”Why of course I want to sit with you,silly. Now let me see...." Colette peered into the crowd and all Aya could do is watch her. Waiting patiently. She smiled to herself, happy that she had taken such a big step and asked her to sit with her at the feast this evening. At her old highschool, she would have never done that. Doing that would have been asking for rejection and if someone did manage to agree to her request they would be threatened and she would be left alone, feeling guilty, because that person was hurt because of her selfishness. Sometimes the loneliness was just too much to bare. Suddenly, Quinn started to quickly fly away.
"Quinn! Wait up!" Colette shouted after Quinn, gently holding Ayas arm and pulling her along. She blushed and hung her head low. Wow, was this really happening? She'd only dreamed of things like this, being a normal teenage girl, having friends....and then her dream shattered.
"Sorry,Quinn probably wants to see Razeth. They've become the best of friends." Colette apologized, probably hoping to make Aya feel better but it only resulted in her skin tone descending three shades lower. Razeth? Razeth? Razeth was.....was his......h-his....
"RILEY TOBIAS HARRIS, RILEY TOBIAS HARRIS,INCOMING, RILEY-" He was startled by then, and looked at her shocked. Aya glanced up.
"Don't say my middle name, it's embarrassing!" he reprimanded, and she giggled.
Riley.....
Their eyes met for a split second and she couldn't handle looking at him anymore. Worried her heart was going to jump out of her chest she hung her head once again. Already her breathing was quickened, and she could feel his menacing gaze penetrating the deepest reaches of her soul. Oh God...could he smell it? Could he smell her fear? What was he thinking? She gripped her Jumper, please dear Spirits, let a friend come and steal him away or Saga or Angel or Trista, SOMEONE show up and steal me away. She gulped, finding it terribly hard to breathe. She felt like those lung cancer patients shes read in books, their lungs filling up with water. Was he still looking at her? Should she look at him? Would he go away if she acted like she wasn't scared? If she spoke up? Curse all those years from lack of socialization.
"You look amazing,Colette." He complimented her and Aya was too busy admiring the beautiful floor to see Colettes reaction. Great, he was ignoring her. A.K.A. I don't care about you, go die. Flashes of horrible written messages on her desk crossed her mind. No Aya, Aya is over this. Aya is not upset. Aya is at a new school. Aya is safe.
"Thank you! Now I know this was a good decision. I mean,if three people say it." Colette sounded pleased, actually gleeful. Wait, were they in this together? Were both of them trying to humiliate her? No Aya, it's ok. Colette is not like that Aya. Be like Saga, relax. Breathe. They are just catching up. No one is planning to hurt you. She'd talked to Saga about Riley early in the morning the second day before heading out to train her. He'd told her she was worrying for nothing and that he was a great guy but Aya just couldn't let it go. What if he was wrong? No Aya, no one is going to hurt you. You have weapons. On your back. In your purse. You're ok.
"Y..y..you both look great, actually."
Oh my God, please don't kill me. Please don't kill me. What was he trying to get at? What was he thinking?
"Oh um I-I'm not really that great so um..." she blushed meeting his eyes, waving her hands in front of her in shock, confusion, and worry before staring at the floor again. WHAT DID THAT MEAN!? You BOTH look great? WHAT MESSAGE IS THAT? MOCKING!? I DON'T KNOW. Oh God, he's going to kill me. He is going to shove my face down a toilet or rip my dress, maybe even rape me. Spirits, spare me! Strike him down now with thunder, I will be most grateful.
"N..n..no, really, you look lovely." he said before coughing.
”Uuuum.” now she was nervous and scared. She didn't know what this meant, she couldn't read him like Hitomi. At least with Hitomi, she could read her like a book and knew when the torture was going, sometimes even guess what torture. Aya dug into her purse and popped some mint gum into her mouth.
Save me, Save me, Save me.
"Let's find somewhere to sit, shall we?" He offered Colette his arm. Colette looked up, coming back to reality.
"Oh yes, let's go!" Colette sounded excited and happy. Aya looked up, expecting to be left behind this time. Great..... However, Colette gently took Aya's arm again, and then slipped her other arm through the crook in Riley's arm, making a small train. Ok, actually, maybe being left behind wouldn't have been so bad.... Colette scoped the area out for a seat.
"Ooh,look Riley!" Colette nodded her head over to the window, where the northern lights were. Aya cringed at his name being spoken.
"How did they do that?" he asked, bewildered.
"Probably made someone move them. Oh, those bring back such good memories." She sighed happily, then turned to Aya. "Every year,a group of us would go to the most northern region of Cree, all the way up in Barrowood, to see the northern lights. We'd have, like, a picnic there but with hot chocolate and soups. Aren't they beautiful?" Aya nodded shyly. She was too scared to admire the lights. This was the closest she'd been to him since the first day. Colette looked around the room again, trying to formulate a plan. "It won't do to just roam around until we find someone we know."
"It won't? Riley asked.
"No, that's hardly a plan."
"Oh boy, one of Colette's plans again."Riley rolled his eyes. Colette narrowed her eyes and raised an eyebrow.
"Well, us eating alone isn't right, and neither is us aimlessly walking around forever, distracted by conversation, when one of us should be really scouting."
"Huh?" Riley verbalized Ayas confusion. She had an inkling where this was going, and she was not liking it.
Spirits, if you exist...please don't happen what I think will happen.
"Yes, and since it's pretty much given that I have a keener eyesight than you do, what with that whole incident last year with Matt's baby sister's birthday party..."
"Hey, who leaves a birthday cake on a recliner anyway?! Riley asked, a bit annoyed.
"I think it would be best for me to find Ash and Jay, and I'll tell you when I do."
"W..w...wait,” Riley and Aya said in unison, ”w.w.w...what!?" they said as Colette slipped out of their arms and started to walk off. Aya tried to speak.
”Um, I could-”
"You two stay right here and I'll call you, alright? C'mon Quinn." She grinned devilishly as she looked back at them.
…..
…...
She was so in on this. Aya rubbed the back of her neck nervously, chewing her gum lightly and biting her lip. Tilting her head to the side, she gazed to the side.
"W...wa.w..wait!" Riley shouted but was already gone. Why was he saying that? Who cares?
WHY SPIRITS WHY!? Is it because I ate my brothers pudding last summer and lied to him, saying he just forgot about eating it? Is it because of all those spiders I killed? I'M SORRY SPIDER GOD! I'm sorry, God, Spirit whatever.....
This was ridiculous, she was going insane...
He looked back at Aya, smiling evily. (To Aya it looks evil.)
"Sorry about her, she gets excited about completing tasks and stuff. Also, she's probably hungry." He said, why was he talking to her? Why was he being...she couldn't even describe it..this way. What was he aiming at?
”Whatever.” she said rather coldly.
What the hell Aya, are you trying to get yourself killed? Sound nicer, put on that stupid cute Asian smile everyone loves. Shove your fear in a box and pretend...
"This is a r..really...lavish dinner. D..D..Do you go a lot of these? I sometimes go to some Colette's family throws." he added.
”No, not like this.” she could feel her legs buckling in and grabbed a seat near the window under the Northern lights.
”I'm sitting down.” She set her purse down in front of her.
Talk about your culture Aya, you can talk about that normally. Show him no fear and he will leave you alone.
"In my culture, the feasts are nothing like this. It is full of drinking. Men and woman wear Kimonos or other dressy out-fits. It is more formal and the food is...different. While in your culture you are considered a kid, I am practically an adult." She faced out towards the crowd and brought her hand up to her biceps. Running her fingertips along her skin, she could feel the goosebumps. She started to tap her feet and rub her arms, she knew it. She knew this was going to happen. Stupid Brother. Stupid cold. She wished that he'd hurry up and arrive and give her his jacket since this is obviously his fault.