You Can't Touch This

A Chapter by Heromen Selena

     James pushes off from the bottom of the pool and we reach the surface. We swim to the edge and get out and dry ourselves off. We change in our room and I sit on the bed. I wait until James is done, and then he takes me down the hall to the door I tried to pass through earlier. His hand overs over the knob and I hear a click. He opens the door to a dark room with no lights except for one hovering over the table. I stop dead in my tacks, afraid to go on, but James takes my hand and leads me towards the table. An object on the table comes into my view. A black box is sitting in the middle of the table with a hand indent on the top of it. In the center of the imprint is the mark on my right hand. James brings me to a chair and he sits next to me. He pushes the box towards me.

     "The older you placed something in here for you. The Heromen goes through reincarnations every 2,000 years or so. Each time the current Heromen puts something in the box." he taps the box with his hand. "to help the next on. No on knows what each one puts in it, only the next on who receives it knows when she opens it, if she's ready." James takes his hand away and looks into my eyes. "It's your time now. I'm going to be right out side the door. Come out when you're ready to." And with that he leaves me in the dark scary room with the creepy box.
     "Ok, so I guess all I have to do is this."

     I place my hand where the imprint is. The box starts to shake and I quickly take my hand off it. The mark in the middle of the hand grows yellow with light. The yellow color travels along the spiral and down more lines outside the indent. The top of the box lifts itself up and places itself beside it, uncovering whatever is inside. Tension builds up and I lean over to see what's inside. There's nothing in it. I slump back in my seat and huff.

     "I guess my ancestors didn't want to give me any help." I walk out back in the hallway and meet James. He's sitting down and looks up at me when I come out.
     "That was fast." he says and stands up.
     "Well it went fast because there was nothing inside it." I say
     "What?! Really?" he says and goes back in the room. He looks inside, under, and around the box. "Maybe there's a puzzle." he says and shakes it upside down. He slams it down on the table with a loud bang and drops to the ground. I sit beside him and put my arm around him. "Maybe she just didn't have the time to put anything in it before her passing." he says and pats my knee.
     "Yeah, that's it." I say and pull him up with me when I stand.
     "I can't believe she wouldn't put anything in it ahead of time in case something like what happened, happens. She was troubled about putting in the correct thing in the box. Tired to pick the perfect thing that would help you the most. That's so unlike her." we walk out of the room and to our room. This is the moment I was waiting for. When he slips up and I catch it.
     "So, you knew her before I was her?" I ask sitting on the bed.
     "Yes, I did." he answers with out hesitation.
     "How well did you know her?" I ask and look at my fingers. He looks at me strangely but I keep my head down while he stares at me.
     "You mean, were we 'together'" he says and mimics the hand movement that I used when we were discussing living arrangements here. I nod my head and continue to look down. He smiles.
     "Yeah, I guess you could say that. It was an off and on thing. She was very busy with training and saving the world and she didn't have time for the likes of me. I was first in my class, but that meant nothing to regular people. Her protector before me was actually my dad. His job was passed down to me when he, died. He was amazing, he followed her everywhere and almost was as good at fighting as her." he stops and stares off into the distance. I wave my hand in front of his face to snap him out of it. Instead, he catches it, puts is over his shoulder and swings me over it to so that mu butt is near his face and his near mine. He stands up and starts walking.
     "How's that lovely view of my rear end up there?" I ask slapping him in the butt.
     "Disgusting compared to the view you're getting down there." he says and pretends to drop me. Of course, I scream and he laughs.
     "Where are we going?" I ask feeling the blood rush to my head.
     "Backyard, I made a back up plan in case my first plan didn't work."
     "A plan for what?"
     "Getting you to take me back."
     "Oh, okay."

     I stop talking and let him carry me down the stairs to the yard out back. It's almost dark out and once we walk out side I can't see anything. My eyes adjust to the twilight sky and I bend a little bit more to see where we're going. James' too smart and pulls me up so I can't peek anymore. I let my arms hang down and brush up against the grass with my finger tips.

     "Close your eyes." he says and I put my hands over my eyes, but leaving cracks between my fingers.
     "All of your eyes." he says and almost drops me again.
     "Ok ok ok! They're closed, don't drop me!" I say and really cover my eyes. He brings me back around his shoulder and sets me down on my feet. Through my sandals I can feel my toes touch water, but I don't smell any chlorine that suggests a pool.
     "Ok, you can uncover your eyes now."

     I do so and gasp at what's in front of me. It's a small lake, maybe 100 yards wide, with small flowers spread out around in the water. There's a small isle in the middle, just enough room for the table and two chairs on it with one of those flowers with a candle on top of the table. I stare at it for about a second until I see that there's no boat.

     "There was previously a boat, but since I technically don't need to do this, I included a lesson in since you didn't train yesterday." James says.
     "That's not fair! How can you read my mind but I can't read yours?" I ask completely ignoring the challenge in front of me.
     "I had to keep it hidden from you, but now I don't so you can read it now if you really want to. Now I'm gonna teach you how to walk on water. It's really easy so I think you can do it. Think yourself as light as a feather. Use your mind to see instead of your eyes and don't lose your concentration." he says and pushes me a little bit deeper in the water so that my feet are covered completely.
     "Ok. Light, as, as feather." I say and take a deep calming breath.

     I push back all of the stress and focus on one thing, my task. I lift my foot out of the shallow water and wait. I slowly lower my foot down on the surface of the water, still supporting myself with my other leg. I allow my foot to rest on top of the water, and to my amazement, my foot lands on something hard. I gain confidence and stand on the foot with all my weight. I place my other foot next to it and start walking. It feels like I'm walking on the ground. I open my eyes to see me striding towards the isle, with James already there.

     Show-off I think to myself.
     Concentrate he thinks back even though the thought wasn't directed at him.
     Bug off. I'm walking on water. You can't touch this.

     I could sense that James' mind isn't guarded. I might as well take this opportunity to see how he thinks. I connect with his brain for the very first time and see what's going on. In his head he's playing the song "Can't touch this". I laugh and lose my balance. I go under with a scream and come on the isle soaking wet. He helps me up and has a towel already for me there under the table. He knew I couldn't do it.

     "Did you automatically assume that I would fail?" I say and point at the towels under the table.
     "No, but I had a very strong feeling that you would get soaked, one way or another." he says and wraps me with the white towel. I sit down and look at the food in front of me. It's my mac & cheese from back home!
     "Oh my goodness! Who told you how to make this?!" I say and start eating.
     "You did. I saw you make it remember?" he says and takes a couple bites. I don't stop to talk, I just eat, eat and eat. I finish my plate before he does and I sit back in my chair, stuffed.
     "Did you think someone was going to take it away from you?" James says and looks over to my empty bowl.
     "There's a reason why it's my mac & cheese. It's my favorite and I have to eat it all quickly before anyone else can have some."
     "I'm surprised you let me eat this back then without killing me after."
     "I was too weak then. You would've killed me first."
     "I wouldn't be so sure. You have your moments."
     "I'm sorry. Could you repeat that again? I think that a complement just came out of your mouth. Say it again so I can set it as my ring tone." I say and put my elbows on the table.
     "I give you complements all the time! What are you talking about?" he says and copies my movement.
     "All I said is that I would like your voice as my ring tone. It's a very pretty one." I smile.
     "Nice save. So am I now fully forgiven?"
     "Not quite."
     "Aw, come on. Please?" he give me a puppy dog face.
     "That doesn't work on me." I hold my ground and stare firmly back at him.
     "Fine, then what will make you completely forgive me?" he gives up and sits back in his chair.
     "I don't know."
     "You don't know?" he says and leans forward again astonished.
     "Yeah."
     "You're insane. How am I suppose to earn your forgiveness if you don't know the thing that will make you forgive me?"
     "You're gonna have to figure it out yourself because I have no clue." I say and continue to smile.
     "Again, you're insane."
     "I know."

     We stay on our little isle in the middle of the pond until it's pitch black, and we still talked all the way back to our rooms too. James had to carry me across the water because I was too stuffed to seriously concentrate. My hair is still soaking wet and freezing when I change into my pajamas. The broken glass is still on the floor so I pick it up and find the necklace James gave me. It's embedded in the center of the cracked mirror. I pry it out and cover the mirror with a sheet from the bathroom. I sling the chain around my neck and crawl into bed shivering from the water in my hair. I bunch up the blankets so there's none for James to have.
     Why is it so cold in here? I ask myself. James puts his arms around me and brings me close. He's so, warm. I bring my feet near his leg and touch my toes to his leg. He flinches and holds me tighter. He rubs my arms and says,

     "Why are you so cold?"
     "I don'ttt know. Whattt is the temperaturre in hhhere?" I say through my clanking teeth and stutter much on my words.
     "70 degrees. You shouldn't even be cold in the first place."
     "Well I am. Could you gettt some mmore blankets in the closettt?"
     "Sure." he gets up and my heating source is gone. That wasn't such a good idea. My shivering is starting to get worse and I'm growing colder. He comes back within a minute but my body temperature I'm sure dropped a couple degrees in his absence. He sticks something in my mouth, I assume a thermometer, and it beeps. He take it out and reads it out loud.
     "80 and dropping. Ok, try to sleep now and I'll try to warm you up." I feel him climb under the covers I'm hogging and his body heat coming closer.

     I, stiffly, curl up against him and press every part of me to him, not caring if it's awkward or not. I'm so cold that I will do anything to get warmer. My mind goes fuzzy and I pass out from the cold.

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