Green Lantern Rises

Part 9

We make it to Ferris and he leads me around the back. "Haley? What are you doing here?" A preteen girl with short, dark hair walks over to him, "What? I can't see my brother?" He bends down to hug her and I hear him whisper, "You're not supposed to be here." She pulls away and says, "I know. I actually have to leave sometime soon." He hugs her again and she leaves the room. Hunter looks at Hal, "Where is everybody?" Hal steps closer to us, "In the garage, today is mostly mechanic work. Would you mind giving Alana and I time to talk?" He nods and walks out the same door Haley left through.

As soon as they leave Hal fires questions, "Have you flown before?" I hesitated, "Yeah, but I kinda sucked at it." He nods his head, "So what exactly did Kilowag teach you?" I shrug, "How to use the ring." He sighs, frustrated and continues, "You're gonna have to be more specific than that." I look around, hoping something will remind me. I spot a photo on the wall with all the workers at Ferris. "He told me about the prophecy, and the meaning behind willpower, and how to control it and focus it on a certain object that I create, and he told me a little bit about the guardians, but not a whole lot because apparently I'll learn more about them later when I officially meet them," I finally take a breath as Hal nods approvingly, "Okay, so he didn't teach you how to fly?" I shake my head, "No, but that seems pretty self-explanatory." He creates a shield around his body and lifts himself slightly into the air, "For most people, including me, it is." I fly to his level before he continues, "I think the only semi-hard thing is not running into things, but if you pay attention, it's a cakewalk."

He flies through a nearby door, which leads us outside. He leads me over a grassy hill and on the other side is a lake. "Fly to the other side of the lake, as you do, I will create obstacles blocking your path. The first time, I'll make it fairly easy, and when you come back, I will make it slightly harder." I nodded to show that I understood and set off.  I start slowly, and so does he, starting with brick walls emerging from the water, which I easily avoid. A little bit later, he creates large walls that are too big for me to fly around but have holes in various places. I make almost no effort when I fly up and down to enter them and before I realize it, I've reached the end of the lake. I turn around and see Hal motioning for me to come back. On my way back, it's the same thing, only the holes were smaller, and there was less space between each wall. When I reach Hal, he says, "Like I said, easy." He starts flying away as he says, "Next time, I'll try something that is actually dangerous." As I'm following him back, I respond, "Sounds like fun," and roll my eyes.

We walk back into the small storage room where Hunter is waiting with Haley. "Hey, Hunter, come here for a sec," Hal calls and they whisper in the corner. I decide to get to know Haley. I sit down next to her as she types something on her phone, "Haley, right?" She nods, keeping her eyes locked on the screen. "How old are you?" She glances at me for about half a second as she answers, "Thirteen." I nod, trying to make it seem like I care. "Are you close with your parents?" I ask, trying to open her up. "My parents are dead," She says bluntly. "Oh, okay. Umm...I'm sorry to hear that." I know I wouldn't have opened up like that about my mother. "Don't apologize, I don't really remember it. I was only three and Hunter was nine, so I tried asking him, but he refuses to tell me the details, probably because he doesn't even know," She says, glaring him. "They both died in the same year?" I ask but realize that might have been too personal. "Same month." I took a gulp. "Oh shit. Haley, that really sucks. I'm sorry." She giggles, "You already said that. I can see why my brother likes you so much." I laugh in my head, "What are you talking about?" She finally puts her phone down, "I mean, he complained about you the whole time you were gone, but he was smiling through all of it." This time I laugh out loud, "Yeah, I tend to have that effect on boys." She giggles and I smirk, "They always think I'm flirting with them when I'm just trying to have a friendly conversation. It's not my fault everything I say is smoother than the cream cheese on your bagel." She laughs, much harder this time, and I smile, feeling achieved.

Hal and Hunter finally return, "Haley, Hunter is gonna take you home while I finish my discussion with Alana." She nods and hops out of her seat and she and Hunter leave. "So, tomorrow, I asked Hunter to take you back here to run a test on you without him finding out who we are." I completely ignored the main point and asked, "Why haven't you told Hunter about who you are? I mean, he lives with you." Putting his hands on his hips he says, "Yeah, it can get hard, but I could never forgive myself if I was the reason something happened to him." I completely understood, and I hated not having a choice as to who knew my secret as of right now. "So, can you handle not slipping up in front of Hunter?" Probably not, "Absolutely, you have nothing to worry about." He pats my shoulder a couple times, "That's what I wanted to hear. Let's go."