The Awakening, page 26
part #1 of Eve Series
“Are you going to tell me what happened?”
She wasn’t going to answer him—he was sure of it—but before he could
feel secure in his defeat, Eve looked up at him, her eyes bright and oddly
forthcoming.
“Have you ever felt like your life was just a series of the same events
happening over and over again? Like you’re a hamster running on a wheel—
just the same shit day after day, and no matter what you do or how you try to
change it, despite how much you think things will be different, you’re still running on that same damn wheel?”
“Yeah. I know what you mean.”
“I just thought fighting the Interlopers would—”
“Get you off the wheel?”
She didn’t respond.
Jason studied her. She looked tired; drained. Yet even in her weary state, her
underlying strength was undeniable. It was as if she was vulnerable and
indestructible at the same time.
“Come here.”
Eve wrinkled her nose. “Huh?”
“I have a surprise for you.”
“A surprise?”
He shuffled to the side of his bed and patted the empty space beside him.
“Get over here.”
Eve’s eyes widened and her nostrils flared. “You want me to get in bed with you?”
“God, Eve, it’s not like that at all.”
“Some ‘surprise,’ pervert.”
“Eve,” Jason laughed, “come here.”
Eve sulked and tromped toward the bed, finally taking a seat next to him.
“Fine,” she mumbled.
“Okay, lie down.”
“What? ”
“Eve!” Jason groaned. “Just trust me.”
She plopped her head onto the pillow and sighed. “You sure are bossy
today.”
“Only because you’re especially stubborn today.” Jason fidgeted with his
end table, pulling a small brown box from the drawer and resting it on his lap
as he lay down beside her. “I’ll get the lights.”
“Oh, God—”
“Eve— ”
“I know, I know. I trust you.” She blushed. “We covered that already,
remember?”
Jason melted briefly, long enough to flip the light switches. The room was
filled with darkness aside from the slender streams of moonlight that poured in
from between the window blinds. Eve wiggled uncomfortably, finally resting
her hands on her stomach as she waited for something to happen.
“You ready?”
“I was born ready,” she teased.
He chuckled. “Okay. Watch the ceiling.”
Jason opened the small box, exposing a faint glow from within. He took in a
deep breath and melted, keeping his eyes focused on the blackened ceiling
above them.
One by one, small, bright flecks danced out of the box, encircling the room
like glimmering beads of light. Hundreds of glowing speckles scattered into
the air above them, shooting back and forth before finally settling into
position. In an instant, the room had been transformed into a magical night sky.
“They’re stars,” he explained. “Well, it’s actually glow-in-the-dark glitter,
but they’re supposed to be stars.”
Eve smiled, captivated by the provisional starry night. “It’s beautiful.” She looked over at Jason, who was still gazing at the ceiling. “Why’d you do this?”
“Yesterday, you said you liked looking at the stars—made you feel peaceful.
So I just thought I’d bring you some. No dead bodies included.”
Eve laughed and looked back at the twinkling dots, some of which were now
streaming across the ceiling like a cluster of shooting stars.
“And you just happened to have glow-in-the-dark glitter lying around?”
Jason smirked. “Got some help from my nurse. She has a little girl.”
“Well, I’m impressed. This is…” She paused. “This is incredible.”
“Glad you think so, because I was pretty nervous about it.”
“Why? It’s just me.”
“Yeah. I know.”
Eve glanced at Jason. The light reflected off of his eyes like sparkling
diamonds. It was perfect, the moment. The rest of her day disappeared; all she
needed was this very instant. She looked back at the starry sky and sighed.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “This is the most thoughtful thing anyone has
ever done for me. And I mean that.”
She couldn’t see him, but she could feel him smile.
“Just wanted to do something nice for you.”
They stared at the ceiling in silence. Jason tapped his finger against his chest
every so often as if orchestrating the movement of the glitter, sending it bursting into various shapes and soaring through the room like fireflies.
“Can I ask you something?” Eve turned to Jason. “Aren’t I supposed to be
tutoring you right now?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, we kind of stopped doing that a while ago, didn’t we?”
“There’s really nothing left for me to teach you. I mean, look at you—look
at this. You’re melting multiple things at once, you know.”
“What, the glitter?” He rolled his eyes. “They’re little. I can do little. It’s the big things that give me trouble.”
“Give it time—you’ll get it. With a gift as strong as yours, I’m guessing a year,
tops.”
“So soon?” he asked, sarcastically.
“Everything you know now, you learned in one month. That’s amazing,
Jason.” Her words were firm but kind. “As far as our little tutoring
arrangement goes, I think it’s safe to say you’ve graduated.”
“So, what does that mean?”
“It means”—she hesitated, her throat suddenly tight, her voice soft and
unsure—“I don’t think you need me anymore.”
Jason was quiet.
“I think I do,” he said.
Eve bit her lip, trying to suppress the deep, wavering breath she desperately
wanted to take. Her body relaxed into the mattress as if in that instant, everything was different—as if for the first time in years, she wasn’t alone. She
smiled the slightest bit and delicately rested her cheek against Jason’s shoulder.
“You need to know something,” he began, anxiously. “When I first found out
I’m a chimera, I thought my life was over. They stuck me in this room—they
said it was for safety, but I know better. They’re hiding me.” He stopped for a moment, searching for the right words to say. “Then I met you, and everything
changed. You make me feel powerful, like I’m just now really living. And
suddenly, this place feels like the best thing that’s ever happened to me. It’s all because of you.”
Jason turned to face Eve, finally forcing himself to look her in the eye, only
to find her lying by his side, fast asleep. He watched for a moment as her chest
slowly rose and fell with each breath, her body so still and peaceful.
With a quick melt, he sent the glitter cascading from the ceiling and back into
the small box. Eve stirred slightly and nuzzled her chin closer to him as he
slowly reached for a blanket and lightly rested it over her body. He stared at her for a while, admiring her wavy hair, the light sprinkle of freckles on her
shoulders, the way her usually worried brow now looked so soft, so calm. He
slid his fingers through a loose strand of hair resting against her cheek and placed it behind her ear. Then, compelled by impulse, he leaned in close to her
and gently kissed her forehead.
Eve flinched; she awoke with wide eyes that locked onto Jason’s as he
quickly pulled away. They stared at one another in complete silence. Eve
wanted to speak, to say or do something, anything, but her body was paralyzed, and her thoughts were racing. Suddenly, her heart was beating rapidly with
incredible strength, and her senses were heightened and very aware; she could
see the nervous energy in Jason’s eyes, hear the sound of his shallow
breathing, and even the slightest touch of his skin against hers sent shivers down her spine.
Eve lifted her chin and closed her eyes. Without a moment of hesitation,
Jason leaned in and kissed her, savoring the sweet taste of her lips as he combed his fingers through her hair. The moment was shocking, like a burst of
electricity coursing through her, illuminating every cell within her body. He kissed her again, slowly and smoothly as he ran his hand down her arm, lightly
grazing her skin and causing every goose bump on her body to stand at
attention. He wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her in closer, and
in turn she slid her hands down his neck to his chest, the tips of her fingers gliding over his tender, raised scar. She could feel his heart pounding beneath
his skin and lost herself in the moment.
Jason held her tightly against him, kissing her softly, and in that instant she
knew that this was something she wanted—something intangible, but so much
more real than any other feeling she had ever experienced. As her nerves
began to simmer and her body became heavy, Jason took her chin and gave her
one last, long kiss, resting her head against his shoulder as they drifted to sleep in one another ’s arms.
***
Eve opened her eyes. Sunlight poured through a crack in the window blinds
and streaked across her face, and she squinted against the brightness. She yawned, wrinkling her nose and stretching her toes as she squirmed beneath the
sheets.
Jason was lying beside her, sleeping soundly, completely undisturbed by her awakening. Eve exhaled, taking a moment to enjoy the serene atmosphere. She
couldn’t remember the last time she had felt so revived in the morning, so energized and uplifted, and then it dawned on her: there were no nightmares, no horrific scenes or miserable memories lingering in the back of her mind.
For the first time in over eleven years, she had had a dreamless sleep.
Her eyes darted toward the wall clock, and suddenly, the delight of the moment
was ripped away from her like a rug being pulled from beneath her
feet. It was nine thirty-seven in the morning, and she was in the medical ward
with Jason.
Still.
Panic set in as Eve tiptoed out of bed. She had missed her first class, and her
second one was already in session. Would Madison and Hayden notice? Of
course they would. Madison also surely realized that Eve never came back to
the dorm last night. She cringed; the last thing she needed was more
speculation about her behavior. She slipped on her hooded sweatshirt and
headed for the door, still racking her brain for worst-case scenarios. She
looked back at Jason, letting herself be captivated by his steady breathing for
just a second before her frenzied state took over once more. As she reached for the door handle in front of her, her body froze.
What if Heather was volunteering today?
Eve lowered her shoulders as she plodded through the isolation wing. A
nurse passed her, shooting her a judgmental grimace and rolling her eyes. Eve
blushed with chagrin and made her way to the door, peering out of the one small window and shuddering over the anticipation of maybe, possibly seeing
a redheaded bloodsucker waiting at the clerk’s desk.
And sure enough, there she sat in her scrubs, her auburn hair pulled into a
delicate bun at the top of her head. Eve cursed under her breath as she watched
the Rutherfordian fiddle with her scratchpad, hard at work and appearing so utterly innocent. Eve could see it now: the look of sinister excitement on Heather ’s face as Eve came waltzing through the ward twelve hours after her
session with Jason first began. No, it wouldn’t happen. She would make sure of
that.
Her eyes landed on a stack of paper at Heather ’s side, and suddenly a plan was
born. She melted instantly, sending the paper flying from Heather ’s desk,
each sheet blowing across the hallway as if swept by a sudden breeze. Heather
shrieked aloud, chasing after the papers as they scattered in every direction until they spilled around the corner, far past the clerk’s desk.
As Heather rounded the corner, Eve bolted from the isolation wing and
headed straight for the elevators. She pounded at the buttons, frantically
looking over her shoulder while she waited impatiently for the doors to open.
Finally, the elevator arrived; she hurried into the metal box, letting out a sigh
of relief as she traveled down to the lobby and hoping with every fiber of her
being that her escape had gone unnoticed.
As her nerves calmed and Heather ’s face faded from her mind, a new face
made its way to her thoughts: Jason. She reminisced over the taste of his lips,
the warmth of his hands, the ease of waking beside him. It was so unlike her to
feel this way—to be happy and scared at the same time.
Pressed for time and hardly presentable, Eve dashed to her dormitory,
changed into a simple pantsuit, and headed for the business building. Before she knew it, the door to the Strategic Communication lecture hall loomed
before her, and she grimaced at the sight of it. All eyes would be on her. She
imagined Travis, proud and smug with his head held high, and Professor
Gupta cowering in her presence. She sighed, her eyes pointed at the ceiling as
if begging for some sort of divine intervention to save her from the
humiliation she would surely endure.
The classroom immediately silenced when she walked in. She rolled her
eyes at the dramatics, taking her usual seat in the back, pretending to be unaware of the awkward tension. She caught a glimpse of Travis out of the corner of her eye and tried to mask her repulsion. As heads at last turned away
and the students continued with their chatter, Eve pulled her scratchpad from her shoulder bag, thankful to be left alone.
The moment didn’t last. A small body plopped itself in the seat next to hers.
“You going to bite my head off again?” JJ asked, carelessly resting her feet
on the desk in front of her.
Eve didn’t respond.
“I think you should reconsider my offer.”
“Your offer?”
“Yeah. You should forgive me, and we should be friends.”
Eve scowled. “Are you really trying to negotiate a friendship with me?”
“Look, I judged you prematurely. I can admit that. But we have similar
interests, parallel agendas—”
“And you know this how?”
JJ winked. “I just know.”
“Well, you’ve been wrong before, so you’re probably wrong now.”
“Hey, I’m not the enemy here.”
Eve furrowed her brow. “And who is the enemy, exactly?”
JJ offered a sly smile, ignoring Eve’s question and instead eyeing the hunk of junk on her desk. “Your scratchpad is a piece of shit, by the way. I could fix
it for you— if we were friends.” She stood from her desk and made her way across the room. “I’m good with computers, remember?”
After what felt like an eternity of valueless debates, class finally came to an
end. Eve hadn’t really paid attention—she was flustered, consumed with
thoughts about the night before, so much so that even the perverse glances and
mutterings of her classmates had gone unnoticed. She packed her things and left the room, remarkably with most of her dignity intact, and tried in vain to
push the distractions from her mind. And now, she saw them—the hateful looks
of the passersby. Each face she encountered was twisted into a disparaging
glare. That is, all but one.
“Armaan!” Eve chirped, almost too enthusiastically. “Are we off to the ward
already? Feels like I was just there.”
“Oh, hey Eve,” he replied, seemingly surprised to see her. “No, not today.”
“Oh, really?” Her stomach churned. “Is something wrong?”
“No, quite the contrary. Wait, you didn’t hear?”
“Hear what?”
“Jason was released this morning. He’s back at school. Should be around
campus somewhere.”
“Oh…” Eve faltered. She thought of Jason, of his desperation to be free
from the isolation wing. She thought of the time they shared together, the
kiss…
“That’s great.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Armaan muttered, casting his eyes down to the floor.
“Why the long face?”
“We’ll probably never hang out again. No more walks to the ward. No more
talks about melting.” He frowned. “It’s depressing.”
“Armaan, we’re friends. We’ll still talk.” She squeezed his shoulder. “I
promise.”
Armaan’s face lit up immediately, and she smiled. There was something
different about him today—he looked especially small in his oversized, boxy
suit, like a little boy playing in his father ’s closet. It was an unusual outfit choice for him, and he fidgeted with his cufflinks nervously.
“What are you doing here anyway?” she asked. “I didn’t expect you to have
any classes in the business building.”
