The Cardellian Chronicles Book One: Clinging to Reality
Chapter 9

Alfia and Benny were studying for their final exams for the semester. Alfia’s papers were scattered all over the floor of her bedroom and she sat in front of them with one leg tucked in and the other stretched out to the side. She had her hair up in a bun with three pens, a pencil, and two highlighters shoved into it and another two highlighters tucked behind her ears and a sharpie in her mouth. She had spots of ink all over her face, arms, and hands, some from a few days ago and others from a few minutes ago. Nate was lounged on her chair in the corner of her room with his feet dangling over the side.

Benny poked his head in, “Hey, Al?”

She grunted in acknowledgement.

“What’s an applet?”

“Program capable of running on any device,” she answered robotically, “Like the Virus.”

“Thanks!” He went back to his room.

“What’s his major again?” Nate asked.

“Robotics. Now shut it. I’m trying to study.”

“Right. Sorry.”

She went back to ignoring him and uncapped the sharpie, blacking out any information she didn’t need to worry about on the paper in front of her and marking what she needed to know according to her study key. Blue for any ailment, green for the cure. Yellow for things that needed a CyberCure and pink for the system and supplies needed for said Cure. Orange for surgical procedures and purple for what they’re for.

Benny poked his head in again, “Alfie-?”

“Benny, you have a database with everything you have ever learned in your entire life in your brain. Use it before I short-circuit it,” she said in annoyance.

“Right-o.”

Benny left for the second time and she dropped her head onto the stack of papers in front of her with a groan.

“And you tell me I’m dramatic,” Nate teased.

“Are you the one studying to get a degree in an extremely competitive field? No? Didn’t think so. So do yourself a favor and shut up,” She snapped.

He got to his feet and walked over to her, “You’ve been studying for a few hours already, why don’t you take a break? Relax?”

She glared up at him, scratching her head with her sharpie.

“I have a point and you know it,” he said.

The glare intensified.

“When was the last time you ate?” He asked.

She thought about it for a few moments.

“If you haven’t remembered by now, it means you haven’t eaten in at least twelve hours of shoving your head full of crap.”

She opened her mouth to protest that it wasn’t crap, it was knowledge that was going to help her to save lives in the future, but he beat her to the punch.

“It is crap because you’ve been overworking yourself for hours and not even thought to take a break. Come on. We’re going to go outside for an hour or two and get you something to eat.”

Alfia sat on the floor for a few moments, debating on whether or not this was sound council when he raised his eyebrow in challenge.

“We can go get you fed and then go to the studio where you can dance out your stress and then come back, shower, take a nap, and get back to work.”

She rolled her eyes and got up, going to her dresser to grab some dance clothes and shove them into her black string bag.

“Hey, Al?”

She looked over at Nate, “Yes?”

“You might want to take the pens and things out of your hair.” He had an amused smirk on his face.

She frowned and reached up to feel her hair, “Oh! Thanks.” she pulled everything out and dropped them onto the floor where she had been sitting moments before. She ran down the stairs, poked her head into Benny’s room and told him what she was planning on doing.

“Okay, just don’t die.” He didn’t look up from his book.

Alfia went to the trolley station and scanned her IdentityChip before waiting for the train to arrive. She thought about where she would stop to eat on her way to the studio. She sat in the back in the corner when it finally arrived and only waited for two stops before getting off and walking to a little cafe to get an over-priced, but delicious, sandwich with a bottle of water and a paper cup of warm peppermint tea. She warmed the tea in her hand and she ate the sandwich as she walked back to the trolley station to get to her studio. She finished the sandwich before she got there and sipped at her tea as she waited for the trolley to arrive. She scanned her chip before boarding and sat in the back corner once again as she waited patiently to get to her stop. She had finished her tea by the time the trolley rolled to a stop. She got up and walked off the trolley as it started to roll away and started the five minute walk from the station to the studio. When she got there, she changed and was confused when she heard music coming from the dance room as she got closer to it. She opened the door and peeked inside to see if she would be disturbing someone and saw that it was only Jax, her partner. He started to slow his movements to stop dancing be she motioned for him to keep going. They had been partners for almost five years at that point and so knew each other’s movements well. Alfia pulled off her shoes and gathered her hair into a bun. The song changed and Jax started to try and talk to her as she moved towards him, but she shook her head and put her finger up to his mouth, wordlessly telling him to be silent. She moved her hand to the side of his neck and felt his opposite hand rest on her waist. She pulled him to sit down and they started to dance.

When they finished, Alfia remained where she was on the floor, “Why are you in here?”

“I just needed to dance,” he answered, “You?”

“Studying for finals. Needed a break.”

He nodded. Jax was her closest friend besides Benny. He had short-cropped brown hair and hazel eyes that were often mistaken for brown. He was about two heads taller than her and had joined the class a two or three years after Alfia’s accident. Their teacher had immediately paired the two of them together so that Alfia could continue her recovery and so that Jax could improve through her tutelage. Now, they were equally matched when it came to skill. Benny was her mental crutch, Jax was her physical and emotional crutch. Where that put Nate, she didn’t know. She laid out on the ground with a rough sigh and heard Jax’s footsteps come towards her as yet another song started.

He reached down and grabbed her hand, “Don’t think. You’re thinking too much. Just feel the music. Let its rhythm move through you and take all your stress out of you.”

He pulled her up and she allowed herself to slowly roll to a stand, her back arching in a way no normal person’s would unless they had been training to do that for practically their whole lives as she had. They danced like this for hours, both of them letting go of their worries and stresses completely and focusing entirely on the song and each other. By the time they both felt they were ready to go back into the real world, they were exhausted and covered in sweat. They didn’t say anything as they both walked to get their things and headed out the door until they got to the parking lot.

“You want me to take you home?” Jax asked, “Or you can stay at my place if you want. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

She nodded, yawning, “That sounds closer. Can I use your shower?”

He chuckled as she stretched, “Yeah. You can borrow one of my old shirts, too.”

They walked to his car and slipped into it on opposite sides. They talked as they drove to Jax’s apartment that was a five minute drive from the studio.

“So what’s going on between you and Benny?” he asked.

She ran a hand through her hair, having taken it down before he had even started the car, “Um, nothing. It’s the same as it was the last time you asked.”

“You don’t seem as upset about that as before,” he noted.

She nodded, “Yeah. I guess I just realized that my feelings for him aren’t in that way. He was just the first guy I had ever trusted besides my dad and it made me think that I loved him as more than a brother, but I don’t. Never did.”

He drummed his hands on the steering wheel restlessly, “I’m glad you got that sorted for yourself.”

“Me, too.”

“So, uh-”

“I’m going to be sleeping at your place tonight. Do you really want to ask right now?” She asked.

“Would you say ‘no’?”

“I never said that. But we’re both tired and we’re going to be sleeping under the same roof. I just don’t think it would be a good idea to ask at this very moment,” she explained to him.

“I see. Nothing we ever did would change anything between us,” he told her.

She smiled, “I know that. I just don’t think it would be smart for us to open that avenue before I sleep in your bed.”

She could see in his face that he then understood her point, “Oh.”

She giggled, “Maybe ask me in the morning. After I’ve finished waking up.”

He laughed and agreed.

When they got to Jax’s apartment, Alfia went right in and made herself at home, as though this wasn’t the first occurrence of this event. It wasn’t. The two of them had stayed in the other’s home on several occasions. She went straight to the bathroom and got into the shower, eager to get all the sweat off of herself and be clean once again. While she was in, she sent Benny a message via PrivateLink and told him that she would be staying with Jax. She quickly got a reply acknowledging the information she had shared. Now that she was a legal adult, he couldn’t exactly tell her that she couldn’t. He had stopped trying to when she turned fifteen and became increasingly stubborn and headstrong. She got out of the shower to replace a warm towel and one of the many shirts she would use of Jax’s waiting for her use. She quickly wrapped herself in the towel and sighed at the warmth that enveloped her before drying off and pullingon her undergarments, slipping the shirt over her head, and wrapping her hair in her towel at the same time. She walked out with her armful of clothes and dropped them into the washing machine as she passed it. She then went into the kitchen to get a bowl of cereal to eat before going to bed so that she wouldn’t wake up in the morning starving.

“I’m getting in the shower, anything you need?” Jax asked.

“I’m good. Hey, thanks for the towel.”

“No problem. You said your dad used to do that for you, right?”

She nodded, “You’re the first person who’s done it since. Thanks.”

He gave a short nod and went into the bathroom.

Alfia finished her cereal and then went into Jax’s bedroom and flopped onto the bed, sighing in satisfaction. She then adjusted so that she was lying comfortably and quickly fell asleep, physically and mentally exhausted. When she woke up in the morning, she got out of bed and went into the kitchen to replace a box of donuts waiting on the counter. There was a note taped to it that told her she could have some. She opened the box to replace scribbled onto the back of the lid, “DON’T EAT THEM ALL” with four exclamation marks. She chuckled to herself and grabbed the first donut she spotted. She ate it and felt a strange tingling sensation in her arms and legs, following her wiring.

She collapsed and looked up to see a figure whose outline she knew well standing over her with a twisted cheshire smile as her vision blurred and she blacked out.