The Queen Of Spades

Chapter 8, Continued, Again

Gideon and I started hanging out almost every day while I was recovering. It was his idea, honestly. We were never at our houses though, so that we could be alone and talk. In the end we usually ended up going to a park not too far away and sitting at the top of the playground, looking at the stars.
"So," he said as we sat there, "are we gonna talk about what happened?"
"What happened when?" I asked, not looking away from the sky.
"Well, lots of times actually. We should talk about that kiss. And, if you want to, what happened to Olivia and why you don't live there anymore. Oh, and your new look."
"What, do you have a problem with my new look?"
"The exact opposite Lyn, just curious what caused it."
"You did, actually. I know I said I wanted to be normal but I realized that this is normal for me, so I embraced it. As for the kiss, I don't know what to say about it. I mean, I think you like me, and I like you. So, I don't know what to say, for once."
“I do, like you I mean. I have since we met. But this might seem weird, I think there’s more to it. I think I’m in love with you, Madelyn.”
“So do I.”
He changed the subject. "So what about Olivia?"
"You said if I wanted to." I said, suddenly defensive.
"Yes I did, do you want to talk about it?"
"No, I want to know how you're always so calm. I've literally never seen you angry, even when you should be."
"I just have peace, that's all."
“Ominous.”
“It’s like, what good does getting mad do? I can do so much more when I’m calm.”
“That makes sense, I guess.”
“Why are you scared of water?"
"What?" That came out of nowhere.
"The party after homecoming. You avoided the pool like the plague. The fire too for that matter."
"They, um, well, they drowned me." I looked at him for the first time since we had started talking.
"They what?" Worry filled his voice as he asked it.
"That's how they were gonna kill me, I drowned chained to the bottom of a bullet proof glass box full of water."
"But you didn't drown. You're right here."
"Abra cadabra." I wiggled my fingers in front of my face as I said it. "Can we stop talking about this? We never talk about anything but my past."
"Sorry." He looked at his feet. "What should we talk about instead?"
"Nothing. Let's just be quiet for a bit and listen." Gideon had been sitting facing me while we talked but stood and turned around so that we were right beside each other. I laid my head on his shoulder and listened to the wind and cicadas and his breathing and the sounds of the night. He interlaced his fingers into my metal ones and we sat there for hours until I woke suddenly in the early morning. I didn’t even know when I fell asleep.