Secret Coder

Chapter 23

I and Andrew stayed next to each other the whole trip. We rode in a car for a little then took a train. We were getting ready to ride the horses. During the ride, they'd given us some food and water. Wow! I was hungry. Andrew looked hungry too. I could feel the burning and hurting starting to go away but I still had a bullet in my should and lots of bruises, cuts, and scratches. They'd said we were about two miles away from their safe place.
"Andrew? Have you ever rode a horse?" Calista asked. She already gotten onto a horse. The one she was on was dark brown and had some different-sized white spots. The horse that I had was going to be on was all black. Her name was Anilyah.
"No," Andrew answered and shook his head.
"Well, then ride with Sky," She told him. Ride with me? Hm. Ok... that could be fun. I smiled. Then blushed. I got onto the horse and helped Andrew up.
"Um, what am I supposed to hold onto?" Andrew asked.
"Sky," Calista said. My eyes opened wider and I blushed.
"Ok," Andrew replied. He put his hands right above my waist. It sent a shiver up my spine. I don't think he wanted to fall because it ended up more like he was hugging me.
"Do you like horses?" I asked. We were about to start riding.
"Not much," Andrew replied.
"Well... Just hold onto me then. If you want.... you can put your head on my should."
"Ok," He whispered.
"Ok! Y'all ready?" Calista asked.
"Yeah," I answered.
"Ok, Just follow us!" She said taking off. There were a couple more people on horses. Mostly the guards. They were already riding. I held onto the ropes then pulled onto them, to tell Anilyah to go. I followed Calista. I felt Andrew shift his weight behind me and his grip became stronger. He rested his head on my left shoulder. It hurt a little because of the bullet but I didn't want him to move so I didn't tell him. My heart started like crazy. Not because of any bullet. Because I liked my best friend. We stayed quiet for a little then Andrew said, "What are you thinking?"
"Huh? Oh, nothing... You," I said.
"Me? Why me?" He lifted his head.
"Well... You're nice...," I blushed, "Cute, funny," I finished whispering. I sped up Anilyah.
"You think I'm cute?" I blushed harder.
"W-well.. Yeah. Especially when you don't do anything with your hair. It always looks better slightly messy yet you'd think it was supposed to be like that," I said. I shut my mouth before I said more. I could think of at least ten other things he did that I liked.
"Oh, thanks. I won't do anything to it." I were quiet for another minute or two when Andrew said, "You're kinda pretty." Huh? I didn't expect that. But I liked it.
"Really?"
"Yeah, You're eyes. They sparkle in the light and they're beautiful." I smiled. I think we were getting close.
"Thanks," I said. I sighed. More of a sad sigh.
"What? What's wrong?"
"You don't just think that because we're friends right?" I didn't realize I'd feel that way.
"Um... No. I-," It looked like he was trying to find the right word, "L-love you." I smiled. I let go of a breath I'd held in.
"Do you?" Andrew asked.
"Huh?"
"Do you love me too? If you don't it's okay."
"What? No, Don't be sad. I do. I love you too." It felt strange to say that but it was true.
"Ok," He replied. He seemed happier. I felt air blow against the back of my neck, he had let out a breath. I straightened.
"What? No, Relax," Andrew comforted me. I felt Andrew touch my hair. I small shiver went up my spine. I didn't stop him. I didn't mind. It took me another minute to get there. Then when I did I saw Calista and her guards were getting off there horses. Behind them I could see a opening. When Calista saw us she said, "Hello," She looked at us, "Lovebirds." I blushed and knew Andrew was too. I got off the horse and held out a hand to help Andrew down. Once he got off we put the horses in the stalls.
"You guys ready for the official tour?" Calista asked.
"Sure!" I said.
"Yeah," Andrew answered.
"Ok, follow me," Calista said then started walking. We followed behind her sticking together. We went threw a path then it opened up to a huge clearing. It looked amazing. The sun was shining down on it. There wasn't any weeds, just grass and trees at the end of the clearing. There was a lot of tents. Two of them were white and the kind that hangs in poles so that it's bigger. One of them also had a red plus sign on it. Probably a hospital but as s tent. The other one had about ten tables and food inside of it. The smaller tents were lined up in a line on both sides of the clearing. Then the bigger tents were at the end on the conners. In the middle back people were fighting with swords and some other people were practicing shooting guns and bows and arrows at targets. Some people were walking around the place talking to each other. She told us what everything was and I was correct.
"Cool," Andrew said.
"Yeah..." She looked at us from head to toe, "You guys NEED to get to the clinic. That bullet needs to get taken out of you shoulder."
"W-what? You have a BULLET in your shoulder? Why didn't you tell me?" Andrew asked looking worried and sick.
"I forgot. I didn't think much of it. Sorry," I said. He grabbed my arm and started pulling me to the clinic.
"It's fine," He whispered then raised his voice, "We're going now."
"Ok," I said smiling.
"You're smiling? Why? You're hurt." We were walking towards the clinic.
"Because you care about me," I said.
"Yeah, I do. But you have to get fixed." We headed into the clinic. "Excuse me?" Andrew asked. A doctor came over to us and asked, "Yes?"
"She has a bullet in her," Andrew said gesturing to me.
"Ah. I see, she does. She might need some other stuff done. She has some bad wounds. Definitely needs stitches," He looked back at Andrew, "You will too. And.. If you don't mind me asking, what are your names?" I opened my mouth to speak but Andrew beat me, "That's Sky and I'm Andrew."
"Ok. Nice to meet you. I'm Dr. Haddix. Would you please sit down on those beds."
"Ok," I said. We walked over to the beds he pointed at and sat down. They took the bullet out of me which hurt a lot then they stitched it closed after cleaning it. They moved into my cuts. I had ons really bad one my right leg that they started with. They cleaned out the wound then started to see if it needed stitches. It turned out half of it was okay and the other have would heal better with stitches but didn't need them. I said to just do it to be safe. They cleaned out the rest of the wounds and cuts then told me that I'd have to stay at the clinic and rest for a while. I asked them about Andrew and they said he had to get stitches too. He got stitches on his arm and he had some bad wounds and including what the liquid did he'd have to say here too.
"How long? For both of us," I asked. I wanted to sit up but he'd said not to.
"Maybe a couple weeks. Andrew sill be out first, probably."
"Ok... that seems long but ok," I said. He gave me a pill for the pain but he said it would wear off quickly because of my power. The pill would also make me fall asleep.
"Thank you," I said before he left.
"You're welcome," He said and left. I didn't have much to do and the pill's affects were already effecting me so I let myself fall asleep. I could feel the sun shining on me. I was awake. I looked over and saw Andrew sleeping peacefully on his bed. Nothing much happened during the day except eating and some people talking to me. The same things happened the rest of the week. After the second day there was no more pain from the liquid. I felt strong. Then after a couple more days Dr. Haddix said I could do some moving but the stitches would have to be in longer. I moved walked then got bored. Andrew had been allowed out too. Dr. Haddix said we were healing fast probably because of the liquid. By the end if the week he said we could do more stuff like running and I was allowed to get the stitches that were in my leg out. He also took out the stitches Andrew had. He told me the ones on my shoulder would get taken out soon. Calista also came to talk to us a lot. She was really excited for when she could train us. After five more days I felt a lot better. I'd gotten the stitches removed and most of the bruises and wounds had healed. I'd just have to be careful not to hurt my shoulder. Andrew looked better and seemed to like that I was better. They'd given us a tent to sleep in too. It could fit me and Andrew and probably someone else. I liked being able to see Andrew before going to bed. We slept in separate sleeping bags but were close enough that if one of us were to tap the other we wouldn't need to move much. Calista said that that we would start practice fighting in two days. The tent we slept in was colored sky blue. When I woke up the next day I found that I was next to Andrew laying in my sleeping bag. I must have moved around so much that my sleeping bag moved while I slept. I didn't move back. The sun wasn't up yet and Andrew was still asleep. His hand was under his head and elbow was extended out towards me. I leaned my head against his elbow and fell back asleep. When I woke up again I felt someone nudge me. "Hm?" I asked sleepily. I turned a little and opened my eyes. I rubbed them. Then when I opened them I saw Andrew. Andrew! Yay! I smiled.
"Wake up," He said.
"Aw...," I complained but sat up in my sleeping bag, it was bright red, and stretched. I got out of the sleeping bag and stood up. I looked down at my clothes. They'd made me were that long shirt thing you wore at a hospital and when I got out I changed into my clothes I cam in with. They had gotten washed so they were clean and stuff but I would have liked to have knew clothes to wear. I was currently wearing a red t-shirt and jean shorts. They had some cutes in them from fighting so they okay. But only okay.
"Do they have clothes I can wear?" I asked Andrew who was also wearing his clothes.
"I hope. These remind me to much of that place," He said.
"Let's go ask." I made sure, by feeling it, that my hair was okay and told Andrew his looked good. We headed out. We walked to the cafeteria which was where Calista was most of the time. We walked close to each other. My should touched his arm a couple times. He was at least three inches taller than me. Okay. Four. His skin was tanner than mine while mine only got slightly tan. He had dirty blonde wavy hair, I had chocolate brown straight hair. My eyes were light brown and his were dark sky blue. As we went into the cafeteria Andrew asked, "Hey Calista, you here?" I saw a head look up from a table.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm here. Come 're," She said eating salad. She was and energetic type of person but that's one of the reason why everyone loved her. We walked over go her and sat down on the other side of the table as her.
"Do you have any clothes we can wear?" Andrew asked.
"Um... Yeah. Think so. Y'all picky with clothes? We don't have many different kinds."
"No. Well maybe normally a little. But if they fit us we'll be fine," Andrew replied. I've never been and introvert but I was letting Andrew talk for me. If I'd wanted to I could have talked by now but for some reason I haven't. Maybe I liked hearing Andrew talk?
"Ok. What sizes are you?"
"I'm small almost medium in shirts and medium in pants. And Sky's a small in shirts and 11 in pants," He replied. Calista got up. How did he now that? I tried to remember when I'd told him but came up with nothing.
"Ok, Thanks. Just wait there. I'll go fund something pronto." She started to walk away,
"Thanks!" I called before she ran off. I looked back at Andrew. I didn't know what to say but knew I wanted to be with Andrew. So, naturally, me not thinking I said the first that came to my mind, "Handsome." He looked at me, right at my eyes, smiling and said, "Huh?"
"I said. You're handsome. Do you notice me? What do you keep thinking about?" The questions just popped into my head.
"Thanks. And you're beautiful. And. Why wouldn't I notice you. I notice you more now than ever. What am I thinking? More like who. I'm thinking about you. All the time. Your hair, your eyes, your fidgety little hand, your smile." I don't have little hands just so you know. Though I do tend to play with them when I get bore or nervous. I felt silly for accusing him now but just said, "We love each other. W-why cant we just be girlfriend and boyfriend?" My heart sped and flipped as I said those two words, 'boyfriend and girlfriend.' I never would have imagined myself saying that but it's what I meant. Andrew was looking at my hands. I guess I was nervous. I was using my left hand to pull back my fingers and let go so they made a flicking motion. I did it unconsciously.
"Would you like that?" He asked.
"Um... Yeah. I would. A lot." He smiled at me. I felt like my whole world might collapse depending on his response.
"Hmm.... I'd like that too. Why not. I think we're made for each other." I looked at him trying to read his expression. He looked happy.
"S-so yes?" I asked.
"Yes." My smile grew. My world wouldn't collapse. It was just getting better. I was thinking about hugging him but instead.... kissed him. My left hand laid on his shoulder and my other arm leaned in his right shoulder while my lips touched his. Not something I would have done a month ago. He seemed surprised at first but then loosened. I let go after a couple of seconds and smiled. He smiled back. Right on que, Calista walked to us holding clothes in her hands and under her arms. I jumped up and ran over to help her.
"Here. You can wear these," Calista said handing me some clothes. Andrew was right behind me. She handed him his clothes.
"Thank you. We'll go try them on," I said then raced out.
"Hey! Sky! Wait up!" Andrew said behind me. It wouldn't take him long to catch up to me but I smiled. Once we got back I laid the clothes out in on my sleeping bag. The shirt was white with grey closer to white flowers printed on it. The cuffs had small strings coming from them. The shirt wasn't a t-shirt. It was a crop top. A longer one but still one. I usually stick stick with t-shirts but.... I'll wear it. The bottoms, were shorts. The shorts I could deal with. They were jeans. Just as shorts. They had the pre-made holes with string in them on both sides. The bottom part was ripped up. Probably made to be like that. They had fake pockets. I turned around and saw Andrew had the pants on and was putting on the shirt. He had pants that looked like kakis but were really sweat pants. He finished putting on a undershirt and picked up a flannel. The flannel was sky blue, black, blue, and grey. It was kind of strange to see him change but it just made my opinion about him stronger. I turned back to my clothes. I wasn't perfectly comfortable changing in front of him. I was more comfortable with him then anyone else but still. I mentally yelled at myself to stop and just get changed. I got changed as quickly as I could and looked into the mirror. Huh... I looked good. I felt unprotected and cold right above my waist were the crop top ended. I folded my arms over the spot. Imd have to get used to that. I turned around.
"Like how I look?" I asked. His mouth fell open.
"You-you looked stunning," He said.
"Thanks. You too." I took in how he looked. He was stunning. I looked at the mirror. I wanted to do something with my hair. It wasn't a mess but it looked to plain. My hair had to much time to grow. It was almost halfway down my back. I knew how to do a couple braids. I started breading my hair in a french braid. I looked actually good when I finished. I used the hair tie I kept on my wrist to hold it together. Andrew was behind me. To quickly for me to realize he had his arms around me and his head on my shoulder. I smiled, looking into the mirror.
"Now you look even better," He said.
"Better then you?"
"Maybe." He took himself off me and we stood still for a couple seconds then he remembered something, "Oh! We have to show Calista!"
"Oh, Yeah! Let's go," I said. I ran ti the end of the tent, which wasn't far, and waited for Andrew. We got to Calista pretty fast.
"Hey, Calista!" I said. She was throwing away trash. As soon as she looked at up her eyes lit up with excitement.
"Oh! You changed! You. GUY. Look. AMAZING!" She explained.
"Yeah, we did. Thanks again for the clothes," Andrew said.
"You're welcome. We'll have to get you more clothes. For now, you guys up for training?" Calista asked.
"Sure," Andrew said.
"Yeah," I agreed.
"Ok! Yay! Follow me," Calista said and started walking. We caught up ti her. We walked slightly behind her as she walked to the battle field. When we were halfway there my hand touched Andrews. My heart jolted forward. I looked at him then he interlocked his fingers into mine then we walked the rest of the way holding hands.
Hey! I hope everyone liked the chapter. Don't forget to vote! - Anna