The Clockmaker and the Pirate - EVERMORE BOOK 1

Chapter 12 -- Island Somewhere in the Indian Ocean, 26 July 1650

A/N -- you guys did it again! You totally blew up my notifs for the second time this week and I'm so happy I almost started crying. Also, to those who celebrate it, Happy Thanksgiving! And to those who don't, happy Thursday. :) I'm so thankful that you guys are reading and enjoying my story! Ily! -Austin

Avi swings his sword at me, trying to hit me, but I easily block it with a clang. He tries another approach, but this one is just as ineffective as I dodge out of the way and swing my weapon at another angle. He blocks mine, too.

I duck as he swings his sword, aiming for my neck. I can't help but cringe; after all, this is mostly a trust exercise. We're playing around with swords and have no intentions of actually injuring one another, but that doesn't mean that it's not dangerous.

I finally manage to slice a small hole in his shirt but avoid hitting his skin, and that's when he stops me. We're both breathing hard from the exercise. "You know, for a rookie, you're pretty good at this. You're sure you've never used a sword before?"

I shake my head. "Nope," I say. "Well, I mean, yeah, I am sure."

Avi chuckles. "That's definitely going to come in handy later," he tells me.

"Later? How do you mean later?" I ask.

Avi shrugs. "I don't know. You're the one who seemed so persistent on finding Captain Lewis, aren't you?"

"Well...yeah, I guess so. I just want to find and rescue Rose," I say. Small lie -- I had concluded earlier that we've already found and rescued Rose. Well, we had. Now she was gone again.

"K.O. told me about your theory with Lindsey being the princess and all," Avi tells me, sitting down on the sand and gesturing to me to do the same. "And it makes sense. You're a smart man, Scott."

I smile a little as I plop myself down on the warm sand. "Thanks. I'm really not, though. I'm too dumb to go to school, so I never did."

Avi shrugs. "Neither did I. But booksmarts aren't as important as wisdom."

"That's a good philosophy to have," I say, sighing. I don't really know Avi that well; out of all of the people on the crew, he's the biggest mystery to me. All I know about him is that he's best friends with K.O., that he's the oldest member of the crew besides Mitch, and that he really, really likes Kirstie.

I decide to question him further on the subject of Kirstie. "So...you and Kirstin. Are you like a thing now?"

Avi shrugs and looks away from me. "I mean, I really like her. And I think she likes me back," he says, smiling to himself. "When you guys went to see the Alvarados and we stayed behind, she...she kissed me."

I grin at him. "Aww, that's cute. I'm happy for you."

He giggles, which is a sound I never would have imagined coming out of someone like Avi. "I'm happy, too. She makes me happy."

I nod, looking to the ground.

"It's weird, it's like...when I look at her, nothing else in the world matters," Avi explains. "Like, I want her to be happy all the time, and I would do anything for her. And when she's scared or sad, I want to do anything I can to make sure she's not. I want to hold her, wake up next to her, and be there for her. Y'know?"

I look back up at him. "Uh...yeah. I do," I say. "Do you think you love her?"

Avi raises his eyebrows. "Love?" he repeats. "Well, I don't know if you can fall in love with someone in such a short amount of time."

"Yeah," is all I can think to say.

Avi scratches his head. "But that's not what we're here for. We're here for Captain Lewis, right, first mate?"