Cipher

Chapter 10: Friends?

"Leave it alone Isaac. I am fine." Cipher huffed as they made their way to what was now their usual lunch hang out in the grass. Despite his assurances, he can't help but keep his arm pressed to his ribs, each breath twinged with pain.

"What took you two so long?" Joslyn asked. She was already seated at the base of their tree carrot sticks and book in hand.

Cipher suppressed a wince as he sat. Isaac frowned at him from where he was seated.

"What happened?" Joslyn asked seeing the tension between them.

"Nothing anyone can prove," Cipher said tight lipped as he eased himself back into the grass. Especially since Aeolians did not bruise like humans did. It was unlikely that there would be any visible marks, but he kept that to himself, knowing that it would only add to the frustration swirling through Isaac's aura.

The book slid out of her lap as she sat straighter. "What happened?!"

"Drake took a shot at Cipher in P.E. today," Isaac's anger was evident in his voice.

"It could have been an accident," Cipher said not really believing it himself.

"Come on."

"I followed procedure and that's the conclusion that was reached." Cipher was not happy about the outcome, but he was not there to create problems. He was supposed to be working to solve them and foster goodwill with the humans not animosity.

Isaac groaned. "That's just Coach Meyers's opinion. Everyone knows he doesn't actually care about discipline unless it's on the field."

"Did you get hurt?" Joslyn asked Cipher gently, simultaneously trying to keep Isaac from exploding.

"I am fine," His arm tightened across his torso. She could see him putting up walls with each exchange.

"We should go over Coach Meyers's head," Isaac scowled. "Drake shouldn't get away with it."

Joslyn was inclined to agree with him. "Cipher-"

"Please stop," It was an effort to keep his voice from shaking. He closed his eyes. Their insistence was only making it harder to keep his pain from showing and he refused to give Drake or anyone that satisfaction. He could do this; it was his job.

Isaac tried to start again, but Joslyn shook her head. Frustrated, Isaac stood and left. She watched him go and understood how he was feeling. She also knew that they weren't going to get anywhere like this. It was best to let him cool off and make sure Cipher would be okay.

Tucking away her book, Joslyn looked at Cipher. Even though his eyes were closed she could tell he was not asleep.

She lowered herself to the ground beside him, looking up into the tangle of branches above them. "Cipher?"

"I do not wish to talk about it." he said, voice tight.

"I get that," she said, her voice gentle. She wanted him to ease up on his defenses not build them higher. "I was actually wondering if you could fill me in on a few things."

Cipher glanced over at her, "I suppose."

"I'm not sure if this is one question or two, but why do you sleep instead of eat at lunch?"

"Is it really so strange that I sleep during school time?"

"Not super strange, but a little, yeah." she admitted.

"To answer your question: first off, I eat for lunch. It is just a small amount so I have usually finished before I arrive here." he shifted, propping himself up on his elbow to reach his bag. She could see him suppress a wince as he moved. "This," he pulled out a package about the size of a large granola bar. "Is my lunch."

"That's barely a snack," she protested.

"Aeolian food is different. Not to mention we digest things differently. This is made mostly from plants native to Aeolus. It was not made for humans just as your food is not made for us."

"So that's not from here?" For some reason she hadn't even thought about everything that the Aeolians must have brought with them. And what they left behind.

"Well, it was grown on Earth, but you are correct in that it did not originate here." He unwrapped the bar. "As for my sleep schedule that is due to the weather on Aeolus: extremely hot during the day and very cold at night. It is simply easier to sleep through the worst of both." He paused to take a bite. "Though it is not as necessary on Earth."

"Why do you still have that schedule if it's useless here?"

"At this point it is just a biological remanent of the past." he shrugged.

"Has anyone ever told you you sound like a dictionary threw up?"

That jolted him, "books do not have a gag reflex."

She raised her eyebrows as if that only proved her point.

They paused, looking at each other.

"What do you usually do on the weekends?" Cipher asked.

"Um, not much I guess... Why?"

"Would you like to accompany us this weekend?"

"What?" Joslyn asked, taken off guard.

"Isaac and I are planning to go to the movie theater on Saturday with some of his friends." He explained. "I was wondering if you would like to come."

"Um..." she picked at the grass, not looking anywhere in particular. "Why would you want me to come? I'm pretty... boring..." she trailed off.

"We are friends. I thought going to see a film was a common outing." He suddenly seemed less sure of himself. "We are friends, are we not?"

"I guess we are," she breathed a quiet laugh. She hadn't really thought of it in such certain terms, but it was true. Both Cipher and Isaac were her friends where she thought she would never find any. She gave Cipher a small smile, "We are."

Cipher brightened.

"Send me the details. I'll be there." she promised.

***Author's Note***

Thank you for reading! If you liked it don't forget to comment and vote :)

I plan on entering this into the 2019 Wattys with what I have so far. Just for fun :) Wish me luck!

Side note: the chapter titles are more for my reference so I can see what happened in that chapter at a glance than anything else so sorry if some are super random