The Last Hunter

Chapter 18- Moving Forward

I sat there thinking; feeling. I don't want to crush him, I thought. Should I just tell him I still like him? I shuddered. No, that would be such a hard lie. I shouldn't crush him, but I don't want to crush myself either. Should I have brought Zabrina?

"Hey, Artemis. Whatcha need?"

I flinched, as he sat down next to me. I scooted down a bit and turned towards him.

"I..." I sighed. "I don't... I can't..."

He put his hand on my shoulder, but I shrugged it off. 

"Don't touch me right now," I muttered. "...please." I took a deep breath. "Look, you're a great friend, but..."

"What, a friend? I thought I... I mean I guess I just assumed...you said you loved me. No, wait," He paused, frowning. "You said you thought you loved me."

I started at the ground, but nodded. "I always liked you, but every time I kissed you, even on the cheek, I felt strange. I know we fight for the same things, but we are really different people."

He nodded, stone faced. I couldn't tell if he was taking it well or not.

I, slowly, placed my hand on his shoulder. "I just wanted to spare your feelings, so I said I loved you, but... I guess all I've done is hurt myself. Ryan, I don't want anyone to mean too much to me, otherwise I can be betrayed or hurt by them or others. That's why no one is much more than a friend to me."

He nodded, looked up to me, and, instead of kissing me, gave me a tight hug.

I could tell he was crying, but I didn't know what to do.

After a while, he let go, eyes red, but dry. He sighed. "At least you're still my friend." He stood up, and walked out, leaving me wondering what's next.

I didn't feel bad, but I did feel a bit relieved. I felt a bit more together. I knew why I didn't really feel that way towards Ryan, and I knew that it was okay.

I smiled, stood up, and headed back to the dining room.

"Okay Revenirs," I shouted once I got there, calling everyone to attention. "If you're done eating, let's split into groups. Let's have Group One do some physical activity, Zabrina, you lead, Group Two, come with me, I'm going to walk you through our plan for hacking into the system—yes I need all of you, incase of emergency, you all need to know how to hack—and Group Three... hmm... let's have you do some fighting today, or anything else that you or Ryan see fit to do. Got it?"

"Got it!" they called in unison.

I nodded. "Alright then, fall out!"

I lead my group into the lab. "Woah," I head a few mutter. I smiled. Yeah, we do have some pretty good tech, don't we?, I thought.

"Okay, gather round. Don't touch anything, until I tell you to. Okay, who here has been good with, or is good with modern tech?"

Two people, a guy and a girl, raised their hands.

I inwardly flinched. I'd hoped more people would know, so I could teach them how to hack faster. Change of plans, I guess. "Please tell me your names, and what you know."

The guy stepped forward a bit, and turned around. "Hey, I'm Wes. I know how to navigate holo-g-pads, and I know a little about coding."

I nodded, taking note of who seemed confused at the term holo-g-pad, and of the few who understood.

The girl didn't move like Wes had, but stayed in place, solid and blank as a rock.

"I'm Kelsi, I know how to hack almost anything, decode problems, and remember almost any important thing said to me."