Departure ↠ Argent [3]

03. Paper Hearts

"Use more force when you swing," Allison tells me as I stare at the dagger in my hand, terrified that I was going to accidentally stab her. She had promised me that she would teach me how to fight, so here we were, standing in the living room of her apartment practicing. Her father was out, so it was just us two.

I lick my lips slowly. "More force? What does that have to do with anything."

"The faster and harder you swing, the better your aim will be," she says as she takes a step back, waiting for me to swing again. "You'd be surprised; I learned that trick a year ago."

"Allison, I really don't like that you're having me throw a dagger at you," I state truthfully. I mean, what if I were to really miss and she wasn't ready? I didn't feel like making a trip to the hospital tonight.

She holds her hands up, ready for me to try again. "You won't hurt me, trust me. I know what I'm doing. Just give it your best try."

I sigh, readying my position just like how Allison had shown me earlier. All of my weight shifts back onto my left foot as I tighten my grip around the dagger. A lump forms in my throat as I swallow it back down, ready to attempt this for the millionth time it felt like.

I grunt as I throw my arm at Allison, watching her cat eyes stare at my arm as if I was going in slow-mo. The dagger barely misses her as she steps to the side, grabbing my arm and twisting it around to where my arm was bent behind my back. Her breath trickles on the back of my now sweaty neck as she pulls the dagger out of my hand and puts it against my throat, acting as if she had just killed me.

"You've got to be faster," she states as she lets my arm go.

I sigh as I turn back around, rubbing my arm where she had bent it. "Well, not everyone is as good as a defender as you either."

"No, but who you'll most likely be fighting will have supernatural powers on their side," Allison states, proving a point. No way in hell could I fight a werewolf. I could barely kill a spider.

My blue water bottle catches the corner of my eye as I snatch it from the table and sit down on the couch, taking a swig. Doing all of this really made me thirsty. "Break time."

"What if we tried something other than up close combat?" Allison suggests, placing her hand on her hip. I couldn't help but look at her legs in the short shorts that she was wearing as she stood there, waiting for me to give my thoughts on what she just mentioned.

"Like archery?" I say, taking another drink of water.

"If you want," she nods. "Or, I could give you a gun."

I laugh nervously. "Let's try a bow first. I don't think I can be trusted with a gun."

"Oh come on, they're not that bad," she smirks. "I think you'd look pretty good with a gun."

I stand back up, placing my water bottle back onto the table. "Yeah, I'd look pretty good with a hole in my head."

She frowns as I walk over to her, staring down at her as she raised her eyebrow at me. She had a look on her face that told me that she didn't like my comment, but I looked past that. I always loved taking in every single one of her facial features every chance I had. She really should be in a museum looking like she does.

"Thank you for doing this," I smile faintly at her. "I need to learn how to not rely on you and how to save my own ass."

Allison smiles then, resting her head on my chest as she closed her eyes for a moment. "Do you ever wonder what would have happened if you wouldn't have wrecked that night on the bridge?"