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Chapter 20.1
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2024-10-29 19:42:56The door opening behind her altered Nyla to another person’s presence on the patio. The weather was so lovely, one of the few days of transition between the too cold of winter and the too hot of summer, she had moved to one of the tables outdoors to study. From the stomping of the feet, Nyla knew it was Mason approaching her, and inwardly she sighed. She didn’t want to deal with the girl right now. She just wanted to finish her history reading.
“I see my brother’s not hanging onto you. Did you finally scare him off, or did he just come to the conclusion you aren’t worth it?” Mason sneered, stopping next to Nyla.
Carefully, Nyla marked her page in her holopad. Turning to Mason, anger sparked in Nyla’s chest. It was unfair she had to be subject to this type of attitude in her own home. Unable to control her anger at the injustice of the situation, Nyla snapped, “What’s your problem, Mason? What did I ever do to you? I
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What Is Love? Chapter 20.2
Mason leaned in close to them. “That you loooooooove her. That you’re seeing each other in some capacity.”Eason sank to a squat next to Mason’s chair, his body trembling.“How did you know?” Nyla asked. Her heart was beating in her ears. If Mason knew… well, they were in trouble.Mason leaned back in her chair, enjoying the chaos she’d created. “I saw you in the pool holding her, Eason. That first day. And unlike our oh so loving parents, I can see what’s around me. You two make goo-goo eyes at each other all day, it’s kind of disgusting.”Nyla didn’t understand. Mason had gone out of her way to cause issues for Nyla. “Why would you do that for us?”Mason’s grin faded. “First of all,” she said, “you’re keeping my secret. And secondly,” she cast a glance at Eason, “this is the happiest I’ve ever seen my brother,
What Is Love? Chapter 21.1
Lunches had been awkward since Nyla had stopped speaking to Eason. To her own surprise Nyla found she as painful as her silence was, she couldn’t bring herself to forgive Eason yet. Sarah pulled Nyla aside the day after Veronica had given her tentative permission. “Nyla, when are you going to out Eason out of his misery?” Nyla blinked slowly at her. “What do you mean?” “Either tell him you never want to see him again and break off whatever you had, or talk it out with him. It’s not fair to him to keep him in limbo, and it’s not good for you, either. You’re both hot messes. I don’t know how his parents haven’t noticed.” Blushing, Nyla glanced over to where Eason sat chatting with Breanne looking forlorn and lost. “But Sarah, he kept something from me that hurt me.” Sarah shook her head. “Sometimes people make mistakes they can’t take back. The people around them have to learn to let the person go or let the mistake go. You’re at that point now.
What Is Love? Chapter 21.2
Nyla stared at the letter in mind-numbing confusion, her hands still shaking uncontrollably. An endless list of possible senders crossed her mind, everyone she’d ever met getting their own moment of consideration. Finally, she stopped on the impossible. The Major. He was the only one who knew about the chocolate incident. No one else had been around. They’d shared a tent after all. She forced her hands to be still and brought the paper up to her eyes. She’d only ever seen the Major’s handwriting on a holopad, but she was almost sure this writing matched. Her eyes glazed over and grew out of focus, the words became just green blurs. Is he dead or not? Because this letter has recent events listed, things the Major would know nothing about. A knock on the door scared Nyla, and she yelped. Shoving the letter under her pillow once more, she rose and scurried to the door. Opening it she found Eason staring in puzzlement. “Why was this locked?”
What Is Love? Chapter 22.1
Halfway through dinner, something happened that shocked and astounded the family – Roger dropped Nyla’s plate while attempting to set it down. No one could ever remember Roger performing his duties less than perfectly. “Roger!” snapped Edmond, banging his fist on the table. “It slipped, sir. I’ll go grab her a new one. I’m very sorry, Miss Nyla.” He scurried off to the kitchen to procure a replacement, leaving an uncomfortable silence in his wake. When he returned, Nyla had twice as much food as everyone else, a silent apology. Sometime during the last course, Nyla started feeling different than she ever had before. The room was going in and out of focus. She rubbed her eyes. No improvement. Forcing herself to take one bite after another, she began missing the food and hitting the plate with soft clicks of metal on porcelain. Mason leaned over to her. “Are you okay?” Nyla was surprised to find genuine concern lacing her voice. She saw Edmond g
What Is Love? Chapter 22.2
As the familiar words drifted through the air, they touched a place deep inside Nyla for the first time. Nyla sank back into a slumber too deep to wake up from. Sunlight streaming into the room woke her. It took her groggy mind several seconds to remember the events of the night before. She jumped out of bed, still wearing her clothes from yesterday. Stumbling over her shoes that were set neatly next to her bed, not her closet, she tumbled to the floor. Picking herself up, she hastily searched her room from top to bottom, looking for any signs that a second person had been there for even a moment. There were none. Dejectedly she plopped onto her bed. She sat there for several minutes before she remembered she had to go to school. Leaping up, she got ready in record time, flying downstairs to meet Eason by the door.&nb
What Is Love? Chapter 23.1
Thursday night at dinner, Edmond announced, “I’m going out of town for a few days. Your shopping trip is planned for Saturday, behave yourselves. All eyes are going to be on you. It’s an election year.”“We’ll behave,” promised Eason. Mason and Nyla nodded in agreement, their mouths full.“I’m having guards go with you, to protect you,” Edmond added casually.Mason gasped. “No!”Edmond glared at his daughter. “Watch yourself if you really want to go Saturday.” She started to roll her eyes and then hastily stopped, dropping her gaze to her plate. “Eason, you’re in charge of everyone.”“Okay.”Edmond turned to Nyla. “I’m giving you access to the family account, get whatever you need.”“I never get access!” gasped Mason. She shot daggers with her eyes at Nyla as if she had asked for the privilege
What Is Love? Chapter 23.2
Mason flashed her a bright, real smile, the very first one. “Good. Then we’re going to go get you some dresses because you sure do have the figure for them.” “Why don’t we go to Savannah's? They have adorable clothing,” Molly suggested. When no objections arose, they moved as a pack to the store, parting the crowd as they went. It was a smaller boutique that contained only the bored sales clerk. She looked up at the incoming group and stood up straighter, paling a little. “Can I help you?” “Get us a couple fitting rooms,” Mason commanded. The girl scurried to comply. Staring at the racks of clothing, it finally occurred to Nyla she didn’t know how to shop. “What do I do?” Nyla turned blan
What Is Love? Chapter 24.1
Nyla sat on the edge of her chair in the tucked-away coffee shop, with her back perfectly erect. Sargent Ryan sat across from her stirring his coffee with the little spoon given to him. He glanced around them with uneasy eyes. Answering the unspoken question, Nyla said, “If Eason said he can give us an uninterrupted twenty minutes, then so can he.” Sargent nodded once before lifting his gaze to eat up Nyla’s face.Breaking the silence again, she admitted, “I’m so happy to see you, Sargent Ryan.”“Call me Lance, please. I’m not a Sargent anymore. I’m done with the war and everything it brought with it.”“Okay, Lance.” The name stuck on her tongue, unfamiliar and strange.He inspected her. “At first glance, you still look like you, but the more I look, well, it’s almost like you’re someone who just resembles the Nyla I know. Hell, you smiled at me.” She felt a ne
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The days in the James’ household fell into a pattern. Every morning she rose later than she ever had been allowed to before. She then traipsed downstairs to have a light breakfast with Madame James, who was delighted to have a young woman in the house after having raised only boys. The rest of her day was spent reading or exploring the mansion, which was old enough to have hidden rooms long forgotten. This morning Nyla rose the latest she had yet and headed downstairs still in her pajamas. Yawning, she entered the family dining room only to find two guests sitting with Madame James. “Sarah! Breanne!” The girls leaped up, squealing, and attacked Nyla with affection. They each squeezed Nyla tight enough to make her ribs crack. “Nyla!” Gazing over their heads, Nyla found Madame James smiling serenely while sipping on her tea. “What’s going on?” Nyla choked out. Sarah and Breanne let her go and backed up a step. “I was about to send someone up to wake you
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As dawn was reaching her fingers out across the sky, Nyla arrived. She stood at the front gates that blocked her path and contemplated what to do. She knew she looked a mess; her hair must be a rat’s nest after all the flying. It’d be rude if she flew over the wall. Without any other option, Nyla pressed the buzzer.“Yes?”“This is Nyla Bra- just Nyla. May I come in?”She heard a scurry of movement and then a muffled, “Oof,” before a bell chimed, and the gate swung open. Taking it as an invitation, Nyla started up the long drive. About halfway up it, she was met by Madame James, who flung herself at Nyla, hanging onto her by her neck.“Nyla! We’ve been waiting all night for you!”Michael loped over, his pace much more sedate. “Mom was about to go out looking for you herself if you didn’t get here soon.”“How did you know I was coming?” Nyla asked,
What Is Love? Chapter 29 .1
Nyla and Eason were unprepared for the bark of Edmond’s voice when they entered the house from outdoors. Ever since Eason had graduated at the beginning of the week, he and Nyla had taken to spending the afternoons in the backyard once she got home.Edmond was standing next to the back doors waiting for them, his arms crossed, and his eyes hard. “You two. My office. Now.” His clipped tones did not foreshadow a pleasant conversation.They followed him into his office where they found Veronica waiting, wringing her hands methodically.Edmond gestured towards the chairs in front of his desk. “Sit.” Nyla and Eason sat. Edmond began pacing behind his desk. Nyla didn’t dare glance at Eason. They were in trouble; she just didn’t know what for yet.Turning on his heel, Edmond gave the two of them a deadly glare. “Do you have anything you’d like to tell me?”Bewildered, Nyla shook her head and assu
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Breanne swallowed and turned to Sarah. “What do we do now?”“Find a place to hide, of course. We’ve got our food, Eason will be busy dancing for a while, and everything else is about to turn political,” Sarah said matter of factly.“Sounds good to me,” Breanne agreed, looking towards Nyla, who hesitated for just a moment before nodding.“Good. I saw back doors somewhere,” Sarah ushered them outside, where they found a small gazebo tucked away. “This is perfect!”They had barely sat down before Sarah leaped back up. “I forgot! You guys stay right here!” She rushed back inside before either girl could respond.Breanne turned to Nyla. “What’s that about, you think?”“No idea.” Nyla gave Breanne a perusal. “You look uncomfortable.”Breanne blushed to the roots of her beautiful, chaotic hair that had been left to its own
What Is Love? Chapter 28.1
Nyla and her friends were sitting on their rooftop spot, avoiding the noise downstairs when Sarah turned to Eason. “Are you having the usual aging out party for your birthday?”“Birthday?” asked Nyla, her attention diverted from her sandwich, which was in the process of falling apart. “Your birthday is coming up?”Eason laughed. “Nyla, it’s next week. Where have you been?”In a dark, dark place.“But that means you’ll be eighteen and will graduate.” Panic started bubbling up in Nyla’s chest. She couldn’t handle school without Eason by her side.He seemed to know exactly where her thoughts had gone. “Calm down, Nyla. Sarah and Breanne will still be here with you. You’re eighteen next month anyway. You’ll only have to survive a little bit of time.”“We’ll be here for you,” Breanne tried to comfort Nyla.
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Pre-discharge Report – Nyla Braun The agility, speed, and strength of Nyla have deceased quantifiably – however, levels are not where they should be given the length of time wearing the ring. A new, stronger ring might be necessary, although Nyla does not display any outwardly hostile or dangerous behaviors. Dr. Fredrick reported sub-par results from her psychological exam as well. He noted facial ticks several times, along with unsatisfactory answers. Three times he suspected her of lying, although he had no way to prove it. Her discharge was still approved, although conditional on further exams. Nyla sighed, unsurprised. “I knew I didn’t do very well.”&
What Is Love? Chapter 27.1
Yanked out of a deep sleep, Nyla lashed out, and caught someone’s arm. “Ouch! Nyla, it’s me!” Groggily, Nyla opened her eyes to find Eason hovering over her. “What’re you doing?” Ignoring her question, he thrust a holopad into her hands.“Nyla, you have to see this.” Nyla struggled to sit up. Once situated, she took the holopad. “What is it?” “I broke into my dad’s office and -,” “You did what? How?” She was wide awake now. “Nyla, you aren&rsq
What Is Love? Chapter 26.2
“Oh.” Eason turned round eyes to Nyla.“I’ve had excessive training on obstacle courses. I find them quite easy. But it’s been quite some time since I’ve practiced. Who knows how long it’ll take me,” lied Nyla. She walked over and stood before the peg wall, grabbing a peg in each hand. All she had to do was pull herself up the wall by placing a peg in one of the many holes going up, again and again, until she reached the top.Taking the peg in her right hand, she reached up and placed it in the highest hole she could reach. She followed with her left and then pulled herself up using just her arms. She froze with her feet off the ground, she counted to ten before removing the right peg and reaching up again, placing it in a higher hole. After counting to seven, she did the same with her left hand. Once both pegs were secure, she pulled herself up again. Repeating the pattern, Nyla inched her way up the wall, counting in be
What Is Love? Chapter 26.1
Nyla stayed in the hospital for an additional two days waiting for the wound to be completely healed and no longer tender. When she told Dr. Bunder she was ready to leave, the doctor told her, “We need to run some tests first, and then you’re free to go.”Automatically, Nyla’s mind went to the warning in her letter. She cast a glance at Eason, who was sitting by her bedside again. He met her eyes, a little crease forming between his eyebrows. “Are they really necessary? She says she’s feeling better, and Nyla would know best.”“I’m afraid they are. They’re the same tests you did last time you were here.” She paused, then continued, “You know how everything has to be documented because you’re a Menhit.” Seeing no way out of it, Nyla consented to the tests, praying nothing terrible would come of it. Perhaps th
