“Sounds good to me. We like this game in here: Where would you be right now if you could go anywhere?”

“Right now, I’ll take anywhere.”

“I said that the first time I was asked, too.”

He chuckles. “I guess we’d all just rather be on the other side of these walls.”

“What do you want to do with your life?”

“Ah, the questions continue.” He smiles. “I haven’t figured that out yet. There’s a lot of pressure to take any job, and I would to get some money and help my mom, but I want a career, too, you know?”

“I get that. People settle far too easily where we live, and I know there is a dramatic lack of opportunities, but sometimes you have to make things happen yourself.”

“I’ll drink to that,” he says, taking a sip of water from the bottle.

“I’ve never had an alcoholic drink. Unless you count one sip of my mom’s champagne last New Year’s Eve. Kind of sad, right?”

“You’re seventeen; you’re not supposed to have had a drink yet.”

“Right, but most people have.”

“You are not most people, Piper.”

I love how Evan sees me. He has a lot of belief in me, though I’m still a stranger. Up until now, it’s only been my parents, Hazel, and one teacher who think I can do more than stay in this town and wait tables.

The speaker crackles.

Evan and I make eye contact.

It’s morning, so not late enough for our creepy bedtime song.

The boom of bass makes me jump. I throw out my hands, gripping the sofa. It so similar to the noise in room one. Then, they play an instrumental song that I don’t recognize, but it’s loud, obnoxious, and full of constant beats that make me want to rip my hair from my scalp after only ten seconds of listening.

“What the hell is this?” Theo shouts over the volume as he walks into the room, followed by Priya.

Priya stomps toward us with a scowl. She curls up on the sofa and closes her eyes.

This is just another way to keep us on our feet and prevent us from relaxing for even a second.

Evan takes my hand that’s digging into the cushion of the sofa.

“It’s okay,” he says, pulling me closer. I slump against his side and wait. Because what else can we do but wait for them to finish having their fun and turn it off?

Another reminder that we don’t have one scrap of control in here.

Suddenly, the room is drenched in darkness.

“Everyone sit down,” Evan shouts.

Besides Lucie and Theo, we all are.

“I’ve got you, come on,” Theo says to Lucie in a voice I can barely make out under the music. She takes Theo’s outstretched hand and sits down on the sofa.