“But, he’s our best friend Adaline,” Zavy says, and the girl I know to blow everything into a bigger problem begins to show.
“I know. It’s really hard to grasp, but it’s actually Cooper in all those memories. We have something that can return your memories back to normal. When we stop again I can ask Cooper to give it to you,” I say. “This whole situation was even worse for Alexander because it wasn’t just a piece of his memory that was wrong, but all of it. He had no idea who he truly was or what life he really lived before going to work at the castle.”
“But he knows now? You restored his memories?” Zavy asks and I confirm. “And he still risked his life to save Toby and me?” She can’t believe the great gesture just like I had questioned it too.
“He did,” I admit and I hope that him saving Zavy and Toby isn’t the reason I never get to truly know him. We are quiet for a moment and I’m sure Zavy is rethinking every situation she remembers with Alexander and pretending that it was Cooper instead.
“I’m really sorry, Adaline,” Zavy says softly. “Everything from this journey with him is all true though.”
“I know. That’s what we keep telling ourselves,” I say.
“It must be pretty weird, right? Having feelings for a guy you don’t even know the first thing about,” Zavy says perplexed at the idea.
“It’s kind of been driving me crazy,” I admit and muster out a light scoff. “Zavy, what if I never get to know him? Who even knows where he’s at right now? I don’t even know if he’s alive!” I say a little louder than I should have, and some people glance back at me.
“Adaline,” Zavy starts to try and calm me down.
“I know, I know,” I brush her off. “It’s just, I don’t know how long I can let myself hope he’s going to come back,” I admit, and my wet eyes meet hers. I don’t like holding on and wishing for things that may never happen. After I spent months hoping my father would come back to us just to be left disappointed and angry, I’ve learned that hoping will only drive you crazy.
“I think we give it until tomorrow morning,” she offers.
“Okay, we’ll give him until then,” I say.
“He’ll be here, Adaline,” she tries to reassure me.
“I hope so,” I say weakly, and my heart continues to deny what my brain keeps saying.
Chapter 17
We walk for nearly the rest of the day. When the sun has sunk deep behind the canopy of long palm branches Mio finally calls for us to break for the night. Zavy and I sit along the forest wall in silence, sipping on the warm water and trying to slow our breathing. We look out into the river and see that Toby, James, and Bren are trying to catch fish with the spears they managed to grab. Toby is very fond of James and Bren, instantly bonding over their drive to hunt and master weapons. Zavy jokes that he’s one of the guys now, but I can tell she wishes he wouldn’t trust them and just stay by her side. It’s easier for her to protect him that way. However, Zavy and I both laugh when Toby brings in a net full of fish and James and Bren are empty-handed. He could teach them a thing or two it seems.
“I don’t think I’ve seen him this happy in a long time, Adaline,” Zavy admits, wishing she hadn’t been so quick to judge James and Bren.
“Well, he hasn’t even interacted with another person in seven years,” I point out and try to rub the beading sweat off of my forehead.
Zavy and I go back to sipping on our water in silence until Cinder comes over and asks if we want to help her collect berries. She hands us each a wooden woven basket and we both put our water bottles away and follow her into the woods.
“These are what we’re looking for,” Cinder says, kneeling next to a bush with a mix of yellow, blue, and red berries on it. Zavy and I nod and spread deeper into the woods to find more bushes. I come across 4 or 5 of them soon and start picking them one by one and placing them in the basket.
“Why don’t you just use your gift?” I hear Cinder ask from behind me.
“What?” I question and turn to her.
“I just don’t understand how gifts work. Is there a reason you don’t use yours? You’re a Force Lifter, right?” She asks tenderly.
“Yeah I am, but no, there really isn’t a reason I’m not using it. I’m still really new with it, and if you overuse it, it can lead to extreme exhaustion. But that’s more with fighting with the gift, not with picking berries,” I say and smile.
I turn back to the berries and imagine all of them being pulled off the bush and into the basket. They start shaking from the bush and fall to the forest floor with only about half of them actually landing in the basket. “Ideally they were all supposed to just move to the basket, but I can’t work my gift just yet,” I say. I quickly scoop up the rest of the berries, stand, and grab the now full basket, turning to see Cinder with a shocked look on her face.
“Need more than this?” I say, joking.
“No, I’d say that should be plenty,” she says with a light laugh.
We walk back through the woods and find Zavy with about a hand full of berries in her basket. She turns and sees my full basket and
