Kara's POV
*Evan, Levi, Xavier, and Jacob have just gone inside the large house.*
Thia and I were sitting down on the grass in front of the house while Ty slowly paced back and forth. I play with my fire abilities and twirl a flame in my hand.
"I'm boooored." Ty complains.
"They literally just went inside though." I say without looking up.
"So? There's nothing to dooo."
I swear he was a five-year-old.
"Can I go explore?" He asks both of us.
"No. You'll break something." Thia firmly says.
"No I won't, I promise. I just want to look around more. I'll be back in half an hour."
Thia sighs and I look over at her. She wasn't seriously considering letting him wander the city alone, right?
"Twenty minutes. If you cause any damage to anything, I swear I'll stab you with another spoon." Thia warns.
Ty smiles eagerly. "Thanks!"
I watch him walk down the dirt road until he reaches the center of the city. From there, he looks to his left and right before walking towards one of the shops.
I look at Thia with a surprised face. "You actually let him go?"
"He was just going to continue to bug us if we forced him to stay here. Now he's someone else's problem." She explains.
I smile and shake my head. "I give it ten minutes before he sets something on fire by accident."
"I give it four."
I laugh.
Thia and I make small talk for about ten minutes about random things such as why people swing their arms when they walk. I guess it helps keep balance your but I still think it's weird.
I absentmindedly twirl a flame in my hand.
I was surprised that all of us were allowed to come into the city. Normally, all people of a different species weren't allowed anywhere near the city. Although, sometimes there are special exceptions for visitations of political people so maybe that was this case. I still thought it was a little weird though.
Another ten minutes pass and Ty doesn't return. Why am I surprised? I expect him to come running up to us in another fifteen minutes.
Then Evan and Levi emerge form the house. Where were Xavier and Jacob?
"Where's Ty?" Levi asks us.
"Exploring." I reply.
"Alone?"
"Yeah...if he gets us thrown out, blame it on Thia."
Thia turns to me. "Hey! I just didn't want him nagging me about food for who knows how long."
Evan sits down next to me rather close...
I ever-so-slightly turn to look at him. His eyes seemed to have light circles under them. Or it could have just been from the angle of the light shining down from the porch light. He did seem kind of tired though...Was he okay?
He shifts in his spot and looks down at the ground. I quickly look away before he catches me staring at him. I could feel my cheeks turning slightly pink. I felt like a school girl that had a crush on a guy but was trying to hide it. I mean I did have a giant crush on Evan but I wasn't exactly hiding it and I'm not a school girl.
"So where's Xavier and Jacob?" I ask to try to distract myself from Evan.
"The guy asked him to stay back for a second." Levi says.
"What guy?"
"The head guy...I never got his name...Evan, did he mention it?"
I look at Evan. He just shakes his head, continuing to look at the ground.
"Oh, that's weird. It was probably on a name plate or something on his desk and we just missed it." Levi continues.
My eyes remain on Evan. I nudge his arm. "Hey, you okay?"
"I'm fine." He murmurs.
I narrow my eyes. He didn't look fine. I might be misinterpreting things but he sits next to me like he wants to start talking but then he keeps the cold wall up in between us.
"Why did Xavier have to stay back?" Thia asks.
"Private conversation? I don't know. He just said to-"
Suddenly, Ty comes running towards us shouting, "I'm here! I'm here!"
I try to hold in my laughter as he frantically runs to get to us. When he finally arrives, he was out of breath and rested his hands on his knees.
"Okay let's here it, what did you break?" Thia questions.
Ty holds up one finger to signal he needed to break for a second. "I didn't break anything."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing."
"Zero?"
"Zip."
Still skeptical, Thia asks, "Then where did you go?"
"Um-you know, just around the town, explored the shops and houses and stuff."
"And stuff? What kind of stuff? There isn't much else here."
Ty scratches the back of his head. "Uh-well they have some pretty cool trees here too so I looked at them for a while too."
Trees? Something was going on.
Thia rolls her eyes. "I swear Ty, if you broke something-"
"I didn't, I promise!"
The door to the house opens and Xavier strolls out. I look for signs of distress or worry but he looked completely calm. I guess I had nothing to worry about.
"All good?" Thia asks him.
"Yeah. You guys can stay in a hotel in the west wing of the town. I would let you stay at my place but I don't think all of you will fit." Xavier says, slightly chuckling.
"I don't have money on me..." I say.
He waves his hand at me as if to brush off my statement. "Don't worry about it. I got connections."
"We'll stay in partners but that will mean someone is going to have to stay on their own." Thia says.
"I can fit one person at my house." Xavier adds.
Ty steps forward. "I'll go with Xavier. You guys can go to the hotel."
I wasn't sure if something was up with him or he just wanted to get away from Thia's questioning...or both.
Thia slings an arm around my shoulders. "Girls in one room. Boys in another."
Good. That would be awkward if I was alone with Levi or Evan...especially Evan since he's not talking to me.
"Then it's all settled. Shall we go?" Xavier asks.
Thia removes her arm from around my shoulder and we stand up. Evan slowly gets to his feet as we start to walk. Something was definitely wrong with him.
We start out walk down the empty dirt road leading away from the house. I wonder what they actually talked about inside there.
We make it to the center of the city and turn down the right path. At first I was confused because I thought Xavier said the hotel was in the west wing of the town. Then I remembered that we were walking in the west direction from the perspective of facing the giant house.
I quickly caught a glimpse of a building much taller than the rest and could only assume that was our destination.
I glance backwards and see Evan lagging behind us. Thia followed my gaze and asks, "Something the matter between you two?"
I shrug. "He hasn't talked to me in a while and it seems like something is bugging him."
She tilts her head at me before stopping in her tracks and waiting for Evan. Good luck, he won't tell her anything either.
We reach the hotel and Xavier was the first to walk inside. I follow him in and look behind me to see Evan and Thia had remained outside. Was he actually talking to her?
Thia's POV
"We need to talk." I say and make Evan stay farther behind the rest of the group.
He seemed reluctant but stays back with me.
"What's going on with you? Why are you acting so distant?" I question.
He shrugs.
I cross my arms in front of my chest. "Come on. Out with it."
He kicks at the dirt on the ground. "I'm fine."
I sigh loudly. "Did something happen with Kara?"
He looks up when I say her name. I raise my eyebrows at him.
"No, nothing happened." He replies.
I smirk. "Good 'cause your going to be staying with her tonight."
His eyes widen. "What? But-"
"No. Your going to talk and make things better between you too. You're being so cold, I could probably get frostbite just by touching you. So you talk it out with Kara and I'll stay with Levi."
Evan was trying to keep his expression neutral but I could tell he was fighting off a smile.
"Oh, but you better keep it in your pants or there will be severe consequences." I warn.
Blood rushes to his cheeks and turns them as red as a rose. I laugh.
Kara's POV
Thia is laughing with Evan. So they were talking? Why was he talking to Thia and not me? Ouch.
"Thank you." I hear Xavier say.
I turn around to see him taking two sets of keys from the lady behind the reception desk. Ty stood leaning against the desk as Xavier walked over to us. He hands one key to Levi and the other to me.
"Don't worry about the price. They owe me some favors and I simply cashed them in." He explains.
"Thank you, Xavier." I smile.
He smiles back. "You guys should get some sleep. It was a long day of traveling."
"Okay, I'll head up if you just tell Thia and Evan which room numbers we are so they know where to go." I say.
"Sure thing."
"Okay, night."
My room key said:
2 Room42
Did that mean floor two room 42? I guess it's worth a shot.
Luckily, I only have to climb one flight of stairs before I reach the second floor. Levi was right behind me the whole time but doesn't say anything, not like there was much to talk about. I didn't really want to talk about what went on in that house because, frankly, I didn't care that much.
Room 42 was towards the back of the hallway. Levi's room was right across the hallway from mine so we were all going to be close to each other.
I unlock the door and step inside. It had that clean, hotel room smell. Two queen beds took up the majority of the space in the room with a nightstand and lamp in between them. A TV sat directly across from them in case someone wanted to watch TV in bed. The bathroom was to the left of the door and the closet was to the right. A window took up the entire wall straight ahead of me with the curtains closed.
I turn the lamp on and flop down on the bed. As soon as I lay down, there was a knock at the door. Groaning, I get up once again and walk over to the door. Thia needs to learn to time things better.
I open the door and there stood Evan.
I momentarily freeze before finding my voice again. "Yes?"
"Thia said she was going to stay with Levi tonight so I'm staying with you."
I was both happy and mad about that. I wanted to be around Evan but he was giving me the cold shoulder so this won't be good tonight.
I step aside and let him into the room. I see Thia standing there in the hallway and I stick my tongue out at her. She mouths, 'you're welcome' to me and I glare at her before closing the door.
Evan was already sprawled out on one of the beds with his eyes closed.
"Shouldn't you at least take your shoes off before you get comfortable?" I ask.
"Nah."
I stroll over to the other unoccupied bed and sit on the edge of it. I begin to pull my shoes off as I continue, "Do you want to turn the TV on?"
"No."
Once I finished taking off my shoes, I just sit there. You could feel the awkward tension in the air. I couldn't take it anymore. I have to say what's on my mind.
"We have to talk." I state and stand right next to him.
He opens his eyes and sits up. "About what?"
"You know damn well what. You've been sending me mixed signals and I'm sick of it. You act like you're so close to me but at the same time, give me the cold shoulder. What's this about?"
"You wanna know what this is about?!" Evan suddenly yells and stands up. He was definitely taller than me but I hold my ground. "You. It's you. You make me do and feel things I shouldn't. I was taught all my life to keep to myself and don't let anyone get personal. Less people get hurt that way, including me. Then you come along and I let my guard down. I want to get to know you but I can't. I can't let you get hurt so I have to keep my distance."
"But don't you get it? You're hurting me by keeping me away!" I yell back. "What's the worst that could happen if you just talk to me? I don't expect you to spill your deepest, darkest secrets but I expect some communication. You can't keep this thing up where you tell me you love me then act like you hate me and never want to see me."
He steps closer to me and continues to yell, "Maybe I do love you! Maybe I'm just afraid of falling!"
"Maybe I love you too and will help you up if you fall!"
"Maybe I want to kiss you too!"
"Then what's stopping you!"
Our lips immediately collide. My arms go around his neck and he wraps his arms around my waist, slightly picking me up. After letting this go on for a couple seconds, I pull away but keep my forehead resting against his.
I whisper, "Talk to me, okay? I can't continue getting ignored by you like this."
"Okay."
He tries to return his lips to mine but I stay back and put a finger on his bottom lip to stop him.
"Promise?" I ask.
"Promise."
I smile. "Okay."
Evan greedily pulls me back to him for another passionate kiss. I run my fingers through his hair at the back of his head.
I missed him. Even though he never left, it felt like he had closed himself off even more recently. Now, I have him back and I won't let him go again.