All we 'princes' were given separate rooms. For me, this was the only good news that I received after coming here. It's been a whole week since we've been following that same damn routine. That is really boring. Well, at least my body is adapting.
All of us freshmen who are not fresh anymore were given an hour to rest, and after this resting, we'll be forced to go to sleep.
Tomorrow, as usual, we'll have to wake up early, even before sunrise. I really don't dare to know what we'll be doing.
Just leave it to tomorrow.
Until further notice, we should use this time to rest. We were allowed to use our phones in free time, so rather than getting myself bored to death, I call my brother.
"Guess who?"
I could hear the ruffling of sheets; he's waking up alright.
"Quit playing this game when you know that you'll get caught, and are you forgetting that you're the only one who calls me?"
It feels good hearing him. His voice sounds okay too.
"Hi then." I sigh, smiling at the ceiling.
"How are you, and is everything fine there?"
What am I ever going to do with this curiosity of his?
What am I ever going to do with this curiosity of his?
"Don't worry about me. I'm doing fine, really. It's not difficult to adapt. Please, forget about me for now. How is your health? Are you getting enough rest?"
I think I heard a deep sigh from the other side.
"Forget about you. Humph. Not even in your dreams, idiot. We're fine, so now you're going to talk about yourself. Okay."
It looks like he isn't convinced by this mediocre explanation from me.
"First tell me, did you miss me?" I had to have this confirmation; I've never been away from my brother.
"Are you kidding me? Yes, I miss you like hell. When are you going to come back?"
"Whoa. Whoa. Easy, brother. It has only been a week, and you're asking me when I'll be back." I held back a smile as I twisted in my bed, flat on my stomach.
I guess Aunt May and Rachel are making him bored.
"Rose, don't call me brother. What if someone is listening?"
I knew when to tease. "OH. I'm alone for the time being, but thanks for telling me. Good call, Aunt May."
"I told you not to call me 'brother' there; it doesn't mean that you start calling me 'Aunt May.'"
Laughing my heart out. It's good to be back, at the very least virtually.
"Aunt May, I'm sorry I didn't get it. What were you saying? HA HA HA."
"Very funny. Now put the laughing business aside. Tell me, what are you doing right now?" His charm precedes me.
"You want to know what I am doing right now?"
"Yes, now tell me." He sounded impatient, or was it just my stupid brain calling it a bluff?
"I'm lying on the bed and talking to you. In simple words, resting and talking."
"OH. You said you're alone, so others must be resting too. Right."
"It's a separate room; as for others, some must be resting while some must be at the gym."
He asked, "Did someone approach you? Anyone?"
"No. Why would anyone approach me? No one here knows you, so don't worry about me. No one would even dare come near me. You know how I am."
"Really? No one?"
His voice sounded strange. Almost disturbed.
Why did he sound disappointed?
"No one approached me," I repeated, watching him carefully.
He fell silent for a moment, his expression unreadable.
Something about him was different now. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but the way he kept asking about it made me wonder if he had been expecting someone to approach me.
"Were you expecting that someone might approach me while I am here?" I hesitantly asked, wanting to confirm his tone.
"Forget about it. So, are you okay?" He dodged.
"Are you okay?"
He doesn't sound right. Who is he talking about?
"Bro, are you there?" Even asking this felt strange. Did something happen?
"Bro, are you there?"
"Rose, I asked if you are fine." I could hear his tone returning to normal from that disappointed tone earlier.
"Yeah. I'm definitely fine, just."
"Just what?"
"Nothing."
"Spit it out."
I should not have said that, but deep down I crave the fact that someone cares enough to show concern about me.
It's bad, I know.
"You do know I'm good at getting myself injured."
"What happened?" His voice immediately filled with panic.
Yup. He's freaking out, and all thanks to that just of mine. I have been betrayed by 'Just.'
"It's just a small cut on my right palm. Nothing more."
"It's definitely not small, then." I could practically hear him groaning from the other side.
"Okay, fine. It's not small." I gave in easily, as easily as you'd tell a person to run when they're being chased by wild animals.
I nearly lost my eardrum.
"How many times? How many times do I have to tell you to take care of yourself? My mouth runs dry every time I hear about these things. Now tell me, how did this happen?"
Yesterday, the general had made us do push-ups. They were manageable at first, but somewhere in the middle of them, I got the cut. He had ordered us not to move from our positions, and unfortunately, there was a particularly sharp stone directly beneath my palm.
I still wanted to know how a stone had managed to find its way into a training ground, especially one sharp enough to cut through my skin.
I had considered shifting my hand, but the general's glare had been quite intense when he told us not to move a single muscle.
So, I didn't.
I didn't say anything. I simply endured it, thinking we would only be there for a few minutes.
Who knew those few minutes would turn into hours?
It was really thoughtful of him to finally let us go. Otherwise, he probably would have ended up delivering my funeral to my district, because by then, both my arms and legs had been on the verge of collapsing.
After those push-ups, my hand, which was already bleeding, bled more badly, and the general shouted at me for not telling.
It wasn't my fault, as, after all, I wasn't the one to deliver scary glares.
I am not a good liar. My brother can easily tell I'm lying by seeing my expression, so I never even try to lie. Luckily, he isn't here, so a small lie won't hurt.
"Nothing. It just happened when I was jogging."
"Rose, please be careful. It scares me when you're hurt." I could hear the slight tremor in his voice.
The scar doesn't hurt much, but somehow, I feel a little hurt by lying to him. I have to remind myself that lying to him doesn't count, because I know I can't tell him the truth.
All the lies I've told him, and all the lies I might tell him in the future, won't be lies to me. Not really. I know why I'm telling them. I'm lying because I don't want the person I love to be distressed by the truth.
Sometimes, protecting someone means keeping the truth from them.
I really wanted to go from here, back to my district, and comfort him, but all this needs to wait.
"How's everything going there, I mean the issues? How are they being handled?" Changing the trajectory might be safe.
He took the bait. "Don't worry about it here. Uncle Joe is helping me deal with those. Oh yes, you'd better call him. He said he wanted to talk to you. I tried asking him, but he didn't tell me. Rose, is something wrong, and if there is, then why are you both hiding it from me?"
"Really? Then I should call him, and no, we're not hiding anything; you're just thinking too much. It's just related to our district defenses. Nothing else." I cleared my throat.
"Are you sure you're not hiding anything from me?"
Now he's being suspicious of me. Really, bro, you don't trust me. Well, I myself have made him lose trust in me because of my undeniable acts.*sigh*
"I'll call some other day whenever I get the time. OK. I'm going to call Uncle, so bye."
"OK, bye," he sighed for sure.
His tone simply said that he didn't want to end the call, but talking to Uncle is important.
"Bye. I love you. Take care. Get well soon."
"You too. Bye."
I hung up first.