Yin & Yang

Chapter 11: Recovery (Gabe)

The next day on the way to school, I sat in the passenger seat of the car, thinking about Alex. Nothing had happened the night before, when I had dropped her off. The ride back to her house was a little awkward, neither of us really knowing what to do. I wasn't sure how our secret kiss would affect our relationship. Should I mention it? Should I not say anything? I liked Alex a lot, but I still had reservations about getting too close to her. My powers were extremely dangerous, and I still didn't know much about them. I was also unsure of whether I could even maintain a normal relationship after isolating myself for so long.

Lilith's' voice broke the silence, interrupting my musings. "Did you and Alex get a lot done last night?"

What an odd question. "Yeah, we made a lot of progress on the project. She'll probably have to come back over again one more time though," I told her.

"Oh." She sounded slightly upset about it.

"You seemed like you wanted to say something last night when you came out of your room. What were you going to say?"

"I don't know..." Lilith trailed off, and I could tell she was struggling to decide if she wanted to tell me what she was feeling.

"Come on, sis, I need to know if you're upset at me. I can use my seven extra minutes of experience to figure out how to fix it." I grinned slightly.

Lilith shot me a look. Clearly my joke was not appreciated. "You seemed like you really like Alex. Also, you haven't had a close friend since, you know..."

I choked on my next words. "Please don't remind me. But what's wrong with me moving on? I thought you'd be happy about that."

"I am happy you've stopped isolating yourself, don't get me wrong. But your powers are dangerous, and if you get too close to people you might end up hurting them." She sounded concerned, but I could tell that wasn't the only reason she was upset.

"I understand that. But now we know they exist, and I wear gloves all the time. I'm extremely careful now," I reasoned. "But I don't think that's the only reason you're upset at me."

Lilith sighed. "It's not." Her grip on the wheel tightened slightly as we slowed to a stop at a red light. She looked over at me. "Why didn't you tell me about her? We used to tell each other everything. I would have liked to know."

So that was what it was. "I didn't realize that was what was upsetting you. I'm really sorry I didn't tell you. But I wasn't sure about her myself. To be honest, I am scared about what getting close to her might mean. But I can't keep hiding from my problems, and that starts with bringing myself out of the shadows."

"That makes sense," Lilith said. "I'm just stressed lately. I miss when we were little. Things were a lot simpler then." The light turned green and we drove the rest of the way to school in silence.