fingers between mine, holding my hand in his.
His eyes darted to the side. We were standing in front of the
Aquarium.
“ We’ve never been in
there,” I said. I could see the shadows of people through the glass
lounging in the pools.
“ Didn’t Iris mention
something about Caves?”
“ Maybe,” I said smiling
nervously.
“ Let’s go!”
“ I don’t know—”, I
started.
“ Be brave,” he said
challenging me.
“ Do we even know how to
swim?”
“ I feel like we do. Plus,
the water will refresh us from all the workouts this
week.”
I looked at his face. He was grinning and
excited. Those emotions were giving him a boyish rugged charm that
I found myself unable to resist.
“ Okay,” I said, nodding in
agreement.
10: KEEGAN
I led the way, still holding her hand. The
glass doors moved silently apart as we neared them. The word
aquarium brought up a First-Plane image of a tank with fish but
this was just endless amounts of blue-teal water. I imagined it was
probably one big deep pool with various built in levels holding
shallow amount of water.
We walked along the curving path between the
different still-watered pools. Various Auras were socializing with
each other. Drinking water out of long stemmed calla lily shaped
glasses. I smiled ironically at the sight, knowing it was water and
not some type liquor they were drinking like it would have been in
First-Plane. This was the Second-Plane equivalent to a bar.
I recognized a pair of them: Ajani and Bem.
They were seated together. Ajani was faced slightly away from us,
intensely talking to Bem.
“ Hello,” Sariah said
greeting them first.
“ Hey! Out on a date?” Bem
teased. Ajani had been looking at Sariah but as Bem’s joke washed
over him he shifted his gaze to mine before staring blanking
away.
I didn’t have to be a genius to know that he
was infatuated with Sariah. I wondered irritated how far he would
try to take it.
“ Do venku date? It was my
understanding that getting laid with your venku was a sure thing,”
I said. Sariah’s gasp at my bluntness made me smiled.
And who are you
show-boating for? She thought to me. I
smiled at her First-Plane slang.
“ We thought we’d check out
the caves,” Sariah explained.
“ Sounds like you and
Sariah have gotten adjusted rather quickly.”
“ It’s an easy thing to get
adjusted too,” I said. “Anyway, we’re headed to the caves. Either
of you know how to get to them?”
“ The caves!” exclaimed
Bem. “How romantic. I haven’t been there in a long time.” She added
wistfully.
“ On the other side of the
aquarium is a large pool labeled, ‘CAVES’,” said Ajani directly to
me.
“ You’ll have to dive and
you’ll probably want to change into the water-suits, there’s some
gear over there for you to use too.”
“ Thanks, we’ll figure it
out,” Sariah said taking charge. We were still holding hands and I
felt a tug as she began to walk away.
“ Tired of socializing?” I
asked.
“ Nope, just of you
provoking Ajani. He already doesn’t like us and you’re making it
worse.”
“ Not us, just me ,” I
corrected.
“ Not like it would
matter,” she mumbled to herself.
I froze. “What do you mean? Do you like
him?”
“ I haven’t really thought
about it. Either way, there wouldn’t be a choice if I
did.”
“ You always have a
choice,” I said back, my tone very adamant. I was trying not to
sound too thrown by her words. But I was. I’d never be satisfied
with her being with me just because she thought it was some
unavoidable pre-made decision. My feelings on that topic weren’t
going to change.
I felt her eyes on me but
I didn’t look at her. I didn’t want her to know how deeply my
feelings were beginning to be; especially if she was on the fence
about us . If she
saw my face right now, she’d read me like book. To avoid that until
I was ready, I took it back to a level we were both comfortable
with—playful.
“ I see
His eyes darted to the side. We were standing in front of the
Aquarium.
“ We’ve never been in
there,” I said. I could see the shadows of people through the glass
lounging in the pools.
“ Didn’t Iris mention
something about Caves?”
“ Maybe,” I said smiling
nervously.
“ Let’s go!”
“ I don’t know—”, I
started.
“ Be brave,” he said
challenging me.
“ Do we even know how to
swim?”
“ I feel like we do. Plus,
the water will refresh us from all the workouts this
week.”
I looked at his face. He was grinning and
excited. Those emotions were giving him a boyish rugged charm that
I found myself unable to resist.
“ Okay,” I said, nodding in
agreement.
10: KEEGAN
I led the way, still holding her hand. The
glass doors moved silently apart as we neared them. The word
aquarium brought up a First-Plane image of a tank with fish but
this was just endless amounts of blue-teal water. I imagined it was
probably one big deep pool with various built in levels holding
shallow amount of water.
We walked along the curving path between the
different still-watered pools. Various Auras were socializing with
each other. Drinking water out of long stemmed calla lily shaped
glasses. I smiled ironically at the sight, knowing it was water and
not some type liquor they were drinking like it would have been in
First-Plane. This was the Second-Plane equivalent to a bar.
I recognized a pair of them: Ajani and Bem.
They were seated together. Ajani was faced slightly away from us,
intensely talking to Bem.
“ Hello,” Sariah said
greeting them first.
“ Hey! Out on a date?” Bem
teased. Ajani had been looking at Sariah but as Bem’s joke washed
over him he shifted his gaze to mine before staring blanking
away.
I didn’t have to be a genius to know that he
was infatuated with Sariah. I wondered irritated how far he would
try to take it.
“ Do venku date? It was my
understanding that getting laid with your venku was a sure thing,”
I said. Sariah’s gasp at my bluntness made me smiled.
And who are you
show-boating for? She thought to me. I
smiled at her First-Plane slang.
“ We thought we’d check out
the caves,” Sariah explained.
“ Sounds like you and
Sariah have gotten adjusted rather quickly.”
“ It’s an easy thing to get
adjusted too,” I said. “Anyway, we’re headed to the caves. Either
of you know how to get to them?”
“ The caves!” exclaimed
Bem. “How romantic. I haven’t been there in a long time.” She added
wistfully.
“ On the other side of the
aquarium is a large pool labeled, ‘CAVES’,” said Ajani directly to
me.
“ You’ll have to dive and
you’ll probably want to change into the water-suits, there’s some
gear over there for you to use too.”
“ Thanks, we’ll figure it
out,” Sariah said taking charge. We were still holding hands and I
felt a tug as she began to walk away.
“ Tired of socializing?” I
asked.
“ Nope, just of you
provoking Ajani. He already doesn’t like us and you’re making it
worse.”
“ Not us, just me ,” I
corrected.
“ Not like it would
matter,” she mumbled to herself.
I froze. “What do you mean? Do you like
him?”
“ I haven’t really thought
about it. Either way, there wouldn’t be a choice if I
did.”
“ You always have a
choice,” I said back, my tone very adamant. I was trying not to
sound too thrown by her words. But I was. I’d never be satisfied
with her being with me just because she thought it was some
unavoidable pre-made decision. My feelings on that topic weren’t
going to change.
I felt her eyes on me but
I didn’t look at her. I didn’t want her to know how deeply my
feelings were beginning to be; especially if she was on the fence
about us . If she
saw my face right now, she’d read me like book. To avoid that until
I was ready, I took it back to a level we were both comfortable
with—playful.
“ I see
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