We Need to Talk
Daniel stood up. “Jake, can we talk?”
Jake sighed and got up as well. “Sure...” The two of them moved to the exit and Daniel glanced back briefly.
“We’ll just be a minute,” she said.
“Whatever...” Pammy waved them off.
When they had both hopped down onto the clover covered forest floor Daniel took a deep breath. Even in the tree house with its glassless windows and door-less entrance, something about being inside had felt stifling. Maybe it was just the atmosphere.
Jake cleared his throat, jolting Daniel out of her thoughts. She opened her eyes which she hadn’t realized were closed and looked at him. Right, there was a reason she was out here. She took another deep breath and turned to Jake.
“What’s going on?” she crossed her arms, an attempt at looking intimidating. Jake raised his eyebrows.
“Pardon?”
“What’s with you and Gassan? You’re obviously not sharing something. Is there something that happened in Area 50 that you didn’t tell me about?”
“Oh...I see.” A small grin appeared on Jake’s face. Daniel couldn’t tell if it was rueful, wry, or somewhere in between. She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. He stepped a little closer to her. “So I have to tell you everything now or do you still trust me at all?”
Daniel sputtered. She hadn’t expected Jake to be so aggressive, it wasn’t like him. “This isn’t about trust and even if it were, isn’t keeping secrets kind of breaking that trust? Aren’t friends supposed to tell each other things?”
“Pulling the friends card is a bit of a flimsy tactic for an interrogation isn’t it?” Jake stepped closer once more; he was only a couple paces away from Daniel now.
“I’m not interrogating you,” Daniel shot back. “I’m just worried.”
“Worried about yourself or...?” Another step.
“I’m worried about Gassan...and you too frankly. You’re both are acting weird.” Daniel’s eyes narrowed. “If something happened...”
“If something happened what? Would that change anything? Would you not go to Area 50?” Another step. Their shoes were touching now. Jake leaned closer, hovering over her. “Or does it not matter as long as you think you might turn back?”
“What are you saying?” Daniel spat.
“I’m saying it seems you wouldn’t care even if something bad did happen. You would still drag us to Area 50 because whatever happened to you there was more important than anything that could’ve happened to us.” Daniel could feel his hot breath on her cheeks.
“Whatever happened to me? Jake, I’m a cat. I think it’s kind of fair if---”
Jake grabbed her shoulders. “Is that so bad? You seem pretty used to it already.” Jake uttered a short desperate laugh. He was scanning Daniel’s face intensely; every so often their eyes would meet. He looked so frantic. Eventually he let out another of those odd laughs and drew Daniel closer to him. His head hung sullenly, a shadow covering his features. Time seemed to slow down for Daniel. She could hear the sound of the wind and the distant chirps of crickets, she could smell the dirt. Jake’s face was close to her neck when he began speaking again. His volume had dropped greatly. “Would it be so bad? If this world right now is just the same as we’re used to except for this one thing, this one thing...would it be so terrible to just stay like this? We can do what we do every summer. We can see movies, we can eat barbecue, we can go to the beach, we can laugh about how weird our teachers are before we have to go back and see them all again. We can...”
Jake’s hands had slowly been moving off her shoulders and wrapping around her, leaving Daniel trapped in an awkward embrace. Her fur stood on end as she felt his hand pressed against her back. “Stop acting like this...” she whispered.
“Acting like what? I’m just treating you like a normal person.” Jake loosened his grip and moved back a bit so he could look her in the eyes. “Aren’t you still just a normal person?”
Daniel stared at him.
Written by Flutterbest on 26 February 2018