Life of a Street Kid ☑️

Chapter 17

 Under water I swam farther into the waterfall. The steam helped give me a mask to hide behind, a way to disappear. I got a far distance into the waterfall when I had to take a breath. As fast as I could I swam to the surface. My lungs gasped for air as I broke through.

As once as I got a breath in I was going to go back under but a voice said, "Wait. Who are you?" The voice was very familiar.

 I turned toward the voice half way to see who it was and used my hair as a veil to cover my face. The water blocked most of my view but I could see a familiar figure. It was Will. He had found my bathing area. I was glad that the water was obscuring his view as much as mine. Him seeing me like this wasn't very good sign.

Even though I was ready to leave right then and there I was curious to how he had found this place. I decided to take a chance. 

With my normal voice a pitch higher I asked, "How did you fine this place? It's a very private place."

"I wondered off in the woods trying to find my friend. Have you seen him?" He asked.

I smiled behind my hair knowing he wouldn't find the other me. "How long have you been there?" I changed the subject trying to figure out if he had seen anything that might give me away later.

He paused a second seeming embarrass and shy. Not a good sign. "I've only been here for a few minutes. I saw you looking up at the water only, nothing more."

I sigh with relief. He hadn't seen anything that would get me into trouble. I caught him staring my way. Maybe he had seen more. "You shouldn't stare. It is rude and uncomforting. Next time you should let you presence be known too."

Will looked down at his feet embarrassed after the scolding. "I'm sorry for not letting you know. I got caught up in the beauty of... y... the water fall." He caught him self in time. "You never answered me. What's your name? And have you seen my friend?"

"You ask a lot of questions. Pick the one you want me to answer." I toyed with him. I wasn't going to give him my real name even if he asked.

Will had to stop and think hard. He seemed reluctant to ask but he did. "Have you seen my friend?"

"No I have not but can you stop looking. I feel very uncomfortable." I rebuked. He was making this too easy.

"Sorry what do you want me to do?" he asked.

"Well I'm not dressed so if you could look the other way and close you eyes until I'm done that would be nice." I explained.

This time I could see Will blush from far away. "Yes of course." He turned away and used his arm to cover his eyes.

I smiled behind his back one last time before I went under again. I swam all the way to the other side of the pool. The waterfall was still blocking my position so I didn't have to worry about Will seeing me. Luckily my clothes were on the opposite side from Will. Slowly and quietly I got out of the water trying to make no noise. With Will across the way I couldn't afford to stay out and dry very well so I dried as best as I could and put my clothes on.

Quickly I raced through the woods to try to get back home before Will did. As I ran I put my hair up into my hat once again putting my mask on. Will might not have recognized me but I still had to be careful of what I did. At any time he could recognize me and then I would be found out. That couldn't happen. My secret needed to stay a secret. So far my day was very unlucky. I couldn't risk it happening.

I finished putting on my hat by the time I had made it near the clearing to the house. I stopped before I came out of the woods. If Will had made it back before me after seeing through my trick I had to look like my self. To make my face look like normal I put some mud on it. It defeated the purpose of taking a bath but it had to be done. I had already put my old clothes on so I walked into the clearing.

Will was nowhere when I searched the house so I cooled off and dried off outside by the well. I decided to relax for the day and try to not think about the group of people looking for either me or Will or the fact that at any moment Will could figure out my secret. If I didn't relax for one day the stress would get to me eventually. It wouldn't be good to have a break down during the day. I just leaned against the well in the shade and relaxed. Today seemed like the perfect day to do so.

After a few minutes of relaxing, Will came out of the woods. His clothes were a bit wet which was probably from the waterfall. He didn't seem like he was completely inside his self. He had a weird look on his face like he woke up from a good dream and was trying to remember it. 

I half expected him to realize I was the mysterious stranger he met but he just walked up to me and sat across from me. No one said anything for a while. We just sat there. We didn't talk, we didn't practice, and we just sat there lost in our own minds. I just leaned against the well and unwind. Will on the other hand seemed like he was trying to remember a dream that he wasn't sure was one. As long as he thought that I was in no danger.

Finally Will spoke up. "Where were you this morning? I tried to find you. I looked everywhere even in the woods."

I put on my fake voice and acted like I was bored and tried when I replied, "I woke up and decided to go for a walk in the woods. Did you eat anything? There is food in the house that we need to eat before it goes bad." I switched subjects smoothly so he didn't get suspicions.

"Yeah I ate. You were in the woods? We must have missed each other."

I yawned. "Yeah you're probably right. They are pretty big woods. I'm surprised you didn't get lost." We went quiet again. I shifted my position so I had my head on the ground.

A few minutes later Will got up from his spot and walked to the training area. He started to do some offensive techniques. I watched lazily as he moved with his punches. Each step had a fluent attack with it. His technique was decent more or less but it needed work. Not every move he made was right. They weren't fluid. Some of his executions were off too.

I let him go on with his way of doing it for a good while until I felt like I had to intervene. If he didn't get the right training I felt like he would end up beat again then it would be my fault. 

"You're doing some of that wrong. It's right what you're trying to get at but wrong on how you're going about it. Try combining your third attack with you fifth movement and tell me how that feels." Will did what he was told. "How does it feel now?"

"Better, smoother. Thanks."

"Now try to exhale every time you do an attack." He tried. "No you're doing it wrong. Inhale right before you attack then exhale as you do." I pointed out.

"I don't see. Come and show me."

"Sorry but I told myself that I wouldn't do any real physical work today. I'm giving myself a break so figure it out verbally." I explained.

The rest of the morning and evening I corrected Will on his form. We only stopped for lunch and dinner it was all we could afford. Will was taking forever to learn verbally. It was more comforting teaching him then it would have been just sitting letting my mind wander, I realized, even if he was taking forever. I moved only to get into a more comfortable position or to a better spot. Some of the spots I chose gave me better angles to see where Will was going wrong and others were more comforting.

We had just finished for the day when Will asked, "Why do you always wear that hat? I don't think I've seen you with out it on." I had changed into my old hat knowing we wouldn't be going out anytime soon.

"I like hats and wearing it reminds me of my life before this and what I try to achieve and what I'm preventing from happening."

"What are you trying to achieve and prevent?"

"Nothing that concerns you"

"Oh, okay I see. I was curious that's all." He said it like he was sorry he brought it up.

"It's okay I understand curiosity. I don't know how many times it has gotten me into trouble. Just be careful about what you say to certain people. Like I said way back when I first met you 'Curiosity can get you killed.'"

We went to bed like we normally would. I stayed up longer then usual thinking about what I had been avoiding during the day, everything I had been avoiding. Thoughts came to me randomly about all the people hunting us, and about Will seeing me in the water. I had fallen asleep worrying and wondering. It didn't help my sleep.