You may be confused. Trust me, I was too.
My whole consciousness grew heavy. I felt hard concrete on my back. Someone was shaking me awake.
'Where was I?' I thought, my mind still in a fog. I felt like I was in a dream. An alien, yet comforting force was slowly aiding me down the empty space I was in. There wasn't any sound, but I could still hear the lulling murmurs from all around me. I wanted to let it take me, but something kept pulling me back.
The hands on my shoulders suddenly ceased and an agonized voice was heard, masking the sweet lullabies in my head.
"Wake up, stupid."
It was those words that made me realize I had to do something. I peeled my eyes open, finding the simple action to be incredibly taxing on my weary body. I looked up. I never realized how beautiful the Earth's sky could be until that moment. The stunning blue. The ever-fleeting wisps of white clouds. The avian creatures that flew upon its embrace.
Jesta kneeled beside me, and it was the first time I have ever seen my friend cry.
"… What happened?" I forced the question out, barely managing to pry myself from the ground. I could barely maintain my sitting position. I looked around me and saw I was still by the same road. There was commotion everywhere. The truck that I thought would surely hit me was a few meters away from our sidewalk, on the other lane. It had hit a small, passenger car, easily flattening the vehicle halfway through its body. I don't think the persons in the smaller car could have survived the crash, and I didn't bother to look.
Jesta didn't answer my question. Or it would be more accurate to say that she couldn't. She was hiding her tearful and snot-covered face with her hands. Her body was shaking, and for the life of me, I didn't see the strongheaded and eccentric girl that I knew at that moment.
I was just about to gently ask her again when I suddenly remembered what I had tried to do. I was saving a man from killing himself.
Looking around frantically, I was expecting to see a sprawled out body near the accident. I forced myself to stand up, all my muscles screaming in agony. I was about to head out towards the scene when I heard a quiet whimper from behind me.
He was there. Mud-stained clothes and a rat-nest of a head, but very much alive. He seemed to have fallen over. His crusted eyes grew wide when he saw me, then he looked towards the accident. He whimpered and panted, tears forming on his eyes. He scrambled backwards, utterly terrified that I would point him out.
Fear. Shame. Regret.
I felt those from him. I was relieved. It was better that way: a person who was filled with painful emotions. "At least he was alive," I muttered to myself, watching his frantically running figure as it grew smaller in the distance. I silently wished him good luck.
I don't know how long I stood there, now staring at nothing, when I felt a hand on my back. "Jesta," I called to the girl quietly.
She looked at me with a sad expression, her eyes still red from her earlier bout of weeping. Her back was straight and she already had her usual strong aura; the same aura that made me depend on her. However, her voice still cracked when she told me, "You almost die-"
I didn't let her finish, because there was a question that was bothering me ever since I had woken up.
"Where's Zero?" I asked her. No, not because I still felt the jealousy I felt from before. Not even because I was curious. I knew with a certainty I have never felt before that he was the one who had saved me. Everything from back then was blurry, but I knew that it was Zero who had lifted me up and brought me here, away from the speeding truck.
I don't know how it happened. No human being could ever move so fast.
But, still. I stared at Jesta with impatient eyes. I had to know what really happened.
I felt, rather than saw, the nervousness in my friend when she finally said, "I don't understand. Why are you looking for him?"
I glared at her when she continued to look away from me. "Jesta, he was just beside you," I complained to my uncooperative friend.
She looked me in the eyes right then, a look of worry on her face. "Yassi Anne, he wasn't there. What are you talking about? Are you feeling okay?"
~~
I was barely out of the train when my arm was grabbed by a familiar hand, this time decorated with pure black nail polish and rusted metal bangles.
"Sorry I'm late," I muttered, almost habitually now. I was careful not to bump into anyone in our haste.
"Bah!" Jesta shouted back, pushing through the crowd; tired people probably on their way home. "I made sure to come late this time. Don't ya worry."
By the time we were out of the underground station and into level ground, we were blasted with harsh winter winds. We hurried into the newly opened smoothie place on Central City Square. The door made a mechanical tinkling sound, much like a wind chime, when we opened it.
"Cute," I heard Jesta say, although she didn't look pleased at all. She looked pissed.
"It's getting cold," I observed, smiling.
"Thus my bad mood. I hate the cold. Thank god we don't get snow here in CC."
I only laughed in agreement. I still remember the knee high snow back at the orphanage. It always smelled so bad when it started to melt...
I looked around the shop once we found an empty seat. It was way past prime hours and it was already near closing time, but the shop still had a lot of customers.
"Well, they did advertise well," I muttered absentmindedly, staring at the pink and white theme of the interior. It was a utopia of cute things.
"I'll order. Just keep our seats," Jesta announced before I could even complain. She was already lined up before long, scanning through her phone as usual.
'I get free drinks again,' I thought, filled with mixed feelings. Ever since Jesta found out that I was an orphan and that I was basically living off from my own meager earnings, she stopped me from paying for things she invited me to buy.
Watch a movie with Jesta? Free tix.
New trendy stuff? I get a piece!
It wasn't so bad for me, and I hardly have the qualifications to say no. But, it did leave a bitter taste.
And, all this helped resurface some of my early questions about my friend.
I mean, we did first hang out together in a high class shopping mall of her choosing. I never got to ask what her parents' jobs were, but I've put two and two together and knew for a fact that they were extremely well-off.
Anyway, I don't feel so bad about being a charity case. As far as I know, I've always been one ever since the day I was born.
A thump sounded out as Jesta placed the drinks loudly on our table. She grinned.
"One Strawberry Sadness and a Kiwi Wee-wee!" she announced.
"... Don't tell me those are their actual names?"
"Pft. Nah. These are Jesta-approved smoothie names. So, from now on, we will call them just that!" she said, loud enough that a couple of eyes turned towards us in annoyance.
I bowed in apology, barely keeping in my laughter.
Then, I watched as she started mixing both flavors into an empty cup she brought out. This time, more eyes stared at her in disgust. Even I looked at the concoction with distrust.
"What the hell are you making?" I asked, peeking into it as she mixed the green and red together with a paper straw.
She smiled sweetly. "Christmas Special. The Sadness Wee-wee Combo."
I scrunched up my nose. "It won't even be Christmas 'til a month."
She raised a brow. "Close enough."
I only sighed in exasperation. Then, I remembered a proposition I was supposed to ask.
"Are you free tomorrow? Tanner and I are going to Serenity Mall for a Lit Club thing," I said, taking a cautious sip at the monstrous mixture.
"Pfftt!" I spat out the vile liquid back into the cup.
I was still coughing hard when Jesta groaned. She slumped down on the table, slamming her phone down beside her. "Ughhh... Sorry, Yas. I got something to do tomorrow..."
She looked away, her uncomfortable expression already familiar to me.
"Alpha Club stuff again?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
As I expectedly, Jesta nodded.
"About that..." I started, but she hurriedly held up a hand.
"Stop right there. I've told you again and again. Zero wasn't there on the accident."
I looked at her in disappointment.
"Come on, Yassi Anne. It's been days since then. I've already told so many times..."
Indeed, she did tell me that Zero was off doing something for the club that day. So, it wasn't even possible that he was there by the road. But, I still had my doubts. I kept seeing those green eyes in my dreams...
"Anyway, I can't go with you tomorrow. Besides, you'll be with your darling Tanner." Jesta smirked at me, taking a big gulp of her drink.
I rolled my eyes. "You really don't like him, huh?"
She hummed a bit. "Mmyeah. I don't know why. I just don't like that dude, probably 'cause he's a wimp."
I laughed a bit, taking sips of my unmixed drink.
It was already nearing midnight when we walked out the store. We were practically the last customers, which earned us a few glares from the last shift workers.
Jesta had parked her truck near the train station, so we walked towards it together.
Central City at midnight was quite mysterious and eerie. Sure, places like the Square and the other business areas were still full of people, but once you've passed through residential areas, you'll be greeted with silent and empty roads.
"For a highly populated city, CC definitely is too quiet." I found myself saying.
Jesta nodded silently. Even then, we were only quietly walking on the designated sidewalk, occasionally seeing the newly-installed police stands: small cubes that always had a police or two standing guard. 'A safety measure', the government called them. With the increase of crime and rising Vigilante activities, I could hardly complain, even though it did seem quite excessive.
I found Jesta glaring at the stand. She muttered, "Let's take a shortcut. I hate those things."
I raised my brows. I would've thought a girl like Jesta who cared a lot about the news would actually like the extra measures. But, then again, I've always secretly believed she was one of the Pro-Vigilantes.
We entered a narrow side-road. There were several shops around which were already closed for the day, but the street lights were quite bright so I didn't feel scared about walking through it. Besides, Jesta was with me, and she knew the streets of CC like the back of her hand.
Suddenly, the silence was broken abruptly when I heard glass breaking from the shop in front of us. Jesta and I looked at each other in shock. Before I could stop her, she cautiously stepped towards the sounds.
Then, men in black clothes blasted through the shop's doors.
"Hurry up!" one of them whispered urgently. "He said the police are coming!"
They were wearing white masks that covered their whole faces. All three of them were carrying bags which seemed to be fully packed...
Then, they saw us.
One of the men first saw Jesta, who was dangerously close to them. I was just a few meters behind her. I felt my knees start to shake, definitely not because of the cold.
"Who-" the man said, then he found me too. I found myself feeling breathless. Panic surged from my stomach, and I wanted to-
It happened so fast, I didn't even see it happen. By the time I could see clearly, the masked man was lying on the ground, with Jesta breathing heavily on top of him, her fist raised, ready to strike again.
"J-Jesta!" I screamed, looking at the two other men. One simply ran the other way, but the other stood still. He almost looked too composed.
Then, the man reached for something behind him�����
I was about to scream when sirens blared out. The man turned and dashed after the other one. Jesta, after being surprised by the sudden sound, was easily pushed off by the man under her.
Before long, the masked men were gone.
I let out a shaky breath, slowly inhaling and exhaling out of my frozen nose.
Jesta cursed, staring at the shop. Then, before my mind could even comprehend what had happened, she had grabbed my arm again and quickly brought me into a run.
'What the hell?' I thought while mindlessly pumping my legs. 'Why are we running?'
Yet, we ran and ran and ran.
We were heaving so hard by the time we arrived at the entrance of the train station.
Jesta cursed colorfully yet again. "... those freaking fakes."
I stared at my friend. Although it was abrupt, I was still thankful that she made us run away. I never did enjoy being interrogated by the police...
"... Thanks," I said, not really knowing why.
She huffed. "Yeah, sure, whatever..."
When I finally could breathe normally, Jesta had already said goodbye and was walking towards her parked car.
"Those were the Vigilantes, right?" I asked, not really knowing if she could still hear me.
She did hear, though. She slowly turned back towards me, before finally replying.
"... Probably. Whatever."
I frowned at her weird answer. I wasn't even close enough to observe her expression. She walked away, waving her hand at me without even looking back.
When I arrived home, I found myself thinking back at what had happened. I couldn't even move, yet Jesta didn't even hesitate to punch that guy...
Lying on my bed, I found myself laughing until tears had formed on the corner of my eyes.
I sighed. "Damn, so that really happened..."
I listened to my rapidly beating heart as I willed it to relax, finally allowing myself to sleep.