All Of Us - Part 1: Summer

Chapter 16 - ... is a new start

- Evangeline -

"Hey !" Aline greets me cheerfully. I nod back at her, silent. An entire week has passed by since she narrated Pina's story to me. I still have done nothing. But what could I possibly do to change things ? It is just... just the way things are, I suppose.

"I brought a book for us to read. But I also got you this," she adds, before tossing something in my direction. My hand darts out and grabs it. I stare at my fist, wondering what in Methron I could have just caught, before I let my fingers open one by one - and gasp. In the palm of my hand lies a sizable chunk of a biscuit.

Merely looking at me makes me salivate, to my mortification. But my head refuses to accept the gift. Why would she give me such a thing ?

I look up and our gazes meet. Her eyes... Their blue is so gentle, like a tiny jay I could hold in my hand. "Why give me this ?"

Red creeps into her cheeks but she answers nevertheless, her chin pointed and bold: "We got some, from some allies we've got." She bites her lip, then restarts: "Probably shouldn't have told ya that. Stays between us, 'k ?" To my surprise, I reply: "Okay."

With a smile, she continues: "I was sayin', we had some 'nd so I snuck some in, to give to yah... As a present. Yah've done so much for me... Thank yah."

My face heats up. I try to discreetly brush my cheek with my fingertip - I am burning. She laughs, slightly embarrassed. "No need to light up like dat, princess."

"Please, call me Evangeline." No one calls me that, not even the King. Yet I cannot wait for her to say it. To call me by my name.

"K'. Evangeline," she grins. With a jerk of her head, she points to the cake. "Have a bite, then." Despite me, my mouth twitches and smiles back, before opening and taking a huge bite out of the biscuit.

To be honest, it is not objectively that good. There is too much flour, the dough is dry and too crumbly. But it feels like the best thing I have eaten in years.

Is this what friendship tastes like ?

"Aline... Thank you. That was amazing," I finally answer after having licked off the last crumbs from my fingers. "Yah welcome, prin - Evangeline. Yah wanna start ?"

I nod and grab the book she is handing me.

"Alright," I begin, glancing quickly at the cover, "what about trying to read the cover ?"

She nods and takes the book back. "The... The Cra-... The Cracks . The Cracks In... Lassheso."

"Perfect. Good job. Should we read the first page ?"

"Sure !"

She opens the book and starts to stumble over the first few words. It is mildly painful to hear, but keeping in mind the short amount of time we have had to do this, her progress is extraordinary. She finishes her paragraph and looks up: "Yes ! That is it. Nice work, Aline." There is a beat, before I ask: "Uh, Aline... I was wondering..."

"Ask ahead," she butts in confidently, winking at me.

"Well, all the girls who are here wear pants; that goes directly against Lassheso teachings. Are you... Is no one religious here ?"

She shrugs casually. "Ain't a lot a people who believed in Sheso where I grew up." I don't ask her where exactly that was; she doesn't offer any further explanation. "So I don't. I guess most people here don't, either. But it was Gail's idea to wear pants."

"Gail ?"

"Yeah, she's the smart one 'round here."

"Uh.. Okay."

For some reason, my heartbeats picks up again. I am used to speaking to Aline and no one else. What if this Gail person is like Ian ? Or... like Thet ? But I know I personally want to try pants on. They look so practical... And it is not as if I am a big believer as well. If Sheso did exist, he would have helped me. And everyone else around here, I think after a beat. He would have helped all of us.

I shake the thought off and suggest: "What if we continue and finish the page ?" Aline sticks her bottom lip and seems to pout. "I feel kinda lazy today... Is't alright if we stop ?" I chuckle. "Sure."

"So what story d'yah wanna hear ?"

I balk. I had not thought about it.

"I do not think I can stand to hear another one, actually."

Aline looks deep into my eyes and nods. "Yeah, I hope yah'd get sick of it, eventually. If yah didn't... Yah'd have to be monster." I flinch at her words but she doesn't seem to notice. She sits back and sighs. " 'nd why'd yah wanna hear those horrors in the first place ?"

"I... I do not know, really ? I just never- never thought about the horrible things the King could have done to others."

"Others ?" She is sitting upright, her body shaping an upside-down question mark.

I ignore her question, and close my eyes. What can I answer ? Yes, others. Other than me. But how can I tell her that ? How can I...

My eyes snap open. I know.

"Aline... I need to see Dæor."