Worlds Together

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The countryside (as I’ve been told this lush paradise is called) is unbelievably quiet. The many tall gold spires make thick walls between the paths, meaning that as far as I can tell, conversations are unlikely to be overheard. Not that anyone here seems to have anything to hide; everyone tells everyone else everything here. There are no secrets.

“Have you ever run before, Becca?”

Kale’s question, breaking the silence, catches me off guard, so I give him a questioning look. “Run? Of course I’ve run before.”

“Where?”

“Between buildings, to people, away from people – loads of times. Why?”

“Have you ever been proper running? Just gone out for a run?”

“Why would I do that? More importantly, how would I have done that back home? Did you see the streets? If I’d run down there I would’ve myself and others killed or seriously injured. Running is saved for when it’s necessary, and that is as rarely as possible.”

“Were you any good at running, when you had to?”

“I didn’t get that tired, if that’s what you mean.”

“So you were pretty good?” I nod, assuming that his assumptions are correct-ish.

Without warning, Kale breaks from our rambling walking pace into a full-out run. I carry on walking at the original pace, raising an eyebrow when he turns to face me, a long way in front by now with a smirk playing on his lips. Sighing, I increase my pace to a run, catching up with him while he waits for me. However, this gentlemanly attitude disappears as I catch up, and no sooner have I arrived by his side than he has sped off again. Luckily for me, I don’t know my limits yet, and am therefore ready to push myself until I find them. This should be fun.

To my surprise and delight, and Kale’s surprise and annoyance, I catch up with him with ease. It feels like my legs were born to do this, and yet it’s taken me 23 years to work it out. I’ve always known that I wasn’t happy in the cramped cities, with so little air and so little space, but I’d always been sure that there wasn’t any alternative. If I’d thought I had other options I’d like to think I’d have run away years ago. So why did they teach us that the cities were the only places to live?

As my legs carry me forwards, I study the movement of my legs and the ease with which they carry me. I can feel every muscle, every bone, and every other stringy bit in my legs working to full capacity, and I can honestly say that they’ve never felt so good. The breeze strengthens with my added speed, becoming a cool wind in my hair, another experience that is new to me. I'm pretty sure that the air we breathed in the cities is the same air that’s been there for years. In all my life I’ve never felt so much as a soft breeze. Just been taught about what the world used to be like. Basically, we were taught what we were missing out on, that it was our faults, and that we could never leave the cities for fear of falling over the Edge. In hindsight, they really were charming ideas we were taught as tiny children.

Eventually it’s Kale, the one who was running away from me, that has to stop to catch his breath. “You are good.” He breaths, panting between each word. “None of the boys can run further than me.”

“And I can run further than you?” He nods wearily. “That means I’m the fastest out of all of us. I don’t know about the village people but...”

He looks up at me from where he is (which is sprawled over the ground), still breathing heavily. He must think of something that amuses him, because his mood suddenly changes and he grins wryly at me. “Operation Ditto’s still in full swing.”

“Operation Ditto...?”

“Di for Dylan-”

I sigh. “And tto for Thompson?” I finish, making sure my disgruntlement is evident in my voice.

“Got it in one!”He replies gleefully.  

Another sigh on my part. “Do you really have to carry on with this? It’s obvious he doesn’t even like he, let alone fancy me, so why are you even bothering?!” Not quite satisfied that I’ve gotten my point across, I quietly add “It’s a lost cause.”

“That’s the thing,” he persists, “it’s absolutely not a lost cause! Seriously, girl – you haven’t seen him when he’s not around you. And you never saw what he was like before you arrived. He’s normal, just like me and Jem.” I try to stifle my sniggering, because in my head Kale and Jem are not the perfect images of normal guys. They’re both nice guys, but not normal. “That was rude.” I failed in my stifling attempts, but hey ho. He’ll live. I doubt I damaged his swollen ego that badly, if at all. I shrug and he resumes his description of the ‘plan’. “So basically I’ve been told to flirt with you when he can see, so that he gets jealous.”

“Isn’t that exactly the same as it was before?”

“Well it worked last time, didn’t it?” My face rearranges into an ‘unamused’ formation, and stays there.

“For the last time, if he liked me, then he’d man up and come and talk to me. Or you and your friends could talk him into talking to me like normal guys! Instead, you have to come up with a code name for it, and make it a big deal! He’ll talk to me when he wants to. End of.”

“Can we still try the plan anyway?” He says quietly with big sad eyes.

“You can. I'm not taking part though. I'm going to act friendly towards you and any other guy who throws themselves at me for the sake of another man’s jealousy. The only reason I will flirt with someone is if I actually like like them, okay?”

“So you don’t... like like him?”

“I don’t know him! He’s good-looking and all, but he could be a prick for all I know! From what I’ve seen of him so far, he is a prick!”

“He’s actually a really cool guy.”

“I’ll make my own mind up about him when we actually have a decent conversation.”

“Fair enough. I’ll talk to him.”

“Let him make his own mind up though. If he really doesn’t want to talk to me, let him ignore me. I have you guys.”

“Okay.” He concedes.

“I want to run again.”

“Let’s go!” He smirks and shoots off again. With a similar pattern to last time, I catch up quickly, but this time when he stops, I don’t. I carry on until I’ve completed the loop and am back at the opening that leads to the village. I crouch behind the tall gold wall and am waiting for Kale to catch up when I hear a rustling behind me. Hiding behind the corner I just turned, I watch as a man stumbles out through the tall stalks and walks towards the village. He hesitates and turns to look back in the direction he’s come from, and I get a clear view of his face. Even in the gathering darkness, I can recognise his face, just as I could recognise his voice. The fact that he’s come in what looks like a direct route from where Kale and I were talking minutes ago is slightly disturbing, considering who he is. Of all people that might possibly have overheard, it’s Dylan Thompson.

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I know it's a bit short and I'm sorry, but I thought I'd get it up and see what people thought! So yeah, don't be afraid to drop me a line, I'm always open to opinions and suggestions (hate will be ignored). Thanks guys, love from me :) x