Shells | Lo'ak Sully

Part 3: Inches apart

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(POV: Lo'ak)

The first thing I heard this morning was my dad calling everyone for dinner.

Wait, but... If it's morning, why's he making dinner?

I rubbed my eyes, opening them to darkness, making me question if I had even opened them to begin with. I sat up on my hammock, waiting for my eyes to adjust as I turned towards the exit of my hut.

Ah, that's why. — It's not morning.

I chuckled to myself, not yet realising the danger that was waiting for me at the end of my bed. I turned back, my eyes being able to see a lot clearer, unfortunately. It felt like my lungs had been ripped from their cage, my throat almost closing in on itself as I saw her, sat directly in front of me, staring with an extremely specific glint in her eyes.

"Eywa have mercy!—" I jumped back in my seated position, my hand moving to cover my face due to habit. — When the hit I thought was coming my way never reached me, I slowly moved my hand down, finding the girl as still as she was before.

Just how long had she been there for?

I copied the way she had her hands, placing them down in my lap and waiting for her to say something first. However when she didn't say anything at all, I tried my own luck with it.

"Are you o—"

"You're a dick."

Well shit, way to shut me down.

Her face that had been stern since I woke up slowly started to crack, her brows inching closer to each other and her lips curling downwards. Promptly, I realised that I had screwed up royally... Again.
I began to ask her for some context, but was quickly denied my right to speech. "What did I—"

"You're an asshole, too." She paused. "And a prick, a penis-face, too—"

"Aright! Okay, I get you're mad at me! But could you at least tell me what I've done before you start calling me names?!" I tell her, climbing off of the hammock and standing next to it instead, gesturing my hands out for her to take them as I spoke.
However Ni'teya didn't take my assistance, ignoring my hands as she stood up by herself.

"If you don't know, then that's just as bad, if not, worse!" She charges towards me, her finger pressing against the centre of my chest as she looked up at me with beady eyes. I sighed, wishing my eyes had never adjusted to the darkness.

"Okay, I'm sorry! Whatever I did, I didn't mean to do it, just—"

I tried to reason, holding both of my hands up to the sky in a weak effort to show my reluctance to argue, hoping she'd accept my apology, which I soon understood was stupid of me to think possible. Before I could finish what I had to say, she made me realise what I'd done.

"Why didn't you wake me up, huh?!" She stepped back, crossing her arms together and raising her shoulders, as someone who was shivering would do.

Oh... Crap. Like, double crap, triple even.

I didn't know what to tell her, so, I didn't say anything for a long while. Instead, we stood in silence, Ni'teya staring daggers at me until I was half-saved by my dad's yelling voice.

"Kids! Come on, your food's getting cold here!" He called over from his hut, making both me and Ni'teya answer him at the same time.

"Coming!" We shouted in unison, though her yell was much more aggressive than mine. She swiftly turned her head back to me, her brows somehow looking even more furious than before she'd looked away.