Journey of the Stars (Sequel to Power of the Moon)

Chapter Seven

Cassandra noticed that Andrew had been acting differently towards the teen who she suspected could be Varian.

It had been a blur of a week, with the hard work of cutting wood and trying to rebuild the beat up caravan while taking care of Diverion's needs and everyone else's.

Within all that work, Andrew had distanced himself from the kid, hardly checking up on him and when he did, his visits were incredibly short.

She could tell something was off.

And it seemed to all start from when she went into the trees and left him alone with the injured kid.

It was almost as if he were afraid of him.

Cass sighed and looked from the corner of her eye at Andrew as he rebuilt the wheels. His forehead was lined with concentration, but his eyes still seemed distracted as they held a strange strain to them.

Yes... if nothing else whatever was bothering him was affecting him and his work.

"Hey Hubert!", Cass called out, cupping her hands around her mouth, "You ready for a quick break?"

He looked up at her as he registered what she was saying, his mind still filled to the brim with thoughts, "Uhh, Yeah! Sounds like a good idea about now anyway."

He set down the hammer and wood spokes he had been working on and walked over to her, crossing his arms as his brow was still furrowed.

She sighed, "You're acting different.", she finally stated, gesturing at him, "You hardly seem to get any decent rest and you have a hard time actually paying attention to your work."

Andrew didn't bother denying it as he just looked at her, his brown eyes still, "Yeah, I haven't been doing as well as I should be... but I'm alright Cass."

"No. I don't think you are."

"I just have a lot of thoughts...", he trailed off.

She just stared at him.

Andrew felt himself get slightly red from embarrassment as he looked the other way, "I'll figure it out soon and get back to normal, I promise. It's just I'm probably tired of the constant work we've been doing nonstop for the past couple of days."

"Yeah, which is why you act like that kid in there has a virus.", she pointed out, "Why are you so afraid of him??"

Andrew gave her a hard stare, "If I told you... you'd think I was just being stupid or you wouldn't believe me.", he said flatly.

Cass felt offended.

And surprisingly a bit disappointed as well; he didn't think he could talk to her??

After all that time so far they shared together...

She dug her boot into the dirt before she finally spoke, "Well, if you don't tell me, I have a feeling it's gonna backfire on everyone. One teen shouldn't be causing a grown man so many problems. So whatever he did, you need to spit it out whether I believe you or not!!"

Andrew just stood there for a very awkward moment before he did a tiny smile.

"Always so straightforward...", he said quietly shaking his head.

Feeling a stab of annoyance, she crossed her arms, "Listen I'm trying to be a supportive friend here, so are you going to tell me what's wrong or not?"

"It was his eyes.", Andrew suddenly said, his eyes unfocusing as he thought about it, "They... they weren't ordinary."

Cass has to stop for a moment to think as she realized he was finally telling her the problem-