TERRIBLE THINGS

sixteen

"We're not losing anyone else," Huraira snapped. "I'm- I'm not going to let us lose anyone else."

Turning his head, Jase stared at the ground. This was about Bonnie. She might not have been dead but, in her condition, she might as well have been. "Huraira," Jase said. "You... never told anyone about what... happened." He closed his eyes, cutting himself off from the broken glass above.

"I don't want to talk about this," Huraira said.

"But-"

"Jase!" Huraira snapped. "I said I don't want to talk about this!"

Jase's fingers curled into a fist as he took a deep breath, trying to quell his rising temper. "And why not?" He was trying to keep his tone steady. He really was. "Why don't you trust me enough to tell me? You told Kova something. So why not me? "

"I do trust you, Jase," Huraira said. "Ryenar and Hykelia, I do. But there are just some things that you wouldn't understand." Huraira's eyes were as black in the shadows of night. "I just need you to... trust me."

"Just like you trust me to understand?" Jase spat.

"Jason. Stop."

"Huraira," Jase said, glaring at the woman he called his best friend. "I can understand. Because-"

"I was the one who put her in the hospital!" Huraira snapped, jumping to her feet, gaze burning with both anger and agony. "Is that what you want to hear? Is that what you want to try to understand? Because I was the one that did that to Bonnie, and I hate myself because of it!"

There were tears in the corners of her eyes as Jase stared, uncertain of what she was talking about. But before he could utter another idiotic word, Huraira stalked off. Jase struggled out of his chair, head buzzing with new information as he began to chase after her, but before he could get two steps, a hand caught his wrist.

Whipping around, Jase was met with Kova's blue-eyed stare. "Let her go," he said.

"But-"

"Ka. Give her time." His voice was calm, holding more power than Kova realized. "She is hurt. Very hurt. Let her go now. Apologize later."

Jase clenched his jaw but relented. "I'm an idiot. Huraira's going to hate me forever."

Kova wrapped his arms around Jase, his small size making him the perfect height for hugging. Jase shook his head, tears spilling from his eyes as he wrapped his arms around Kova, holding him like a lifeline. This was the second time in as many months Jase had broken down in front of Kova.

Ryenar, Hykelia, and the Twelve Saints, he was losing it.

"Juup, you are," Kova said, softly. "But Huraira will forgive. She loves you."

"Thank you," Jase whispered.

And that was when the night burst into a million different colors that were caused by far more than the fireworks.

An hour or two later, the Festival of Lights had come to its conclusion and Jase ended up walking - rolling beside - Kova back to his house under the guise of it being dangerous to walk alone at night.

In truth, Jase just didn't want to be alone just yet.

They went slowly, the cool night air pressing against their backs. Jase shivered, the night just a little too cold for his sleeveless shirt and shorts. The sidewalks were deserted - lit only by the faint glow of the smaller sun. Jase had run down this path a hundred times before, going to meet Kova and Huraira when the sky was just as dark and the air just as cool, but tonight, the silence seemed unnerving.