As I stepped out into the hall to push the chair in, I saw her escort waiting at the end of the hall. Not Gavin thankfully, but one of the military types. Not visibly armed this time at least. I decided not to mention it.
“What are you up to tonight?” She asked.
“Just watching a movie, it’s been a long week.” I chuckled.
“You’re telling me!” Eve laughed.
“What movie?”
“Fifth Element. Seen it?”
“No, I don’t get a chance to see many films.”
“Oh this one is great it’s Sci-Fi, but funny. Almost a parody, but unique enough to be something special. It’s my favorite movie.”
“Cool, can I watch it with you? I had to get out of Delta, and uh…” she drifted off.
“And?”
“I don’t want to scare you off. I’m just a little freaked out about the other night and well, without sounding like a scared mouse, I feel calmer when I am with you. I know it’s dumb, we just met.”
“It’s not dumb, you went through a lot the other night. I am amazed you are out of bed. I am just glad you are ok.” I tried to reassure her, I was just glad she was here.
“Help me out of this stupid thing? Just, go slow.”
Getting her out of the chair wasn’t difficult, she was a small girl. But every little ounce of pressure or shift in weight seemed to put her into agony.
“Slowly.” She winced as we carefully got her on her side on the bed.
“It’s been a really, really long time since I have watched a movie. Is that a new TV? Picture is really good.” She asked.
“I’ve had it a while, brought it from home.”
“Hmm. Where’s home?”
“I am a bit of a townie, I’m from Brecken a town or two over.”
“I’ve been to Brecken, I used to go to high school there.”
“Oh yea? East or west?”
She seemed briefly confused by the question, “Oh, uh. The old one.”
“East? Yea, I went to West, it was nice, looked like a small college we had like two thousand kids graduating last year, graduation took like six hours.”
“Wow, that sounds horrible.” She laughed.
“I could go back today and probably not recognize a single person, so many people. It was a mad house, a total ocean of people. They are going to have to build another school soon.”
We sat quietly for a while, at some point she grabbed my hand and pulled my arm over her waist and we just lay quietly and spooned for most of the movie.
“This is the most ridiculous movie I have ever seen.” Eve laughed toward the end.
“Oh yea, but its great isn’t it?” I laughed.
“It moves very fast, it’s like watching a marathon from the ground looking up.”
“I’m glad you are here Eve. Really. I didn’t think I would see you again.” I frowned.
“Why’s that, you save my life and you think I’m just going to ghost you?”
“Gavin said that…”
“Gavin may be my brother, but he isn’t my father. I do what I want, especially this week.” She raised her voice.
“Ok, cool. I’m glad you are here, I’m just saying it was a surprise. I’m glad I didn’t go out with Sammy.”
“Oh? Hot date?”
“No, just some stupid frat party thing. I’d rather be here with you.”
“Oh, so smooth Simon, really.” She laughed.
“Not like that, just, I dunno I’m just saying I like being with you. Since the other night I can’t get you out of my head.”
“Rough night.”
“Did they ever find those guys?”
“I don’t want to talk about it, but its getting dealt with. I’ve never seen Ross so upset, so angry.”
“He is your brother too right? I met him, just for a moment.”
“My twin. Yea, he is a bit more emotional than Gavin but he has an amazing temper, I wouldn’t want to be those guys if he finds them before the… uh… police.”
“You’re a twin?”
“Paternal, obviously. But yea. He is three minutes older, so I get to be called ‘little sister’ for my whole life.” Eve laughed again, pushing the pain away with a momentary look of discomfort.
“Do you want to sit up, we can…”
“No, I’m fine. I’m not ready for that journey yet, getting up will be an adventure I’m sure. I just want to lay here with you, if that’s ok.”
“Eve, you can stay here forever if you want.” I joked.
“I like that you call me Eve.”
“That’s your name right?”
“Duh I’m just not used to it, everyone I know calls me Mavin and has for like ever.”
“I never was one for nicknames, I hate when people try to shorten my name…”
“So formal! What if my name was Gretchen, or Elizabeth, or Cassiopeia?
“Good thing its Eve or I might have to call you Mavin.” I laid down flat behind her and we both laughed slightly.
“Movie is over. Now what?”
“Talking to you is nice.”
“Talking is good.”
“You said you are from Brecken too?”
“Sort of, I don’t like talking about my past much.”
“Yea, I have heard that the Deltas kinda keep to themselves.”
She stayed silent and didn’t respond.
“I have to ask though, where did you find corduroy bellbottoms? I’ve never seen anything like those before.”
“Yea, kinda retro I guess. I just got used to wearing them and they are comfortable.”
“How do you just get used to wearing bellbottoms?” I prodded.
“Pushy aren’t we?! You don’t like them?”
“No, just unusual.”
“You have no idea Simon, I’m a pretty weird girl.”
“Nothing wrong with weird, weird is interesting. The world is full of vanilla boring cookie cutter people. It’s nice to meet someone who is so unique, and confident about it.”
“Well, I have had a lot of practice.”
With that there was an awkward silence. I was still on my back, and she was next to me facing away still toward the television. She hadn’t moved much at all since she lay down.
“Simon?”
“Yea?”
“Listen, this is the part of the dance where we nudge and test each others reaction, I touch you, you touch me, but even with my meds I am in too much pain to turn over and play the game. Can I be overly forward and just ask you to kiss me?”
I rolled to my side and brushed her hair from her face, noticing the goose bumps appear on her neck. “I think I can do that.”
I smiled and crawled over her, careful not to jostle her too much.
When our lips met it was a release, like being wound too tight and finally let go. It was soft, innocent and safe.
“That was nice.” She said and closed her eyes.
I sat on the floor and rested my head next to her, much like I had done the previous night at her side and we both fell asleep, toward the middle of the night Sammy slipped in the room and I woke up enough to move off the floor and back into bed next to Eve. She had rolled over in the night and when I laid next to her put her arm with her cast on my chest, neither of us moved for the rest of the night.
Chapter Five: Thursday
Thursday morning came like a ton of bricks. I was sore from the awkward position of laying next to Eve in a way to be close to her without touching or putting any weight on her. She woke suddenly and cried out, in panic at first from whatever dream she was having, then in pain from her involuntary movement.
“Oh god, that sucks.” Eve said, her eyes slightly tearing up.
“Are you alright?” I asked, “Can I get you anything?”
“My meds have worn off, what time is it?”
“It’s fucking seven AM, for fuck sake, tryna sleep!” Sammy moaned from his pile.
I laughed and managed to drive a smile out of E
ve when I stuck my tongue out at him.
“There is a guy down the hall, black jacket, scary. Can you go ask him for my meds? I am not ready to move just yet.” She nuzzled her head back into the pillow.
“Uh, sure.”
Down the hall, sure enough some spooky guard type stood waiting, although I wasn’t sure if this was the same one from the night before, or a different one.
“Uh, hi… umm…” I stammered.
“Everything ok down there? Any more noise like before and I will have to come through the door.” The guard said, I was unable to tell if he was joking or not.
“Oh, yea, her meds are wearing off. She said you had them?”
The guard pulled three pills from two bottles out of his pocket and handed them to me.
“Make sure she takes these two now, and the third with lunch.”
“Alright, I can do that.”
The guard looked away and I returned to the room. Sammy had somehow melted head first into his pile of clothes, recoiling from the light in the hallway. I could see Eve, in the same position as I had left her.
I handed her two pills and a bottle of water from under the bed.
“Bottled water? How fancy, you really know how to treat a girl!” Eve smirked and poked me in the stomach.
“Oh you know, nothing but the best here. I might even be able to come up with some cheese puffs for breakfast.” I teased her back.
She rose to take her meds and slowly lay back down. In the absence of anywhere else to sit, I sat in her wheelchair. She fell asleep again almost instantly; I could tell that she belonged in bed nearer to her doctors than to me. Still I was happy she was here, from the moment we met she had become like a magnet, every fiber of myself steered itself toward her.
As I watched her sleep, I could tell it wasn’t going to be a restful nap, her bad dreams started almost instantly and her eyes darted back and forth behind her eyelids.
She was amazingly disquieted, and occasionally would say a few words…
“Lasher…” came often, “Mavin…” once or twice, and “All-Father” came in cycles and repeated.
I started to feel guilty, like I was spying on her dreams. When she started to rock back and forth, seeming to struggle in her sleep, I reached out and put my hand on her good arm which seemed to quiet her.
I watched her sleep until past noon. Sammy said nothing, just took his shower and left without a word. Whenever she would start to have another nightmare, I would reach out and touch her arm, hand or put my hand on her hip. Just to reassure her that she wasn’t alone. I wanted to think I was helping her.
I was able to close my eyes a bit, drifting back and forth between my own dreams and watching her dream hers. There wasn’t much contrast between the two, and the two worlds folded into one another as my blinks got longer and longer.
At some point I opened my eyes to see Eve looking back at me, her bright green eyes brightened as they met mine.
“Hey…” she whispered.
“Hey.” I smiled back.
“Looks like I kicked you out of your bed, sorry about that.”
“You need it more than I do right now. You didn’t seem to sleep very well.”
“Yea, I haven’t gotten much healthy sleep since Sunday. Really though, last night was probably the best sleep I have had since then.”
“Really? You tossed and turned, looked painful, and even talked a bit in your sleep.”
“Aw, shit. What did I say? Nothing too stupid I hope?” She looked worried.
“Naw, just names and places. Seemed like you were fighting, or praying… sometimes both.”
“Yea, that sounds about right.”
I just sat and stared at her, not really sure what to say. She seemed so guarded, but also attached; secretive, but at the same time trusting.
“I take it you are a freshman, what are you here to study?”
“Chemistry for now.”
“Oh, are you some great prodigy here with a full ride?”
“Ha! No, I’m a townie who is just lucky to be here, I guess.”
“Not many people who come to UPT feel like they deserve to be here, it’s a really good school.”
“Yea, but like, I really don’t. My parents both went here, so as an alumni family they almost had to let me in.”
“Oh yea? Both your parents went to UPT?”
“Yep, mom graduated. Dad flaked out, and disappeared after a year or two, it was enough to get mom pregnant and the result is the fine specimen you see before you!” I joked and she laughed.
“Stop making me laugh, it hurts.” She winced, but still smiled.
“I’d like to know about you, but I’m not sure what I am allowed to ask.” I just blurted out my dilemma.
“You can ask me anything you want, I have to keep some things to myself. But nothing that would keep you from knowing me.” She cocked her head to the side, “Here help me sit up?”
We propped a pillow behind her and managed to get her upright without too much pain.
“Why do they call you Mavin?”
“Well, um. It’s more like a title. It started as Matron and later became Mavin.”
“Matron? Like… Mother?”
“Not exactly, but sort of. Ross and Gavin run most of Delta’s business, but the people follow me, for some reason they naturally see me as their leader.”
“That’s right, Delta is a coed Fraternity.”
“Who told you that?” she laughed.
“The Gamma guys.” I shrugged.
“Don’t believe everything you hear, there are lots of stories about us.”
“Deltas might run the Greek system, and most of the school, but we aren’t a fraternity at all. It’s just easier to appear like one, it explains away a lot of the questions.”
“Then what are you guys?”
“Research team? Experimental Laboratory? Exotic…” She stopped.
“And you just let everyone think…”
“Hey, I like to party. I only get it at Rush week, and we throw one hell of a party!” She shrugged. “You said your mom graduated?”
“Yes, was a math major. She is a corporate accountant now, really dry stuff.”
“And your dad?”
“He did Robotic engineering, helped invent something cool then bolted. Left his portion of the patent to my mom, and I never met him. My mom thinks that her getting pregnant scared him.”
“What was his name?” She pushed an unexpected question.
“Martin. Martin…”
“Trevelyan.” Eve and I both said at the same time and she looked as if I had just slapped her across the face.
“How could you possibly know that?” I asked, quite shocked myself.
“Your dad was Martin Trevelyan?”
“Yea…”
“Simon, your name isn’t Trevelyan its Cauven”
“So what? My parents weren’t married.”
“Your dad was Martin Trevelyan?” she asked again and I started to get annoyed.
I think this was the first time I had given Eve any sort of darkened look, I was obviously annoyed and she could tell.
“Simon, your dad was a Delta. Not just a Delta, but one of our best, he was…”
“Just a sperm donor. Like I said I never met him. I don’t want to talk about him.”
Eve looked at me in sadness, her eyes welled up slightly, but she didn’t push.
“Sorry, it is just a bit of a shock. It um, changes things for me quite a bit.”
“Eve I really like you, I really do. But I am not ready to talk about my dad with anyone, even my mom and I don’t talk about him to each other. I have always seen him as a bit of a traitor. He didn’t want me or my mom, so I…”
“It’s fine Simon, we don’t have to talk about it.” She reassured me.
“Wow that took a serious turn, didn’t it?” I tried to lighten the mood.
“It did. But that’s ok, we both learned something, and that’s good.”
&
nbsp; “Ok, so you know my favorite movie. What is yours?”
“I still can’t believe that is your favorite movie, that was ridiculous.”
“Hey, no judging!”
“I would probably have to say, the first Planet of the Apes maybe… or the one with the Chocolate Factory.” Eve looked as if she was trying to remember something far off.
“Wow, totally retro Mavin.” I teased.
“Oh you are going to start calling me Mavin all of a sudden.”
“When in Rome!” I called out.
“I like it when you call me Eve.” She shook her head.
“You really are into the whole retro scene. Like waist deep.”
“I guess, just always seemed to fit.”
“You know people on campus think you are some sort of ghost. You should have seen the looks on the faces of those Gamma guys when they saw you, and it wasn’t just… the situation, they were half scared and half obsessed.”
“Yea… that’s difficult to explain.”
“Tammy said it’s probably just a family resemblance?” I enquired, giving her an out.
“Who’s Tammy?” she raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t change the subject.” I smirked.
“I don’t want to lie Simon, can I just skip this one?” she seemed upset.
“If you won’t go truth, it’s gotta be a dare!”
“Oh shit, you are going to go there? Truth or dare?” Eve laughed through her pain.
“First it’s time for your meds.” I held out a pill.
“Yes mommy!” she replied, but I could tell she was thankful.
“Ok, then dare it is. But I will tell you right now, my shirt is staying on and I am not getting out of this bed.” She shook her head and made a face at me, dictating her terms.
“Dare is easy, just a kiss.” I got on my knees and made a childish pucker with my eyes closed.
Instead of kissing me innocently on the lips she softly kissed my neck, slowly and gently up to just under my ear. A little grunt of discomfort from her, but goose bumps and chills riddled through me.
“My turn.” She remarked. “Truth or dare?”
“Truth.”
“Ok, what did you think the first time you saw me?” she asked.
“I thought you were dead. To be totally honest, those guys…”
“No...” she stopped me, “…after that.”
Deltas: Delta Horizon Book One Page 4
