now i am [karamel]

twenty-three

alex

We had Jason secure in the brig of the ship and had plotted a course back to Earth. Now all we had to do was decide on a way to pass the time-- we still had quite some time left before reaching Earth. I suggested a movie.

"What's a movie?" Alana asked, slowly pronouncing the last word.

I shook my head at her cluelessness and inserted Star Wars into the television's DVD player after dimming the lights. Immediately, the ship filled with the deafening sound of the theme song. Alana actually yelped. I laughed and she hit me playfully. I silently vowed I would seek revenge.

Twenty minutes into the movie, I hit her with a pillow on the couch right after they left a scene on a cliffhanger. Alana screamed and her hands flew to her pair of short batons at her belt before she realised I was the one who scared her.

"For God's sake, Alexandra!" she yelled after she recovered from the shock.

I stayed still for a second. "How do you know my full name?" I asked, curious.

She went red. "Well... I don't know. I thought your name was cute, so I asked your sister what it was short for."

Oh.

"Oh," I said softly, echoing my thoughts.

"I mean, I know it's stupid, but--"

"I don't think it's stupid."

"You don't?"

Our voices became quieter and quieter, until we had to practically lean towards each other to hear what the other was saying. 

We kept leaning closer and closer--

The ship rumbled and we both got knocked out of the couch. When it stopped, I looked out the window. We had arrived back on Earth.

My pocket started buzzing and I took my phone out. It was Mon-El.

alana

I had to run to keep up with Alex, who was dragging Jason by the collar.

"Where are we going?" I panted, five steps behind her. "And why didn't we land in the DEO garage?"

"I thought she'd be in her apartment— I wanted to see her first— it would've been faster—"

I swallowed down my other questions. She looked extremely anxious.

When we reached the DEO, Alex disappeared in a blur, rushing towards the medbay. I hung back, hesitant.