The Reduction

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

James

    The air conditioner buzzed loudly as James' pencil scraped the paper rapidly. He sketched with purpose and inspiration; the face of a wolf revealing itself with every line. It had been a full month in the motel and James had finally gotten permission to get his backpack from Danker. Ever since he has been designing new tattoo ideas to pass time. Each day had gone by dreadfully slow and James would frequently question his purpose and think about leaving. However, there was some sort of comfort he had with being able to stay somewhere comfortably without having to pay or work. It was better than hiding out on the streets with the fear of being hunted by government officials every waking moment.

As James added the finishing touches to his wolf, he leaned back in his chair, throwing his head back to get a glimpse of Zara, who was sitting on the bed with her eyes closed. He noticed that she did that often, he guessed it was something to do with restoring her energy. James continued to watch her from upside down admiring her calm persona. Her eyes rested so gently and her hair, now longer than before rested gracefully on her small shoulders. One could look at her and never see the strong young woman that she was back in the community. She seemed more, child-like now, more timid and innocent. The dark circles under her eyes justified the insomnia that she's suffered from for the last month. James was pretty sure that he'd barely seen her sleep the whole time that they'd been at the motel.

"Why are you staring at me?" Zara's sudden voice startled James causing him to jolt his head back up. He turned in his chair to fully face her, laughing slightly from embarrassment. Her eyes were still shut. How did she know he was staring?

"I wasn't but okay," James said looking down at his jeans and pulling gently on the strings from the rips in them. A small huff escaped from Zara as she opened her eyes to face James.

"Yes you were, I can feel your energy." She said with a smirk. She got off the bed and made her way over towards James. He rubbed the back of his neck, still embarrassed and watched as she stood next to him. She grabbed the sketchbook of the table and analyzed the piece. James began to feel nervous and became insecure about his art, which was something that didn't happen often.

"It's not my best... I mean... like, I can do better... it's just a sketch I did in like, ten minutes." James rambled trying to get the sketchbook back from Zara's reach. She snatched the book back swiftly and turned around to look at the drawing clearer. James stood up and tried to get the book but Zara spun around and started to turn the pages while walking away. A wave of panic swept through James as he scrambled to get the book back.

"Aye! Give it back!" James shouted as he tried to reach for the book again and failed. Zara started to laugh as she scurried around the small motel room trying to see as many pages of the sketchbook as possible. She jumped on the bed and held the book high above her head to prevent James from getting it back. James hopped on the bed and grabbed Zara's waist to hold her still and reached up to grab the book. When doing so, he locked eyes with her.

They were so soft and bright. Her smile and laugh caused little crinkles to form around them. She looked pretty when she was happy. She finally let go of the book and stood on the bed face to face with him, inches away. His hand rested gently on her waist and she felt the weight of the book leave her hand. After a moment of silence between them, James cleared his throat and let go of her waist while jumping off the bed.

"Don't take my stuff again, there could be personal stuff in there," James said tucking the book away into the depths of his backpack and securing it with a zip. Zara chuckled and replied in a sarcastic tone,

"Like what? Your deepest darkest secrets? Jesus, I don't remember you being so serious." James rolled his eyes as he sat back down at the table.

"You don't remember me. After everything you've been through, there's no way." James replied picking at his fingernails. Zara exhaled loudly as she plopped on the bed. James turned around to face her as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"How could I forget you? You were my favorite person in high school. Always creating mischief, in like a cool, smart kind of way that would leave everyone speechless. You always would doodle in your notebook and sit outside against a tree after class every day," Zara said as she looked down at her shoes dangling off the side of the bed.

"Before I left, I wanted to be your best friend, but you seemed like you didn't want any other than that group of boys you were always with. And then you barely talked to anyone our age in the Community... I just thought you weren't that big of a fan of friends." Zara was now looking at James longing for a response. She had never opened up about anything like this James before. He was surprised by all of this news. She had watched him after school? Did she notice his arrival at the Community?

"Oh well, I guess I thought the same as you," James said blushing from her honesty. His memories of seeing Zara outside his work window sitting at the park with her boyfriend flashed through his brain. He wondered if he ever made it out of the Community. James could feel the sadness in the air and guessed that Zara was thinking about Aaron as well. After a few moments of silence and Zara gazing off into the distance, James decided to lighten the mood. He stood up and walked over to the mini radio that was perched on the dresser on the wall next to the door. The sunlight poked through the blinds that were always kept shut as James adjusted the station. An old country song came on and James switched the station but the rest were all static.

"Country it is," James said flicking the station back to the country song and turning up the volume. He then turned back around to face Zara and began to sway back and forth. He then started to swing his arms around with a big smirk on his face watching for Zara's response. She smirked back and got up to make her way towards a bag hidden under a jacket on a chair. She unzipped the bag and pulled out James' UV Vodka Sugar Crush that he'd bought a month prior. She turned to James and started to dance while opening the bottle. They both let loose in the motel room listening to an overplayed country song drinking away their worries.

At that moment there seemed to be no worries in a world full of chaos.