HalfWorlder #Wattys2017

Chapter 8-Whose idea was it to seal us in this giant bubble anyway?

We spent the rest of that day riding up into the foothills on two horses from the barn. We were quiet, only talking when it felt necessary. It was peaceful and easy and everything I wanted. The wind blew her hair in my face once and we laughed. Then we stopped, got our feet wet in the branch and dried out for hours in the afternoon sun. She even borrowed my jacket when it got cold and we had to come back, leading the tired horses to the barn on foot.

Saying goodnight that night, the moon was high, but it was still dark enough to see the flash of blue that caught between us when I pulled her to me. It was bold of me, I know, but I couldn't help myself. I should have noticed then how she pulled away but relented and let me hold her. I should have noticed, but it felt like the stars were aligning. It felt normal and natural and perfect and easy and everything it should be, but I was too blind to see the truth.

When I saw her the next morning, Alexandra looked up at me like she couldn't help herself. I saw the same expression light her eyes from the night before. When her guard was down, it was always the same: pain and hope in equal doses. Both strange and beautiful. Then her expression changed. Her eyes lost their luster and she looked away.

And that was it. After that, she avoided me. And when we were together, her eyes were hard and glazed with more of the pain than the hope I'd seen before.

I couldn't understand it and I didn't understand her. The only thing I knew was she made me want to put my fist through a wall. I tried to tell myself I must be crazy, that I'd only known her a few weeks and she was just some girl, but I knew I was wrong. There was something different about Alexandra, about us.

But as much as she wanted to avoid me, today Alexandra couldn't.

Morty was forcing us back together under the training dome – like it or not. And I could say this unequivocally, Alexandra did not.

Today Alexandra's eyes were like storms.

"Hey. Hey!" She yelled at me.

This was the first time she'd addressed me in days. And I didn't think her tone nice.

"Snap out of it, will you? I've never met someone with their head stuck so far up in the clouds."

How very ladylike. It was clear she was raised by a man. Alien at that.

She stomped her foot and a spring of water shot out of the ground – but at least she was talking to me.

"Frustrated much, Alexandra?" I reached my hand in the direction of the water, making a patting motion with my hand and willed the earth to cover the spring. It disappeared, leaving a wet place in the pasture. Alexandra frowned. I was getting even better at using my Bau abilities and that wasn't helping. She was too competitive to appreciate the advances I had made.

She mumbled to herself and stalked in a wide circle through the grass. Her head was down and her fingers drilled against her lips. Amisi had gotten it right that day sitting on the fallen tree. It was only a matter of time. Alexandra had finally cracked.

She caught me watching, so I smiled pleasantly. She scowled in response. I wasn't surprised. She was especially agitated today.

"What is wrong with you?" I asked.

"What is wrong with me?" She stopped pacing and threw her hands on her hips. "What is wrong with me?" The pitch of her voice rose higher still, if that was possible.

Oh great, here we go again.

"Don't you get it, Gil-bert?"

"Get what?" I turned away, ignoring her.