I went to Mel's house today.
Her parents weren't home.
I already knew that.
At this point, I already know everyone's schedules and routines.
In hindsight... I probably shouldn't have said that so casually.
After I knocked, I had to wait like five minutes before she opened the door.
She was probably looking through the peephole and windows to see if I had brought anyone else.
Sure enough, when she opened the door, she didn't seem surprised to see me.
Mostly just nervous.
Her eyes still went behind me, making sure I had brought no one else.
"Hi," I said.
Only her head was peeking through the door.
It wasn't open enough for me to see inside.
"Hi..."
That was it.
That was all she said.
No "Come in!"
No "Why are you here?"
Just a quiet, uncomfortable greeting.
"I came to check on you."
No response.
"You weren't at the meeting yesterday."
Still nothing.
Her grip tightened on the doorknob.
I could tell she wanted to disappear back into the house and pretend I was never there.
"I'm not here to drag you anywhere," I said. "I just wanted to talk."
That got a reaction.
She looked at me for a second.
Really looked at me.
Like she was trying to figure out whether I was lying or not.
Then, after another long pause, she opened the door a little wider and stepped aside.
I took that as permission.
Her house was quiet.
Really quiet.
The only noise I heard was the hum of the refrigerator.
It was also clean.
No dishes in the sink.
No dust anywhere.
Clean.
She led me up to her room without saying much.
She sat me down in the chair at her desk.
Then went to get us waters.
As she was doing that, I realized I'd never been in a girl's room.
At least, not one I was invited into.
I've been inside Melanie's room many times, but this felt different.
It felt weird.
Not weird in a bad way.
Just... different.
Her room was neat.
Cleaner than mine.
There were a few books stacked by her bed, a little desk by the window, and some stuffed animals I probably wasn't supposed to notice but definitely did.
There were also a couple of dried flowers in a jar on the windowsill.
That felt like something Mel would have.
She came back with the waters—which I never even asked for—and took a seat on the edge of her bed.
We sat in silence, sipping our waters for a minute or two.
We didn't really know what to say.
She tried to start the conversation.
"How's your head?"
"Huh?"
"From the stroke."
"Oh."
It's been over a month since the stroke.
They found out I was using it as an excuse for my bad behavior.
I wonder why she asked me.
"It's fine."
She nodded.
"That's good."
Back to silence.
This was going terribly.
I should've made a plan for what to talk about beforehand...
"You seen anyone from the factory lately?"
"No."
"Not even Leo... or Melanie?"
"Melanie came by earlier... but I didn't answer."
That made sense.
I doubt anyone from Factory 24 had been on her mind as much as Josh had.
At the time, we didn't even notice how shaken up she was by him.
Then the next day hit, and she wasn't seen at all, so we realized how bad it was for her.
I wonder why she opened up to me, though.
We kept talking about smaller things.
Summer vacation.
The weather...
She asked about Hailey and the garden. It seems they've grown closer over time.
I told her if someone tried touching one of her plants the wrong way, Hailey would probably stab them with a shovel.
That got a laugh out of Mel.
It was quiet, but it was progress.
It went silent for a few more seconds before she asked the question I'd been hoping for.
"You guys had that meeting yesterday, right?"
"Yeah."
"How was it?"
How should I explain this to her?
"It's... different now."
"What do you mean?"
"The place still looks like Factory 24. It still feels like it in some ways, but..."
"But?"
"But it's more like a base now."
She went still.
That word landed.
I kept going.
"We told everyone about the high schoolers. About The Claim."
"The Claim..?"
"Yeah, that's what they decided to call themselves."
"So, everyone knows now."
"And everyone stayed."
"What?"
"We told them they could leave if they wanted to. Before things got worse, you know. No one left."
She was surprised.
I'm not surprised at that reaction.
If school was still in session, people would back away the second anything got serious.
But they didn't.
"That's... cool, I guess..."
"Yeah."
"It is."
Enough small talk.
I was supposed to be convincing her to come back.
That was the whole reason I'd come here.
But now that I was actually here, it felt more complicated than that.
She was scared.
Really scared.
"Mel... we really want you there."
"We need you there."
She looked up.
More confused than anything.
"Me?"
"Yeah."
"What would I even do?"
"A lot."
She didn't believe that.
I could tell.
So I kept going.
"You think I'm joking, but I'm not."
"When people are nervous, they talk to you."
"When things get awkward, they calm down around you."
"You make people feel better without even trying."
"You're considered the Factory Princess. Although no one says it around you."
That made her look away.
She was embarrassed.
I smiled.
"I'm not like that," she muttered.
"You are."
"And everyone has noticed your absence."
That was true too.
The factory felt emptier without her.
Less balanced.
George was nothing but energy.
Leo was logical.
Melanie was distant, lately.
I was control.
Mel was... softer. Forgiving.
Something people search out without realizing.
"I don't know..."
"What if I go back, and something happens again?"
She said it.
Indirectly.
She was talking about Josh.
"You had nothing to do with what happened."
"But if you really think you do..."
"Then I'll protect you."
It took a second before I realized how corny that sounded.
She looked up at me, right into my eyes.
That's the second time since she opened the door.
She liked hearing it, though.
"Stick by me."
"You won't have to leave my side."
Yeah.
Corny as hell.
But it worked.
Her expression changed.
Not a full smile.
Not relief.
But something close to belief.
She believed my words.
"You mean that?"
"Yeah."
She looked down again.
Then, very quietly, said:
"Okay... I'll go."
She hesitated again.
"But don't leave my side."
I smiled.
"I won't."
———————————————————————
We stayed there a little longer after that.
The hard part was over, and we just relaxed.
We made lunch together in her kitchen.
Nothing special.
Just sandwiches and chips.
But it felt normal.
Like we were two normal kids hanging out on a summer afternoon.
We totally forgot about the worries of Factory 24 for a few moments.
But lunch came to an end.
We left for Factory 24.
On the way there, she stuck close to me.
At first, I thought she was just nervous.
Then she grabbed onto my arm.
Not lightly, either.
She was attached.
Like if someone tried pulling us apart, they'd take skin with them.
I didn't say anything about it.
I just let her.
By the time we got to Factory 24, there were already around fifty kids there.
More than usual for right after lunch.
People were taking things seriously now.
The second we stepped inside, I felt Mel loosen her grip a little.
Then she let go completely.
Good.
Even if the place looked different now, at least she felt safe enough inside.
She stopped walking for a second and just looked around.
I watched her take it all in.
The flags.
The whistles.
The bats and rackets tucked into corners.
The lookout rotations being whispered about near the doors.
People still acted mostly normal when they weren't on watch.
Some kids were playing cards.
Some were reading.
Some were sketching flag designs on scrap paper.
But under all of it was something tighter.
Something alert.
Mel noticed it too.
"It really is different," she said.
"Yeah."
"It's kind of scary."
That was fair.
"It still looks like Factory 24," I said.
"It just... feels more serious."
She nodded.
That was exactly it.
We came for the founders' meeting today, so we headed toward the office.
We were a bit late, so everyone was already inside waiting.
They weren't expecting Mel.
That much was obvious.
Everyone we passed on the way to the office stopped for a second.
They were surprised to see her.
It had been half a week since they'd seen her, but now she was back.
With me, of all people.
Then we entered the office.
Everyone stood up in shock.
Melanie most of all.
She had a look like she'd just been cheated on, with her little brother.
I smiled.
After exchanging greetings, we started the meeting.
———————————————————————
Liam was the first to talk.
"These guys here are Johnathan and Alexander."
"They are both sophomores in high school, same as Andrew."
"■■■■■ and I worked together to pick them for a mission."
"They never talk to anyone else but each other, which means if Andrew has scouts within Factory 24, they wouldn't suspect these two."
Leo didn't understand.
"Suspect? What do you mean?"
"We're going to kick them out of Factory 24."
Melanie was also confused.
"What are you talking about? We need as many members as we can."
"And why do they look okay with this!?"
I spoke up.
"They're going to infiltrate The Claim."
They still looked confused, so I went into more detail.
John is the kind of guy people underestimate. Quiet, a little awkward, easy to ignore unless he chooses to speak.
Alex is easier to notice, but in a harmless way. He's friendly. The kind of person who can slip into a group by making everyone feel like they already know him.
Liam and I looked at every possibility when picking these guys.
We're one hundred percent sure they aren't with The Claim, and we trust them to be careful about getting caught.
So, we kick them out.
Mel still didn't understand one thing.
"Why are we kicking them out, though?"
"We have to give them a valid reason."
"If they just leave us and go to The Claim, they'll look suspicious. But if we kick them out first, they'll have a good reason to join The Claim."
After that, everyone agreed.
Leo got straight to the point. I like that about him.
"So, we're really going to do this?"
"We have to. We still know next to nothing about The Claim. This would be the quickest way to get information," I replied.
"Let me get this straight," Alexander said. "You want us to pretend we got kicked out?"
"Publicly," Liam said.
"It has to look real."
George leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.
"I can make it look real."
I absolutely believed him.
Mel finally spoke up.
"Will everyone else know it's fake?"
"No," Leo said.
"They can't."
"If the rest of the factory knows, it'll spread too easily."
That made the room quieter.
It wasn't a fun plan.
It was just the best one.
We went over the basics after that.
Johnathan and Alexander would be loudly thrown out of Factory 24 in front of as many members as possible.
George would do most of the yelling.
Liam would back him up just enough to make it believable.
The rest of us would stay out of it.
Now all the two of them have to do is drift toward The Claim over the next few days and try to get in.
Not force it.
Just make themselves available.
Useful.
Interested.
Rejected by us.
It's ugly.
But it'll work.
At least, I hope it will.