ANEW ||

Pink Hair

April wasn't sure what to do with all of them. There were so many that she wasn't sure they would have time for them all and it had already been days. Three days of April and Rayne training the halflings as Lexi pulled back seal after seal. It was like the whole town was made up of these halfbreeds, all living together like a little community. And every day more seemed to appear on that stupid boat. 

Rayne was on the far west side, yelling at some young man to quit crying and try harder. Lexi was taking a break, sitting on a log with a petite girl - her hair dyed cotton candy pink. They sat close together, taking breaks together, talking with one another with a kind of ease that April envied. 

She tried not to stare. 

April pulled herself up from her crouch and headed over towards Hellion. He was trying to help out with the training but it didn't seem to be going well. Yes, he had perfect control of the fire in his veins now but something seemed to be wrong. As each day went on, he seemed to have less and less of it to control. Every day the flames seemed less spectacular. They had all noticed, Lexi even pointing out that it could start happening to the others. 

Hellion looked over at her, his face scrunched up into a puzzled expression. "I just don't get it," he said, his face falling into a deep frown as he stared down at his chocolate hands. "It's still here but it's getting harder to grab and when I do get a hold of it, there always seems to be less in my hands." As if thinking about it, his palms lit up in rich red flames. Not a bright hot orange but a dull red. As if the fire in his veins had gone cold. 

"We will figure it out," April said, her gaze flicking to the pink-haired girl beside Lexi. They bumped shoulders as they laughed together about some joke April wasn't important enough to hear. "I'm sure there is some kind of explanation for it." 

Hellion shook his head. "Yeah," he mumbled but April knew he didn't really believe her. April turned her gaze back to him to see him watching Rayne on the other side of all these people. She tilted her head, trying to decipher his expression, but his face was a cold calm with no hints to what he could be thinking. He dropped his gaze, looking at the dirt covering his shoes. "Has Rayne said anything to you? About me I mean?" 

Their eyes met and April was sure she saw something in his expression. She just wasn't sure what. "Not at all," April said softly. "Why?" 

She wasn't lying exactly, but she wasn't telling the truth either. Rayne had been weird lately, tossing and turning, mumbling to herself. Yet, when asked about was bothering her, Rayne shrugged it off. Maybe her fidgeting had something to do with Hellion? 

April doubted that entirely. Rayne and Marielle had never been apart for more than a few hours in the last century. The two of them were so much a part of the other that it was almost insufferable. Rayne was here, miles away from her sister and her home and it was beginning to make her uneasy. It was happening to all of them. 

"Oh, nothing," Hellion mumbled looking unconcerned. 

Before April could push farther, a bright laugh from Lexi dragged her attention away once more. It was late afternoon and people had started to dissipate hours ago. It was easier to spot them with less of a crowd, the girl's pink hair like a stupid beacon. 

April's face fell into such an expression of disapproval that Hellion even noticed. His gaze flicked between April and Lexi, then to the girl with the bright pink hair. "And that's my cue," he mumbled before slipping away from her. She didn't bother to look for where he went, her eyes were glued to Lexi as she tucked a stray piece of hair behind the girl's ear.  She wanted to scream. 

They had been like this for days and nothing further had happened beyond the casual flirting. It was fine. Everything would be fine. 

The girl scooted closer. 

Nope, everything would not be fine. 

The girl stood, gripping Lexi's hand in a way that made April want to scream all over again. She began to lead her away, out of the trees and to who knew where. 

April ran after her, her feet moving too quickly without the fire. "Lex, hold on a second." 

Lexi turned, face falling for a second before telling her new companion that she would catch up with her in just a second. The girl ran her fingers up Lexi's arm, her sultry smile making her stupid brown eyes light up. 

"What's up?" Lexi asked when the girl was far enough away not to overhear their conversation. 

"I-" April started but she wasn't sure where to go from there. "I don't think I have met her," April said trying to sound casual. 

Lexi jutted a thumb over her shoulder towards the pink-haired girl walking away. "You mean Rea?" Lexi asked not bothering to glance over her shoulder. 

"Uh, yeah," April said, quickly. Lexi shrugged, starting to sense that this wasn't the conversation April had in mind. "You really think that's wise? To do that stuff now?" 

Lexi's face fell into a tight scowl. "What do you mean now and what stuff, April?" Lexi's hands went to her hips. 

April thrust a hand out towards the pink-haired girl in the far distance now. "That. We are supposed to be working remember? And you barely know her." April's words came out more condescending than she intended and she flinched when she saw the look on Lexi's face. 

"You have done far more with people you knew far less." Lexi ground out. 

She wasn't wrong. April was never shy or discreet out her escapades. "That's not what I meant," April snapped. "This just isn't like you!" 

Lexi squared her shoulders. "This isn't like me?"

April nodded, trying to come up with a way to get her point across. "No, not really."

"Excuse me for wanting something for myself for once," Lexi snapped. 

"That's not what I meant," April stammered. "You don't even know her."

Lexi was quiet for a second. "I have waited for over a century for one person to look at me the way that girl does. And the person I really wanted only seems to judge me!" Lexi hands shot out and shoved April back, hard. "While you have slept around with half the island, I just sat back and let you do it because I thought that's what you needed. And now you have the audacity to throw it back in my face?" 

April blinked at her, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. "Lexi, I-" 

"Save it," she snapped turning to walk away. "I lost hope in you decades ago anyway." 

Lexi left then, running to catch up with Rea no doubt. April felt like Lexi had punched a hole through her chest. Her whole body throbbed with shock? Pain? She wasn't sure.

Wanted. 

Had Lexi been waiting for her all these years the way April had been waiting for her? April never knew Lexi thought of her like that. She didn't even know Lexi liked females in that way. Lexi had slept with a male once and that hardly counted. It had been so long ago. But April had never been shy about her sexuality, she frequented both male and female companionship. 

Both their mates were dead. Sebastian was dead before the war even happened. April and him had known one another for a fraction of a second, Lexi and Hades even less. They were unmated, destined to be alone. Unless they found another alternative. 

April had always thought of it as the better alternative. 

She could almost see it behind her eyes. Lexi and her hands tangled in that girl's stupid pink hair. How many times had she pictured it with herself? With her strawberry curls in Lexi's grasp...

Wanted. Lexi had wanted her. 

April sank into the dirt. No one else was left in the woods. What had she done now?