone. “He’s great,” I said.

“Did you…?”

“We kissed.”

I could hear her smile. “Good for you.”

“Did I see you with Marcus in bed last night?”

“Yeah,” she said. “We had so much fun yesterday. He’s a really funny guy.”

“What about Carlos?”

“Carlos is great, too. I’m keeping my options open.”

“That’s smart.”

She moved the sheet aside and looked at me. “You should keep your options open, too.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve seen Sam looking at you. He seems nice. And he’s gorgeous.”

“So is Ryan.”

“I know, but it’s only been a couple of days. Don’t limit yourself.”

I wondered if she thought that Ryan didn’t like me. It stung to think so, but I saw the sense in her suggestion. “I guess it probably wouldn’t hurt to get to know him,” I said.

She looked at her handiwork. It wouldn’t last for long: it would likely have to be fixed and reglued at least once a day. But it was a degree of privacy, for now. I had seen Evan’s bare bottom as he used the urinal andhad been shouted at by Sarah when I stumbled toward a toilet in the middle of the night to find her there already.

“Talk to every boy here if it keeps you safe,” Jacintha said. “Now isn’t the time to be sentimental.”

—

We made betterprogress that day: we completed four tasks that morning, and earned toilet cleaner, a ladder, scissors, and a new towel for each of us. The tasks were easy, and we were happy as we did them, though a little deflated when we looked at our spoils, all sickeningly practical. We had lunch outside—bread and tiny portions of ham or cheese. After lunch we napped in the bedroom, still the only room in the house that was cool.

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