Alternatives

Chapter 6

Tessa squeezed her eyes shut. How was it possible that the boy in front of her knew what happened? How did he know she was at the clinic for that specific reason?

"Please open your eyes." The boy placed his hand on Tessa's knee. She tensed up as she had never been touched by a boy in any spot below her waist. The boy must've noticed because he removed his hand from its location a few seconds later and ran his fingers through his hair which was the color of dead leaf in the autumn. And dead is what Tessa would've been if she allowed her secret to escape.

After a minute of silence, Tessa opened one eye while keeping the other closed tightly. "Who are you? How can I know I can trust you?"

The boy was hesitant to answer. At first, he opened his mouth but closed it a second later. On his second attempt to speak, words spilled from his mouth. "It's not necessary to know who I am, and I only have my word to say you can trust me. I've seen you around and you aren't like the rest of them."

Out of no where, Tessa felt the need to trust the stranger with her life. Her defense was brought down and allowed herself to listen to what he had to say. She spoke with a soft voice, cautious as to what she might accidentally say. "I don't understand. What is the message you are trying to convey?"

She heard a sigh from the boy as he stood up and turned his back to her. Tessa's head no longer hurt from the talking reflection which she had almost forgotten before the boy said, "The reflection that spoke to you wasn't your true reflection."

"Well, of course I know that. A mirrored image of yourself is not supposed to speak at all." Tessa chuckled nervously. It didn't take a genius to figure out that reflections didn't talk. It only moved its mouth as the person who was giving off the reflection was the only one to speak.

He began to shake his head. "It's not that. What I meant to say was-"

Tessa cut him off before he could explain further. "Before you continue, may I ask for your name?"

"Like I said earlier, you don't need to know who I am. Therefore, you do not need to know my name." He tried to explain why Tessa didn't need to know anymore information about himself.

On the other hand, Tessa wanted the bits and pieces of information about the boy. "What do I call you? How do I find you? Where are you from? Why are you here?" She bombarded him with inquires involving his visit to her at the clinic.

The same way as before, he opened his mouth to speak but was reluctant to let the words out. A faint noise was heard but nothing more. To redirect Tessa's attention away from personal questions, he asked, "What color is that chair?" He pointed to the one leaning against the wall in between the two of them.

Instantaneously, Tessa replied, "Red," After her answer slipped out, it took a moment to register in her mind what she had said. When the realization stuck, her eyes widened and her hand covered her mouth that was opened wide. It had taken so much effort to be able to keep her secret under wraps, but it could easily be released within a millisecond. All those years of no one knowing and no one suspecting her had shattered. Now someone knew, and it was unclear as to what he would do with the information she had given up.

She prayed the boy wouldn't know what had happened at that moment. Unfortunately, he said, "See? You have confirmed my hypothesis. I think I know what happened to you if you just listen. If you want to hear it, I'll tell you sometime. If not, I'll be out of your hair forever."

"I do want to hear your-" Tessa began to accept his offer.

"Good, I will see you around sometime." Just as she did earlier, the boy cut off her sentence. It was his turn to not let Tessa finish her sentence. He walked towards the door without turning back.

Confusion spread all over Tessa's face. "How do I contact? How will we meet again?"

"It's nothing to worry about. I'll be the one to find you." Again, the boy did not turn around as he pointed a finger towards the ceiling. Tessa looked at that spot above him to try to find what he was pointing at. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary in that area. Pushing the bewilderment further into her mind, Tessa exited the clinic. She continued to walk until she got to the building that she was supposed to be in.

All throughout her classes in Education, she couldn't take her mind off a particular brown-haired, blue eyed boy. Tessa was once told that when someone was thinking about someone else constantly, that person might be falling in love. While the boy might've been found as attractive in her eyes, she wasn't falling in love with him. She was simply intrigued by the idea someone could tell her why she, out of all people, was different. At the same time, it was frightening to know that he knew about her secret. Her life was hanging by a thread, entrusted to a boy whom she barely knew anything about. Tessa had left her measly, little life in the hands of a complete stranger. So she thought about love as it was her original thought. If it excited you but scared you at the same time, it was something worth while. Maybe the boy wouldn't betray her.

Days passed, and still Tessa did not hear from the boy. He had not made any attempts to contact her. If he did, then surely she would've caught on or he would've made his attempts more subtle. She wondered how long it would be before the two would speak to each other again. Until then, Tessa blended into the background as she tried to do in her earlier years. She no longer took evening walks at the risk of being faced by a security drone. She no longer went to the Healthy Livings building for more than hour. She no longer showed her rarely seen spontaneous side to anyone, specifically Emilia who showed her concern for Tessa's well-being. During the time from when she and the boy first met to the present day, whatever day that may be, the girl who tried to fit in kept herself under control. She was average, nothing more and nothing less than what everybody else was in her small, quaint world.