Lover Boy | Newt (Book 1)

~~ 11 ~~

Newt's P.O.V.

   "Greenie, as part of the initiation ceremony, you get to be the lucky one who does the dishes," Alby jokes, tossing the rag. He's trying to get out of doing dishes.

   "Nice try, Albert," Cyrah says, calling him out. "You just want to get out of doing the dishes."

   "But –––"

   "Nope, you're doing dishes," I say, backing Cyrah up, totally not because of my silly crush that she obviously doesn't reciprocate and I should just give up on but I can't and all that other klunk which makes it so annoying and –––

   "Hello? Earth to Newwwwtt!" Minho sings, going especially high pitched at the 'w'. "Thinking of something...or should I say someone...special, aren't you?"

   "Pardon?" And at this, I thank the Heavens for making Cyrah oblivious as shuck, because she doesn't get it even after the insane number of hints that I've accidentally dropped (or my evil friends have implied).

   "I can't believe you still don't get it, Cyrah! How do you not know what we're talking about!" Minho swoons dramatically and then facepalms.

   "That's b-because there's n-nothing to t-talk a-about!" I stutter. Smooth, Newt...

   "No joke, lizard," Alby says. "That's only for Miss Oblivious."

   "Ne aliquid ex nihilo?" Cyrah asks. I've got no clue what it means, I expect it's some other language that I didn't learn from before. I'm not the only one, Alby and Minho give her an exasperated look. 

   "What the shuckiest shuck is that shuck supposed to mean?" Minho rattled.

   "It's Latin, guys," Cyrah sighs. "It means 'don't make something out of nothing'."

   "It isn't 'nothing'!" Minho groans as I shoot him an especially smug look.

   "Yeah, it is, guys! Just give it up, already!"

   "I think you ought to stop," Cyrah reprimands, and I thank her 128 times in my mind for coming to my rescue.

   "If only you'd realise..." Alby mutters.

   "Now...Let's discuss why you two know each other," I say, sitting back. The dishes can wait and so can everything else on my love life. Preferably delaying the rejection for as long as possible.

   "I don't know," Minho says simply. "The only thing I knew was the two names, mine and Cyrah's, and it was like the instruction to find the girl named Cyrah was imprinted in there somehow, and everything clicked when you jumped down the box."

   "That necklace looks familiar, too," Cyrah says, pointing at Minho's necklace, the one he put in his mouth. "I can find the memory, but when I get to it, someone takes it away, like one of those cat toys." After she says that, I vaguely remember a furry animal chasing a brightly coloured feather, jumping and landing on its back paws.

   Minho presses his thumb on the latch of the chain, and it springs open. He puts the necklace on the table, and like kids at the sweet store, we crowd to take a closer look, our heads pressed together.

   Now we're close enough to see the figures and characters deciphered on the stone, but I can't understand the language the characters are written in.

   "Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten," Cyrah and Minho blurt out abruptly, synchronically.

   "Huh?" Alby questions, not quite catching on. In fact, neither am I.

   "The inscription, guys?" Minho says, waving towards the stone.

   I study the characters again, trying to jog out any sign, a whisp of a memory. None.

  "That's a jade stone, see," Cyrah says, motioning towards the stone. "The gold inlaid pictures are...hmm. I think that's fishing, planting, hunting. Oh, and cooking with fire, perhaps? And that inscription is a family motto. I'm not sure what language that is, though."

   "How do you know so much?" Alby questions, squinting slightly at the jade.

   "How am I supposed to know that?" Cyrah counters, giving him a look. They do their usual staring contests, but like always, Alby gives up first.

   "Fine, whatever."

   "What's the plan for tomorrow?" I ask, changing the subject.

   "We wake up early, eat breakfast, and go to the weapons room to get weapons and try them out in the forest or a field somewhere. At lunch, we can make a plan to explore the maze, which will be split into categories of food and water, weapons, and mapping supplies. And no, we won't be going into the maze. After that, we'll continue weapons training for a bit, explore the glade further, eat dinner, and then free time, then bed," Cyrah lists off her fingers.

   "Aye, aye, Captain!" Alby salutes.

   "I think this is a brilliant time to go to bed, considering no one has anything else to say," Cyrah says, glancing outside. "We need an early night to train and plan tomorrow, and it looks pretty late already."