Alex

I get out of the car tired, and I run my hand along my neck, trying to get rid of the tension.

I need a bath, urgently.

I go inside the house, put my white coat in the washing machine before opening the refrigerator, pour myself some water, and grab a protein bar from the cupboard before heading upstairs.

My cell phone vibrates as I brush my teeth. I sigh as I see the group of my friends, getting organized for tonight.

I close my eyes, still with the tension in my neck begging me to lie down and sleep through the night.

The week has been pretty heavy, practices are getting harder and harder, and exams are near.

I change quickly, thinking of a good excuse not to go tonight, but the doorbell rings.

My brow furrows as I look at the clock on my nightstand.

I walk down the stairs, trying to see something from the windows, but the person, whoever it is, is well hidden behind them.

I am surprised to see her again, her cheeks are more flushed than last week due to the cold temperatures that are starting to set in. She is wearing a dress that is a little tighter than before and not as revealing as it could be.

"Are you going out today?" Her question leaves me still.

No car, no cab, no means of transportation.

"How did you get here? Who brought you?" The girl's smile falters a little, but doesn't disappear.

"Someone came to drop me off."

"Your brother?"

"No." Her refusal was definite. As sharp as the darkness that formed in her eyes for just a few seconds.

"I'm not going out tonight." I said, trying not to clear my throat from the growing tension that was beginning to show.

"Why not?" Her brow furrows, and her smile disappears.

"If there are no answers from your side, why would you get one from mine?" I say it and smirk. Char narrows her eyes and bites her cheeks inside, looking at herself like a child throwing a tantrum.

A gesture she makes so unconsciously it almost makes me laugh.

"Are your friends going out today? "She asks, and I can't help my shocked face.

She's planning to go out with my friends without me?

"I guess, then I'm not your target. "I say, and she almost laughs with derision.

"Just asking." she says with a shrug. She looks down at her shoes, trying to think of what else to say, maybe trying to convince me to come out.

"Why do you want to go out, Char?" I ask, this time without mockery, with pure curiosity—a curiosity that, perhaps, is trying to hide a growing concern for her.

Because, her showing up after four years had caused curiosity in me, I went so far as to look for her on social media and to look for her brother as well.

A, really old friend, a friend who saved me many times when we were rebellious teenagers who thought we had our lives in our hands.

Nothing.

There was no trace of him anywhere, neither in the university he chose nor in his sister's social media.

Of her, there was not much either, except for an old photo from her school, posted in a forgotten forum of this same school. Her social networks are private, without any publication anyway.

How did a family that seemed to be my own feel so distant?

"I just want to have fun," she replies, as if that's answer enough to compel me to go upstairs, change and take her out to have fun.

"Not to be rude, I really don't, but don't you have friends, you know, your age, for you to go to parties with?" I end my question cautiously, hoping it wasn't really rude to ask if she doesn't have friends.

"What does age have to do with it?" she asks, and I frown, noticing how she ignored the point of the question completely.

I sigh.

"It really has been a long week," I say, hoping he will take pity on my poor soul.

"We don't have to stay so late, just... a couple of hours?" Her smile appears again, a pleading smile she used with me and her brother, somehow managing to always get her way.

Why does this smile seem duller than it did then because it doesn't reach her eyes?

"I thought you weren't coming, aren't you dead?" Mosi asks, putting his arm over my shoulder. I sigh, half annoyed, but smile at him, hitting his chest as a way of returning his greeting.

"You have no idea." I hissed through my teeth, looking at the little black-haired girl sitting next to Emi and the other girls.

Char seems less tense than last week, as if she already knows how everything is and is more willing to enjoy herself as much as possible.

I pull away from my friends after a while to offer her my drink, a different one than last time. Her eyes sparkle as the liquid hits her tongue. Char nods, and I order one for her.

The conversation goes quiet, no games this time, but I notice how Char's little eyes dart to me every now and then. A way of asking me if I want us to leave.

Hell, of course I want to leave, my bed is screaming for me, but seeing her so desperate to get away from whatever it is she's trying to run away from won't let me get up.

A couple of hours pass when I feel a small hand touch my shoulder.

Char's cheeks seem redder than before, and her relaxed smile tells me that the drink has helped make this one less tense.

"Can we go now?" I smile at her, knowing that she didn't exactly want to leave this early, but by her words, she wants to make it clear that she's the one who wants to leave, not that I'm demanding that we leave.

"If that's what you want." I reply, taking her hand and noticing that it's very cold.

Char nods, squeezing my warm hand after holding it inside my jacket.

We said goodbye to my friends. I ask the cab driver to turn on the heater, and the girl thanks me wordlessly.

We say goodbye like the week before, after her eyes darken at the sight of the house in front of her.