Sector 10

Chapter 8

The following nights, I completed my missions with ease once more. It had been a week since I told Jon my name. It feels weird. The only other person that knows my name is Sean and I don't even know his real name despite the many chances I've been given.

On my break, we were walking through the same plaza that we walked through when we went on our first meet-up, on our way to pick up what I now know to be his younger sister. It took a while to convince me to meet his sister. I was now anxiously fidgeting with the choker around my neck. She's not my sister, but any thought of mine overwhelmed me with culpability.

"Where are we picking her up from?" I asked.

"The gym, actually," he responded as I raised an eyebrow.

"Thought she didn't like the 'technical stuff,'" I queried. Maybe he wasn't talking about the physical work.

"I said she has no interest in guns, but still, I know she's not working out in there. She always just disappears behind the back door."

If this was the gym I was thinking of, it would make sense. We kept walking until we reached a small gym situated between a café and a tech shop. The sign along the top read Benny's Fitness Zone. Inside, there was unused fitness equipment and a reception desk along the back with a lousily-dressed man occupying it, his feet on the desk as he tapped away on his phone. No one else could be seen inside.

"This gym is rarely used as a gym," I told Jon and pointed to a door in the back. "The door you're talking about leads downstairs where most of the 'hackers' tend to hang out. It's like a club."

Jon slowly nodded his head in understanding. We wandered around the plaza for a while, waiting for Jon's younger sister. After a few minutes, we passed by an old public piano. It was chipped in many places and the ivory keys had started to decay. Yet after tapping a few of the keys, we discovered it was still in tune.

Jon stepped towards the instrument and lightly grazed his fingers over the instrument. "Do you play?" I asked.

"A bit."

I didn't need to say anything else to get him to sit down on the stool. "My mother taught me this. She would play it on repeat," Jon explained.

He started playing, and I recognised the tune to be the same one he'd hum a lot. As he played, his back was straight and stiff, yet his fingers glided over the keys so gracefully and carefully. City of stars, are you shining just for me?

The tune was soft and simple, like a lullaby coaxing me to sleep. Watching him was mesmerizing. My fingers left the inside of my choker and I stood, swaying back and forth with miniscule movement. At one point, his eyes left the piano and drifted to me as he whistled the rest of the song. I never really listened to music - unless the background noise of pubs and shops counted. I often found it distracting, but never realised how pleasurable it could be. Jon's fingers lingered on the last note before standing up. Jon stood directly in front of me and pushed a strand of silvery hair out of my face.

We were interrupted when we heard the glass door of the gym creak open. Jon and I both turned immediately. Stepping through the door, I saw a petite girl with short black hair. My breathing stopped when she saw us. When she got closer, the girl looked up at me with big, dark eyes, her expression unmoving. My hand guided itself to her cheek and I stood there in a mixture of disbelief and grief before I felt a hand on my shoulder.

I spun around to see Jon with a concerned look on his face. When I turned back, in front of me stood a girl around thirteen years of age. Peaking from underneath a black beanie was mouse brown hair - lighter than Jon's - but she shared the same blue eyes. She donned a purple jumper and cradled underneath her left arm was a laptop. She looked at me curiously.

"So, you're Jonathon's new girlfriend," the girl said cheekily.

While I was still getting over myself, Jon stooped over her and replied saying, "she's a lot better at hanging out with me than you are."

The girl inspected me with narrowed eyes. "I'm Lila," she said, holding out her hand. "I like your hair."

I hesitantly shook Lila's hand. "I'm..." I wavered and Jon glanced at me, waiting to see what I'd say.

"I'm Ai."

Jon gave me a smile, and I half-heartedly returned the gesture.