Lesson 41- Use the magic words: "please" and "thank you." They open doors (and cookie jars)

I open my door just a little and peek outside, the hallway is clear. I pull it open the rest of the way and step outside then immediately trip over and run headfirst into the wall on the opposite side of the hall. I clutch my bare foot and curse under my breath.
“Ow, damnit!” My eyes shoot towards Torin’s office door. Did he hear that? I hope not. I’m tempted to go back to my room just in case, but I really need cake or something. I pick up the box that was sitting in front of my door. Stupid thing tripped me over. I literally throw it into my room, aiming for my bed. It hits the edge of the bed and bounces down to the floor. Oops. My plan to sneak through the hall has probably failed. I’m not that sneaky or particularly good at being quiet. Whatever, why should I have to hide away? I’m not the one who lied. Giving up all pretence of being sneaky, I head straight to the kitchen. As I predicted, Kyle is standing over the stove frying something up. He hears me enter and turns to look at me with an eyebrow raised.
“I’m still pissed. Just in dire need of sugar. You wouldn’t happen to have cake. Would you?” I ask, biting my lip. I don’t know how I’m supposed to be acting. I’m basically in the middle of a strike and I don’t want to admit I’m caving or anything, but I DO want cake. But I didn’t cave first, not technically. Kyle DID write me that note. Kyle huffs out a breath.
“Yeah I got cake. But you need real food too. Give me a minute.” He insists. I open my mouth to object but he shoots me a glare and I snap my mouth shut, not willing to risk my cake. A few minutes later, Kyle shoves a tray into my hands with a glass of water, a plate of chips and chicken tenders plus a salad (That I totally will not be eating.) And of course, the blessed cake. I’m totally eating that first. My mouth is watering just looking at it.
“Well, go on. Get out of here. Unless you wanna go yell at the boss some more.” He grumbles. I roll my eyes at him.
“Why the hell would I do that?” I demand and Kyle shrugs.
“I don’t know, most of what you do doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. But Torin is in a foul mood and he’s made it pretty clear that we’re all to stay out of your way and leave you alone.” Kyle explains.
“That doesn’t tell me anything. Why would you be talking to me and writing me notes if he told you to stay out of it?” I push and Kyle sighs.
“Didn’t you hear me? He's in a terrible mood. He was in a better mood when you were yelling at him than he is with you ignoring him. So for all of our sakes, I’d rather you be yelling at him.” Kyle responds.
“Oh. Right. Okay then.” I answer. Kyle perks up.
“Does that mean that you're going to talk to him?” Kyle asks. I snort out a laugh.
“Are you kidding? I’m mad at him, you’ve just told me that the silent treatment is working. Why would I go talk to him?” I point out. Kyle stares at me.
“But… I… That wasn’t why I told you!” He stammers out, his expression outraged. I shrug.
“I know. But I’m not sorry. I was the one who put in the effort to talk to you all and try to make friends, I was the one to bridge the gap with Torin every time. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, warned me not to trust him and I gave him the benefit of the doubt. If he wants another chance, then he needs to prove that he deserves one. I have no power in this situation, I’m not stupid. I know that. I’m trapped here, everything I have, even my life, is in his hands. The ONLY thing that I have control over is how I act. So this is what I have to do, because the other option is to accept that I’m completely helpless, and I’m not ready to do that just yet.” I tell him, completely serious. Kyle sighs.
“Fine, I get it.” He grumbles.
“Don’t tell him I told you that.” I insist and Kyle rolls his eyes.
“When would I do that? I don’t exactly sit down with the guy and have heart to hearts.” He complains, clearly annoyed. I just nod and head to the door.
“Good. And Kyle?” I pause.
“Yeah?” He glares at me.
“Thanks for writing me that not-an-apology note.” I tell him sweetly and he narrows his eyes as if trying to work out what I mean by that. The funny thing is, I mean it. I am grateful. If nothing else, for his honesty. Torin told them to leave me alone and he chose not to listen. For a guy who keeps warning me not to go against Torin, he’s pretty brave to do the same thing, even if he was a bit more sneaky about it.

I give Kyle a little wave and step into the hallway feeling far more cheerful. I have food, cake AND I know that hiding in my room is actually getting to Torin which is very satisfying. Mostly because it means that he actually does care that I’m upset, so maybe our friendship wasn’t a total lie. Maybe my chances of getting out of this place someday aren’t quite as hopeless as I thought. I’m so busy thinking and focusing on not spilling my tray of food, that I don’t notice Torin standing in front of me until I practically run into him. He catches my tray, steadying it and the only thing that spills is a little bit of my water. I stare up at him, frozen like a deer in headlights. It’s not been that long since I’ve seen him, how did I forget that he’s so big? Maybe it’s because I so rarely see him standing. He almost always sits or kneels around me.
“I’m still mad at you.” I blurt out thoughtlessly. Torin doesn’t respond. He just stands there and watches me. I feel like I’m under a microscope and his silence makes me feel pressured to keep talking.
“I just… Cake.” I say in way of explanation. Torin just nods and continues watching me with his dark eyes, but he does let go of my tray and takes a half step to the side. Then without another word I run back to my room. That was so incredibly awkward. I place the tray onto my bed and collapse onto the floor next to it, not wanting to tip my meal over. How was that so embarrassing? I mean, blurting out that I’m mad at him? What am I four? Why am I so bad at giving the silent treatment? I mean there’s one rule to it. Stay silent! I drop my hands to my side and bump the box I tripped over earlier. What is that? Another package? I don’t think I’m expecting anything just yet, and it doesn’t look like a parcel. It’s just a plain black box. It’s not particularly large, just big enough and heavy enough to trip someone over if they aren't expecting it to be there. I open the box and find… Books. The first one I pull out looks old, and kind of like an encyclopaedia. It’s not until I open it that I realise that it’s a book about old coins. So the box must be from Torin, he’s the only one I showed the coin to after all. He got me this so I could, what? Research it? I mean, I DO kind of want to know more about it. I set the book aside and pull out the next book. This one is much newer and is all about mixing drinks. Huh… I pull out the last book. It’s a book about drawing. Guides and examples, little lessons all through it. All three of the books are things I would have an interest in. As far as gifts go, it’s actually fairly thoughtful. But I can’t take it. Because it’s a bribe, an attempt to buy my forgiveness. I can’t accept that. It’s not good enough. So I reluctantly put the books back into the box and place it out in the hallway, but with the lid off so that it’s obvious that I looked at it and chose to refuse it. I’m tempted to just keep them for a little while. I could just spend a bit of time reading the coin book before refusing it. But no, that would be giving in and I can’t do that. So I close the door, block it with my makeshift paper door stop and go eat my cake.