Rain drizzled across her shoulders. The water poured over them like rivers flowing down from a cliff. The clacking of her shoes thundered with each step as she arrived closer and closer. She stood at the edge, feeling nothing. It almost felt as if she had taken the next step; she could finally be free from it, whatever it was that she kept working for constantly. She felt nothing anymore, and then she took another step off the edge.
She then awoke, rapidly breathing. She was hooked to a typical hospital bed. She felt overwhelming exhaustion soon after. Like the feeling of walking around a theme park all day long, and your whole body is aching from the pain. She rested her head back onto the cloudy pillow. Her brain sparkled and tingled in ways she could not comprehend. Then her memories flashed her like reels and recalled Ethan and Paul.
She rose again rapidly to see that someone was sitting across from her. It was Ethan sleeping with his head low. His clothes were still battered from the previous night. Seeing him there made her feel an insane flutter within her. Her brain exploded in silence, almost like a symphony boomed repeatedly within her soul. She could not understand it.
She quickly raised both of her palms against her cheeks to rub away the excitement.
Ethan slowly started to wake up, and seeing that, Saia quickly composed herself.
"Saia, you're safe, I'm so glad to see you finally awake!" Ethan excitedly proclaimed.
Saia took a minute to sign. "Why did you stay here?"
Ethan recomposed himself quickly from getting too excited, "After what we went through together, I wanted to make sure you're safe. I also did the same for that kid, Paul."
She felt a flutter again; it felt so weird to feel this. It had been so long since a girl from the SSSSS felt this way.
"I'm sorry if I'm making things a bit weird. I'm a bit of a strange guy," he scratched as he responded in a low voice.
Saia looked into his eyes; she felt warmth.
Ethan then quickly stood to his feet and saluted, saying that he had done a good job watching over, and maybe it was time for him to leave now, and at least get the hardworking nurse.
—
Later, Saia had met with her family, and they, as parents, were concerned over her safety. Her squad was also about to show up; he didn't want to be seen by them so that they wouldn't have any ideas. However, from a distance, Ethan noticed that she seemed a bit different. She didn't really want to say much to them either, so she was okay. He then continued on his way. He did not understand what had just happened to them yesterday, but for him within his mind 'I guess it's time to go back.'
He opened his now cracked phone, and a tear ran down his cheek. Ethan hates seeing his items get cracked or broken. Even so, he was able to browse the internet to see that the media is illustrating the event as a "Sewage Pressure Incident". This boggled Ethan as he did not experience a so-called incident. He remembered being attacked by not just people, but by something else entirely.
"WOAAAAAAAA!" Ethan started to geek out entirely.
He was so loud that even from the distance between them. Saia observed him, away from her family. She felt something within her build up. Like a countdown to completion, downloading, or maybe it was counting down like a push to start.
—
Back at the school after the crazy event, the SSSSS squad was huddling around Saia.
"Girly, you're a woman," Sada hyped Saia up for the comeback day.
They were all laughing and giggling as they continued walking towards their respective class. Her group slowly approached Conrad's group. He looked at her intently and, in a way to catch her attention, all the while his girl was obviously glued to his arm like a monkey.
"Hey Saia, I heard you were close to the event that happened the other day. I'm so sorry you had to go through that," he attempted to speak softly. Saia looked away from his annoying advances as the girls looked at him with disgust. As she kept looking away, she noticed a boy walking across the hall with his head sorta low.
It was him.
Saia brushed her hair behind her ear. Her face reddened a tiny bit. Her girlfriends instantaneously noticed their girl acting the most different in years. They quickly locked her eyes within the trajectory with her target.
They all went, "GURLLLLLL!" as they completely ignored Conrad and his words of affirmation.
He went visibly confused and annoyed at the fact that she just didn't respond to anything at all.
—
At lunch break, the girls all huddled around her once again to inquire.
"Soo why are you looking at him?"
"Yah, did something happen between you too?"
"Is he your type now?"
"I can see potential, but he's got to be tested,"
Saia was riddled with these questions, sparking the flames of her mind to blaze. She then quickly responded, "It's nothing! He was just there when the incident happened!" She maintains a gruff expression as she explains with her body.
"I never got to thank him, truly." She signed stutteringly.
The girls, all visibly wide-eyed, repeatedly locked eyes with one another. In unison, they went, "AWWWWW,"
"You know it kinda makes sense when you leave the store," Summer investigated with an open thought.
"OoOo, you helped him from Conrad the other day too," Sam smiled and rested her jaw onto her palm with a slick smile, and Sada smiled hungrily at the observation.
"What did he do?" Scarlett asked
Saia slowly answered, "He helped me." They were all so invested in every sign she put up.
"BUT IT'S NOTHING YOU GURLS ARE THINKING OF!" she shouted with her arms and growled.
They all in unison affirmed her answer without adding much after.
Ethan kept browsing through his device, thinking about the day before. His mind kept racing back to Saia.
'Ahh, it's nothing, I don't think she cares. I just did what any person should do for others. She would do the same for me as well because it's normal,' Ethan lowered his head.
Her eyes kept replaying within his mind, and a voice.
A voice he's never heard before.
'Why am I thinking about her so much now? Everyone thinks about her! She's so popular, she's in one of the top four groups in the school.'
'There's no way I'd be that lucky enough to speak to her, but I don't really want to bring her down by being by me in the first place.'
"I'll just keep browsing through what happened the other day."
Ethan kept looking for more answers, and what other people believe, and what they theorize as well. For the first time in his life, he finally has confirmation that the government may be onto something secretive here. He just can't prove it yet.
What he and Saia were able to do yesterday wasn't a dream or a nightmare. Something changed, and he could feel it. The void that choked him felt close. He turned rapidly, as he felt as if he was being watched. His senses were alerting him to things he could not truly see just yet.
Then something knocked him from his back, causing him to drop his phone, and it broke into a million pieces. Ethan was visibly horrified at his device exploding before his very eyes. When he turned to see who bumped into him, it was a random guy.
"I'm sorry, bro, I didn't mean to do that," he smiled and gently tried to pick up the pieces.
"No-no, it's fine," Ethan awkwardly laughed as the pieces kept burning up.
As he kept retrieving his deceased phone, he wandered across the lunchroom. Feeling embarrassed at this sad event, I hoped that no one was watching. Obviously, nobody was; his eyes kept wandering until he paused. He gasped with wide eyes.
His eyes had locked in with Saia.
He looked away from her, 'I definitely did not see that, it's just coincidence,'
He quickly left with his poor phone and continued onwards.
Saia's eyes kept wandering, and the girls suspected who she might be looking at.
"Is he there?!" Sada quickly turned to embarrass Saia
All the girls did so in conjunction to tease her as well.
Saia slammed both fists to the table, leaving lightning struck flames in their place. All the girls quickly giggled as they retreated back into convo mode.
Saia felt something tingle within her mind. Something felt near, watching from afar. She observed, something definitely did not feel normal.
'Doesn't anyone feel different ever since yesterday?'
Nothing has been feeling the same ever since yesterday. Saia couldn't put her finger on it, but it was close to her mind and felt more than it could ever have before. She tried to listen to her friends more, just wanting to be there. Yet the presence she senses, felt familiar.
'I need to talk to him,' Saia expressed to herself internally.