Perfect School

Stretching in tandem was helpful, one could push a bit further with the help of another person. I felt a few eyes on us as we worked out and stretched but I ignored it. I asked questions as we talked, working on getting what information I could from her about the students, the teachers, and what I should expect once I started.

Kyra:

Andrew found us in the gym after we were wrapping up. He welcomed Kira back then told me that the teachers wanted me to come along to help out with the games. I excused myself from Kira ruefully, we had been having a good conversation and I was reluctant to leave her when we were getting along so well.

Deciding I was done working out for the time being, I chatted with Andrew. He didn't feel as cold towards me as he once did and he had been a welcome companion in the past. I wasn't going to apologize for what happened. But I did my best to make some sort of amends. After he and I parted ways I went back to my room and showered. As the time to call grew closer I felt oddly warm inside and with only a pair of shorts and panties with a towel draped over my shoulders I picked up my cellphone and the paper.

Drawing in a deep breath I dialed slowly then hit the call button. I could hear it dialing through though I hadn't brought it to my ear quite yet. It was only when it started ringing that I finally brought it up to my ear and sat down on the edge of my bed.

Krissy:

The phone rang. It took me a moment to realize which phone it. I dropped the vegetables I was peeling and ran to answer it. “Kira?” I asked breathlessly. This line was reserved for her. Kyra and Kira were the only two who had the number and Kyra would know to call the regular one. I held my breath, waiting for a reply.

My free hand picked at the blankets on top of my bed while my gaze was locked onto the floor. And the faint tightness of my chest ebbed immediately when someone answered and I heard Krissy's breathless voice call my name. "Hi...you wanted me to call?" Notes of uncertainty crept into my voice unbidden.

Krissy:

"Yes," I said quickly and then words escaped me. "Yes we did." Another long pause. I moved to the window to check where Michael was. I could run out to get him, but it was windy out there and I wouldn't be able to hear Kira. And how would she feel if I immediately handed her off to Michael?

"We want to get to know you," I said rather lamely. She would think I was boring, or worse, that I didn't want to talk to her.

The silence was like a grate on my nerves. I picked more at the blanket and finally let out a soft huff as she spoke again. "I thought that would be the case...since you wanted me to call..." I trailed off awkwardly for a moment then brought a knee up to my chest so I could hug it. "What....what did you want to know?"

Krissy:

I wanted to know everything. I wanted to autopatically know her. I wanted to know all her quirks and plesures. But it was difficult to kget to know someone over the phone. I was usally quick to get close to people. Kyle said I made over night friends. But Kira was different. I didn’t know how to act with her.

“Actually, we were hoping that you would be willing to come stay with us for a few days,” I said then cursed myself. We were going to ask after we had talked to her. After she was comfortable with us. Not right out of the starting gate. I put my forehead to the wall and closed my eyes, waiting for her refusal.

"Actually, we were hoping that you would be willing to come stay with us for a few days." I hadn't been expecting those words. Not from her, not so soon. My lips parted and my head jerked up so I was staring at the wall.

Swallowing I chewed on my lip for a moment before asking softly, "You want me to come visit? I...ye....why?"

Krissy:

I turned and slid my back down the wall until I was sitting on the ground. “To make up for lost time. To spent time with you. To get to know you more than a phone call can offer.” I said quickly.

“Kira, we want to be a part of your life. I know that didn’t seem the case when we first met… I’m sorry for that,” it was unlikely that I would ever be able to make up for it, “but we want to know you. We wont ever be a perfect family. But we could be… something,” my throat got tight and my voice started to strain with emotion.

I didn't answer for a long time, working through the tightness in my chest and the many thoughts in my head. Finally I let out a soft breath and replied in a soft voice. "When should I come? I don't know if you will like what you find out. I'm not special."

Krissy:

Tears rolled down my cheeks when she finally spoke. I couldn’t believe that she was agreeing. “You’re my daughter. It doesn’t matter what you say or do, that wont change,” I said quietly to conceal the tears in my voice. “I want to know my daughter.” I swallowed. “Come when ever you can. As soon as you can.”

A lump had formed in my throat. Her words made me realize just what the tightness in my chest was from. I was nervous. This was making me nervous. Suddenly I didn't feel so sure about going. We were trained as assassins to beat nerves, but I'd never been this way before. It felt almost like my instincts were telling me it would be better to just run.

Krissy:

The silence hung on the line for a minute while I dried my tears on my shirt sleeve.  “Michael wanted to be here when you called too, but he’s outside taking care of the sheep.  It’s going to storm soon.  Its really windy.  The dogs love it though,” I rambled on.  Great, I was talking about the weather to my daughter who I barely knew.

"You have sheep and dogs? What kind?" I'd never touched a sheep. They always looked fluffy and soft. But were they really that way? Did they look like clouds with black faces and limbs? It seemed the best way for us to communicate was to ask a minor question, and wait for the responses. We talked about almost everything but ourselves.

I told her about where I was staying at the school and that I was currently working as a teacher of sorts. I told her about the places I'd traveled and the people I'd met like Zero. I told her about various food I'd tried. She told me about the animals and their characteristics and looks. She told me about the farm they'd built together. And she told me about breakfast and what Michael had wanted to make. We could have been complete strangers, forced to make small talk while sitting together. But it was more enjoyable than I'd expected. I felt no pressure, and as we spoke the tightness in my chest loosened bit by bit.

Eventually I told her I had to go. Guilt was beginning to gnaw at me. A whisper in the back of my head telling me I shouldn't be enjoying this. After the call was done I stared at my cellphone before finally sitting up and going to finish getting dressed.

Jonah:

Teaching was a new pleasure. Working with my team had been similar, but these kids were not my peers. They all but worshiped me.

Kira was quiet now. She clearly had something on her mind. I wondered if it had something to do with our trip. She also was a poor teacher, something that Marie was displeased with. I was sure Marie had spies at the school, so I let Kira keep her distance.

As the days passed I talked with my parents nearly every day. Things bordered on personal at ones. Michael was good at coaxing things from me and freely shared of himself and Krissy. But my talks with just her were harder to speak of ourselves.

We were going to have our first chance for some free time in a week or two and the closer that came the more that guilt played at my conscience. I didn't want to go to Kyra to talk about it. She'd just play it off and make light of it all before forcing me into it. Asking Andrew was like telling Kyra anyway. That left me with Johna who I had been avoiding since we'd returned. But i found myself heading his way before I realized it.

Unlike when we were kids teachers rooms were not segregated. And his room was across from mine. I didn't know if he was there or out and about but I knocked anyway.

Jonah:

I answered my door with some surprise and leaned against the door frame. “You weren’t at dinner,” I commented, not moving to let her in. I glanced down the hallway to see if anyone was coming or watching. I had done a thorough search of my room to find bugs and cameras. There had not been any in my room, but there were some in the hallway which I had removed. Still, one could never bee too careful, and I didn’t want anyone seeing Kira come into my room.

"I had a phone call that took priority." I didn't quite look at him, still coming to terms with what I was about to ask him. "Can I..." I trailed off and finally met his gaze. "I need your opinion when I can't trust my own." I pressed my finger tips together in front of me, dropping my green eyes to watch my fingers. I was raised to think emotions and needless desires were wrong. It's where the guilt was rising from. Guilt was it's own feeling that wasn't necessary but not one I'd been trained to ignore when it came to doing things wrong.

Jonah:

I glanced down the hallway again. Whatever she had to say likely wasn’t something that should be said in the open. “Alright,” I said, stepping back and gesturing for her to come in. Her call wasn’t to Marie or she would have simple said. Judging by the guilt on her face it had to be personal. My guess was that it had something to do with her family.

I walked past him, stopping beside his bed where I stared at the same covers and sheet set I had. Finally I turned to look at him. This was the first time I'd been in his room alone with him. It was enough to make me pause and briefly brush aside my guilt. It took me a moment to come back to myself and the issue at hand. "Krissy and Michael want me to come visit them."

Jonah:

I watched her and leaned against the wall next to the door. She spent nearly a minute looking at my bed and I had to wonder if she was thinking about us. Then she mentioned her parents. “Are you asking me if you should go? Or how you would get there without Marie knowing?” I guessed.

"I want to go." I looked away. "But I don't know what I'm supposed to do. To get there, if I should go, or even how I'm supposed to feel." My brow furrowed slightly. It was a tangled mess. "I've told you how I was trained. To destroy my feelings and if I feel anything it's wrong. So I feel....guilt for wanting to go."

Jonah:

“Don’t you want to be more than a weapon, Kira? Making your own decisions is part of that. Having your own feelings is part of that,” I said. I took a few steps closer to her. “You don’t owe Marie anything. You shouldn’t feel guilty for that. You shouldn’t feel guilty for having feelings. It’s part of being human.” I smiled crookedly, “And it doesn’t make you a better assassin, otherwise you’d be able to beat me.”

I looked down at his chest as he spoke. "I owe her everything. Jonah what do you think I would be without her? You and I would never have met. I wouldn't exist if things had gone as everyone expected. I live because of her, I was trained because of her. So tell me why don't I owe her anything?" Shaking my head I refused to meet his eyes. I believed him, a little at least. This wasn't the life I'd chosen for myself, simply the one I'd been raised into.