Avara POV
"Just calling to check if you landed safely?"
A stretch of silence.
I glance out of the car window. "You still there?"
"Yeah, yeah," he stammers. He clears his throat. "It's just weird."
I frown. "What is?"
"Never had someone check up on me."
I smile dubiously, even though he can't see it. "Yeah right. You telling me none of your ex-girlfriends checked up on you when you were away?"
"No," he says somberly, unbothered by the fact. "The people that are around me always want something from me. They don't care about me."
Sudden sadness pushes against my heart. "That can't be true… there must be someone."
"No," he says with equal apathy. "There's a reason I keep my distance, why the only loyalties I recognize are those bound by blood. Trust in others is a luxury that even I can't afford, and friendship—an indulgence for those who have yet to learn the true cost of betrayal."
