Counterfeit

-two--

--two-

"PIP?" MIKINLEY CALLED. "Pip!" Again, until I finally acknowledge the sound of my own name.

"Sorry," I sighed, shaking my head at myself. No matter how hard I tried, I'd always zone out, always.

He laughed. "You were right. There were six."

"Huh?" I uttered confused, hugging myself closer as a cold wind swept by.

"You were right," he repeated, "there were six new guys. Guess I owe you on that one. One of them is a guard, though."

"A new guard?"

"Yeah, and he looks quite young, too, in a sort of rugged-way?" MiKinley questioned his statement, squinting his eyes as he chuckled at his description.

"You have a way with words, Kin."

"I know, I know."

We were interrupted by a sudden noise, our friend Avaline jumping next to us, seemingly out of nowhere. My hand flew to my chest as I let out a breath of shock. She was always appearing suddenly, making me jump, her face lighting up with happiness when she saw my reaction. I'd like to think that if our circumstances were different, she'd run up behind me and reach onto my shoulders as she would jump into me. Then, perhaps, we'd both fall over, laughing as we toppled to the ground. But not here.

"Pip!" She squealed. It was as if she hadn't seen me in a while, when really it had only been a few hours.

"MiKinley!" MiKinley squealed for himself, Ava and I laughing at his exaggeration.

"Did you see the Harvest?" I asked her, curious of her opinion. Ava always had a thought about every single thing, and she loved every chance where she could get to express them.

"I did!" She answered quickly. "Though, I was disappointed that there weren't many boys. As usual." MiKinley rolled his eyes at her. "It just narrows down my list of potential boyfriends."

"Boyfriend?" I asked her, bewildered at the idea. "You think they'd let us have boyfriends? Here?"

"They're not here to control us, Pip." MiKinley spoke up, his tone on a much more serious note than before. Almost defensive.

"What's the point of a relationship without physical contact?" I replied, generally interested in an answer.

"Oh la la." Someone chimed in. It was Thea - a sweet, compassionate, young girl who we had all grown very fond of in our time here. She was younger than all of us, but much, much more wiser than us combined. Ava laughed at her comment.

"You can sustain a relationship without sex, Pip." He fired at me. I felt slightly hurt at his bluntness.

"That's not what I mean." I told him. "It's about more than that. Its about comfort, sense, it's about building a language with the touch of your fingertips. You can love someone with words, but it would never be enough. Love requires a certain silence in order for music to become."

"Woah..." Thea whispered. "That was-"

"Beautiful." Ava finished. I blushed, confused where it had came from. Usually at a place of confrontation I would fall quietly into my corner, taking whatever blows came my way, peacefully trying to avoid any dispute. I couldn't put my finger on why, but lately, the topic of human contact, more so - my lack of it - had me on edge. It was as though I was going insane without it.

MiKinley rolled his eyes and walked away, hopefully going to clear his head. He'd also seemed...different, lately. More annoyed than usual. You could say one thing, and you wouldn't find him for the rest of the day. It was upsetting to say the least.

"Did I do something wrong?" I worried, turning to Ava.

"No, of course not. Don't worry about him, he's just being an idiot. Probably just upset that I'mma get myself a boi." She sung, waving her hands in the air as she dance on the spot.

I turned to Thea who was laughing along. "Good luck with that."

-two--