Alex couldn’t remember the last time she’d gone swimming. This was the first time since she’d been magically given her sight. She thought about mentioning it to Jim but decided not to. Sometimes it felt better not to be constantly mentioning how awesome her first experiences were.
But she took it all in: the reflection of the moon against the water, Jim’s bare chest glistening with small beads of water, the constantly shifting colors of the pixies who were dancing above them like streaking stars that had come down to join them.
Alex and Jim didn’t speak much. They swam instead. When they were not swimming, they went back to the bank of the lake and lay down on the soft sand as the warm waters washed over their bodies. When they did speak, it was of nothing in particular. Stories told in snippets. The occasional laugh or giggle.
Time stopped for a bit.
Finally, after a long period of silence, while lying on the bank of the pond, Alex sighed and said, “I think I really needed this.”
Jim was waving his hand back and forth in the water. He looked up absentmindedly, as if the heat from the lake had drained him of his thoughts. “I think we both did.”
Alex stared up at the moon. Everything felt perfect. She couldn’t imagine it could be better. “I’m glad you asked me,” she said. “It’ll be nice to come back here with everyone. But I’m glad that it’s just us this time.”
As Alex stared up the sky, something bright and green streaked across. It looked like someone had carved open the sky and whatever was underneath had bled green. It was gone within a moment, only a flash. And that was all the attention Alex gave the streak.
Chapter Four
Alex and Jim had lost track of time. It was a pleasant feeling, one Alex couldn’t really recall having shared with another person before. Especially not such interesting conversation. Jim didn’t seem to like small talk very much. He kept asking Alex questions that made her stop and think.
That wasn’t to say Alex wasn’t trying to do the same thing. This was the first time they’d gotten to talk for an extended period of time outside of VR or work. It felt like they had a lot of catching up to do. Or at least, to get to know each other.
As Jim told Alex about the first time he’d ever broken a bone, she noticed that the streak was still bright in the sky, almost as if it had slowed its descent. When Jim was finished speaking, Alex pointed at it. “Seems like that’s been there for a while, right?” she asked.
Jim smiled as he leaned back to look at the green streak. “Was my story that boring?”
“Are you going to give me crap about looking up at the sky when it’s so beautiful tonight?”
“When you put it like that, I’ll pull my foot out of my mouth. And to answer your question, yeah. It does seem odd that it’s been like that for so long.”
Alex stood, walked over to Chine, and grabbed her HUD. She stared through the visor at the streak. “I’m going to check in with HQ about this,” she said before hitting her comm. “Hey, I’d like you to check out my coordinates. I’m seeing an anomaly in the sky. Not quite sure about it. I was just wondering if you could take a look at it or watch it.”
An obnoxiously gruff voice came over the comm. “What are you doing out that far? That’s a restricted area,” the voice chastised.
“No, it’s not,” Alex replied. “There aren’t any restricted areas around the Nest.”
“Oh, well, it’s not for first-year students. That’s what I mean by ‘restricted.’”
It was obvious to Alex that whoever was talking to her was messing around. “Okay, I’m not in the mood to play games right now,” Alex said, certain that whoever was on the comm was someone she knew. “Who is this?”
The gruff voice disappeared and was replaced by the bright, cheery tones of Jollies, a pixie, one of the other members of Team Boundless. “Aw, you suck the fun out of everything,” she whined.
“Only when I’m trying to seriously ask something. What are you doing on watch tonight?” Alex asked.
Jollies sighed as she explained. “Well, first-year students get the short end when it comes to night shifts. Brath and me got them two days in a row. Say hi, Brath.”
Brath’s annoyed voice came through the comm. “I don’t know why I have to say hi,” the gnome groaned. “It’s not like she called me.”
“She didn’t call me either, jerk. She called the night watch, and seeing as how you are also working the night watch, the call applies to you too. Now say hello.”
Brath grumbled under his breath before he said, “Hello. How’s the date going?”
Alex felt her face flush with a mixture of embarrassment and irritation. She had figured Jollies was going to give her a hard time about it, but she would have thought it would be beneath Brath. Although, Brath was Gill’s best friend. It wouldn’t be out of the question to assume Brath was being defensive, but Gill hadn’t seemed the least bit bothered by Alex and Jim going on a date.
Jollies erupted into gales of giggles at Brath’s question. “Oh, my goodness, I completely forgot you two were on a date right now. Are you guys holding hands? Did he kiss you yet? Does he smell good, like cologne-good, or did he just decide to go the human ‘this is how I smell’ route? You should have tried the pixie perfume I told you about, the one my mom sent me. It’s soooo good, and I think you would have loved it. But I need details—”
Alex interrupted Jollies. “I’m still on the date. Like, Jim’s right here next to me.”
“Oh. Kinda awkward to be talking on the comm while you’re on a date.”
Jim’s voice came on. “Just so
