Deep Waters

Chapter Twenty-Five

"You are possibly the worst I've ever trained."

I threw my fist at Kason's head and he easily caught it. "Thanks for the encouragement," I replied. I was picking up on the moves and mechanisms quickly, I was just weak and didn't put a lot of weight behind each attack. Strength always came from my adrenaline when I was in a situation where I needed it. My long hair was slapping my in the face every time I turned and the scrunchy I had holding it up would fall out every five minutes. This was probably the twentieth time we had to stop so I could fix it. On top of all that, I kept slipping on the thin layer of hay under our feet.

"You do know, you aren't going to have time to fix your hair when you're fighting out in the real world, right?" my boyfriend asked as he watched me tie my hair back up into a bun.

"I'm aware, Kason." I swung at him again, this time a little closer to his skin as he dodged. "I'm tempted to cut it all off."

He shrugged as he kept dodging my attack attempts. "Go for it." I furrowed my eyebrows. I hadn't exactly been serious. "What? Isn't that what all girls do when they are going through a crisis? Cut off all their hair?"

I bobbed my head. "I guess. Or bleach it."

Kason scrunched his nose and shook his head, making his brown waves dance. "Big no to that. I love your black hair," he said. "...You've already got all the basics down. You are a fast learner like your brother."

"Then why haven't I been able to hit you?" I asked, questioning his ability to conclude on an observation.

"Because I can't lose," he said with a playful smile. "And I don't know how to turn down my skills."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Great. Then do you think you can teach me how to escape zip ties around my wrists?"

Kason raised an eyebrow after my words, but I was a hundred percent serious. "Delilah, I was a streetfighter...not a magician."

"You could be both."

"Babe..."

"Please?"

"Do you plan on getting kidnapped or something?"

I shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. "You never know with my life. Better safe than sorry."

I just stared into his blue eyes as he stared back at me. He crossed his arms and I could see a feeling of realism washing over him. "I hate that you are right," he sighed, sounding defeated. "...but just so you know, I only know how to do this because I saw it in a video online." I almost laughed. That was so typical these days.

After training for a couple of hours total, we both went back to the house and showered. Once I was clean and free of sweat, I intercepted Hazel in the living room. "Where can I find a pair of scissors?" I asked her.

She pointed to the kitchen. "There should be a pair in the first drawer on the far left."

"Great, thanks." I immediately made my way to grab the scissors which were indeed in the drawer, and then practically dashed to the bathroom where I examined my hair. I don't know where this sudden urge to cut my hair came from, but it was definitely about to happen. Should I go back to my shoulders where it used to be? Even shorter? Without even thinking any more about it, I grabbed a chunk of hair from the back of my head and cut it. The strand fell to my neck and the pieces I cut off fell in the porcelain sink. Well, I guess I'm going that short. From there, I just kept grabbing chunks of hair and cutting them in the same general area. It was only a few minutes later when half my hair was laying in the sink and all over my shirt.

It definitely wasn't an easy process with regular scissors, and it wasn't exactly even, but I did my best. "Girl, what are you doing?"

I glanced over to Aria who was now standing in the doorway. "Chopping my hair off."

"Why?"

"Because it was getting too heavy and aggravating."

She slipped me a small smile then held out her palm. "Let me help you."

I handed her the scissors and she immediately got to work on evening the length out. She ended up having to take a little more off. When she was done, the ends of my hair reached my jawline. Aria placed the scissors down on the counter and began helping me clean out the sink. A weight was bearing on my chest. "I'm sorry," I told her.

She stopped and looked up at me with her eyebrows scrunched. "What for?"

I exhaled. "For being so negative all the time. I keep letting all of this get to my head."

She smiled at me genuinely. "It's okay, Del. We all do it. But it's something that will hopefully be all over soon."

I nodded. Hopefully, she was right. I hugged her tightly. "I know that all of this sucks and that it's really bad that you are involved in all of this, but I'm really glad I have you to help me get through this...I used to not think that I needed anyone, but I do." I sighed. "And I know that now."

She tightened her grip around me and chuckled light-heartedly. "I'm glad I'm here for you, too."

***

Sorry for the long wait! I hope you are all safe and well!

~Emily