Kamden's POV:

She must have been verbally abused as a child. That has to be the reason why she talks like she does. 

She only talks slowly when she's trying to prove a point.

Although, I would only know from my one encounter with her on the third floor. Word of mouth tells me most of what I want to know.

She hasn't spoken a word to me since she saw me in the courtyard. But it's not hard to see what's happened to her.

She was less accustomed to death than most. She recovered from Jenny's slower than most. It's always worse for those who find the body. She fit right in with the popular girls. A construct that I find unreasonable at this point in time.

But that didn't stop her from climbing the social pyramid quicker then anyone ever has before. She sits at the most crowded table for meals. I already know that her bunk is surrounded by others. This isn't the first time she's done this. 

I think she talks fast because if no one has a chance to understand her then they can never really understand what's she's saying. She also disappears for two days at a time. This has happened twice. Then she comes back like nothing ever happened.

I was walking behind her and the gaggle of girls that follows her everywhere on the way to combat training.

"You have a shadow." A girl named Erin said nudging Shelia's arm.

"Oh, I know," Shelia replied quickly without even looking back at me.

"He's kinda cute." Another girl named Addison said.

"Aren't you dating Peter?" Hailey asked Addison. I know Hailey, she was friends with Jenny.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I can't look at other boys," Addison said rolling her eyes.

"Shelia you should totally get with him." The girl directly to Shelia's right said. Her name is Maddie.

"His girlfriend killed herself two months ago," Shelia said raising an eyebrow. "And ick."

"Whatever you say, Lia." Maddie rolled her eyes.

"Don't call me Lia." She said quickly not even breaking her gaze.

"I forgot," Maddie says. Her figure shrinking. "Sorry."

Sheila doesn't answer she just swings open the door to the girl's armor room. Today in hand-to-hand combat.

"Dude she is so hot," Casper says watching all the girls disappear into the locker room.

"Shelia," I ask entering our own locker room. 

"No! That's gross." He says pulling his uniform out of the locker.

"He means Maddie," Dillion explains pulling off his shirt. And I have to turn away because of his scar.

Dillion has a long gash along his chest. A big thick scar the skin is rippled and twisted. I've never asked where he got it because it's obvious it was a freak accident and he never got it healed properly. When he lays down he does so slowly, holding his stomach gently.

I know he won't survive a week on the battlefield.

We walk out in the gym. There are mats laid out. Today we spar each other instead of the droids that let us win.

"Partner up and do the moves on the wall." Coach Canter says clicking his remote and a long list of different moves appear against the harsh white of the wall.

All the girls move to their best friends and when Erin goes for Shelia she locks eyes with me.

"Kamden!" She yells. "You're with me." 

All of her friends raise their eyebrows and turn away to spar. And talk about Shelia.

She takes long steps across the gym until we're face to face. I can hear the boys snickering behind me.

A whistle blows. "Begin."

Before I can even react Shelia drops down to the floor and using her legs to knock my feet out from under me. I fall back with a thud, and mat doing nothing to soften the blow.

"Stop following me." She says popping up. I stand up quickly after her.

"We have almost every class together," I say. We start to circle each other. 

"And don't think I can't hear you and your friends making passes at me and the other girls. You're pigs." She spits out. Throwing a punch to my right.

I duck to the left and she ends up grazing my shoulder.

"Maybe no one else can, but I see what you're doing," I say throwing a punch at her face. She blocks me with her forearm and jabs me in the stomach with her other fist.

That move wasn't one we learned.

"You don't know anything about me." She seethes.

"I know you're fake," I say grabbing her leg and throwing her down onto her back.

I can use illegal moves too.

"And I know that you're desperate to figure me out." She grabs my ankle and pulls. Causing me to fall in the most painful way possible.

We both get up. Slower this time.

"If you're so desperate to fit in you should get a boyfriend," I say trying to kick her mid-drift.

She blocks me with her thigh. Then she punches me in the jaw.

"I'm a lesbian." She whispers. 

I don't know which dazes me more, the punch or the new information.

"Does anyone else know?" I asked. I quickly grab her arm and pin it behind her back.

She struggles, but I'm bigger and stronger than her. She's just faster.

"No." She grunts still trying to escape my grip. I'm hurting her shoulder. I know that. "And no one's gonna." She grunts throwing her free arm back making her elbow contacting with my nose.

It warms immediately and I feel the blood start to trickle down. She's still celebrating her victory and I land a punch a directly in her mouth. She flinches, and that's when I remember she has braces.

I feel my mouth fall open and my eyes widen. She puts a finger to her mouth before looking up at me. And she smiles. Her teeth are bright red and bloody.

Then out of nowhere, she runs at me. Tackling me. I try to force my way up but within a matter of seconds, she is sitting on my stomach and has my arms pinned with her knees. My legs kick behind her trying to get her off.

She has her fist raised above her ready to land the final blow. She's breathing heavily. Her hair his been getting darker. It falls out of its band. Her teeth are bared and she is about to land her sharp knuckle into my face. But she stops. Her breath hitches and her eyes soften.

"That's match." She says scrambling off of me, walking away.

I kinda just lay there for a moment.

"Dude!" Casper yells walking over. "You got beat by a girl!"

Dillion holds out a hand to help me up. I ignore it and stand up on my own.

I walk over to the medical table. I grab a wet towel and an ice bag. I clean up my face and hold it to my nose. 

"That was intense." Casper continues. "Half the class was watching by the time she pinned you."

"Whatever," I mumble. 

"Your lip's bleeding," Dillion says touching his own.

"I know!" I snap moving the towel to my mouth. "I need water," I mumbled before pushing out the door.

Rounding the corner I lean down against the fountain. I take a long drink before I hear it. Before I hear her.

I look down the hall and I see Shelia. She is curled up against herself. She is crying into her knees.

"Hey," I say kneeling down in front of her. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to hurt you."

She flinches away when I put my hand on her arm.

She sees my face and quickly wipes away her tears. 

"I'm fine." She stammers out. "I'm also sorry. I didn't mean to hit you so hard."

"It no big deal," I say shrugging.

"You're bleeding." She says pointing to my face.

"I'll live," I say. 

I move and sit against the lockers next to her.

"It sucks here!" She says leaning he head against he locker. "This is worse than my high school."

"You went to high school?" I asked. My voice sounds more shocked than I wanted to. 

"Yeah, my dad got drafted seven months ago. My mom was pregnant and went crazy. They had to take her away. It was just me and my sisters for a little while. Until they found out that Caitlyn was only seventeen. Before they moved us I went to normal school."

"What happened to her?"

Her eyes grow wide. "I've never told anyone that before."

"It's okay. It's cool you had sisters. Before I came here it was just me and my grandma." I explain.

"Her birthday is November tenth," Shelia whispers. "I don't want her to turn eighteen."

"Why is that a bad thing?" I ask. "She gets to go fight."

"You really don't know what's going on, do you?"