Not What She Seems

Eavesdropping II

"Please don't die, everyone here loves you so much." the woman said with tears streaming down her cheeks.
"I.....don't want to." she replied.
"€*%#?! don't cry, I'll be fine. Just promise me one thing if I die. It's your special mission too, nobody can do it but you." she demanded.
"What?" the woman asked.
"Take care of my daughter please. Protect her at all costs, I don't care if you die trying. I love her with all my heart, and I don't want her to be motherless. Something about her is different and I know it...." she said, trailing off.
"I will, I promise." the woman agreed.
Ever since then, the woman has kept her promise of taking care of the child. The woman loved her like she was her own. She favored her more than the rest. She cared about the child's life more than her own.

*****

"Yavara, get up sweetie. It's time." I hear mom say. I groggily get up from my bed and follow her out of my bedroom. When we nearly reach our destination, I break out into a coughing fit and it becomes a lot harder for me to breathe through my nose—or breathe at all. Mom immediately quickens her pace and we reach our destination quick, but I'm still coughing. Mom quickly hooks me up the oxygen tank and breathing becomes easier again.
"Sleep. Go to sleep sweetheart." she says, helping me to the bed. Before my head even hits the pillow, I'm asleep.

*****

"Where's Yavara?" I ask.
"I don't know, I was going to ask you the same question since you know her better than me since you're her boyfriend." Verlynn answers, closing the door. Boyfriend? Where'd she get that from.
"What're you talking about? I'm not her boyfriend." I answer.
"You're a bad liar. Come on, Relvin, all the evidence points to you guys being a couple. You're always putting her in your lap, sharing food with her, and you're always so protective of her." Verlynn states.
"No, I'm not." I defend.
"Relvin, just say it!" Verlynn urges.
"I'm not gonna say it because it's not true!" I say.
"Mk, sure. We'll see how far that lie goes." Verlynn says, unbelieving.
"What do I need to do to prove I'm not lying." I demand.
"If you're not lying, break up with her then. Surely you'd have no problem breaking up with her if there was never any relationship to begin with. Don't just do that, but tell her you don't love her anymore and the spark was never there." Verlynn demands.
  "What if I don't do it?" I ask.
  "Then you're a wimp and I'll know you're dating Yavara." Verlynn states. Je t'aime, je t'aime, je t'aime, je t'aime, je t'aime. I think.
  "Fine." I agree.
  "And you can't tell her I told you to say so." Verlynn adds. That certainly makes it a lot harder. Yavara walks into the room and Verlynn smiles. Verlynn, you're not going to destroy her emotionally, I'll make sure you fail. I think. I raise my pointing finger and middle finger to my ear and run them down behind my left ear. As I'm doing this, I slightly put my middle finger over my index finger so it looks like I'm almost crossing my fingers. Yavara is very observant, even when she appears not to be. She'll know what this means.
  "Yavara, there's something I have to tell you." I say.
  "What?" she asks.
  "I'm breaking up with you. I just don't love you anymore, I don't know why I did to begin with, the spark was never there." I say, looking her dead in the eyes. She bites her thumb lightly.
  "I...don't get it," Yavara replies, Verlynn's expression says she's ready to say "Aha!".
  "we were never dating anyways. Should I pretend to be hurt?" Yavara asks innocently.
  "Well, I'm breaking up with you anyways." I reply.
  "I don't know if we were dating before and I didn't know but...ok?" Yavara says.
  "Ok then." I say, sitting on her bed.
  "I don't get it, I thought you guys were dating." Verlynn says, confused.
  "I told you we're not dating." I say.
  "I didn't believe you...I guess you're right then." Verlynn concludes.
****Verlynn
5 hours ago
I had to use the bathroom, but Relvin too needed to use the bathroom. I let him have the bathroom, but couldn't wait any longer, so I went down some hallways and used the bathroom. As I was walking out of the bathroom, I see Avarra and Yavara walking further down the hallway. Yavara was coughing and hacking and Avarra quickened her pace. I followed them because I was curious where they could be going at what? 3, 4 A.M.? They finally reached their destination and quickly slip into a room, I barely managed to slip in there too.
"Breathe sweetheart." Avarra said, hooking her up to an oxygen tank. I don't understand..... I think.
"Geez, I'm so.......tired." Avarra complained.
"We need to get rid of this, or find another way so we don't have to wake up so early for this." a man said. Is that Yavara's father?
"I second that." Avarra added.
"Well, that's exactly what I did. It took me months of work to do this and it was very hard to prevent you from finding out about it, I call it U.B.E.M. or Ultra Breathing Easing Machine. It's designed to look like a pair of over-the-ear earbuds so nobody asks too many questions. I made two types: one for home that has a wire and one for outings that is wireless. Both have a sticker that is designed to help improve the breathing and is supposed to be placed on the back of the neck. It'll sting for a short while once the sticker is on because of the blood withdrawal, but won't leave any marks once you take it off. The sticker color depends on your skin tone so it can camouflage easily. U.B.E.M. is water proof, trust me on this, I tested it twenty exhausting times. It's waterproof." the man informed Yavara's mother.
  "How many times does it withdraw blood?" Avarra asked.
  "Only once, when it is first being used. It won't withdraw anymore after that." the man answered.
  "Mmhm, so are we both just gonna pretend like we both don't know this most likely defies the structure of the human body?" Avarra asked again.
  "You're right, it does, but you do have to remember that Yavara is different from regular people. Yavara's body structure is somewhat like yours. It completely defies all structure of the human body because both of you are not human or Humaveran. Your body structure is based off of the human body's, but in some ways are different. Her body's needs are different from others." the man said. Ha! Proof auntie and Yavara aren't human or Humaveran!
  "True point." she responded. The man handed her the device and Avarra unhooked Yavara from the oxygen tank. She placed the device around her ears and put the sticker near the end of the back of her neck. The earbuds were white, the wire was black, and the little earbud that actually went in your ear was white.
  "There's no point in taking her back to her current room. Let's not burden ourselves anymore than we need to and call it a day." Avarra said, turning around and heading for the door. I got ready to come out of the closet when the man turned Avarra back around.
  "Avarra, why do you hide them?" the man asked, slowly inching his hand behind her left ear.
  "It's best for everyone." she said.
  "When are you going to tell Yavara what she is? Her true potential?" he asked again.
  "I don't plan on telling her unless I really have to. I'd rather have her not as powerful as she could be for the rest of her life." Avarra responded.
"True. Power makes people stupid." he stated.
"And jealousy." Avarra added.
"And jealousy." the man added.
"And love. But mostly opportunities." Avara added again.
"Ok, can you stop mocking me? That happened like what? 15 and a half years ago." the man said.
"That doesn't mean I won't forget it. That doesn't mean she won't know." Avarra stated.
"Have you told her yet?" he asked.
"No."
"Will you tell her?" he asked
"Absolutely not. It's not super important like that, she doesn't need to know."
"..." he was quiet.
"I'm tired. I want to sleep." Avarra stated.
"Shall I carry her majesty to her royal chamber?" he joked. Avarra pushed him.
"I'll walk. Thanks for the offer, Rimone." she said, walking out the door and leaving Yavara there. The man soon followed her. I waited a little while to make sure they were gone before I headed back to Yavara's room, careful not to wake Yavara. That night, I lay wake for a little while with questions swirling in my head. Who is this man? Is it Yavara's father? Why don't they talk about her father? Did he leave? Why does Yavara need a breathing machine? What does this man mean by Avarra mocking him? What is the incident they're referring to that happened 15 years ago? What do they mean when they were talking about Yavara and her mother having different bodies? Why is this room so secret? Why at this time in early morning? All these questions kept spinning and spinning in my head and I eventually fell asleep.