Chereads / Relar: Age of the Wind / Chapter 11 - Dancing The Line

Chapter 11 - Dancing The Line

Adonis had encountered a dilemma. Spending the night at Jonas' house was risky. She didn't want one of them accidentally walking in on her in the shower and seeing her nude. She had to make sure that didn't happen. Yes, she wanted to support Gregory, who had lost his brother, but she didn't want to expose her identity as a girl to her friends. The four friends sat on a couch facing the wall, which served as a large TV as they watched a movie about a boy who thought he was a ninja.

They would be watching Relar if a tsunami hadn't killed all the players. It was a great show. There was something exciting about watching people do things that seemed impossible at first glance. But she had learned that nothing was impossible in Relar, with careful planning and skilled movements, the top players could do anything including pulling a truck down a road with a rope. Chris was one of those people. He had topped the game's leaderboard, acing quest after quest, then a tsunami killed him.... Something felt wrong.

The players and NPs should have been warned about the tsunami and escorted off the island. Chris didn't deserve to die like that; he was a good, multitalented, cheerful guy. Adonis had liked him a lot. He had been her first crush.

In the past, he often smiled at her and gave her candy. She was old enough to know better, but she liked people that gave her gifts of any kind. She felt a strange emptiness as she thought about him. She had never wanted to play the game. She wasn't fearless, but she had believed in Chris. He was good at martial arts and running.

She had watched him take home many medals after winning events at his school's track and field day. His death shocked her. It shook her beliefs. Before his death, she had been sure he would survive until the very end, but now he was dead. Could someone explain to her how that made any sense?

People trained their whole lives to participate in the game. People like Chris, Gregory, and Jonas worked their asses off to dominate Relar's challenges. The worst part was that the same thing that happened to Chris might happen to others. Gregory and Jonas would sign up for the games soon. In two years, they would turn sixteen and would be eligible for Relar. One day, she would watch them go and wait for them to return. But like Chris, they too might leave and never return, not alive anyhow.

Her heart broke just thinking about it.

Gregory passed the bowl of popcorn to her, and she silently admired him. She had to admit he was the best looking one in their group. He had long, chestnut hair and emerald green eyes. An artist had sculpted his face; it was perfect—every line from his forehead to his chin was made according to some greater design. He was tall and lean but powerful. He ranked first in boxing and mixed martial arts for their graduating grade eight class; Adonis was near the bottom.

After she had hit puberty, when her breast had started to develop, she had noticed the boys around her growing taller and more powerful. She felt a clear divide between them and her. And she knew, they all considered her to be the weakest of the bunch alongside Louis, who was second last in the rankings.

She chewed on some popcorn. The movie wasn't fascinating; it was an old black and white film about a silly ninja who stepped into bowls of hot soup and screamed, alerting the people he was trying to sneak upon. Her eyes closed, her head drooped, then snapped back, alert. She looked around. Jonas was fiddling with his phone. Gregory was watching the movie, a quiet, pensive expression on his face. She said, "I'm going to go call it a night."

"Tired?" Jonas asked.

"Yeah."

She got up, and Jonas followed her up the stairs. He showed her to the guest room and switched on the light; it had a queen-sized bed draped by a purple comforter. Curtains blocked a view of the lawn and surrounding trees. The wall facing the bed had an overlapping screen covering its entire expanse that showed a fire charring wood. It warmed her bones though it didn't produce any heat. "I need a change of clothes to sleep in," she said.

"Give me a sec." He left the room in a hurry to get her what she desired.

She sat on the bed, wondering if she was in too deep. Perhaps, it wasn't too late to make up an excuse and go home. She raked her hand through her hair, contemplating. Jonas brought her a change of clothes.

He smiled and said, "Might be a little baggy on you."

She tilted her head to look up at him and grudged him for being slightly taller than her. "Didn't ask for your commentary." She took the clothes from him.

He paused by her side, his gaze scanning the room. His fingers opened and clenched as if something was bothering him.

"Aren't you going to leave?" she asked.

He shrugged.

She picked up the clothes and locked herself in the bathroom, praying that he wouldn't come in. She felt him stand near the door. He asked, "Are they that bad?"

"What?"

"Your man boobs. It's probably not as bad as you think it is. No one's looking at your chest anyway, so don't worry about it."

"I'm allowed to feel self-conscious about something."

"I know but let me see how bad it is. If your doctor said it will go away with time, then it's probably nothing big. Maybe I can help somehow."

"I'm not talking about this anymore. Go away," Adonis told Jonas as she reached inside the shower to turn on the pipe. She waited for the water to warm.

Heat spread throughout her cheeks as she stayed silent. Her boobs were real and would never diasappear, no matter how much she worked out. She was stuck with them. Her friends were dumb enough to believe her lies now, but things wouldn't add up in the future. Their voices would get deeper, and they would grow facial hair while she would stay the same. She knew that there were men with high estrogen levels, but they were few, and most took supplementary medicine to restrict estrogen and increase testosterone production.

Her mother had threatened to make her get testosterone shots to keep her cover. She didn't want that. Her body was all she had left to remind her of who she really was. If anything, she would learn the art of makeup. One could easily change their appearance that way. She would teach herself to wear a realistic beard when that time came.

She checked the bathroom; it was clean with a glass shower, and toilet, all the basic necessities. She avoided looking at the reflection. She knew she would compare her slender body and pronounced hips to her friends' muscular ones.

***

Jonas was a gentle host. He left a bell on her dresser in case she needed to call for a maid. He made sure the bedding was to her liking. A matter of fact, he was such a good host, she had to kick him out of the room so she could sleep. Her head finally sunk into the pillow. Its soft body made her sleep quicker. The door squeaked open. Whoever it was didn't turn on the light when they entered and closed the door gently behind them. They seemed to be feeling their way around, shuffling across the hardwood floor. The bed dipped as they slid in next to her. It was dark, and she couldn't see their face. She wasn't afraid as she knew it was one of her friends. It had to be.

Her suspicions were confirmed when the person spoke, "Are you asleep?" he asked. It was Gregory.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?"

His breath tickled her face. His hand touched her waist, but her shirt had shifted while she rolled in bed, and it now touched her bare skin. He paused, then ran his calloused finger over her exposed flesh. Something stirred in her pelvis. She wanted his hand to move lower, but at the same time, she didn't want him to, because she knew that once they crossed that line, they wouldn't be able to uncross it. He was close, but she couldn't make out his features, no light came from the window. It was completely black. They were both lying on their sides. A firm hand on her back pulled her close to him. Her chest pressed against his torso, she hoped he wouldn't feel the mounds hidden beneath the tight binder.

Her ears were on fire. He was wearing shorts but she felt him grow hard against her belly. He said, "Sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen. Fuck."

She stayed quiet, not sure what to say.

Gregory said, "I'm not here for sex. I just wanted to hold someone, and I thought of you—mi media naranja."

"Oh." She tried to ignore the thing pressing against her, but it proved to be quite awkward.

"Is it alright if we stay like this?" he asked.

"Yeah."

She let him stroke her back. Her chest tightened with fear. She felt a strong attraction to him that she didn't want to feel. Was Gregory even gay? And if he were, would he be disappointed to find out what she really was? She swallowed her unease. He shifted onto his back but moved her, so she was half on top of him, half on the bed. Her ear pressed against his chest-- there was no cloth, just skin. She could hear the air travelling down his nostrils and into his chest. She felt every rise and fall.

She was so conscious of his every movement, she thought she would never sleep, but she did.

***