The One

A date?

Hilda and Mathias seemed determined to keep their children's rooms as they were, even if they would be permanently gone in two weeks. For now, at least, Bentley stayed in the guest room.

The next morning, before Waylon woke at his usual time of eight o'clock and after their parents left for work, there came a squeal tumbling down the hallway.

"I'm freeeeeeee!" Feray spun from her room to the living room, arms in the air. By the time she made this announcement knowing full well the other two would be startled wide awake if they weren't already up, she had already washed up and gotten dressed, ready for a trip. She stopped by the dining table, pressing her hands onto the smooth surface and leaning forward slightly. She listened for any sign of...life in the house apart from herself.

But she heard nothing.

She then made her way to her brother's room. Without knocking first, Feray opened his door and entered. As she had expected, he was sitting up in bed, with his hair down and in the shirt he wore to sleep.

And, as she had expected, he sighed.

"Feray...how many times have I told you? Don't—"

"'Don't go into a guy's room without knocking', I remember," she said. Rather than leaving, however, she sat on his bed next to him.

"What if I'd been changing?" Waylon rubbed his eyes and brushed some of his hair out of his face. He had just woken up after all.

"Then you would stop me from getting into your room and almost bust the door down trying," Feray answered in a matter-of-fact manner.

That naturally elicited another sigh from Waylon—because she was right.

"I'll be getting up now. Where do you want to go?"

Feray's eyes lit up. "I can go out now?" she asked just for confirmation.

"Of course. There is no reason to hide anymore. Oh, but I have an appointment today, I can't go with you. Maybe take Bentley instead—he needs to get used to this place anyhow."

"Oh right," Feray noted, clapping her hands together once, having just remembered what her brother's 'appointment' was. She glanced at a calendar on his desk to be sure. "You have a date with Reina today."

"It's not a date. I'll try to tell her properly this time," Waylon corrected her. He rose from his bed and opened a drawer under his desk, fishing from it a palm-sized gift box. He handed it to his sister. "I planned to give you this for your eighteenth birthday this year, since I thought your ban would be lifted sooner or later and you'd need a map to see the outside world. But since circumstances have changed, you might as well have it now."

Feray took the box from him and opened it. Inside was what looked like a wristwatch. It was gold-rimmed, its design classic yet simple. "This is very useful," she exclaimed in a surprisingly soft voice. She put it on immediately, then threw her arms around her brother. "Thank you! When did you even get this?"

"I go out every day. You wouldn't know." Nonetheless, he hugged her back. "Be sure to knock if you decide to wake Bentley up."

Feray tapped the surface of her watch a few times. A translucent, nearly transparent screen appeared before her, showing a map of their immediate vicinity. She lifted two fingers to tap on the screen.

"Let's see...I haven't been to any of these places," she mumbled to herself. "Do you see anything particularly interesting to you?"

Next to her, Bentley seemed the least interested in sightseeing. His gaze landed first on the watch, the screen, and then on Feray herself. When she looked up, their eyes met.

The girl squinted. "I asked for your preference on places to visit, not girls."

Instinctively, he looked away, shifting his focus to the screen instead. Then, a moment later, he realized that looking away would make him seem guilty of what she accused him of, even though that was not his intention at all. At the thought of that, he glanced at her again—only to recognize that she'd already seen him averting his gaze, and it was much too late to pretend he never did so.

"Sorry." In the end, that was what he said first—as for what exactly he was apologizing for, only he would know. "I didn't mean to stare. I was just thinking that you're a lot livelier than I first thought you would be."

"What I'm like depends on who I'm with," Feray explained. She went back to tapping around on the screen, since it didn't seem like Bentley was about to make a decision. "When we met, we were with Zanna, you know. She's lively enough for all of us."

"That's true," Bentley acknowledged.

"And right now, I'm with some of the dullest, blandest guys in existence."

"Huh..."

"You and my brother both. You're both so normal it's not fun, so I have to entertain myself."

"I see."

He was about to say more, but Feray cut in with a tilt of her head, "You're just going to accept that comment?"

"It's not really untrue, so I have nothing to say against it." Somehow, her question brought a small smile to his face. "Your brother and I both...so, that doesn't include Izar?"

"Izar is interesting." After a momentary pause, Feray finally found a destination. "How about a cafe? Look at this here." She pointed at a spot on the map. "It's right beside the outdoor market. We can watch the market while avoiding the heat."

"Sure."

Half an hour later, Bentley and Feray were sitting on opposite sides of a small table, two cups of coffee between them. They sat by the window, and as she had predicted, there was lots of activity at the market outside. It wasn't only occasionally that someone would pass by them with newly purchased goods in their arms.

Feray took the demitasse spoon from the plate under her cup and dipped it into her drink, stirring it. Keeping her eyes on the outside, she said, "How did you even survive in Refica this whole time?"

"Mm?" Bentley turned his head from the window to his interlocutor. "I just stayed low."

"Is that possible?" she questioned. She scanned over his dark brown hair and matching eyes. "You would fit in here, but everyone there is kind of...colorful, if you know what I mean."

"Zanna isn't that 'colorful'," he pointed out. "Besides, you've seen where I live. As long as I don't go out often, it's not that hard."

"Hm..."

"Izar isn't 'colorful' either, he just...sparkles. His eyes, I mean"

Feray burst into laughter, only to immediately quiet down into a fit of giggles as soon as she noticed Bentley glancing at other customers in the cafe.

"Alright, okay, that makes sense," she said.

"Where did Waylon go?"

"Oh, that's interesting, I tell you." Feray lowered her voice and smirked, leaning forward as if she was telling him a secret. "He has a date."

His eyes widened in surprise.

"Kidding. A girl wants to date him, and he wants to tell her off politely. He's been trying for a while now but she's rather pushy. Well, that's one problem he won't have to worry about once we're out of here." She placed the spoon back onto the plate and lifted her cup to take a sip. When she put the cup down again, she asked, "That reminds me. Do you have unfinished romantic business back home?"

"No, I've lived as simple a life as one can in Refica. You?"

"Are you messing with me? This is the first time I've been out of the house for longer than half an hour—aside from yesterday, that is."

"No, I'm sorry," he apologized for the second time that day, "I didn't mean that."

She gave him a dismissive wave. "Relax, I'm not mad."