Fallout

Ground Zero

»Things quietened down«

Deylin Reyes

Things quietened down. Deylin didn't expect things to happen that fast, and to some degree, she could not stand it. First, she got out just because Irina didn't value their friendship at all and kept quiet about a rather important thing, then now things were like this. Nothing going on. Her parents worked on, her siblings' life continued and here she was—alone. Sure, she had friends in Panama, but didn't she expect it to be like this.

So boring.

So lonely.

So not what she wanted. Expected. Thought would be.

To be fair, Deylin hadn't thought about this. Not at all. She had been more than busy with being caught up in other things. Lessons, being with her new friends—gosh, she missed Rie here—and what else was going on. Now, she spent her days lying in bed, helping with her family and pretending like she had much of an idea on what to do now.

She hadn't even thought about what she would do after the Selection. The chance of being accepted was small enough. There had been no reason to even expect to be selected, so she had never spent a second thinking of 'hey, Deylin, what'cha going to do when you're out again'. Good life.

"Deylin?" her mother called from the kitchen. "Can you go and pick up Frankie and the twins?"

Even with their debts and loans paid off thanks to the good old Selection money, there wasn't that much of an issue in her avoiding work for a few more days. Or weeks. Whatever would fit her, to be honest. There wasn't much need for anything. The money would cover a few more months of her not working. The family would be fine for the time of being.

"Will do," she called back. Panama was the same as always, and usually, picking up her younger siblings after work was something she didn't mind. It was a nice walk, nice seeing people, even when people stormed her with shy or not so shy requests for photos and what not. It really was odd. Now, she didn't understand—not at all, really—why people thought her o be a huge celebrity, just because she had spent a month or so in the Illéa Palace. It wasn't like she had spoken to the Prince more than two, maybe three, times.

But Panama was the same. Had she expected anything else? She wasn't sure. Her leaving for two months, didn't that mean that things should change? Maybe trees changing? Maybe just the scenery altering a little bit?

Everything was the same—except Deylin, she was bitter. Very bitter. And she couldn't really pinpoint why.

(Who was she lying to? She knew very well why.)

She made her way to the school, where Axel Reyes and Jackson Reyes were waiting for her. Her teenage twin brothers, by no means alike in personality, waited at the door for her to wave at them. Given the lack of students around, she probably was late.

Very terrible. Her brothers were probably old enough to walk on their own.

"Hi there. Heard you need an escort home?" she called out. It wasn't like the brothers had tutoring or sports left for the day. "Poor, little children."

"I'm not a kid," Jackson muttered, visibly annoyed.

Axel merely laughed. "Mom?"

Deylin nodded. "Mom. Seems like she's pretty fond of the idea of not letting you two grow up."

Axel shook his head in disappointment. "Especially when you were nearly married. Ridiculous. Do you nowadays not get any right to your own life?"

"Not until you're old enough, nope," she teased. "We gotta pick up Frankie too, if you want it or not."

"Is she actually at work?" Jackson asked, with a frown. "I thought she spent her life pretty much with lying in her bed?"

Deylin shrugged. That was true, she admitted that, but at the same time, who was she to judge, now. She was just hanging out at home too. Probably more than her sister. Though, that was probably why she had been sent to pick up the twins (who had gone home on her own; that had happened before!). To get out of the house. Maybe to make sure Frankie was at work, but then again, she was an adult. She was meant to be capable of running her own life.

They stopped at Frankie's workplace, an architecture office, where Deylin was just as known as in every other house in Panama, and probably Illéa.

"Hi, there, I'm here to pick up my sister, Francesca Reyes? Do you know if she's in her office or so?" she asked the receptionist.

"Francesca?" she asked. "The photographer? I think she left about one or two hours ago. She always leaves as one of the first, if she's not out all day in the first place."

Deylin frowned. Odd. If Frankie's workday ended that early, surely, her mother would have known and told her, wouldn't she? That made no sense. "Really? Are you sure?"

The receptionist nodded. "Pretty sure. You're free to check her office, if you want but…" she trailed off. "I'm pretty sure that she's already left. She's with marketing, on the second floor." Deylin nodded, thanked her and turned around, to tell her brothers what was up.

"So, are you going to go into the office?" Jackson asked. "Maybe she went out early because she had something to photograph, and just headed out? Maybe she's already on her way home?"

"The receptionist said she's usually one of the first to head out, though," Deylin remarked. "How about you two head on home, and I'll just check the marketing office. I'll catch up to you guys in a moment."

The twins agreed, and Deylin made her way up. In the office, her sister was known to the workers, but none could say when she had left. Early, most agreed; she tended to take photos in the end of her day and edit them the next day. She thanked for the information, and caught up to her brothers.

Frankie was probably home, Deylin decided.

She wasn't. Of course, she wasn't.

"Mum? Do you know where Frankie is?" she asked, after twice checking her sister's room. It was empty, the curtains were drawn and besides a bunch of clothes all over the floor and a half-eaten breakfast, there was nothing in there.

Her mother was utterly confused. "No—wasn't she at work?"

"Her colleagues said she left a while ago."

Given her mother's reaction—a deep, disappointed sigh—told her that this wasn't the first time this happened. "Let's see. Maybe she just ha photos to take, or something."

And so, they waited until something—anything, really—happened. But dinner passed, sand the longer they had to wait, the more anxious they grew. Deylin found herself checking in her sister's room, if here were any clues as to where she might was. None, except a bunch of clothes that Frankie Reyes could not afford on her salary.

"So, it's this." Deylin sighed. Frankie was still stealing. She should have known. Where, though, was she then? Deylin knew of a little market where she suspected Frankie of selling stolen high end fashion, but that one was probably closed by then…

The phone rang.

Being closest to the phone, naturally, she picked it up. "Deylin Reyes speaking?"

"Dey?" Frankie asked. Her voice was trembling. "Hi, it's me. I—uh—I got into trouble."

"Yeah, when you're back, you will be."

"No, now—I…" She breathed. "I mean it. I—I was at the shopping centre and I—"

Deylin groaned. She already knew what was coming.

"I got caught smuggling out some stuff."

"Where are you?"

"Police station at the mall. Can you come and bail me out? Please?"

Deylin turned to the kitchen, where her mother was just washing the dishes from dinner. "Yeah. Will do. I'll ask mum if she knows an attorney."

"Can we afford that?" Deylin asked in disbelief.

"Uh," she hesitated, "I hope? I don't know how expensive attorneys are… Worst case, I might be able to ask Minnie or so. I'll be on my way."

She stopped, though, to tell her mother what had happened and if she knew any attorney. They probably could afford them; it'd just mean that they would be closer to being back to where they had started, before the Selection. Was Deylin bitter? Yes.

With her mother's aid, she found an attorney on the way, where she stopped and pulled her (honestly, non-existent) connections to the Palace to gain a little discount, because she could put in some good word somewhere in Angeles (yes, she would try and text Rie, not knowing if she would get the text, but what was she to do).

Together, getting Frankie out was easy—for now. With a polite smile and knowing that thing was far from over, for now (and with an inevitable court date looming in the school) everything was fine. Or, at least, that was what Deylin told herself.

Her mother was another story.

The instant Frankie and Deylin came home, and her sister went through her forced walk of shame. Jackson and Axel spied down, just to see what was happening. Their mum probably hadn't revealed what had transpired to them just yet, and of course, they had to know.

Poor Franke, Deylin thought, but it's your fault, too.

"Explain yourself," their mother demanded, gesturing to the empty kitchen chair and her dinner, probably cold now. "What's been going on?"

Franke glanced down to her feet. "Didn't Dey tell you?"

"Yes, but I want to hear it from you."

After moments of hesitation, help-seeking glances to Deylin and no response, Frankie admitted, "I've been stealing some clothes from the mall and selling them on the market. Their detectors are old and if you have something that beeps beforehand, just some metal or so, it's super easy to get something. Turns out they got new detectors."

"But—why would you do that in the first place?"

Frankie spoke up, angry, "because all you think about is Axel and Jackson getting some scholarship! If Jackson needs new books, he gets them, even if we have fucking debts! Dad always watched after me but—" she broke off. Dad. Of course. The dead dad excuse. "—you? I'm just off to work all day, you never even care if I'm away past dinner!"

"I do!" her mother reminded her. "Why did I send Deylin to pick you up? I don't want you in trouble, but if you never ask for anything, then you can't expect me to read your mind."

And she did have a point. "You're just in your room, when you're at home," Deylin added.

"Oh, shut up. You've not been in Panama for two months."

"Yeah, but since I've been back—and before—it's been the same."

"You've not talked to me once outside dinner and picking me up. Don't lie to me, Dey. You're still salty that you were eliminated."

"I'm not!"

"Then tell me, why are you just hanging around at home? You're around more than I am. You aren't even working. I make more money than you do."

"I literally paid off all our debts!" Deylin reminded her, angry. "I've been gone away from home for two months, and this is how you thank me? By getting caught by the police?"

"You looked pretty damn happy in the Palace," Frankie reminded her.

"This isn't even what this all is about!"

"It's part of the problem," Frankie replied. With that, she stood up. "You're just as much part of the problem as I am."

"Excuse me?"

"You can't just hang around like you're in a Palace. Work, Dey, we're normal people. We work. And what if I was caught making money? At least I make my own money."

"Frankie, don't overdo this."

"Don't say you don't think that, mum!" Frankie cried out.

What a normal family right. Everything was the same, just like it had been when Deylin left. Nothing had changed—nothing but her. Everything was the same, almost as if it had slept until her return. Things quietened down. Whenever that was good or not, things quietened down.