Extra Ordinary

16.

"Give me your hand." 

Asa opened his palm and extended it to me. He raised his brows when I didn't immediately comply. 

"M-my hand?" I repeated dumbly, darting a glance at our surroundings. We were out in the school hallway. Not exactly the most appropriate place for two guys to hold hands. Granted, we were late for class and almost everyone was gone, but still.

"Uh, okay."

I gingerly placed my hand in Asa's. He stared down at it, gently tracing and moving my fingers. 

It kind of hurt when he put the pressure on, but the fact that Asa was holding me made it a bittersweet sensation, and that made me stay in place. 

 I didn't realise I was staring at Asa's face, until he suddenly looked up and caught me, making heat rush to my cheeks at our proximity. We hadn't been this close to each other since the gaming night. 

"Nothing's broken," Asa stated, and I was distinctly aware of the fact that he was holding my hand, despite being done with his inspection. 

I wasn't about to complain, but like many times before, I wondered what Asa was thinking right now. I wanted to know if he was also thinking about kissing me right now, but only refrained because someone could walk in any moment. 

"How do you know it's not broken?" I asked, experimentally wiggling my fingers a little.

Unfortunately, that seemed to make Asa finally realise he was still touching me and he promptly let go. I cleared my throat, awkwardly shifting my weight from one leg to the other as Asa took a step back. 

"If it was broken," he said, "I wouldn't be able to twist and squeeze without you yanking your hand away." 

"Okay," I muttered. "That's good. If I went to a doctor they'd probably call home. I can't have that." 

Another call home would definitely trigger my parents going to Rolf's parents, which I was exactly the situation I was trying to avoid with this whole tournament thing. 

"Lets get some ice-packs anyway," Asa said, gesturing for me to follow him. 

I hesitated for a moment, looking in the direction of the english classroom I was supposed to be in right now, then hurried after Asa. 

"So, uh," I started, trying to make some conversation. "You seem to know a thing or two about first aid. Where did you learn?"

"The military," Asa vaguely replied, but at least he had replied. 

I noticed that, slowly but certainly, he was telling me more things about himself which was a relief. 

Him volunteering that information made me feel slightly less guilty about sneaking a peek at his psychologist's notes and knowing things he didn't personally tell me.

"Really? What kind of position?" I asked. 

"Research." 

"What kind?" 

Asa's jaw clenched and I internally flinched. "That's classified."  

"Oh, sorry." 

Crap, I had clearly taken it a step too far. Asa crossed his arms, closing up entirely as we walked on. 

"Uh, I'm not going to join this tournament with my main account," I blurted, changing the topic abruptly. "I think I'm going to join as myself - so I don't have to tell anyone about my stream." 

Asa nodded. He didn't reply but the wrinkle between his brows vanished. 

We arrived at the school nurse's station a few moments later, and I stopped in front of the door.