A Spy's Home---Book 2: Wounds, Both Old and New

Chapter 6

Zylina's Point of view

It was cloudy in the morning, and the greyish light streamed through the windows. There were people scattered around the station getting their things together, like me. It was 9:00am in the morning, and I was about to head out to get breakfast at a nearby diner after I was done packing up my things.

There was a boy about Rory's age next to me, who was packing at the table. I glanced over once, but I could see out of the corner of my eye that he would look over at me every five seconds. I let out a small laugh and asked, "Is there something you need?" I averted my eyes toward him and saw his face went from "She won't see me" to "Crap, I've been caught."

"Sorry," the boy apologized, going back to packing. "It's alright, you're going to Princeton?" I asked. The boy looked over at me confused at how I knew that; I gestured to the bus tickets that were lying on the table. "Yep." he simply answered. What followed was an awkward wall of silence, as we returned to our packing.

"So, I'm sorry for making this a little weird, but why were you looking at me?" I questioned. I saw his face flush red, as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I just wanted to say that's a cool cuff, but I couldn't find the right words. I'm like that to people I don't know." he answered.

Letting out a small giggle escape my lips, I smiled and looked at my cuff that was still attached to my left wrist. As I brushed my thumb over the cool surface, my thoughts went the night of the shoot-out. "Zylina get to the door!" Rory shouted in my head. I winced a little as I heard the bang of the gun.

"Hey. Hey!" the boy yelled, and I was brought back to the real world. "You alright, it looked like you dazed out for a second." he said. I nodded, and responded, "I'm alright, I just went through something recently, and I guess I was thinking about that." It wasn't lying, but it also wasn't the full truth.

"Is that why you're going to West Virginia?" the boy asked. "Yeah, I need some space so I can recover." I lied, grabbing my wallet and shoving it in my pocket. "Are you going out for breakfast?" the boy asked. I nodded, and a smile appeared on his face.

"There's a diner that I've been to. How about I take you there?" he offered. I was not expecting that. I don't even know this boy's name. I tensed up, and I tried to decline the offer.

"No, no, that's alright." I said. "Come on, I'd like to have someone to talk to." he insisted. Sighing, I finally gave up, and accepted the offer, "Alright, but first, how about we properly introduce ourselves."

The boy's face flushed red a second time, and stuttered, "R...Right, we haven't done that yet. Hi, I'm Luke." My world stopped, and my eyes went wide. Luke? I've never seen Luke's face. He was just a voice in my earpiece. What if this is him? The boy stuck out his hand for me to shake, but I couldn't do it.

"I...I'm sorry, but I have to go." I responded, rushing out the exit door of the station, but I could feel Luke's eyes burning into the back of my neck the whole way out.

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I was at the café for at least an hour; as I sat there drinking my coffee, eating my hash browns and scrambled eggs, one thought remained with me that made me feel guiltier than I already felt.

What if that wasn't Luke from my time at the Academy? It could have been a whole other Luke and I just left him confused and sad. I pinched the bridge of my nose, and tried focusing on what Luke's voice sounded like, but with everything that was swimming around in my mind I couldn't focus and I gave up.

When I got back to the station, the boy was nowhere in sight; I went to the ticket registration desk and asked about him, and what they had told me made me feel even guiltier. The boy, Luke, had canceled his ticket and left the station about thirty minutes ago. What have I done? 

TBC....