Supernova

by Mia Rodriguez

Chapter 25: The Raging River

  I don’t even take time to think!—it’s a luxury I can’t afford. With my left hand I grab Royce’s backpack while with my right one, I hug the tree trunk as tightly as I can. Meanwhile, Pilar also reacts fast and grabs Royce’s leg. Thank goodness we are so close to each other.

  The water rages and pulls fiercely at us, and I sincerely don’t know how long I can keep this up. The unrelenting monster of the river promises to snatch Royce away and maybe Pilar and me along with him as the three of us fight to the death with it.

  Hold on, Madrigal! I tell myself.

  The monster tries to tear my arm out of its socket.

  Royce battles for control while being flung around like a feather instead of a six foot, all muscle human being. The gladiator-like struggle only makes his face more determined. Finally, he manages to grab the tree trunk, easing the tremendous pressure on Pilar and myself.

  Acting with lightning speed before the hostile water makes us let him go, Royce pulls himself up, onto the trunk. He’s out of the clutches of death. We don’t speak while catching our breath. The shock of what just happened and that tragedy could’ve touched us sits heavily on us.

  “Let’s keep going,” Royce finally says, breaking the silence.

  The sooner we get out of this situation the better. As he starts inching forward, this time he checks the wood before moving to make certain he doesn’t repeat the same mistake again of being unaware of the rot covered by green plants. The method is painstakingly and excruciatingly slow but necessary. Royce, of course, reaches the other side first and helps Pilar and me to our feet as we arrive.

  “Give me a second,” he mutters as he swiftly moves to behind a tree and changes into his second pair of clothes.

  “Let’s go,” he states, stepping over to us.

  Nothing else is said as we leave the raging river behind. Pilar calmly shows us the way. We let the near tragedy hang in the air instead of bringing it out in the open. It’s for the best. Royce unflinchingly stares ahead as if his brush with death was a minor inconvenience—the guy is made out of steel.

  As we continue our hike, the shock and numbness of what just happened wears off.

  What if he had drowned, pops in my head, the razor sharp edges of the words cutting deeply into me.

  I can still see the water trying to swallow him. It’s not a picture I can easily get out of my head. In fact, it’s seared in my mind—branded there.

  “Thank you,” Royce utters, breaking the loud silence between the three of us.

  “What?” I ask, coming back from my punctured thoughts.

  “Thank you for saving my life,” he says as he grinds to a halt. His dark eyes travel from Pilar to me.

  “You don’t have to thank us,” I quickly express.

  “You really don’t.” Pilar agrees with me.

  “Yes, I do.”

  Pilar shakes her head. “But—”

  “If you hadn’t convinced me that you should be on the log with me, I would’ve been on the log by myself and then . . .”

  “I don’t even want to think about it,” I blurt, my sight firmly on him.

  “I would’ve downed,” he mumbles, meeting my stare.

  “Don’t say it,” I repeat.

  His dark eyes flicker at me. “You’d care?” he asks quietly.

  I’m angry at the silliness of the question. “Of course!”

  Pilar eyes go from me to Royce with a sheepish grin on her face. “It’s not that hard to care about someone like you, Royce.”

  “What?” he asks, puzzled.

  Pilar’s grin grows wider. “You’re one of those guys that girls flock to.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Royce grumbles, irritated.

  Pilar’s sight sits on him. “It’s not ridiculous.”

  “Just ask QT100,” I declare with spikes in my voice.

  Royce eyes me carefully. “She was a snake.”

  “She was beautiful,” I mumble.

  “No, she wasn’t,” snaps Royce.

  I don’t know why he’s lying. “She was.”

  “I couldn’t stand her,” he retorts, disgust in his voice.

  “She adored you.”

  “She adored the false image I projected.”

  “You had a girlfriend named QT100?” asks Pilar, chucking.

  I nod dryly. “Yes, he did.”

  “What a stupid name.”

  We laugh wholeheartedly—the three of us including Royce. In a much better mood than before, we smile at one another as if we’re the best of friends. Maybe after our horrible ordeal, we are. Hearing the sounds of the deafening, raging river close by, I try not to shudder. Royce abruptly turns to us, his face solemn.

  “Sorry,” he expresses.

  “Sorry for what?” I ask.

  “I messed up at the river.”

  Pilar frowns loudly. “Royce—”

  “I let you down.”

  “What are you talking about?” I ask, baffled.

  “I should’ve been more careful on the trunk—all three of our lives were at risk.”

  I let out a deep breath. “But—”

  His face turns serious as he eyes me. “It’s important that you trust me.”

  “I trust you.”

  “I need you to believe in me—to believe in my ability to get us where we need to go. I don’t know how much of Peter’s distrust in me rubbed off on you.”

  “It didn’t.”

  “Not any of it?”

  “None.”

  “Not even a little bit?” he questions, his intense eyes firmly on me.

  “No.”

  “Gee, Royce,” guffaws Pilar. “Nova isn’t a moron. She knows you’re awesome. She knows what went down with Peter.”

  “I don’t doubt that she understands about Peter but still, it’s normal for some bad stuff to creep in your head—especially with our history.”

  “Your history?” asks Pilar.

  “It’s a long story,” I explain, “but to make it short, Royce was charged with spying on me at school, and he acted like a jerk so I wouldn’t suspect.”

  “I wasn’t spying on you,” Royce explains indignantly. “I was trying to protect the Supernova.”

  “He acted like a jerk?’ Pilar asks.

  “You can’t imagine what he and his uppity girlfriend would do to me.”

  “I already explained that I had to do it. Besides, that’s all in the past, isn’t it?” he asks hopefully, his dark eyes firmly on mine.

  I try not to be taken into his deepness. “Yeah.”

  “You don’t sound too convinced,” he mumbles.

  “She’s convinced enough to make it up to here with you—and without Peter,” Pilar comments.

  “That’s right,” I state.

  As we start walking again in silence, a solemn Royce seems to be a million miles away in his own mind.

  Night falls on us suddenly, and we decide to rest. Each of us will take turns pulling guard duty as the other two sleep. When my turn arrives, I stumble out of the blanket I’m sharing with Pilar, the one that had been in my backpack. Sleeping bags had been outlawed a long time ago. Only the military is allowed to use them. I tell Royce I’m ready to do my share.

  “You up for this?” he asks.

  “Yes.”

  “Wake me up if you hear anything, okay?”

  “I will,” I state.

  “Don’t play the hero or try to handle anything on your own.”

  “I won’t.”

  “Don’t worry about waking me if you have to.”

  I smile at him. “I won’t.”

  “Don’t—”

  “Royce,” I say, chuckling, “I’ve got this. Go get some rest before we stay up all night arguing.”

  Nodding, he lays down where I was but doesn’t get in the blanket with Pilar. He lets her have all of it. I stare into the night trying to focus my untrained ears to strange sounds. The
woods are certainly noisy at night with the sounds of different animals scurrying around. Thankfully, the moon is full and moonlight surrounds us. It’s not pitch dark. I’ve got the flashlight that Constanza had packed in my backpack just in case I need to shine it on a dangerous situation.

  In the stillness of the night, I start thinking of something I had shoved to the back of my mind.

  Arthur.

  I wish I had never found out who he was.

  I wish he could still be my imaginary friend. He’s not as buried as I thought him to be.

  Move on, I instruct myself.

  When Pilar’s turn finally comes up, I get in her old position and wrap the blanket over myself. Then I notice that Royce looks cold. Even though he had dried off from the excursion in the river a long time ago, the chill of the night and us being on the ground must be affecting him. I cover him gently so he doesn’t wake up, but he opens his eyes abruptly and seems ready to pounce until he notices it’s just me.

  “I’m just sharing my blanket with you,” I mumble.

  His dark eyes anchor themselves to mine, and I find myself gazing back. “You don’t have to.”

  “I want to.”

  This seems to please him. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “By the way . . .”

  “Yes?”

  “I know I hadn’t told you, but thanks for setting Peter straight.”

  His handsome face is breathtaking in the moonlight. “It was the right thing to do,” I tell him, trying to keep my thoughts straight.

  “Your support is everything to me.”

  “Your dedication to the resistance is everything to me.”

  “Do you mean it?” he asks, eyeing me.

  “I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it.”

  Royce’s vivid stare is too much for me. I shut my eyes. As his gentle breathing lulls me into a calm space, I let go of all tension. It’s his comforting presence I’m thinking of when I fall asleep.

  My dreams are full of images of my life. My real parents hug me, my fake parents say quiet insults, Meggy tells me to remember who I am, Pilar shows me the ways of a warrior, and Arthur’s voice fades.

  Fades.

  Out of a raging river, a robust figure emerges—cutting through the violent waters. He stares into me, and I stare back. Royce. We can’t seem to be able to take our eyes off each other.

  “Wake up!” an enraged yell demands.

  I abruptly unglue my eyes to find a furious soldier standing over Royce and me with a military rifle pointing at us. Pilar is no where in sight.

  “Wake up, NOW!” he snaps.