Chapter Thirty Two
Dustin hid behind his menu, but his bright blue eyes peeked out from the top, “Hi.”
“How can you act so normal?” she was sitting across from one of the most well known chaos in Affelil, and he was just drinking coffee and deciding what he should order for breakfast. He should be at least a little nervous. And disguised. He should have shades on.
The corners of his eyes crinkled and he put the menu down, “No one’s going to recognize us. You haven’t been gone long enough for Aiden to start putting up missing posters, and me? No one looks at me for more than a second. I have one of those faces.”
“No you don’t,” she said, “You stand out.”
“You think that, but I had to do something drastic to get your attention,” he rolled his eyes, “Did you think I would ever get into a fight with a human boy and let him live? Especially after he insulted my hat.”
She remembered the pink knit hat, “Yeah. Who gave you that, anyway?”
“You,” he smiled, “Do you really not remember?”
“I remember some things,” she said, shifting in her seat. Dustin’s warm smile was familiar, too familiar to be comfortable. A smile shouldn’t be that familiar, “Mainly only the basics.”
“Small things will come later. Probably,” he shrugged and looked at a waitress with curly hair, “Can we have two coffees?”
“Anything else?” the waitress whipped out a notepad and pen in record time, scribbling down the orders in shorthand.
“I’m not hungry,” Austin mumbled, shaking her head at Dustin. He gave the menus back and the waitress walked away, leaving them to themselves. Silence fell over them, a heavy silence. That seemed to happen a lot.
Out of everything she could have said, that she could have asked, she mumbled, “I like tea now.”
“Tea? You never- oh, did Kai force you to try the stuff? His tea always tastes great,” Dustin said. Austin was again reminded that he used to know Kai, that he used to be a regular dragon.
“Yeah.”
They didn’t talk for the rest of the day, and Austin was fine with that. She watched the people around her instead. Some looked sullen and withdrawn, but most were happy. Carefree. They carried surfboards and wore tank tops, though it couldn’t have been more than fifty degrees.
It grew dark and the surfers went home, leaving only a couple lone customers, each taking up their own tables and typing away at a computer. The restaurant must have free wifi. She didn’t think that there would be internet here, since there were no phones.
“Why aren’t there phones?” she asked, staring out the dark windows. The clouds had blocked out the moon and raindrops hit the glass panes with so suddenly and with such force that Austin flinched.
“There are some. There’s a phone in the capitol building in Anathaem. There’s one in the capitol building here in the Cove. They connect the cities,” Dustin’s grin deepened, “Usually to warn each other about chaos.”
She nodded, “But why doesn’t everyone have one?”
“As useful as they can be, the phone’s haven’t passed the testing stages in the human world yet. We don’t know if there are any negative effects,,” Dustin gave her a knowing look, “ Besides, we have words to write and battles to fight.”
“And people to see?” she raised an eyebrow. When Dustin nodded, she said, “Would Kai be at the beach by now?”
Dustin checked his digital watch, “Yeah.”
They stood up and Austin followed after him, keeping a few feet away. The wind whipped her wet hair into her face, but all she could notice was the lone figure on the beach. She could barely see him, but he was definitely there.
“Go on,” he gave her a gentle push in Kai’s direction and she stumbled forwards, sand climbing into her shoes. She put one foot in front of the other, tripping once every few steps, until she was close enough to touch Kai’s back. The sound of the waves crashing against the sand and the thunder echoing around her had masked her entrance. He had no idea that she was there.
She reached towards him, her hand just short of the storyteller’s soaked jacket. She was struck with the oddest sensation. She felt that, right now, she had the option of nonexistence. If she walked away right now, he would never know that she was there.
She stopped, motionless in the wet sand. With one hand halfheartedly reaching towards him, almost brushing against his back, and whispered, “Kai.”
The thunder once again boomed, covering up any sound she made. As she watched Kai walk away, she felt something hot run down her face, spilling from her eyes. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t make him notice-
Dustin whistled from behind her and Kai stopped, his head tilting to the side. Slowly, he turned on his heel and faced them, his mouth open in shock.
And then Austin was running.
“You idiot!” Kai shouted at her over the sound of the crashing waves, overjoyed, “What are you doing here?”
“Attending a funeral,” she laughed, wrapping her arms around his soaked, scrawny neck. He had some prominent collarbones, she realized. She could feel them under his shirt, “And visiting some friends. You?”
“Same,” he squeezed her, “How did you-“
“Dustin,” she answered, the name bringing down her mood only by a notch, “He brought me here.”
“You’re with Dustin?” Kai looked up, his eyes wide as he stared behind her. She whipped her hair out of her face, “Were you kidnapped again?”
“Not this time,” she buried her head into his chest. He was warm. Kai rested his chin on top of her head, “Kai, I missed you.”
“I didn’t think that we would see each other this soon,” he admitted. She nodded, but couldn’t tell if she was hearing his heartbeat or the beating of the waves against the shore. He let he go but kept his hands on her shoulders, staring, “I’m glad that you got out of there safely.”
“Thanks. How did everyone handle it? Did they suspect you of helping me?” she fired off her questions, trusting that Kai could answer both of them. She wasn’t disappointed.
“I think that Derrick knows I helped you, but he isn’t saying anything. No one new knows that you’re a Halfling. Aiden is…Aiden is looking,” Kai didn’t meet her eyes, which meant that it was bad. It was really bad, “He’s not doing so well.”
“He’s angry?” she winced, but Kai’s hands on her shoulders held her together.
“No, but he can’t control himself. His abilities –you know how strong they are- are attacking randomly. People around him drop like flies. They wake up later, but…people want to take action. He might be voted out of his position as General.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Dustin said, appearing beside them. They both jumped, but Kai automatically shook the hand that the chaos offered, “It’s nice to see you again, Kai.”
“You-“ he flinched back in shock, automatically moving so that he was shielding Austin completely, “Austin, I thought you meant that you met him, and then you escaped.”
She ducked around his protective arms, a grimace on her face, “I wish.”
She stood in between the two boys, prepared to be the mediator. As long as she was in the middle, no one would start a fight. No one would get hurt. She didn’t even have to be in the middle, though she preferred it like this. All she really needed to do was be near Dustin, and he wouldn’t attack.
“He killed Chelsea,” Kai said, stating the obvious.
“Yes,” she nearly shouted the words, pressure building up inside of her. She felt like a shook up soda can, and she was ready to burst, “But it was a choice between Chelsea and you, and I’m glad that you’re the one who lived.”
She didn’t want to say the words aloud, but she had, and now she couldn’t take them back. Dustin’s face was surprised, but smug. Kai’s was just shocked.
“Kai!” a lone figure, Sage, shouted from further on in the
beach. She didn’t seem to notice Austin or Dustin, so their dark clothes must have been useful in hiding them in the darkness, “Let’s go.”
Dustin pulled Austin away from Kai, slowly, “I’m telling Sage’s subconscious not to notice us. If you move too fast, though, there is no doubt that she will notice.”
Austin stood still, rain and wind still slapping her, as she watched Kai walked away. His words, loud enough for only she and Dustin to hear, rang out, “Mail me.”
“We have a long walk home,” Dustin reminded her, dragging her back. Austin nodded, but she felt the need to cry and sleep. Again. Was friendship supposed to be this hard? She just wanted a friend.
Fledgling Page 33