The Deep

Chapter 14

*Mack*

My mind went blank. All my assumptions about Arya just vanished into thin air. Merida watches our interaction like a hawk. I can only guess that Merida was the only other human that Arya had had all sorts of interactions with. And me, well, she's been friendly enough with me. "What do you mean 'you saved him'?" I ask her, slowly approaching the spot that she's firmly rooted in. "If you were there for us, then how is it that only one of us was found?"

Arya looks up from the tubes and meets my gaze. "I don't know," she says calmly. "I went back to your boat when it began to sink. I took you and your friend above water." Arya does a quick hand gesture close to her chest. "He was safe, so were you. Truth, I could've left him and carried you to safe place." I hear Merida let out some kind of disapproving sound. It makes Arya peer over my shoulder at her. "I am being truthful, Merida. Is that not what you've taught me?" I smile at her straightforwardness. It's refreshing and, ironically, a bit innocent.

"It wasn't that kind of honesty I was talking about," Merida sighs. "I'll explain later."

Her gaze goes back to the test tubes. She's so focused on the water samples in them. It's like she's trying to read whatever it is I was looking for weeks prior. "Teach me." Her voice is soft but demanding. She didn't ask, she didn't tell me or suggest. It was a demand for knowledge. I could see it in her eyes now-the need to know why and how. I had an inquisitor in my hands. "Teach me and I will teach you."

She finally fully turned to me, meeting my eyes dead on. It was nearly hypnotizing meeting her gaze. Her eyes were just as breathtaking as I remember, and they were even more demanding than before. I guess that's how they get when she wants something. "What do you want to know?" I ask her, quietly. I was too scared to break the spell between me and her. I completely forgot about the spectator in the room, taking our interesting interaction in. "You teach me about all of this," she points the stuff around my lab, "and I will teach you about me." From the corner of my eye, I see Merida start at the proposition that Arya just gave me.

I could tell that this wasn't exactly what she had in mind when she brought Arya to me. "You're interested in marine biology?" Her colorful eyes light up with interest. More than a few questions just crossed her mind. I found it satisfying to see. "Okay," I laugh in agreement. "When would you like to start?" I hear Merida take a few steps forward, about to stop us until Arya responds. "Now. Teach now."

Arya grabbed my arm and aggressively pulled me closer to her. "What are you doing with water? Why different colors?" I couldn't help but laugh before diving into an intense explanation about what pH is and what kind of chemicals can cause the pH to change. Arya listens intently as I show her how I conducted my experiments on the water and what kind of results I got from them. Here and there, she would interrupt me and ask me something that went over her head.

All in all, she understood it well. After the water samples, she went directly to the harder stuff in my lab. Arya found it so strange, so foreign to her. When I asked what she thought it was, she told me that it looked just like every other human thing that she had ever laid eyes on. "Come on," I gently beckon her over until she stood directly in front of the microscope. "We use this instrument to view things that are completely invisible to our sight." I grab a cotton swap from one of my supplies drawers. "Let me show you. May I?"

Confusion clouds her eyes at my question. "Here." I carefully open her mouth. "I just need to swap your outer cheek to collect skin cells. It's usually a regular high school biology project, but it is a perfect exercise to show you your DNA." I quickly take the sample and prep the slide. I know Arya wants to know more about what I just said by the way she fidgets with her hands, but she somehow lets me finish our first demonstration together. "Take a look at your cells."