We made it to the entrance where a line of a hundred people extended out the door. The line snaked around with everyone talking within their little groups. People dressed as though they never saw any form of money in their lives. One man wore a white shirt torn from the button and ripped pants by the knees. Another’s hair was all over the place. It looked as though he intentionally placed dirt in his short hair. Children stood in line, though most of them were dressed normally. There were a few outliers.

  Was this how Ionians envisioned us? Unwealthy and filthy? Sure, we didn’t have any money compared to Ionians, but we weren’t unwealthy. We had enough to buy clean clothes and do laundry. Whatever these people wore was exaggerated.

  The line was formed under a square roof, blocking the merciful sun. It wasn’t too sunny, but it was humid. My inner thighs stuck uncomfortably stuck together. I kept fidgeting but it still felt weird.

  “Looks like we are going through that glass door. Man, glass doors. That’s pretty crazy.”

  I shrunk my face. “We have glass doors in the outside world.”

  “Ya, but these are Ionian glass doors,” Roger said with a straight face.

  Sometimes I forgot how much of a weirdo he was.

  “Hey, Jill. What do you think we are in line for?”

  I shrugged. “This is my first time as well.”

  Right when I said that, the man in front of us turned around. He looked to be Owen’s age, so no older than twenty. His eyes were blue like Tim’s, and his body was the complete opposite of Roger’s.

  “Is this your first time at a convention?”

  I froze. I didn’t know what to say. Would it be suspicious to say ‘yes?’ I mean, I was practically an adult and had never been to a convention. Would that blare an alarm in his head?

  No. Act normal. Everything was okay.

  Well, almost everything.

  “Yes, it is. Would you mind telling us more about this convention?”

  He looked at Tim and smiled at him bright enough to light a candle. “Oh, you guys are in character. Okay, well, I’ll pretend I am an Ionian citizen and you are an outsider.” He covered his mouth with his fist as he cleared the frog in his throat. “Alright, my dear outsider. You are wondering what they are doing behind these doors. Well, they are doing a security check to ensure you don’t have any weapons on hand.”

  Why did everyone assume we were acting?

  Owen discreetly elbowed my arm. “You don’t have your knives or daggers, right?”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  “I left them at the motel.”

  He clasped his hands together. “Yep, no weapons. Uh—is the line here always this long?”

  The line of people extended from the convention center entrance and stretched down just before hitting the sidewalk in a snake formation. We were at the very end with a few behind us. We stood for a solid five minutes and the line hadn’t budged yet.

  The man responded to Owen’s question. “You are coming later in the afternoon so it’s not too bad. Erm—oh, look, it’s slowly moving already.”

  By slowly, he meant we moved only a handful of steps.

  I let out an exhausted groan. What were we doing? Why were we here, standing in line? What was our plan? To find someone and ask if four people can stay the night? What story could be made up?

  Whatever the situation, we needed not to get caught by SCAR. We needed money and a place to stay. That was our priority. Wasting time in line was useless. I wanted to leave, but I knew how excited the others were about this.

  Unless…

  “Um, guys, I’m going to step out of line. Just go in without me.”

  Owen grabbed my arm. “Where are you going?”

  “Somewhere. I’ll be back and meet you guys inside.”

  I ducked under the black stanchion and aimed for nowhere in particular. The convention might’ve been the best place to find somewhere to stay, but it wasn’t like I could tell anyone of our situation.

  I didn’t have a plan or anything. I wandered aimlessly in hopes of finding something that spoke to me.

  A huge crowd stood on the side of the road. Fast cars zoomed down the street. How were they going to cross? I went over to check. Maybe if I followed the crowd, it would lead me to somewhere better.

  I stood with them. The woman beside me wore a fragrance that smelled like flowers blooming in spring. I wanted to nudge closer to her.

  Everyone started moving. They walked between the thick, white lines that were there as a guide. I followed the crowd to the other side of the road. I couldn’t help but almost skip the entire way.

  The crowd separated as everyone continued on their journey to wherever. I found the spring–smelling lady and went in the opposite direction of her. I didn’t want to distract myself from something trivial.

  I speed-walked down the sidewalk and avoided bumping into oncoming traffic. I twisted and turned my body whenever needed. My smile never left my face. It was stamped on there, refusing to peel off.

  I took a left just before another crosswalk and found my way to a playground. There was a small slide, an obstacle course with monkey bars and fake rocks for climbing, and a set of swings. Surprisingly, it was empty. I took advantage of that and sat on the swings.

  The playground was small. The base was filled with wood chips that would probably give you a splinter if you fell. The swing was blue with cool, metal chains that allowed the seat to freely move.

  I looked at the sunny sky. It was clear with not a cloud around. Back in the cells, I wondered what the clouds looked like. The different shapes and forms they came in. The maids inform us whenever a cloud is in the shape of an animal. I had difficulty believing that a white fluff–ball was in the air and mimicking animals. I didn’t know any better.

  At this moment, I would have liked it if it was a bit cloudy. It was too bright for a day to be riddled with anxiety.

  We still had to find a place to sleep. I didn’t know where to start or who to ask. I mean, I could sleep on the ground in a random alleyway. It was no problem for me. But what about the others? I was more worried about them than myself.

  I groaned, hanging my head back, and kicked the ground so the swing could do its job. It swayed back and forth slowly. The sky didn’t seem any different. It was as blue as the ocean, though I wouldn’t know. I went by the stories. The ocean is an endless blue stretching across the horizon. Apparently, it was a beautiful sight. It’s been on my bucket list for a while, but I didn’t know where to go.