Aidan tensed up as soon as we set foot in this place. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it. This looked like a normal town with people doing very abnormal things. The mailman had the mail floating around him as he walked. The kids were throwing snowballs with their minds.
I would've listed more but that's when I saw Zee.
Jacob tensed up like Aidan at the sight of her. And a feeling of overwhelming happiness enveloped me and I ran to her. To my best friend who- just seconds ago- I wasn't sure was even alive.
We started walking toward who knows where and Jacob was treating her as if they just met. Like they never met. Like they never fell in love.
And as their best friend, I am not okay with this.
I sat on my bed. This place, the sleeping quarters were gigantic. The bed was way too big for me and made me feel small. Made me feel like not everything is on me. The universe is bigger than me.
There was a knock on the door, interrupting my train of thought. I walked over and opened it. I found Aidan standing there. He looked so... normal in a t-shirt and sweatpants that he was wearing as his pajamas.
"Hi, I just wanted to see of you were okay."
He snuck all the way from the guy's side of the dorm to ask if I was okay? I almost laughed, "I should be asking you that." He was the one who laughed, "Yeah, I guess." He looked at me and his eyes looked tired and ready to stop. Stop what?
"Stop carrying the world on your shoulders." I said.
"What does that mean?"
"Everything is not your fault. Or responsibility. You're freaking 17, give yourself a break." He blinked. Was he shocked? Did I say something wrong?
This time shocking me, he pulled me in, kissing me. One hand laced my hair and the other one held me close to him. I slid my arms around his neck and pulled him closer still.
This kiss was different. It was a good different. In his arms, I felt okay. Like I was normal. No, not normal, I felt different. And I felt okay with that.
* * * * * *
At breakfast, there was only the six of us. It was really awkward. Like so awkward that no one even made eye contact.
The new kid, Jayden, burst through the doors, making me jump. "Alright. Today we're gonna run you all through the schedule."
He was totally unaware of the situation and continued talking. After he finished, he looked at all of us. We looked back at him, then at each other, then back at him. The tension was thick.
So thick, in fact, that it broke.
We started laughing. Laughing so hard that tears formed in my eyes.
Laughing so hard that it seemed like nothing was wrong.
So hard it didn't seem like we were in a new place with new people or new responsibilities.
That it felt like home.
"What's so funny?" Jayden asked, which only made us laugh harder. It has been a long time since I'd laughed like this.
* * * * * *
We came to this gym type place. There were dummies set up along the sides. I stayed back there, just a little longer, to watch people do magic. Magic. The word felt weird on my tongue. Foreign even.
Someone grabbed my arm, making me jump.
I turned and saw Zee. There was a sort of panic in her eyes. Not urgent. But it was very present.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Ethan... I need to show you something after this." Then she left.
She didn't come with the group. I think it was because of Jacob. Or Ethan.
The whole rest of the day, I wasn't focused. I looked at Ethan, wondering what had made Zee so scared.
* * * * * *
I was walking around the sleeping quarters, not very tired. I felt someone pull me into a room and I immediately knew who it was.
"Ethan?"
"Cora." He said back.
"What do you want?"
"I heard Zee and you talk about me."
"How'd you hear-"
"It doesn't matter. What'd she tell you?"
"Why do you need to know?"
"Because it's about me?"
I sighed, "I don't even know. She didn't tell me yet."
A new voice suddenly came, "Cora." It was Zee. She stepped into the room, opening the door wider. Then she saw him, "Ethan."
"Zee." He nodded.
"What are you doing here?"
"What were you gonna tell her?"
"What do you mean?"
"About me. What are you going to tell her?"
I nodded to her and she let out a breath and took off the backpack she was carrying, which I didn't know she had until now.
She took out a picture album and flipped to a bookmarked page. Taking out a picture, she gave it to me. I scanned it, all of the people looking fairly familiar.
I didn't get to look at it in detail before Ethan snatched it out of my hands.
"The lady in the middle, do you see her?" Zee asked.
I looked over Ethan's shoulder and saw the woman she was talking about. She had a glitter in her eye. I looked up at her. She had the same glitter.
"She looks like you." Ethan said, speaking my mind.
"Yeah. Serena said her name was Jenna."
I was about to ask who Serena was, but Ethan dropped the picture. His eyes became far off and unfocused.
"Ethan?" I asked.
"Yeah, I got to go. See you tomorrow."
And he walked away, almost in a daze. I was half expecting to hear a thump when he bumped into a wall but it never came.
"What was that about?" I asked.
"That's his mother, Cora. And I think mine too."
