woke. | II

hady

There was something odd about Daniel. He held himself differently, like he was listing on the side of something. In between his stolen glances at Alex and the way he stood angled away from us, I wanted to tell him to spit it out, but I knew it wasn't going to happen that way. When you want the truth, you need to ease it out of people. Make them feel comfortable enough and they will spill their secrets.

So I ignored it. Let him pretend that we can't see that he has something to hide. Alex seemed oblivious, but I wouldn't put it past her to have her own conclusions that came to ignoring his blatant acting. Perhaps she just doesn't care. If only she was aware of how much people are affected by her.

There are little girls that look up to her at school, who carefully recreate her bad good girl facade. Tough on first impressions, but really just the way she is. There is no hiding herself with Alex, she is exactly what you get, although seldom what you expect. It's like how green apples are sour and red apples are sweet. But she taught me red apples can be bitter and that one didn't have to look the part to play the part. She wasn't playing now.

Her fist came at me as powerful as she could throw it, holding nothing back. We've disarmed ourselves and left the weapons on the floor, in case we were careless with one another.

I evaded with a flick of my elbow and deflected her blow while simultaneously bringing up my knee to kick her in the chest. All of this happened within seconds of each other.

"Ooof!" Alex gasped from the floor, "How are you so fast at everything!" She complained. It wasn't true, I am a pretty average kind of person. I am probably the definition of average. She excelled in class and she played piano flawlessly. I wouldn't be surprised if she told me she is a professional ballerina. It was as though she becomes as good as whatever she puts her mind to.

"I just don't think you're taking this seriously enough," I told her, bearing the same thoughts that were running through my head.

"Are you kidding?" She bristled, "Just in case you didn't notice, I was trying to take your head off."

"Oh, I'm sure we all noticed," Daniel laughed, "but you're too focused on placing strength behind your punches than making sure they hit the target." There was a hint of playfulness in his voice. I look up at him bleakly, he's asking for whatever he's got coming.

"Really..." Alex mumbled to herself, but quick as lightning, she spun away from me and pressed her foot to Daniel's throat. "I thought I was getting rather accurate."

"Okay, okay. I yield." Daniel said, without moving an inch. Or even a millimetre.

"She's just unnaturally good at this," she continued her lament, "did you see her during the training session? It was like she was possessed."

I nodded to myself. It was close to an out of body experience for me to pick up the moves from Jun. My body kept up with the instructor's easily.

"Danny's just being a gentleman, aren't you, Danny boy?" I laugh, "You will lose this fight."

We continued sparring in our new hideout, if one could call it that. After scouting around quietly, we decided that we should find a less visible spot and picked a cove hidden by vines, not five minutes from where we used to meet.

A curtain of vines make it semi-secluded and from our vantage point, we could oversee the tree we first scribbled on.

I was right, with a swift jab to a soft spot in Alex's side, she crumpled to the ground and lay there catching her breath. "How about you, loverboy? Up next?" She panted from the floor, not even bothering to look at either of us.

"My pleasure," Daniel shifted into a fighting stance before letting a smile creep onto his face, "but my mother taught me that it was uncivilized to hit girls."

"Ugh! Sexist!" Alex huffed, still lying there.

"She's right, you know?" I muttered.

He looked at me and his smile turned wicked. I hadn't realized he possessed such a smile.

"But if the lady so wishes..." Daniel said, training his eyes on me. For a moment, I felt caught in the gaze of a predator and the instincts kicked in. My heartbeat accelerated with the anticipation of his first strike, and it was his eyes that gave it away.

He glanced briefly at my left but it was too obvious a look. I swivelled to my right, bringing my leg in a swooping arc on the floor and caught him behind his heel. Unprepared, he began to draw back and his momentum pulled him to the ground.

"She is a lady possessed," he laughed. "How about we call it quits for now? I have never been so physically and mentally drained. First, the trainer wears me out and now I have to have my ass handed to me by a girl!"

The shock of hearing Daniel curse manifested in disbelieving scoffs and a lasting silence. Even Alex had no comeback, although I had a feeling she was just letting him have his moment.

It was almost nice like that, just three friends hanging out by a lake while the stars shone brilliantly overhead. But this was eversleep. Nothing is ever pleasant. I have begun to expect the unexpected, so when I discovered I had access to a memory I thought I had long forgotten, I hesitated to voice it. But it was important.

"Alex?" I said softly, maybe she wouldn't hear me and nobody could say it was for lack for trying.

"Hm?" She looked at me over Daniel, who peered at me as curiously as she did.

"Remember? That night we woke? Together?"

"Yes, I remember."

I waited for her to continue.

A little giggle erupted, "We saw each other and scared ourselves awake!"

"Yeah..." I am tired of this. If only there was a way to validate all truths and give us a better understanding of what eversleep is all about. But... It is also the way of life. How much do we truly understand, even when we're awake?

"We literally frightened ourselves out of our virtual skins." She continued to laugh. Instead of being comforting or familiar, there was a hint of fear. Twanging like a misplayed note on a guitar.

"Do you remember," it was her turn now, and she sounded more subdued than ever, "when I woke up with dirt on my hands?"

Daniel and I both nodded. It was then when the three of us connected. I made a post in a forum which Daniel decided to reply.

"I was running away from some everlings," she said darkly, "and some other ones helped me... They all looked the same, but one was afraid of the other. Let's say it was the Kyhait that helped me, well, they looked terrified. Do we really want them as our allies?"

"We don't know for sure that it was the Kyhait, maybe there are good and bad in either faction." Daniel said, employing logic and trying to see from a different perspective, which was quickly eliminated by Alex with the argument that they seemed different than the ones we met before. They did not try to persuade her anything, just to run away.

It became a full blown debate over which explanation was the most plausible. I ended it by saying regardless of who it was, we have already decided not to trust anyone else. There was no point to the discussion and all we learnt was that the reason Alex got dirt on her was because she wasn't fast enough and fell face first into the mud. Clearly, her hands were quicker. Noting that, she challenged me to another round of sparring.

When the sun rose, neither of us wanted the night to end and in a way, that both frightened me and comforted me. Maybe this way, I could be with Cam again. My annoying older brother.