Jᴀɴᴜᴀʀʏ 31, 2024
"Alexa, have you unpacked your packages yet?" Petro asks, clicking annoyingly on the end of his pen. The drowsy girl yawns, shaking her head. He laughs dryly, "Nevermind, I forgot you were busy last night." Her face immediately alights with red as he looks at her pointedly, "You were very loud, child."
"We're just experimenting!" she exclaims, trying to explain quickly, her usually chill tone of voice becomes decibels higher. "I'm a teen. You taught us about hormones. Those hormones. You are correct."
"I know." Petro smirks at her embarrassment, before noticing how she just literally stated that she disregarded his lessons about sexual hormones, until now. "Excuse me? You think what I teach is a fraud?" He's truly offended.
"Well..." She giggles at his face, "...this is a school for assassin's. We fight, I—"
He clears his throat abruptly, "I have a degree in English, Mathematics and most of the Sciences. Don't belittle my skills, child. You wound me and my PhD."
"I'm sorry. I apologize." She tells him repeatedly, twice, but the laughter that bubbles past her lips says otherwise.
For Petro, making her laugh feels good and he wants to continue to make her happy, like this...on his own...by his own efforts. He wants to give her what he forgot to give his daughter, while also turning her into his daughter and he'll need her to need him for his ideas of fatherhood to come alive. All these dreams...these delusional thoughts...
Everything would be so perfect, without the blind kid in the picture.
"Go open your stuff and do whatever. Just be there for class later." He states and she nods, getting ready to leave.
"Use protection." Petro adds without looking up.
She spins so fast she almost topples over her own feet, shouting, "We're not having sex!"
---
Fast forward to their class this day. Phillipeño doesn't hold back on his heightened affection for Alexa. He touches her whenever he can, smiling and being a tease with his words. However, she keeps brushing him off, not liking that everyone keeps glancing at them. She was already in the spotlight for her skills in fighting, she doesn't want to be spoken about for any other reason.
"Stop staring at me!" She bites out in a whisper, standing a feet away from him.
He shrugs, pursing his lips. "I'm blind."
"Right." She coughs into her hand and he chuckles, before she trugdes away at the yell of her name.
Her sweet smile slips; she roll her shoulders and shake her legs, loosening up her joints for the called match. Her opponent, a tall, freckled face redhead, stretches while approaching the mat, eyes hard.
The fight begins. He attacks first, something she's always glad for. Light on her feet, Alexa dodge his punches effortlessly, also making openings for him to learn and adjust his pattern. The spar is the same as all she's been through. It's going well, until Katya rushes by the studio in a blur.
Petro snaps at Alexa to focus, but before anyone can blink, she's racing out of the room after her friend. She stops in the hallway, panting, eyes flicking everywhere for signs of Katya Sharpe.
None. She just disappeared.
Like a ghost.