The Solar Flare (31 page)

     “I think they are in the process of putting one together.” Ava slid a dry T-shirt over her sweaty work out gear, planning to shower once she got home.

     “James Xavier is so handsome, and he has such a beautiful voice,” Bridget said dreamily.

     Ava finished getting her stuff together and pulled her backpack over her shoulder. “Well, he’s outside, would you like to meet him?” She said dryly.

     “Are you serious? I’d love to!”
She replied enthusiastically, bouncing over to Ava’s side.

     Ava led the way out to the front of the gym where James was waiting p
atiently for her. Emma and Blayke were no-where to be seen. They must have gone home, Ava thought. She walked up to him and turned back towards Bridget who followed shyly behind.

     “James, this is Bridget, one of the trainers here. Bridget, this is James.” Ava watched as James smiled and graciously shook hands with the trainer, making small talk with her. She seemed to turn into mush before him, blushing and batting her eyelashes flirtatiously. As she observed them, Ava felt an emotion she could not believe, was it jealousy? She dismissed that
thought quickly. It couldn’t be, she told herself, feeling a little nervous. What is happening? Was she starting to have feelings for him? Immediately she felt ashamed. James turned and smiled mischievously at her, nonchalantly taking one of her hands in his. He bid a polite good evening to his fan, who looked enviously at Ava, before leading her out to his silver Vela.

     “Looks like you’re popular here,” Ava mumbled after settling in her seat.

     He shrugged. “That’s one of the reasons l like living on the coast. I like my privacy,” he replied casually, turning the sound system on to a soothing melody before speeding away. “I was watching you practice a little bit tonight. I think you are doing well,” he said thoughtfully.

     “Thank you.”

     “I was also thinking that we should start with some weapons training soon.”

     “Weapons . . . you mean guns?” Ava was shocked. She never in a million years thought she would ever have to use a gun.

     “You need more than just your physical strength to stand up to an attack; particularly if your enemy is an Asterion.”

     “I guess so.” She pondered this as she gazed out at the dark skyline, suddenly feeling a little homesick for her family.

     The days continued to burn away. Ava’s hectic schedule kept her thoughts from wandering back to Kyanos and Wesley. Despite the circumstances, she didn’t hate the people that had now sort of become her friends. She became increasingly more at ease with them each passing day. She spent time with all of them from one day to the next. They had been very patient and thoughtful teachers for her. On the days that James was not with her, he was up in the Solstice with Nicholas and Lucas nearby in space assisting with the repair and maintenance of a few of the satellites orbiting close to Sphene.

    
One Thursday Emma informed her that they would be taking a break from her training on Saturday so that they could all attend a local mid-summer festival in town called simply, “The Carnivale.”

     It seemed
to Ava that every person in the Sphene city was attending this event. The Carnivale was held in the downtown streets of the city. People walked, or drove to the outdoor event. James parked his Vela along with the rest of his clan in a lot not far from the perimeter of the event. Ava could see the colorful bright lights, hear the local music, and smell the food that was being prepared as they approached. It surprised her that she actually felt happy to be attending something she had never seen on Earth, or any of the space stations. Life definitely seemed more celebratory and care free in this society compared to her other living experiences.

     After the clan arrived and met up together they wandered through the crowds in
search of some interesting food for Ava to try. Lizeth instructed the men to go after drinks, and the women to decide on the food. After a short while and several vendors later, everyone came back to the designated meeting place with trays holding plates of food Ava could not even describe. They re-arranged some tables and sat down as a group in one of the outdoor dining areas, mere feet from all of the action happening in the streets. Ava could hardly focus on the food, even though most of it was spicy and delicious. The dancing, shouting, cheering, and singing of the crowds held her attention. Everywhere she looked there were performers dressed in brightly colored costumes, people juggling, and walking on tall stilts. The fire-breather was especially fascinating to her. Her friends laughed as she had a hard time eating some of the more foreign delicacies. Whatever the alcohol-laden drink Blayke brought for her tasted wonderful, but it was much stronger than what she was used to.

     With dinner out of the way, the group wandered towards the game area. Ava stopped to watch as a young man threw a dart at a bulls-eye trying to win his girlfriend a prize. He missed by a narrow margin and they laughed, walking away towards the next game.

     “Would you like to try?” James asked.

     “Sure!” Ava had never thrown a dart, but wanted to try anyway. James paid for a few games and she tried three times to hit the bulls-eye but failed miserably to come anywhere near the center.

     “Let me show you how it’s done,” James teased, taking a dart from her.

     “No cheating!” She warned playfully.

     “I wouldn’t cheat,” he said, with a look of mock insult crossing his face. He focused and tossed the dart effortlessly, landing directly in the center of the bulls-eye.

     “Looks like we have a winner!” The game keeper announced. “Now pick your prize,” he said gesturing to a wall of ridiculous looking small stuffed animals.  James looked at Ava, indicating it was her choice. Embarras
sed, she pointed to a small purple and white “teddy bear” as they were called. After collecting her prize they wandered to another booth. This time the goal was to toss a small metal token onto one of the dishes floating in a small pond. The gentle whirlpool underneath the dishes kept them moving. Ava watched as people tossed their tokens, only to see them bounce off and fall into the water. James paid for several tokens for Ava to try. He watched as she bounced a few off of some of the nearby dishes.

     Ava focused harder, picking out some of the dishes further away. She tossed another token and missed again. On the last try she tossed the token gently and it landed on a dish and stayed. As the gamekeeper announced her as a winner, she looked up towards where James had been only moments before but he was gone. She ignored her chance to collect a prize and scanned the crowd around her. None of her friends were anywhere to be seen
. Where were they? Did they leave her? She walked further out into the crowd, feeling a little freaked out. She was not used to being without one of them present with her at all times, and the thought of being alone in a crowd full of strangers on a strange planet kind of started to make her panic. She walked out into the crowd, ignoring the mass of bodies dancing and walking all around her.

      They have to be here somewhere she thought. Then she sensed it. There was energy nearby. She focused harder, looking towards her left. Moving forward, she saw them. Lucas and Melanie were having drink by one of the nearby booths, engaged in a conversation. Ava turned away, looking for the others. Another fleeting sensation of energy. That’s Blayke, Ava thought. She followed it further down the street. Focusing hard, the energy grew more potent and Ava found Emma and Blayke talking to a couple near another food booth.
Blayke looked up and smiled at Ava as he signed autographs for his fans. So they are playing a game, Ava thought. Or, is this a training session? One more couple to go. Ava smiled back at him and disappeared back into the crowd. She sensed James first, somewhere to her right, but ignored him. Serves him right for leaving me, Ava thought. She continued on down further. Nothing.

     Another block and she kept on going towards the stage. A young woman was singing and playing something that sounded like an electric guitar on-stage.
She closed her eyes and sensed it. Lizeth was behind her. Ava opened her eyes and dashed back towards where she thought Lizeth was. Even though she couldn’t see her, she was aware she was moving slowly away from her. She increased her speed, careful not to crash into anyone as she followed the energy. Finally Ava caught up with Lizeth and Nicholas, who had acquired festive masks and were laughing at something.

     “Ava,
you found us! Good work!” She hugged Ava.

     “That wasn’t very nice Lizeth,” Ava said with mock anger as she stood with her friends.

     “It was Emma’s idea. We wanted to test your ability to sense our energy and it worked. We thought it would be hard for you with all of these people and distractions around you but apparently it wasn’t.”

     “I wouldn’t say it was easy
. I’m not done yet.” Ava casually tossed her teddy bear at them and walked away, looking for James.

     She worked her way back through the crowds towards the stage, where she had sensed him earlier but she couldn’t feel him. She moved slowly through the dancers keeping her eyes open until she sensed him, he was moving very quickly towards her. She turned and he embraced her briefly, then he
took one of her hands and twirled her into a dance position as the song turned into a slower beat. She went with the flow of the music and the crowd and moved with him into the rhythm of the beat. She didn’t know the dance they were doing but found herself enjoying it. For the first time since she arrived on Sphene she felt as if she could let loose and finally be herself. She didn’t have to worry about earning enough credits to afford groceries. She didn’t have to go home to a small empty apartment by herself each night. She no-longer had the company of friends only on the weekends. And, for the first time, she wasn’t afraid of the future.

     After a few songs they took a break, meeting up with some of the others who were hanging out on the sidewalks, closer to the buildings. Lizeth handed them some drinks, containing something Ava learned was tequila, and
tasted very strong. She was pouring with sweat. Even though it was night time, it was still pretty hot outside. James gestured for Ava to come and stand beside him, then he placed an arm lightly around her shoulders. He pointed to the horizon and much to her surprise, the black night sky began to light up with bright and colorful flashes of light and loud booming noises. Her mouth dropped open as she observed her first fireworks display. She remained silent, taking it all in as the crowd yelled and applauded around her. It was a beautiful moment, one she would never forget. She looked up at James, who was grinning down at her. He looks so happy, she thought as she turned back to watch the amazing show in the sky.

     After the fireworks
, the band took a break and the crowds started thinning out for it was growing late. The food, the dancing, and the drinking made it hard for Ava to keep her eyes open. James slipped his hand in hers and started leading her slowly back to their Vela with the others. She collected her prize from Lizeth on the way. They had quite a wait to glide through the crowds to get back to the main roads. Ava leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes, feeling tired from everything and the sensory overload of the colorful experiences of the Carnivale.

     “Did you have a good time tonight?” James asked quietly as they waited their turn to pull out into the stream of traffic.

    “Mmm-hmm,” she replied hazily before she drifted off into a sleep filled with vibrant dreams.

     A jolt of energy snatched her out of the dreams and she looked around her and saw that they were back in the garage at home. “Let’s get you to bed,” James said gently as he took her hands, helping her to stand up. She swayed a little bit.

      “I don’t think I want any more tequila for a while,” she said slowly, picking up the teddy bear with one hand. He laughed softly as he steadied her and slipped an arm around her shoulders while taking one of her hands in his other hand and they started walking.

     They strolled slowly
up to the house. It didn’t disturb her to see doors open and close and lights turn on and off by themselves around them as they made their way into the house and up the stairs to her room.  I wish I could do that, she thought fleetingly. They stopped at her doorway and he removed his arm from around her but let his hand linger in hers. “Do you need anything before I go?” He said smoothly. She looked up at him, wondering what to say. Her brain seemed to be taking a siesta at the moment. All that ran through her mind was that she really had grown to like the sound of his voice. 

     “I’m all right. . . James, thank you for taking me tonight. I had a lot of fun.” She smiled shyly at him.

     “I’m glad. Get some rest, I’ll see you in the morning.” He caught her off guard by raising her hand to his mouth and gently placing a soft kiss on it, a faint sensation of energy remaining behind. He released her hand and walked down the hallway, heading off to the other side to his room.

    
Stunned, she watched him depart and slowly closed the door to her room, not even bothering to lock it. What just happened? She gently rubbed her hand where he had kissed it; the sensation dispersed the energy away. As tired as she was, she suddenly felt very confused. She remembered somewhere that she loved someone else, but it almost felt like she was forgetting him, like he was a fond distant memory that was being replaced, re-written somehow. He might not even exist anymore, she thought. And what was worse, she didn’t even feel that concerned about it. In fact, she had rather enjoyed James’ touch just now.