A Love Like Hail

Chapter 8

SONG HUIQIAO? ARE you okay?"

My eyes slowly flutter open to worried blue eyes watching me. I frown from a headache that has formed, my hand going to my head.

"Are you feeling ill? Should I ask the driver to stop somewhere?"

Lin Xiawei has one hand holding my upper arm as she takes out a plastic water bottle, uncapping it in her lap.

"Here, drink some water. You slept for an hour with no water, maybe that's why."

Without thinking and no guards put up, I find myself being very honest. "I had a nightmare about my sister."

My hand goes to my throat while I watch the offered water from Lin Xiawei, not touching or drinking it at all. The intense pain from my dream is gone, but swirling thoughts jumble into each other. Everything about it felt so real.

"Your sister?" She watches me hold my bare neck as if possessed.

I continue, ignoring her confusion. "I haven't had a dream about her like that since six years ago. I wonder why it happened."

A soft hand lands my arm. The feeling of Lin Xiawei's cold palm slips through my one layer of clothing. I find her touch reassuring, rather than the out of place feeling I conceived inside my mind whenever standing next to her in our earlier days together. Though her temperature was cold, it carried the opposite effect. Like a warm blanket enveloping me safely, I want to fall into her touch without any fear or hesitation.

I expect her to ask me about my sister, but instead she looks out at the view and shakes my arm gently. When she turns around to make sure I am watching, a small grin plays on her lips.

"The scenery here is the best. Our cabin will be very close to a village, so we will be able to buy food or eat there."

Oddly enough, I find comfort to her lack of interest for my sudden mention of a sister. A variety of shades of green on vast mountains captures her attention as the car drives on. Despite the peaceful view, I couldn't help but watch Lin Xiawei instead. It seemed weird. I've watched her from afar for ten long years. From a distance, she always seemed unreachable and surreal. The glow that she carried wherever she touched strikes one to consider her inhuman and unapproachable. Yet now, as she is oblivious from my gaze and only watches keenly at the trees and mountains, she appeared averagely like any girl. Dismissing my preconceived thoughts on her, in this spacious car, Lin Xiawei is just any teenage girl excited for a trip with her 'friend'.

Now a new thought emerged: Was I her friend now? I wanted to ask. A sudden summoned courage urges me to find out and discover. Perhaps it was the blue skies that day, the slightly rolled down window, or the gentle breeze that elegantly blew at Lin Xiawei's hair. Or perhaps it was the absence of a distance and celestial air to Lin Xiawei. By some mysterious means, all of it made me braver. In this moment where everything occurred all at once, I realize that I have already fallen into her trap. I cannot help but want to get to know her.

"When I was really young, my mom would take me out here during the summers." Lin Xiawei's arms are crossed as they lean on the small space under the window. Her chin rests on her arms, and all her facial muscles relax. Yet her smile was both one that was joyful and filled with sorrowful nostalgia. "We would go to the village near the cabin and buy fresh food. Some days we would just stay in the cabin together without doing anything. On some other days, she'd hold my hand and we would walk around the forest. On certain lucky days during these short walks, we would spot small animals like a hare."

Her sudden revelation did catch me off guard, but it only makes me lean in more with interest. "Do you and your mom still come out here?"

Now she finally pulls her gaze away from the view and at me. "No, not really. I haven't been back to this cabin since I was six."