Everything went horribly wrong. Rowan wasn't supposed to be sitting in the skybox with a fifteen year old cellmate. She wasn't supposed to let Josh get arrested for her; regardless of her outcome.

Yet, that's exactly what happened. Eighteen year old Rowena Lesley sat in a holding cell on The Ark's skybox — alive because of the quick thinking of Joshua Stanley. He added her into the system under the name of Rowena Cameron, a young girl who's been living alone since she was eight years old due to her parents being floated for miniscule crimes.

The only downside: Joshua was caught in the act. His wits were the only reason both he and Rowan weren't floating through space at the moment. Instead, they were rotting in a cell.

"How's your leg?" Octavia asked, sitting on the cot with a couple dirty cards in her hands.

Rowan stared at her leg that had just now fully heeled. "Better than it was two months ago," she muttered.

§

Rowan was running. Her feet pounded against the floor as her heart raced in her chest. She was running as fast as she could — away from the guard that had caught her stealing food. The metal walls of the ark were growing dimmer and dimmer the farther she ran from Alpha station. Her eyes caught a indent in the wall and she took a sharp corner, tucking herself skillfully behind a thin piece of metal wall. The guard rushed past her, following the turn back towards Alpha station.

Rowan's eyes were shut tightly as she waited, clutching the small amount of food that she snagged close to her chest. Minutes passed, and slowly Rowan relaxed. She sighed, and began to squeeze her body out from the wall. A sharp pain snagged her leg and she froze, her eyes trailing to look down. A long piece of metal had come loose and now was digging itself into her leg.

"Shit," she muttered. Rowan shifted, trying to prevent her pants from tearing against the shard. Her body turned left while her leg went right, and a sharp piercing pain erupted from her leg. A sharp cry emitted from her lips and her gaze once again flickered down. Crimson was seeping through the material of her pants, turning them a dark red.

"Looking for a red haired teen-" the voice of a guard reached her ears and she froze, leaving the metal digging into her leg.

The pain was flooding through her whole leg and with every tense breath it felt worse. It was slowly beginning to burn, like a fire had been ignited, and Rowan could feel hot tears creeping up into her eyes. She heard the footsteps of the guard coming closer and closer, and she quickly tilted her head upwards to quiet her erratic breathing. Her eyes once again shut tightly, anxiety flooding through her entire body.

Seconds felt like hours, and when the guard let she still stayed, waiting for the right moment to exit and deal with her leg. She took a deep breath, her head peeking out from the corner to look down the hall; no one was nearby. She squeezed her way out of the hole, her leg screaming in protest as she wiggles free of the shard.

Blood poured from her leg, dripping onto the ground and onto her shoes. Rowan cursed, ripping a piece of her shirt off and tying it above the cut as tight as she possibly could - tight enough that it hurt. With one last look around, she rushed back towards her closet; forgetting about the blood pool she left in her wake.

§

"At least they healed you," Octavia sighed. "Do you have any two's?"

Rowan quickly scanned her cards, rolling her eyes as they laid on the two of diamonds. "I hate you," she grumbled, handing over the card as Octavia shot her a smirk of victory. "They healed me out of curtesy. Can't have me die before I'm floated."

Octavia snorted. "Love your positivity."

Rowan didn't answer, her eyes trailing across her cards. "Have any reds?" She questioned.

"There's only red and black, Rowan."

Rowan threw her cards onto the floor. "I'm trying to win here, O!"

Octavia let out a loud laugh, "By cheating?" she teased.

Rowan scrunched up her nose as she picked up her scattered cards. "You call it cheating, I call it using things to my advantage."

"It's still cheating."

Rowan pointed a finger at the younger girl. "Don't act like you didn't cheat in Uno," she threatened. "I remember digging those wild cards out of your bed sheets."

Octavia laughed again. It wasn't a surprise to guess that the two girls had become close friend's in the two and a half months of them being cellmates. Rowan came first, and a week later O followed. The two of them were the only company they had.

Rowan — who realized fairly quickly during her stay in the sky box that she was very trusting of others — told Octavia nearly everything. The two of them writing things down in their combined notebook so no one knew what they were talking about. In turn, Octavia told Rowan about Bellamy Blake. The same guard Rowan and Josh ran into a month before she was arrested.

The two girls became each others comfort. Octavia was there when Rowan would cry about the life before, and Rowan would be there to hold Octavia as she cried of anger and frustration. Everything was a mess, but the two had each other.

Rowan smiled at the girl, glad to see her in her happy moments. Of course, Rowan knew neither of them would be truly happy, but she took it anyways.

"Hey, Rowan." Octavia started. "Can I ask you a question?"

Rowan hummed, laying on her back, the cards staring at her in her face.

"What's earth like?"

The question was innocent. One that Rowan had never expected to be asked before (which was pretty ignorant of her to think. Why wouldn't she be asked?). The auburn haired girl put her arms down, turning her head to stare at the Young Blake who stared at her with eyes burning with curiosity.

Rowan smiled, thinking of her home town of Orleans. "Green," she started. "Everything is green, and blue, and yellow. There's so many colors that when you're sitting next to the forest in the spring time, the world feels unreal. The ocean waves smell like salt, and sand gets everywhere. In your clothes, your car, between your toes... At times, everything feels so overwhelmingly beautiful that you have an urge to cry. But while it was beautiful it was ugly..."

Rowan could feel Octavia hanging on every word she said. The young girl dreaming of Earth. "It's cold and warm, and filled with pollution," she sighed. "The world is probably different now. Radiation probably destroyed buildings, so the land would most likely be covered in the forests and the rivers less shitty."

"What's the most beautiful thing you remember?" Octavia asked tentatively.

Rowan thought long and hard. What was the most beautiful thing she remembered from earth? Sunrises were beautiful over the ocean if you were willing to wake up early enough, but, then again, sunsets were just as beautiful. Then, of course, you had the beautiful green and yellow paths you could take during the spring, summer, and fall months. "The forests," she finally responded. "The green trees and the animals scattered. Everything about it makes me so happy, and so sad."

Rowan almost laughed at her response inwardly while Octavia sighed in longing. Rowan had always taken the fact that she lived on Earth for granted. She never truly appreciated the sun shinning on the trees, or the seals that swam in the water during the summer. She regretted it; especially after seeing grey for months.

The two girls fell into a moment of silence, Octavia thinking of the ground, and Rowan thinking of Noah. She felt her heart ache at the thought of her best friend who was dead in her time. How he would shoot her a disappointed look whenever she did something reckless. How he scolded her as he followed her through the reckless situation, even if he didn't agree with her statement. How he held her as she cried over her breakup with Matt.

Noah Martin was an angel. Her angel.

"So," Rowan broke the silence. "Have any four's?"

Octavia skimmed her cards, a scowl appearing on her face as she grabbed a card from the middle of hers and handed it to Rowan. Rowan grinned, removing the other four from her pile and placing it neatly next to her two Queens and Jack.

"Have any three's?"

Rowan quickly glanced at her hand. "Go fish," she stated.

Octavia groaned. "Why do they call it 'Go Fish!'" She complained. "It's stupid. It has nothing to do with fish!"

Rowan shrugged. "The deck I had when I was little had fishes on it," she pointed out.

Octavia rolled her brown eyes, brushing back her brown hair. "That doesn't mean anything, Rowan."

"Never said it did."

Octavia fell back onto her bed with a thump. Their eyes fell to the circular window that faced the opposite wall. "I want to go there one day," Octavia sighed.

Rowan shot the girl a small smile. "Maybe one day, you will."

Octavia scoffed and shook her head. "We're locked up," she pointed out. "In a box waiting to be slaughtered."

"How poetic, O."

"Thank you, I've been working on it for a while now."

Rowan sighed at the bitterness that laced the brunette's word. She understood why Octavia was angry. Hell, she would too if she got shoved into the Skybox for just existing.

Rowan's gaze rested back onto the floating earth The Ark was orbiting. Staring at the green and blue that covered the earth; more than 2014 at least.

"One day, O. You'll get to be free," Rowan promised.

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Rowan."

Rowan shook her head slowly. "I have a feeling that this one I can..." she trailed off, sitting up as she truly been processing things.

Athaiah Verleden brought her here for a reason. Something to do with Joshua. Probably seduce him; Athaiah seemed to want the two of them to be together. Which meant she was on The Ark for a specific reason. Being locked up with a date to die on her supposed eighteenth birthday didn't seem to play a part in the strange woman's plan.

"Rowan?" Octavia called.

Rowan's head snapped towards the girl. "Yeah?"

Octavia shot the auburn a concerned look. "You okay?"

Rowan had a grin plastered onto her face as the dots began to connect. "Other than the floor hurting my back, I cold never be better."

Octavia stared at her strangely for a second before nodding her head. Rowan turned her head back towards the window. The earth would call to her, and she would come when it did. She knew that, the question was when.

authors note

not going to lie, I'm really not sure how I feel about this chapter... I hope you guys like it, and please give me some feedback!