"Miss Edina? Thank god you are finally here", I said this with a happy tone and closed my book.
"Of course, I am because you called for me", she spoke softly while looking at Dayligh who was sitting on the couch in a daze.
Miss Edina observed the room thoroughly and her gaze stopped at the books.
"But we didn't call for you Miss Edina?" I asked tilting my head in curiosity.
"Not you but he did," she pointed towards Dayligh.
"I...I did?" he sat there fascinated and looked at me with a troubled expression.
Dayligh remained quiet for some time but then blurted the words out, "Wait! Is it due to telepathy? Woah! Is telepathy possible on this planet?" he shouted out excitedly while springing up from his position.
"What is he talking about?" she asked me.
I shrugged my shoulders.
"We may be advanced species than yours but I'm afraid we have not reached that far yet," she then continued, "it's because of your collar. There are certain functions that are related to your collar. If you caress it slightly in an upward and downward motion, you can summon me." She then halted for some time and observed our reactions. Maybe she was expecting us to laugh. But we remained silent.
Her expressionless face remained the same. "When you double-tap it on the left side, you can see your vitals. Try it," she waited for us to try it.
Dayligh and I followed her instructions and suddenly a hologram screen popped out in front of us. She was right, it showed our vitals and fortunately, we both were in good condition. "There are more functions to this collar but I want you to find them out yourselves. For now, read those books, they will get you a proper insight into how things work on this planet" her tone was strict.
"But we don't have any TV or wifi and my body needs exercise, I want to practice basketball so badly. Is there any way we could go out by any chance?"
"Go out? where? If you mean visiting the neighboring capsule then sure let's pay our neighbors a visit but apart from that, you are not allowed to roam freely," she glares as she turns around to return. "Your identity is not something to be revealed. There are people who are constantly on the hunt for male members so I suggest you stay inside until any further action. You boys are naive and being naive is gonna drag you down. Just bear with it for a few more days and then you will be called by her. And before that, I hope you don't incur any problems. Realize your strengths and weaknesses yourself as you have to present yourself on your own that day. Adjust yourself for living in this place by adapting to its pace, also this collar is much more than you think," she left while the escalator closed and made her disappear.
"Wh..what? Why is she always conveying incomplete messages? If you summoned her then she ought to listen to our queries too."
"Talking to her feels like a shirt buttoned up in the wrong order. By the time you arrange it right, the moment to talk is gone" were the words spoken by my athletic companion.
"Woah! That's deep Dayligh. It was really amazing coming from you", I chuckled.
"Well, I read it in the book just now. But wait what do you mean by coming from me. Do I look like the type who just goofs around and knows nothing?" he glared at me.
I just stared at him with a straight face so that he gets his answer.
"Alright! Alright! I get it," he ruffled his hair and walked towards the kitchen.
"The world doesn't want to see what you really look like. It's why we only imitate what others do by following the rules to a certain point and not wasting our time. We put on a mask upon a mask we are already wearing and try ever so hard to keep our true selves hidden," his voice sounded cold and distant. But he turned around and smirked, "few more lines I remember from the book" and then he continued making the meal.
I stood up and picked the book he was reading. I stared at his back for some time and felt a lonely person without any aim, just going with the flow. The title of the book read poems for children and he probably took it out just to look at the pictures but no children book has sentences as deep as his talk.
Once again why is this person making me contemplate in a new light? I was holding onto my opinion for him so firmly. And I am at a stage where I don't want to change it in any way possible. But his talks make me question my own judgment.
Anyways right now I am more concerned about the thing Miss Edina told us about. The whole talk about the strengths and weaknesses. What was she actually trying to convey? But this means that I only have a few days left and there are many books to read. I barely know about our situation at present and if I take her message seriously then I have to hurry and acquire as much information as I can.
By the time I was engrossed in my thoughts, Dayligh had already prepared the lunch. I felt bad for not helping him. "I will clean up the rest after this," I told him while he almost finished setting the table.
"Alright! But I don't mind doing it since you are devoted to your books and maybe it will be best for us if you could figure out our situation soon," he politely told me as we both sat for dinner.
"You know I was thinking this through and came to the conclusion that maybe they deliberately are keeping us in dark," he took a bite of his food and continued, "maybe they want us to acquire knowledge by ourselves. And did you notice her talk today, she said that we are too naive? Don't you think she was trying to warn us of something?"
He then continued eating and waited for my response. For some time I did not speak and so he broke the silence. "Um, well I think that only I am the one thinking like this. My bad! wanna talk about something else," he then changed the topic and started talking about one of his basketball tournaments.
He really misses basketball, I guess, but more importantly, he was thinking about the exact same thing as me. Here I am always hesitant to talk first about the things I feel, but he is completely different and is much more confident in himself. But I am also not at fault here, I was always surrounded by people who were least interested in my talks and so my habit of keeping things to myself matured. It takes courage to open up and face reality.
Also, right now, it almost feels like I am having a sweet dream. I dream of living with the person I like, no nosy neighbors, no people opposing same-sex relationships. This is the life that I dreamed of and right now I am a character of this dream. But only if I could keep on dreaming because in a dream even if you die, you end up not dying in real life.
"Is something on your mind?" the person who I imagined to be a part of this dream interrupted my sudden thoughts.
"Um, just thinking about the positives of our situation," I spoke in a shy tone and continued eating.
"Well, did you find any then? he asked in a soft tone.
His sudden question made me startle and there I sat wondering what to answer. "Yeah! we became friends if not for our situation then who would have thought of even talking to each other", I giggled awkwardly.
"You wanted to become my friend that bad, well I am obliged," he chuckled softly. "But I guess you are right, I somehow feel comfortable around you as compared to the other people that used to surround me," he took a sip of juice.
"Really! well, that makes me happy. Umm, well...haha...yeah I feel delighted," I stuttered and waited for some time because of the embarrassment.
Dayligh acknowledged me as his friend, it is more than I desired for but listening to the kind words makes my heart flutter.
.
.
I remember crying in a park under the resting place on a rainy day when a random teenager sat beside me for shelter. She observed me for some time and then said those comforting words. "I don't know why you are crying sir but if it is because someone hurt you with their words then just remember one thing, If a person says awful things to you then maybe they are hurting inside too. So, do not take it to heart." Hearing those words was comforting enough for me to stop crying and hearing such kind words again today by this very true friend I made today is also comforting.
It is not always easy to make amends and restore trust but it is also not impossible. Let the other party take time and soon they will definitely open up somehow applies perfectly to Dayligh. I may not know the ulterior motives of the owner of this place but I definitely want to trust our newly formed friendship and trust each other.
tO bE cOnTiNuEd.....
Sneak peek at the next chapter....
My breathing became abrupt and my cheeks flushed and before I knew it, I was already on top of him. I wasn't sure if he was sleep talking or everything he was doing was intentional but my body was not normal and not obeying me. There was nothing holding me back but my body was reluctant to obey and soon the horror happened. Dayligh woke up and at that moment I sincerely hoped all of this to be a dream.