Behind |First book in The Risen Saga|

Chapter eighteen-Tyson

An overpowering pain stung Tyson's cheek. He was half-awake but he couldn't bring himself to open his eyes. He was exhausted and all he wanted to do was sleep. 

"Tyson!" a voice rang through his head, as if the source of it was his own mind. "Wake up!" Tyson opened his eyes and sat up, fast. Almost butting heads with Emma who had been leaning over him. 

"What!" he said, "what happened? Is Ava okay?" He flinched at the surprise in Emma's expression.

"Yeah, she's fine," she stood up and pulled the thick drapes away from the window, "Its a little past eleven." Tyson swung his legs over the side of the bed, the back of his ankles hitting the bed painfully. 

He fisted his hands and jammed them in his eyes. When he pulled them down the back of his hand scraped his burning cheek. He rubbed it and Emma turned around, letting the drapes fall behind her, back into place. 

"Sorry about that, you weren't waking up," she said with a wave of her hand, dismissing it. 

"What did you even do?" Tyson dropped his hand, stretching his legs and arching his back like a cat.

"I smacked you. Don't overreact, it wasn't really even that bad." she said and walked to lean on the small desk. 

"That doesn't even-" he cut off as Ava opened the door, steam rolling out. Tyson swallowed. Why did she have to be so blindingly beautiful?

Her hair was hanging down to her hips, dripping with water. She was wearing a pair of skinny jeans that hugged her legs, a blue tank-top that slightly rode up her left side, showing a patch of tan skin. Tyson thought about how soft the skin was, the feel of it under his hands. 

"Hey, are you ready?" Emma asked, walking to her. She only nodded, her blue-green eyes meeting Tyson's. 

Tyson recovered first, "I have to change." he grabbed his bag of clothes and entered the bathroom. 

When he closed the door he slipped on a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt and then he turned the water on with a jerk of his wrist, splashing some cold water into his face. Tyson somewhat hated the fact that whenever he saw Ava his breath would catch. The overwhelming fear of rejection usually blanketed his real emotions but last night he had an unexpected wave of confidence. This wasn't like him. Or was it that this was him and he had just never discovered this part of him? 

He turned off the sink and leaned back, his hands tangling in his hair and squeezing his eyes shut. He needed to get back out to the bedroom, the girls were waiting for him, he could hear the soft murmurs of their voices. He grabbed some socks and left the bathroom.

He didn't make it far though, he stopped right when he left the room. Emma and Ava were in deep conversation until he opened the door. Ava cut off her sentence and stared, and Emma just looked annoyed. She always seemed annoyed.

"Finally!" Emma rolled her eyes. Ava stayed silent, now looking at her feet. Tyson didn't bother to come up with a snappy comeback. Instead, he looked at Ava. He felt her dicomfort like a knife to his inflated lungs. He didn't know why or how he knew that this was what she was feeling, but he just knew. 

"When are we leaving?" Tyson asked, eyes still on Ava who perked up to his voice. He wanted to smile from ear to ear but he couldn't, it would make no sense and Emma would just ask questions.

"As soon as Seth gets here." Emma said, glancing at the clock.

"Were is he?" Ava asked, turning toward Emma and looking at Tyson out of the corner of her eye.

"He just went to set up the portal," she said, rubbing her hands together. Tyson didn't really know Emma that much but he did know that she never showed signs of nervousness, nothing ever challenged her, scared her, or really made her nervous. Maybe she doesn't like portals. That was the only reasonable explanation: she didn't like them, or the idea of using them.