𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬

11 | The Good Samaritan

          I woke up before anyone else once again, giving a small smile towards Riley as she slept on top of her duvet, still fully decked in NIFEEN's uniform.

My gaze traveled to a night-stand.

I had to turn away before taking out the journal resting inside, continuing my reading from last night.

'𝓓𝓮𝓬𝓮𝓶𝓫𝓮𝓻

𝓐𝓷𝓷𝓪 𝓭𝓲𝓮𝓭 𝓾𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻 𝓪 𝓵𝓾𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓸𝓾𝓼 𝓬𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓬𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓶𝓸𝓸𝓷, 𝓫𝓮𝓪𝓾𝓽𝓲𝓯𝓾𝓵 𝓾𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂 𝓮𝓷𝓭.

𝓝𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓮𝓵𝓼𝓮 𝓶𝓪𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓭 𝓪𝓯𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽, 𝓪 𝓯𝓵𝓮𝓮𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓶𝓮𝓶𝓸𝓻𝔂 𝔀𝓱𝓲𝓬𝓱 𝓫𝓾𝓻𝓷𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓶𝔂 𝓼𝓸𝓾𝓵.'

The owner only wrote about Anna, with their words giving off the sense of cynical acceptance. The last pages made me uneasy, desperation being poured out about the death of a mysterious woman.

I felt terrible for them both.

A giant exhale was heaved.

I got up to quickly shower and dress for the long day ahead, struggling with my black tie and barely escaping it from strangling me. The clock above read six-thirty, stating that there was more than enough time to loiter around before grabbing breakfast.

I snatched my book bag and slipped on the academy's pinched shoes, patting down any disorderly hairs while hoping it looked halfway decent.

My descent down the stairs was paced as I hummed, turning down hallways and emerging in the main entrance. The communal room was empty, a still air that made me appreciate the fleeting silence of early daybreak. Until I saw someone standing in front of a window facing east, the sun's early rays filtering through patterned glass and creating intricate designs all over his tall form.

Ender.

It made me catch breath.

I've never been the most artistically adept person, but I couldn't shake my sudden urge to grab a paintbrush and transfer the serene image onto a canvas.

"Good morning."

I refocused on Ender, surprised that he even addressed me first. "Morning."

My ears took note that his normally flat voice had an airy quality to it, as if the Dark Representative's mood wasn't tarnished by a full day of stress.

I slid beside him, arms crossed in front as we peacefully observed the scenery.

He looked down, eyebrows slowly making their way together as amber irises observed the top of my head. "What's wrong with your hair?"

My expression slipped into one of confusion as I touched around, fiddling with the strands and hoping I didn't have toothpaste in it.

He watched me fruitlessly struggle. "No, you missed it entirely—it's a wreckage near the back."

I huffed. "If it bothers you so much, then why don't you fix it?"

Ender wordlessly reached his hand over, gently smoothing out a part that I couldn't see.

It was a surprisingly gentle action.

Lungs momentarily forgot how to work as the male concentrated on fixing my hair. The early light from outside hit his eyes, turning them a liquid gold as he focused on the current mission.