Inhale

Chapter 21 - A New Man

"What?" Esmae asked, turning to the boy.

"Nothing," he replied with a sigh, "hello, Sergeant Major Newvy."

"Hello, Phillip," the man said in response, giving the boy a nod. Phil was taken aback by his response, eyebrows furrowing and taking a step back. However, after he realized the man meant no harm, he cleared his throat, and reverted to his normal state with a flush settled on his face.

"Do you know each other?" she inquired, glancing at the two.

"He knows my dad," Phil answered with slight remorse, "that's all."

"Then why is he-"

"Smith," Newvy suddenly called, interrupting the girl. He paced over towards Sergeant Smith, who appeared as surprised as we were.

"Sergeant Major Newvy," he responded with a salute, looking shocked by the recent turn of events. Newvy reached him, and the two engaged in a hushed conversation. Occasionally, they'd steal looks at us, only to peer back at each other–this continued for about a minute or so. Once they were done discussing, the Drill Sergeant saluted once more, and stood up straighter.

"Understood. Will do, sir," he declared. Though he lacked any emotion of gratitude, the man nodded in appreciation and walked out of the room. I felt a churning sensation in my gut, and clenched it. Something's not right.

"Newvy's not a trainee," I more so said than asked.

"Not even close. He's been here for years," Phillip stated, "he's usually with other high-ranking officers–I wonder why he was here today. I guess he wanted to check up on the trainees today... or something."

"Then why was he only with Al?" Esmae questioned.

"I don't know," he replied, turning to me with an expecting expression, "Al, why don't you explain that?"

"He came over and requested to be my partner," I enthused, "we trained together for a bit, and then we greeted each other. After that, he gave me a nickname—the situation was peculiar."

"What name did he give you?"

"Win."

"Win?" he repeated, stroking his chin in contemplation. He peered at the floor, lost in thought. Eventually, he looked back up at me, and an uncharacteristically bleak emotion was plastered for all to see. So bleak, that his cold, icy blue eyes could've pierced my heart. The change of events perplexed me, and to be blunt, mortified me. What happened to Phillip? "I don't trust him. Don't talk to him. Ever. You don't know what he can do, and you're useless against him," he commanded, sounding as if he had control over me. Despite his words serving as an annoyance, I yielded to him—mainly due to the glint in his eyes.

"If you say so," I murmured, biting my tongue. He looked away, muttered something inaudible under his breath, and walked away from us. I felt a new set of eyes lay on me. Gazing at Esmae, I found the culprit.

"Don't take it personally, Al" Esmae consoled, "Phil's just saying that because he wants to protect you."

"Protect me?" I repeated, furrowing my eyebrows. "Why? I never asked for his help, let alone his protection."

"Well, you are the weakest member in our friend group," she admitted, her voice leading to a diminuendo as she began to mumble. "Believe me, I'm not trying to be offensive—I'm just stating the facts. Phillip is strong enough to fend for himself, and I'm fast enough to avoid any physical contact. And you.... well, you have your brain, I guess. But if that fails, you don't have anything to lean on."

"And I suppose you two do?" I questioned. She glanced at me, slightly surprised, and then delivered an answer to my question.

"Well, we both have our special ability and a brain. We just have to use our brain first, and our ability accompanies it, or we can do the other way around," she explained. "And that's why you're the weakest link. Sorry. She had apologized, yet her voice held no empathy for me. Clenching my fists, I directed my sight to the floor.