Under the Shadow of the Moon

Chapter 37

Luna sat at the bench, her head in her hands and her eyes half closed. Her mind had fully wandered off as she stared at the water. A weird feeling was settled in her stomach. She knew they shouldn't be outside, shouldn't be anywhere they could be spotted by anyone, but they needed the break. It was more important to mentally recharge in that moment. They were taking precautions, though. Her fingers tightened around the handle of her gun concealed under her baggy shirt.

She shook her head, letting her fingers slide off of it, and standing up and stretching. The others were only a few feet behind her, kicking around a ball in the grass. She turned, watching Lloyd lifting Lily into the air and the two of them laughing. She watched Trae laughing at something Colin had said, a carefree expression on his face the others hadn't been able to put on in months. She watched Razaia shoving Colin, and both of them laughing. Harper was leaning up against a tree, yelling something at the others.

Sylvia walked up to the bench, placing her forearm on Luna's shoulder and leaning her weight on her. "You know you could just talk to him."

Luna blinked, turning to face her. "What?"

"Trae. You should just talk to him."

"What would I even say?"

Sylvia scoffed. "You could say anything you want to him, just don't tell him anything you shouldn't."

Luna whined. "I know..."

"If you want, I could just convince him that he's in love with you, but I'm pretty sure he already is."

"Sylvia!" Luna gasped, letting out a laugh.

"Aha, finally! I knew I could make you laugh."

Luna smiled. "Thanks for that."

"I'm serious about you talking to him. I'm sure he's missed you a lot."

Luna sighed. "You're right. Okay, I'll try."

Sylvia smiled, poking her in the arm. "Now, Luna. C'mon, let's go."

Luna laughed as Sylvia dragged her over, positioning her in the middle of the grass field the others were standing in. "Okay, I can do this."

"Of course you can, now stop psyching yourself out. You two have been friends for like forever, you shouldn't be this awkward." Sylvia gave her a small shove.

Luna nodded, taking another step forward. "I got this." She stepped up to him carefully, studying his hazel eyes. "Hey..." She said softly.

"Hey Luna!" His smile widened.

She melted on the spot.

"I—I've missed you," She stuttered.

Luna's face burned as Trae fixed her wind-blown hair. She didn't know why, since he had done it many times before, but this time his touch sent a flutter of butterflies in her stomach. His lopsided grin only grew bigger at the sight.

She studied his face with a grin of her own. His hair was swept across his forehead, sticking from sweat in a few places, revealing the scar running through the end of his right eyebrow.

It had almost fully faded at that point, and it would have been easy to miss for anyone who didn't know to look for it. She ran her finger over it as she fixed his bangs for him, keeping them out of his eyes. She remembered how he had gotten the scar in the first place. He had probably been around six or seven at that point, the freckles on his face a lot more visible at the time. He, Luna, Lloyd, and Harper were in his pool in his backyard, and he thought he would try to impress them all by jumping in, but he hit his head against the railing of the steps and tore open his face instead. He ended up with a few stitches and a scar he liked to show anyone who would listen to his story when they were little.

She smiled at the memory. "I missed you too," he responded. "You've been kind of distant lately, are you alright?"

She nodded. "I'm alright. I'm just really tired."

"I can tell," he said, hesitantly putting a hand on her face. "You look like a raccoon," he teased.

She pulled his hand off her cheek with an annoyed smile. "Wow, thanks."

He shrugged. "You're still cute, even though you look like an animal that eats trash."

Luna scoffed, her face burning. "Rude."

He shrugged again. "Hey, it's not my fault you haven't been sleeping well. What have you been doing anyway? Partying into the daylight and daydreaming all night?"

She scoffed again. "No."

"Oh, I've got it. You've become a superhero and you fight crime during the day and lead a normal life during the night," he snapped his fingers. "See, that must be it."

Luna blinked, her eyes glazing over as they drifted from his face.

"Luna?"

She barely heard his voice.

"Luna?" He repeated, grabbing her arm and giving her a small shake. He bent his knees to look her directly in the eyes. "Luna, you seem like you're somewhere else right now, are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah—no yeah, I'm—I'm fine. I-I promise."

"Are you sure?" He asked, placing a hand on her cheek and trying to get a good look at her face.

She slipped out of his grasp with a sharp inhale. "I'm sure. I'm sorry I bothered you." She started to walk away from him, wiping away a few stray tears.

His face fell as he slowly dropped his hand. "Okay... I'm always here for you, don't forget that," he called after her, but he didn't know if she heard him or not, or simply decided to ignore it. He sighed, turning away.

Luna sank back down to the picnic blanket next to Razaia and Lily, pulling up a blade of grass and tearing it down the middle. Sylvia dropped down beside her. "What was that?" She asked, almost sounding angry. "Gosh Luna, he was right there!"

Luna sighed, hiding her face in her hands. "I'm scared," her voice cracked.

Lily leaned over. "Luna, what happened?"

"He made a stupid joke and I-I almost told him everything... I would have told him everything..."

Lily gave her a sympathetic smile.

"It's okay Luna, it's not your fault," Sylvia said.

"I don't know how much longer I can pretend things are normal," Luna responded, turning to face the other girls. "I just want things to be okay."

"I know Luna, we know," Razaia said. "We'll be okay, he'll be okay, it'll all be okay."

"There's no way for you to know that," she muttered dejectedly.

"I do know that," Razaia responded. "We've got the best team, the best friends. We'll protect each other. I'll protect you. I promise."

Luna smiled half-heartedly. "Thanks guys."