Guardians: The Last Elder

Chapter 9: Ava makes a friend

"It's the unknown that draws people."
~ E.A. Bucchianeri 

                                                                      ________________________

"Do you even know where his office is?" I asked.

"I live here. 'Course I know where it is."

After we passed two flights of stairs, a few hundred corridors, I knew I was officially lost. Now, I just had to trust Josh that he wasn't luring me to some sort of isolated dark room to kill me. I tried to avoid that very unpleasant thought.

"Why did Cade do as you ask him to?" I asked Josh suddenly as I followed him down another unfamiliar corridor and a stairway. I was tentative because I wasn't quite sure if he wanted to talk to me. I mean, sure, he did save me in a way but that didn't imply that we were suddenly besties.

"It's a rule among us trainees," Josh replied. "Whoever gets defeated in a match has to do whatever the one who defeated him asks him to do. No chickening. You have to do that one dare, no matter what or else get prepared to be shunned."

"But out of all things why did you make him do that?"

"Because it's hilarious. Plus he has a reputation to maintain. Now though..." Josh patted his jeans pocket where his phone was evilly. "Let's just say I have some real awesome blackmail material to send his reputation down the drain."

I rolled my eyes. "Why do you hate him so much?"

"Because he's a douche."

As if you aren't, I thought internally.

Almost as if he could read my thoughts, he said, "He's a bigger douche than me. Trust me."

"So you admit to being a douche?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

He scratched his head. "Look, I realise that I was a little too rude with you on your very first day here. You didn't deserve it. That being said, I'm still not quite fond of you--"

I scoffed. "The feeling's mutual."

"--but nevertheless, I shouldn't have said whatever I did. But on my defense, I was having a bad day," he finished. My eyebrows scrunched together, detecting that he wasn't being entirely truthful. But I didn't want to push it. 

"Did you just apologise?" I said, my gasp not even mocking. He rolled his blue eyes.

"Maybe. Take it or leave it."

"So, um are we friends now?" I asked, again tentative. I extended my hand cautiously.

He looked at my outstretched hand for a long time. I was almost about to drop it when he grasped it to my utter surprise. He shook it lightly and I couldn't help but feel how calloused his palm was. It was the result of wielding weapons and doing much more hard work than any other normal boy his age would've done. But it was his normal, I guess. I wondered what he thought about my hands which were soft. The only scars I had was when I had tried to learn guitar for a few months.

Abruptly, he dropped his hand and said, "We're here."

I realized we were standing in front of a huge mahogany door with intricate designs carved into it. Two lampshades hung beside it, illuminating the corridor in a golden light.

"Go, Mr Blackwell is waiting for you,"  he said and without another word, he turned around and left. I smiled at his retreating figure. Well, at least, we were friends now. Or maybe that's still a big word for now. Maybe we were acquaintances-with-a-mutual-agreement-to-accept-each-other's-unavoidable-presence.