“What day is it?” I asked as Cyrus showed me how to melt down the cheese.
It was harder than you’d think.
Beforehand, I had figured you only had to plop a chunk into a hot pot and wait until it melted. But it seemed that just like everything else, cheese burned.
Instead, you had to do something called “double boiling”. Double boiling is when you put water in a pot, boil it, and then stick another pot with whatever you want to melt into the second pot. Cyrus added some olive oil to the bottom of the pan for some reason, and in no time, we had a pot full of creamy cheese.
“Um, well we got here on a Wednesday… so that makes today Friday.” he informed.
I had yet to tell Cyrus about my brother. I didn’t know how I would bring it up, or how to explain anything to him.
“Why do you ask?”
Now was as good as a time as ever.
“We’ll be having a guest tomorrow.” I said shyly.
“Oh.”
His reaction surprised me. Together, we brought the pot of previously cooked pasta over, and poured the smaller pot of cheese into it. Cyrus cut off a chunk of butter and stirred it in. After doing most of it, he allowed me to take the wooden ladle and begin to stir.
“It is my brother. On the way here, I saw him. He kind of invited himself.” I said, with a tone of apology in my voice.
“Well that’s good to hear. I’m glad you’ve reinstated old relationships, Aspen.”
A very subconscious part of me was trying to detect any sarcasm in his voice, and when there was none, I was pleasantly surprised.
“He was my best friend when I was little. I haven’t seen him since I was nine.” I began to babble. “He looks so… old. Like a man.”
I felt like I was talking to myself, but Cyrus chimed in. “That’s what happens after six years.”
We laughed at his comment before pulling two bowls from one of the upper cabinets, and serving ourselves our favorite dish; mac-n-cheese.
We sat at the overly large dinner table and began to consume our lunch.
“Have you looked at your schedule yet?” Cyrus asked.
I shook my head, unable to reply, for my mouth was full.
“Well I took a look at it this morning and starting on Monday we’re supposed to undergo some sort of bonding activities.” he laughed to himself, and once my mouth was empty, I scoffed as well.
“Don’t they think these insane Journeys are enough?” I mocked.
Cyrus shrugged. “Obviously not.”
We fell into silence as we ate again, but Cyrus broke it rather quickly. “Speaking of, have you brushed up on that dumb packet at all?”
I shook my head once more.
“Me neither. Maybe on Sunday we can be study buddies.”
“Most definitely.” I pledged.
Over the course of the past few days, I had made a horrible habit of staring blankly into Cyrus’s eyes. It was almost hypnotic; once you started looking at them, you didn’t want to look away. Ever.
So, I continued to stare into them, not even finishing my mac-n-cheese.
Cyrus, who had begun to stop questioning it, took my bowl to the sink to wash it.
As soon as his presence was missing, I immediately snapped out of my daze and stood from the table to help him. I crossed the dining room and into the kitchen.
There, Cyrus was leaning over the sink, and washing dishes. In his deep concentration, he bit his lip, which I found slightly alluring.
“Do you need help?”
He shook his head.
Thinking about it, Cyrus and I hadn’t kissed since that night on the balcony. We still cuddled at night, we still did everything as usual; was something wrong?
Wasn’t this break time kind of the equivalent to the Pre-Landies’ honeymoons? Shouldn’t our lips be locked every waking moment?
As much as I’d liked that to be true, I knew that there were bigger concerns. Like the test we’d have to take, the covering of our Infracting footsteps, and especially the fact that my brother would be visiting the following day.
So, instead of pressing my lips against Cyrus’s and making out in the kitchen, I made my way to our room to dress myself.
I found it comical the way they organized everything. One drawer was summer clothes, one drawer was winter, one fall, and one spring. Each one had appropriate attire for each season. Whereas, before the Society, you just had to make do with that the fact that you’d either be sweating your butt off, or freezing to death.
I didn’t know why I was changing, or putting my shoes on at first.
It wasn’t until Cyrus asked me that I knew.
Walking out in my new blood red tennis shoes and red coat and red pants, I watched Cyrus as he exited the kitchen.
“Where you going?” he asked.
“To find HQ’s main building.” I said, finally becoming sure of myself. “Wanna come with?”
Eagerly, Cyrus nodded his head. His avidness made me smile, and I waited as he changed as well.
I didn’t know why I wanted to find HQ, I just know that it felt right to me.
It’s always good to know the enemy better than they know you.
So we set out into the Society not having the vaguest idea of where we would find our destination, just that we’d find it eventually.
We didn’t ride bikes. The roadways were scary once you thought about actually riding on them.
There seemed to be no order; nobody chastised those who broke road rules. People crossed the street when the lights told them not to; they even would ride around people through the opposing lanes. Wipeouts seemed to be a usual thing.
Walking was slower, but walking was safer.
The more I thought, the more I wondered about why HQ hasn’t cracked down on these roads. Wasn’t the Society supposed to be perfect in every way? Even in the roads?
If I had never met Cyrus, my HQ-wired brain wouldn’t have ever wondered so deeply, but now that my brain had been de-bugged; I was free to ponder.
HQ was more flawed than I had ever thought before.
Cyrus and I walked hand in hand; the first contact since the kiss, really.
But instead of questioning the contact, I embraced it with delight. I used my free hand to rub myself, in hopes of getting warmer, but to no avail.
With a spring in my step, I walked on anyways. Walking still seemed so new and gratifying to me that I just couldn’t get enough of it. I would never take my legs for granted again.
Cyrus and I had just passed building thirty, and we decided to take a left. We crossed the street as carefully as possible, and ended up on the other side of the road, trekking further into town.
We figured HQ would be located in the dead center.
We were right.
Upon locating the middle of the Society, we came across a grand building with marble pillars and an amount of stairs that seemed like a nuisance. Engraved in a grand typeset, were the words “Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.” On either side of the building, the sun and the moon were represented by elaborate paintings, which seemed almost sardonic to HQ’s rigidly monotonous ways.
As much as I wanted to charge the doors, run inside and scream at the monsters, I knew that was out of the question.
So instead, Cyrus and I stood there like the rest of the citizens who had gathered. We gawked at the building as if it were a statue of a god, and then left without another word about it.
The enemy had been targeted.