Different World

Chapter 14

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Kristen woke up to the sweetest smell she had ever felt. A hand was running through her hair smoothly, as if the owner of the hand was soothing her to sleep. She purred at the warmth and leaned into the hand. She would give anything to wake up to this every day. A slow chuckle came from her right side. She turned to find Mr Cael lying beside her, smoothing her hair. He looked even younger with the smile he could pass for an eighteen year old, though muscular.

"Hey you." She smiled at that. She felt all calm and contended, even though something was still bothering her. It was really awkward seeing him before her, with all the boundaries and mysteries that needed to be addressed. He was her teacher to start with and he was s stranger. She couldn't just accept him into her life, and she was sure they had bigger problems to face than any other normal relationship. But then would anything ever be normal for them? She wasn't human to start with, despite living with humans all her life.

"Hey, sir." She watched as Mr Cael lifted his head and supported it with his hands to look at her.

"Just Cael. Please. I hate it when you call me Mr Cael or sir. Human titles are so bizarre; I don't even know why they like them so much. They add on to sentences when they could just use their given names. Sorry, I feel like complaining all the time. This is all new to me. How are you feeling?" No one had ever asked Kristen that. In her world people only worried about images, and she did not have the power to change anyone's life. Michael always assumed that Kristen was okay, and all the other people did not seem to care whether she lived or died. The look of genuine concern on Cael's face brought a realization she was avoiding all along. She felt right lying next to him on a school day. She felt happy and content, something she never felt whether in school or at home.

"I feel different. I feel happy, being here. I feel whole yet incomplete. Does that make sense?"

"Yes. I think it does. Life is not black and white, so feelings can be awkward. How do you feel about what I told you?" Kristen rubbed her eyes and took a second to think about his question.

"I want to handle it step by step. I want to figure out who I am and how I feel about you first. I want to adjust to all this new me, my ancestry and the responsibilities that come with it will come later."

"I'm glad you are better. You handled it better than I expected you to, but then, what I was told was not what I found out when I first met you."

"What were you told and by who?"

"Your father, Angel Michael. He thought you and Michael junior were all happy and well taken care of. He thought you would be spoilt and rich. The picture he painted in my mind was what I thought of when I met Sonya."

"How could he possibly know that?"

"I think he was paying some people here on earth to take care of you and your brother. Some jinn or something, I did not ask."

"Will I meet him?" Cael sat up on the bed and took her hand in his. He looked at their intertwined fingers and smiled. Kristen was watching their joined hands, a weird look on her face.

"I never knew I would ever feel this. It's magical, excruciating, voracious yet sweet in every way. I feel like I should be near you at all times. When I cannot see you I worry that you are not okay. I have been spying on you as you sleep. Now I don't want to let you go, ever." Kristen took a deep breath and looked at their fingers. She could feel what Cael was talking about, but she knew they had a reality to get back to. She rubbed his thumb and looked into his eyes. They were blue, which was weird since their normal eye colour was brown.

"Why are they blue?"

"I don't know. What would you like them to look like? Blue, green, brown or grey?"