Secret Affinity

16

The news didn't mention the strange men and women in white suits. I couldn’t get the image of that jade-eyed man out of my mind. No agent ever frightened me as much as that man did.

In school, no one seemed to really care about the occurrence, and Crimson told me it had happened before. Officials of the Nightingale government came and left for no more than a few hours. I wasn’t big on politics or civics, but I knew two cities having different governments was certainly abnormal.

My calculus and biology teachers were absent today, replaced by substitute teachers. A lot of the junior students were also away, let alone the teachers. Flu season was coming up so I assumed they were sick. Even then, it was only students below the age of sixteen. I was being intricate with these details, but I had never seen this happen in any other school before.

On the topic of school, Nixon had used up almost every minute of biology class chatting with me. He asked questions that I had answers to, so it was easier to talk to him, but I think it was to make up for what happened during lunch last time.

Crimson and I talked in between classes, but not much during lunch and after school. I felt the distance grow between us. She, on the first day I met her, told me of the drama that went on in school. I couldn’t remember her exact words, but the more I thought about it, was she being distant because I had hung out with Nixon and his friends?

She was fine with me eating lunch in the cafeteria, but now, I was starting to think she didn’t care at all. Crimson was the type of person who was friendly when you needed her, and back-to-life-without-you when you didn’t need her.

Even if she wasn’t like that, I did want to make sure I wasn’t abandoning her. We hadn’t made time for each other, and I still didn’t get to help her on her assignment. I wanted us to be friends.

“You’re good at selecting clothes, right?” I asked her. We were having a small conversation about mitosis since she didn’t understand it that well.

“I think I’m pretty good,” Crimson said and propped her legs on her desk. “You need some help?”

“Can we go shopping someday maybe?” I said, trying to sound as casual as possible. The sub teacher tapped on Crimson’s desk, and she put her legs down with a snarl.

“Yeah, if I’m not busy.” Crimson put her elbow on my desk. “And don't ask me like I’m a stranger. I’ll take you when there’s a good sale.” I smiled and nodded. “By the way, weren’t you gonna help me with this assignment s**t?”

“She’s helping me first,” Nixon budded in. “She’s not available today, so you can wait in line.”

Crimson gave him a sarcastic grin. “Okay, asshole. I didn’t ask for your input.” Nixon frowned. “Ari, let me know when you can help out, because I’m f****d without you.”

After school, Nixon was coming over to my house so I could help him on his bio assignment. He had asked me earlier, but I found ways to divert the topic. Today, I felt too bad and agreed.

“You’ll have to show me the way,” Nixon said, smiling towards me as we exited school together.

A good portion of the girls we passed by stared at us with awed expressions. I didn’t know what was so awesome, but during this time I got to know Nixon and his friends, I noticed their popularity.

The girls gave me admiring looks, like I was a fashion model striding up a stage. I tried to ignore them by lowering my eyes and followed him to his car at the parking lot.

It was a red Bentley with sunlight bouncing off its pristine surface. A synthetic aroma filled my nose when I took a seat. I helped him with directions to reach my house. At first, he wanted me to come to his house, but I couldn’t go without Dad’s permission. Dad was fine only if I was the one inviting, or if it was someone he knew well.

We reached my house in record time, faster than when Crimson drove us here. Nixon looked around when we went inside, and I told him to wait in the living room.

“We’ll work down here,” I told him. “I’ll get you a drink if you want.” I had this intuition telling me not to take Nixon upstairs. I got a glass of juice for myself and Coke for him.

“Thanks,” he said, opening it. “We’re not going to your bedroom?”

“Uh, we’ll just work here,” I said. “Tell me if you need help. I can bring down my laptop.”

“No, I’m fine,” Nixon said. “Can I see your bedroom, though?” When he saw the expression on my face, he laughed. “I didn’t mean it in the way you’re thinking. I was curious, but sorry anyway.”

For the next hour, we talked more than he did his work. He had a younger sister named Lexia, and she also went to Juniper High. It was interesting to find out he worked at a recreational centre, as a life guard.

What interested me the most, was when he started talking about Nightingale. He used to live there a long time ago and moved to Brilliant Cove when he was twelve. His parents were rich and had connections, so they got away with it without having any problems with the NR evacuations.

I was careful when I told him about my move. I only included the fact we moved from Sunnywind, so I supposed it was acceptable for anyone to go to Brilliant Cove except the Nightingale citizens.

When it was time for me to go to work, I put away my backpack and got my shoulder bag. Nixon waited at the door when I fished out the house keys.

“I know where Bakery Town is. I can drop you off,” he offered.

“It’s alright. I have a ride,” I told him and closed the door behind us.

Nixon got in his car, and I headed towards the McCoys’ house. As I put my hand up to knock the door, the door whipped opened. Arian and I were both startled.

“You scared me,” I said, recoiling.

“Me?” Arian said and walked past me. Evin came outside to see what was going on and met us on the driveway.

“Hey, Ari!” Nixon called. He was reversing his car but climbed back up on my driveway. Evin, Arian, and I all looked over at him. “Arian’s your neighbour?”

“Yeah,” I said. Was it really that of a surprise? Evin, without sparing a moment, went up to Nixon’s car and smoothed a hand over it.

“Dude, is this a Bentley?” Evin asked him. Nixon stuck his head out with confusion.

“Yeah,” Nixon replied. “Who are you anyway?” When Nixon found out Evin was Arian’s brother, he was amused. “Wow, the Rainbow Family.”

Arian had already gotten his bike out. “Why is he on your driveway?” he asked me, ignoring Nixon.

“He needed help with his biology assignment,” I said. I couldn’t understand Arian’s expression.

Evin and Nixon were talking about the car for a while now, and I stood there watching them. They were like long lost friends. Arian was waiting on his bike impatiently.

“Can’t he do his assignment himself?” Arian complained from behind me. I asked him what the problem was. “I’m not waiting any longer for you.”

“I'm coming.” I headed towards the bike and Arian tightened the helmet for me. I could never figure out how to adjust the straps.

“Wait, Arian’s dropping you off at work?” Nixon said in surprise when he saw me getting on the bike.

“Um, yeah,” I replied. Again, not knowing what the big deal was. Before he could say anything else, Arian took off. “Hey!” I gasped, holding onto the back of his shirt. “Can you go a bit slower?”

“I always go this fast,” Arian said. I wanted to say he didn’t but knew arguing wouldn’t make a difference.

Instead, I closed the flap of the helmet so it shielded my eyes from the wind. It was busy on the streets, not with vehicles, but people walking. People in suits, casual dresses, and winter coats were all walking rather than driving in their cars.

Arian abruptly stopped when a pedestrian suddenly ran in front of the bike. He cursed, and it wasn’t any better for me since my helmet slammed against Arian’s back. Rather than hurting him, it hurt my head.

A few streets away, I caught site of those familiar cars again. All white. The white-suited people were inside the cars, driving in one direction from a closed-off road. We stopped at a red light, and I watched the cars drive past us.

“Those cars are the same ones we saw that day at DQ, right?” I asked Arian. We caught eyes in the side mirror. “And the people in white suits?”

“You don’t need to worry about that,” he answered. The bike moved again when the lights changed.

“What if another guy in a white suit comes to me?” I said over the wind. “You know, like last time.” I didn’t know if Arian heard me or not, but he didn’t answer.

We stopped in front of the bakery, and I got off with my bag. Taking the helmet off wasn’t as hard as putting it on, but it did take me a while.

Crimson wasn’t at the bakery when I went inside, so I put on my apron and carried on without her. She came a while later in Fabian’s car. She was pissed when she got out.

“Are you ok—” I began when she walked by.

“No,” she said. “God, he’s so annoying. He doesn’t have to be such a Mr. Nice Pants. I can get a ride from mom.” She stormed off into the room to change, and I waited at the counter in bewilderment.

Fabian got out of the car and came up to me, smiling as usual before ordering something.

“Croissant and coffee, please,” he said. I nodded and put it into the machine. Before I headed off to get his order, he stopped me. “Hey, is Crimson nice to you? Is she nice at school?”

“Crimson?” I said. “Yeah, she’s fun to hang out with. I mean, she can be overly dramatic at times, but that’s her personality.”

He nodded slowly. “I’m glad. She’s a very sweet girl when you understand her, huh?”

“Yeah…” I noticed he was a bit sad. “I know I probably shouldn’t be asking this, but, is everything okay with you and her?”

Fabian sighed. “I honestly don’t know. I can’t understand her no matter how hard I try. She hates me.” I felt sorrow seep into my body, and Fabian realized my change in mood. “Hey, it’s alright.” He smiled. “It’s not a big deal. I’m happy you’re friends.”

Crimson came back and saw us talking to each other. She took the bill and began making Fabian’s order. I knew one thing was for sure: Crimson didn’t hate Fabian. It was confusing because she acted as if she did.

“Did you hear about the party?” I asked Fabian. He nodded and told me it was one of the best parties there was for youthful citizens in the city. “Is Crimson going?”

“No,” Fabian said, but I could hear Crimson tell me ‘yes’ from the kitchen. “Arial, are you going?”

“I guess.” I shrugged. “My dad bought me a dress especially for it, so I guess I’ll go.”

“You’re going?” Crimson said, returning to the counter. I nodded. “Great. We can go together.”

“Together sounds fun,” Fabian said. “If Crimson has a friend to go with, it’s fine. I can drop both of you off.”

“You don’t need to,” Crimson told him sharply. “Go do your work and leave me and Ari alone. Here’s your order. Go away.”

“See you girls,” Fabian said, his smile remaining as he left towards his car. He never faltered in his emotions when Crimson was around. He held his ground, but that was sad in itself.

“Crimson, why don’t we let him drop us off?” I said to her. She shook her head stubbornly. “Come on, he’s your future stepfather. Can’t you get along?”

“There's no guarantee he'll be my stepfather,” Crimson said. “And someone like him, getting along with me? No way.”

“Then what about us?” I said, and finally she seemed to properly listen. “We’re completely different but we get along, right?”

She didn’t say anything for a long while or anything about Fabian anyway. Because she came late, she had to work overtime. I worked until Arian came to pick me up.

When I saw his bike stop a distance away, I went to go change and got the helmet. As I was heading towards the bike, Crimson called me.

“I’ll get Fabian to pick us up for the party!” she said, and I stopped, turning back. She looked away. “Only this one time. Because you’re there.”

“No, because you know you don’t hate him,” I said under my breath. “Bye!”

“Is your motorcycle stranger coming, too?” she asked, smirking at me. My smile dropped, and I looked at Arian. His hands went to his helmet straps, and he took it off. Crimson freaked. “Arian?!”

“Why’d you do that?” I said to him. He put his helmet back on and tugged on mine. “Hey—” He slid the helmet on my head and locked the straps.

“Ari, come back here!” Crimson shouted.

“She needs to shut up,” Arian said and started the bike. “Get on.”

“That made her talk even more,” I said, getting on the bike. Arian drove away, and I felt bad for leaving Crimson like that.

It was very quiet and peaceful that night. I hardly saw any cars, or people on the roads and sidewalks. The streetlights shone on the asphalt roads, and a blanket of stars filled the sky.

I loved doing this whenever we went home. I gazed up at the stars as the chilly wind brushed past us, watching an array of patterns forming between them. This was probably why Andy liked going on the bike.

The bike slowed down when we reached the house, but I was still in that trance of a steadily moving stargazer. Arian turned off the bike. I didn’t move, but he didn’t tell me get off either.

“I don’t think you should go to the party,” Arian said in the silence. Huh? He took off his helmet and brushed his hair out of the way.

“My dad wants me to go,” I said. “And I want to go with Crimson.” I began to take my own helmet off. “Are you going?”

“I have to.” He got off the bike. “But it’s a bad idea for you.” I asked him why. He took the helmet from my hands. “You don’t belong in something like that.”

“What?” I said in shock. “I don’t know if you’re actually worried about me, or if you’re just insulting me.”

Arian opened the garage door with a button on his bike. “I have nothing to say to that.”

“But I’m sure I’ll be okay.” It was more like reassuring myself. “Unless I’m prone to something bad at the party.”

“You’re prone to pretty much everything,” Arian told me, and I furrowed my brows. “Why am I arguing with you again?”

“This is not arguing,” I said.

“Get off my bike.” Arian held the handle, waiting for me to get out of his sight. Why did he always get so annoyed with me?

“Sorry.” I left the bike and went straight to my house. Closing the door behind me, I sighed and wondered. Whenever I talked to Arian, it never ended well. I hadn’t had one conversation with him where I felt satisfied or unhurt. Maybe I was being too sensitive.

In my bedroom, I checked my messages before going to bed. I got some from Dad, and one from Nixon. I didn’t expect that, but it was fun hanging out with you. What next?

I honestly didn’t know what he meant by saying that. Did he need more help, or was he asking for more surprises? Crimson could probably decode it if I showed her.

A faint barking made my eyes dart to the window. It had to be Butterscotch—I could recognize it anywhere. It had been so long since I petted him or even seen him. I pulled my blankets over my head and closed my eyes.

This time, though, I wasn’t going outside.