Ying

Chapter Three, The Lost One

"How is it," I asked my new friend, looking over at her with a somewhat sympathetic, yet warm smile. She had the cheese burger in hand and had just taken her first bite; her face lit up as she swallowed it.

        "It's delicious," she exclaimed, looking over at me with a bright expression, "Thank you so much for all this. I have no idea how I'll be able to repay you." I chuckled at her response, shaking my head while I looked down at my shoes.

        "Repay," I begin, questioning the word, "You've already repaid me." She stopped for a moment, looking at me with her confused, green eyes.

        "What do you mean, exactly," she asked, putting her milkshake down beside her.

        "What I mean? What I mean is that you repaid me with something far more than any amount of money could give. You repaid me with your trust," I paused for a moment, looking out at all the commotion on the streets. The chattering of the population rang through my ears as I raised my head to look up at the blank sky. "You repaid me with your friendship." I leaned back on the bench her and I had sat upon while she ate her meal; however, I could feel her eyes observing me. I then looked over at her and realized her surprised look; she was in awe at my kindness, my helping hand, and the way I appreciated things differently.

        "You really mean that," she asked again, not really being able to think about a complex question to ask to get even more clarification. I nodded my head, chuckling only slightly.

        "Of course I mean that, I wouldn't lie to you, " I added, putting a somewhat sarcastic look on my face. "Now stop questioning me and tell me a bit about yourself; I don't even know your name yet." I leaned back into an actual conversational position and made some eye contact with her. Half of her cheese burger was gone now, so I could really tell she was actually enjoying it, however, she looked about the city nervously, unable to make eye contact. "... Is something wrong," I finally asked, leaning forward to her face, trying to get her to look at me.

        "I-It's just," she paused, sighing, "I've never really talked to anyone else aside from my own family; I just feel a bit strange saying personal information to a stranger." With her protest, I hunched my shoulders forward and looked out towards the city.

        "Then, I guess I'll start," I finally said, putting a hand in front of her face to get her attention. "My name's Ava," I greeted, flinching my hand slightly so she knew to give me a handshake. The girl hesitantly took my hand and shook it with little force; I could tell she was still a bit surprised at how nice I was being to her, since I looked like I would be like everyone else in this God forsaken world. However, I knew we were more alike then she thought, we had both witnessed the flaws of 'Czech', so I knew I could relate to her.

        "Well, my name's Fallon, it's nice to meet you Ava," Fallon smiled at me, releasing my hand from the handshake. She soon went back to eating, which left me some more time to think. In all honesty, I couldn't stop thinking about Fallon's safety. I mean, she was a young girl, lost, with no family, whom happened to be left on the street.  'What is she going to do? Surely, if she's left in this world with no protection for much longer, whatever happened to her family will surely happen to her. Should I take her in? Will my parents ever allow me to do such a thing?' My eyes were, once again, getting distracted by anything that happened to move. 'It's worth a try; I could help her get back on her feet so she can go and discover her family's fate.'

        "Fallon," I began, looking down at the ground so my gaze would remain calm, "I was wondering... would you like to stay with me for a couple of days? I mean... just so you can get back on your feet, and maybe even find your family again? We could try to see what happened to them together." At that moment, I leaned up and looked at her again. Fallon had finished her cheese burger, and happened to be enjoying her milkshake when I called out to her. I know I had just met her and all, but... do you ever get that feeling where, when you met eyes with someone special and you know that they're meant to be your best friend? Like, you can see yourself reflected within their eyes? Well, that's how I felt about Fallon; I felt her and I could make a change in this fighting but losing world. We both understood it needed to change in some way, which is why I was so drawn to her... I wanted to get to know her better. Fill out the blanks, fill out the dents and the cracks within her story. This girl was still a mystery to me and you can never leave a mystery unsolved.

        "What do you mean, Ava," she asked in a seemingly slow fashion, hesitant in the way to answer. It may have sounded weird to ask so soon, but to be honest, I've always been a strange girl.

        "I mean, in simpler terms, would you like to live with my family and I for awhile?" At that statement, she laughed brightly, until she noticed my somewhat serious expression.

        "W-Wait," Fallon started, putting a hand to the back of her neck, "You really mean that, huh?" I nodded my head dramatically, trying to push her into saying the word 'yes'. She looked down, an unsure expression written upon her face, "You're strange, you know that?"

        "You think I haven't already noticed that," I exclaimed, letting my serious expression die off as if it never happened to begin with. Fallon shook her head, chuckling slightly at my sudden burst of excitement.

        "Fine, fine," she said quickly, standing up and off the bench we sat upon, "I'll go with you, but it'll only be for a couple of days." I stood up as well, a bright smile on my face. The only thing that was left weighing upon my shoulders would be the fact I would have to persuade my parents into letting her stay. They were hard to compromise with too, which made my task even more difficult to fulfil.

        "That's great to hear; my house is near by, so it's not that long of a walk." I stated this, trying to make eye contact with Fallon, but her eyes would just not meet with mine. Her expression looked off and her eyes were locked on something else, something that was behind me. I couldn't help but turn my head to see what it was; on the contrary, nothing was in sight. The only thing I found myself staring into was the separation between two large buildings, which led to an alleyway that was filled with darkness. My brows furrowed as I turned my gaze back to Fallon, who was now looking right at me. It actually startled me for a second when I abruptly found her eyes staring into mine.

        "Is something wrong, Ava," she asked, a normal expression now on her face. Her milkshake was still within her hand, and she had the wrapper from the cheese burger within the other. I nodded my head slowly, pushing out a fake smile.

        "Yeah, I just thought I heard something is all," I lied, hoping to not get her suspicious. Fallon shrugged and took a quick sip of her milkshake.

        "Alright then, I guess we should head to your house now. It's getting late, so I bet your parents are going to be worried about you." She looked around, not exactly knowing which direction to head in.

        "This way," I gestured her to follow me before taking a right from where the bench was, and headed down my neighborhood street. 'What was that?... She saw something, but then acted as if she never even took her eyes off me to begin with. I'll just keep a closer eye on her, I bet she's harmless... especially if she's just a young girl whom has lost her family.'