Haphephobia

Chapter 16

The rest of the day was so awkward for me that I forced myself to hide in my room until my training session with Ava. Which, of course, was a given that I'd be hanging out with Folkvar and Anna. Anna, I didn't mind being around. But Folkvar... well, I guess all I can say about him is that he had enough personality to fill this entire institution. 

As I sat on my bed, socks on my feet and my head against the wall, I didn't say much. Folkvar was playing a Panic! At The Disco vinyl at an incredibly loud volume, to which I was subconsciously nodding my head to. Meanwhile, every time a curse word flowed through the speakers, Anna glanced around nervously. Which, obviously, happened a lot.

For awhile, all I did was sit and mumble occasionally about how ridiculous I was, pulling a stunt like that. A real Class-A idiot. I couldn't believe that even worked out in my head. I only just met this girl. Sure, we had a connection in the most literal, non-cliche way possible. But I've known her for, what, about a week and a half? 

My mind drifted toward that night I spent in the hospital with her, where I first held her hand. My fingertips tingled a little bit just thinking of it...

Immediately, I snapped my thoughts away from that. No sense feeling any more guilty than I already did.

"Benjamin, You don't have to feel embarrassed about what you've done. You made a choice." Anna spoke up suddenly. I looked at her for a moment, studying her face. Her features were sort of... twisted, and a little lined with age. Perhaps lined with care would be a better way to put it. The last thing somebody would think when they saw her is that she was old. They would think she was the sort of person who could be the unbiased but loving point of view in every argument. She was one who was willing to stick it through, if it only meant your happiness. Just the type of person I could never understand.

"Anna, the choice I made was not one I can go back on, or forget. It was hasty, happening in the space of a second. I forgot myself. I forget her." I said. The music continued throbbing in our ears, and Anna cast one last sidelong and slightly bitter look towards the turntable. 

In case I haven't had the pleasure of describing Folkvar's record player to you before, it was one of the finest pieces of custom machinery I'd ever seen. It was made of crystal-clear acrylic, including the legs, plinth, and even the platter. A clean black felt sheet lay on top of that platter to protect the record. The arm was painted to resemble cherry wood, curving gently down to an extremely expensive blue Ortofon 2M cartridge. The needle skated lightly across the vinyl, creating a smooth and pitch-perfect sound, which flowed through a set of fancy Bose speakers.

In summary, it was one of the most legit sound systems I'd ever run across in my life. 

Just as soon as I had finished thoroughly admiring the product, Anna stretched over to turn it off. When I say stretched, I mean that literally- her arm grew ten feet long to reach the power button. It was shocking at best: to be honest, that was only the second time I'd ever witnessed her using her powers. Unce she pulled back her mouth made a thin line, like it was extremely unpleasant for her every time she did it.

"Hurts my joints, you know," She said, as though she knew exactly what I had been thinking, "Anyways, as I was saying, Ben, don't be ashamed. You did what you did because you felt you had to. My husband and I, we don't always get along. But when we find a way to make up and carry on, we do it because we have no choice. We can be angry with each other forever, or spend the time that we have together in happiness. I'm sure you know which one we'd rather go through." She smiled warmly, but with a crinkle in her forehead. That same line that worried mothers make when they are trying to fix their child's problem, but know they can't. 

"That's why I love you, dear. You know just the right things to say that remind me why we fell in love in the first place. You're too wise," Folkvar spoke up suddenly, sitting just next to his wife on the bed adjacent to mine and placing his arms around her shoulders. She smiled, and I could see a light shade of pink etched on her cheeks. Almost made me wanna cry. Almost.