After the remainder of our school day, Chase asked if we could all have a talk after our swim practice. Even though I can't trust him as deeply as before, I agreed. Lucas was hesitant, but even he agreed to the meet up. We said that we would meet up at my house later on.
"Lucas, what are you thinking about?" My question seemed to have cut off his train of thought. Lucas sighed before looking at me. "I know Chase is trying to make up the fact that he's on Ginger's side by helping us, but its hard for me to look past that. He not only hurt us, he made me question my entire friendship with him." I couldn't believe he just said that, "Lucas, you don't mean that." Lucas only shook his head, "I don't regret being friends with him, but I did look back and question what was real and what wasn't." I reached over and took one of Lucas' hands into my own, gently running my thumb over his knuckles. We continued walking to our practice in silence, it was a silence that was steadily becoming louder. It wasn't like the agonizing silence when we waited in front of Mr. Seabourge's office or the comfortable silence when we're just enjoy being in each other's company. This silence was choking me.
I walked into the girl's locker room and the weight of the silence eased off my shoulders a little bit. I changed into my swimsuit and braided my hair. As I looked at my reflection, I barely recognized myself: my eyes had dark circles underneath and my skin had paled from when I ran from the Fallen around our school earlier today, my hands were slightly shaking from the pressure I'm suddenly feeling. I shook my head and turned on a sink faucet, splashing some water on my face to help me feel a little better. After grabbing my goggles, I walked out to the pool area and felt a wave of dizziness hit me. I ignored the feeling and walked over to a lane, jumping in and letting the cold water bite at my skin. I held onto the wall as I struggled to put my goggles on. 'Adelina, don't swim.' The voice said, but in this moment I couldn't care less. I felt a presence next to me in the water then felt a hand on my shoulder.
"Hey, Adelina, are you okay?" I looked at the person to see that it was another girl on the team. She had a concerned look on her face. "You look sick, are you sure you want to swim?" I didn't respond as my vision slowly became black. The girl was repeatedly calling my name in the dark before yelling, "Coach! We need help here!" I couldn't hear what else was said as I slipped away from my conscious state.
I don't know how long I was like that, but when I woke up, I was lying on a backboard and the entire swim team was around us. Lucas was at my side as well as my coaches; I felt crowded and pressured. The coaches realized I was awake and the assistant coach looked at everyone, "Guys, back up a bit. Let's give her some space." With that, the team backed up but still kept their eyes on me. I tried to sit up, but the head coach carefully pushed me back down. "Woah woah, don't try to sit up. Just relax okay?" I couldn't even try to argue back, I felt too weak. 'I told you not to swim, you should listen to me sometime.' The voice caused a sharp pain in my head. I rubbed my head and closed my eyes to ease the pain.
"Lucas, can you call her parents and take her home? You two don't have to come back until she completely feels better." The coach said.
"Yes sir. We won't be back until she's completely fine." I heard Lucas' voice say.
"Good, thank you. Keep us updated on how she is." I heard the assistant coach's voice say.
I didn't hear a response; instead, I felt a pair of arms pick me up and a comforting warmth flooded my body. I opened my eyes and saw Lucas carrying me away from the pool area. "Lucas, I'm fine." I said weakly. "Adelina, don't try to say you are. You fainted in the water. We're going to your house." Lucas said sternly. I immediately gave up fighting and just closed my eyes, not wanting to make the atmosphere anymore tense.
When I woke up again, I heard my parents and Lucas talking downstairs. I slowly felt around with my hands and felt that I was in my bed. 'I'm at home? How long was I out?' I asked myself, to which the voice replied: 'You were out for a while. We got back maybe two hours after you fainted.' The pain was back, but it was a bit dull compared to the sharp pain I felt earlier. I rolled over and nuzzled more into my pillow what I heard my bedroom door open.
"Hey Short stack," I heard my father's voice. I peeked over my blanket and looked at him, He walked into my room and set a glass of water on my nightstand. "How are you feeling?" He asked me.
I pulled my blanket over my body more and shivered, "Nauseous. Dad, what happened?" I asked, but my throat was so dry my voice came out as a croak. My father felt my forehead before replying: "Lucas brought you home. He said you fainted in the pool. You were asleep for quite some time. Mom and Lucas are downstairs making you some food to eat."
My father pulled his hand away from my forehead and picked up the glass of water. "Here, drink some water." I slowly sat up at took the glass from him, taking a small sip at first. The cold water soothed my dry throat and eased a burning feeling inside of me. I didn't realize how thirsty I was, I finished the water and carefully put the glass on my night stand. "Get some rest, shorty. I'll tell Lucas he can come up, okay?" With that, my father tucked me into bed and walked out of my room.
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Lucas and I laid together in my bed, talking a little every now and then and just watching the sunlight disappear into the dark of night. I could feel Lucas' thumb gently drawing circles on the small of my back. I carefully gripped his shirt and nuzzled into him more, the scent of peppermint and chlorine easing my nerves. "Are you nervous?" Lucas asked me in a low whisper. I looked at him and slightly nodded my head, "I am, but I don't know if it's about Ginger or what happened today." I carefully put my head under Lucas' chin and sighed a bit. I could feel Lucas rub my back and kiss the top of my head. "Hey, its going to be okay. We'll figure everything out like we always do. I promise."
Before I could respond, there was a small tapping sound coming from my bedroom window. Lucas and I immediately sat up and looked at the figure that was sitting outside on the slanted roof above the garage. The figure flicked their wings and waved at us. Lucas stood up and walked over to the window, opening it to let Chase in. Chase crawled through my window and smiled a bit at us.
"Hey guys, it's been a while since we've been together like this, huh?" Chase looked at Lucas and whatever he was going to say next was never said. Lucas crossed his arms and looked at Chase, unamused by his lighthearted greeting. Lucas was looking at him with such a cold stare it could freeze over Hell, Heaven, and everything in between. I've never seen Lucas like this, he's always so nice unless we come face-to-face with Ginger and her posse; every girl in school had a crush on Lucas at some point and every guy is cool with him. So seeing him like this is a new experience, and I knew everything that's happening is my fault.
"What do you want to say, Chase." Lucas said with no emotion. Chase sighed a bit, "I should've expected-" Lucas cut him off, "What. Do. You. Want." Chase and I both froze at his words. I was the first to say something, "Lucas, calm down. We agreed to talk to him." Lucas relaxed at my words and sighed heavily. Chase looked at me and I saw the concern grow in his expression.
"Woah, Adelina. Are you okay?" Chase asked as he took a step towards me, but Lucas stood in his way. It was my turn to sigh; I held Lucas' hand and pulled him onto my bed, "I'm just a little sick, I'll be okay." But, Chase looked at me confused. "Nao's don't get sick." After that, I could feel the concern grow in both of them. "Adelina, stand up. We need to see if a Fallen scratched you." Chase said.
"What? She doesn't have to stand up." Lucas defended, but Chase shook his head. "She needs to, if there is a Fallen scratch then its slowly decaying her. I need to heal it before it gets too much." I didn't say anything, I took the blanket off of my body and stood up from my bed. The cold air from the window nipped at my skin, making me shiver. But, I felt a sting on my leg. I looked and saw a long, black scratch mark running down the side of my calf and the skin around the scratch looked like it was charred. "How have I not seen this?" I asked myself quietly. But, Chase and Lucas heard me loud and clear. Lucas pulled me back onto my bed as Chase kneeled in front of me. He carefully touched my leg, but his touch burned. I quickly pulled my leg away.
"Hey hey, it's okay." Lucas said to me in a soothing tone. Lucas held my hand as Chase put his hand over my wound, causing me to squeeze Lucas' hand. Before my eyes, I saw the scratch slowly shrink and the charred skin turn into a lighter color than my normal skin tone. It looks like any normal scar now. "Woah.." I breathed in amazement. Chase pulled his hand away, "That scar's gonna last for a long while, but you shouldn't feel sick anymore." Lucas looked at Chase and said, "Thanks, I owe you one." As I looked between them, I saw the two little boys I met back in middle school. They always said that they owed each other when one of them did something for the other. It made me smile a bit.
Chase smiled at Lucas, "Aw, you don't owe me anything man." For a split second, it felt like we were all okay. It felt like nothing had happened and we were the best friends we used to be. But, that feeling was a fleeting moment. "Anyways, Ginger is doing something that's really messed up." Chase said, getting us back on topic. "What is she doing?" Lucas asked my question before I could say it.
Chase looked scared, but it wasn't clear why. 'I don't know if I'm right but I feel that he's scared of Ginger more than Fallen,' the voice chipped in. I saw Lucas glance at me from the corner of my eye. "Ginger.. She's making Naos into Fallen and controlling them to be her army against you, Adelina."
At Chase's words, I felt horrified. I knew Ginger was evil but I never expected her to be a monster.