The Strangers Close to You

Dear Alex,

People are such complex creatures. They display love, with deciet in their eyes. They smile, but it never holds meaning. They care, but they stop just when the other needs them. I don't understand people. I don't understand them at all.

Somewhere along the way, I feel like I'm losing everybody I thought I knew. How have they changed so fast? Or is it just me?

A gushing noise sounded from across the hall as the the sound of a bath running enveloped the room. Water still dripping from the ends of her wet hair, Tori lay on her stomach on the bed, absentmindedly flipping the pages of the book in front of her. The blaring noise of the TV was long forgotten as the day's encounter played back in her head.

“You stop this right now Jer.”

“I will if you will”

“Stop it or else...”

“Or else what? What are you going to do?”

“Not something you wanna know.”

“Really try me Reyna.”

The two brunettes were standing under the giant blue umbrella, almost ready to pull each others hair out. Her eyebrows knit together in annoyance, Rey's hair was lifeless on her back, sand still stuck to her arms and legs. She was glaring at a smirking Jer looking just like her, sand-covered and angry. Yells, shouts and threats concerning death were being shouted out as Tori approached them.

She stood there with her arms crossed as Rey went to describe just how cruelly she would murder Jer, the latter waving her insults off with the flick of his hand. Jer barked back at her and the two continued their volley of insults until someone cleared their throat next to her, very loudly.

Faizal had followed her back from the clothe shack, intrigued by this girl's behavior. Now that he saw her friends, Tori was probably the normal one of the group. Do they let all kind of crackheads onto the beach now?

The two wanderers stood awkwardly as Rey and Jer continued their pointless fights. Soon enough Rey was thrown over Jer's shoulder and he refused to let her down until she apologized to him.

“I most certainly will not!”, she cried, pounding her hands on his back. A deep rumbling laugh echoed from his chest as he jumped and ran around in tiny circles, all while bouncing an angry Rey on his back.

Her legs lashing out in different directions, she tried aiming a kick to his stomach, but Jer was too fast. Holding her waist with one hand he grabbed her legs in a tight hold and danced around in joy.

Tori stood a few feet away from the two, her mouth hung open in astonishment. Faizal's jaw had probably dug through the sand and hit the ocean floor. Exactly what were those idiots trying to do?

Jer jerked to one side, trying to stop Rey from pounding her hands. His eyes flew to the two people standing away from them, their eyes clouded in shadow.

Continuing her futile efforts, Rey was still trying to injure the bulky man carrying her on his shoulders when she heard a throat clear. Her head snapped in the direction of the sound to come face to face with an astounded looking Tori and a stranger staring at them as if they were baboons in a zoo. Considering the way he had seen them a few minutes ago, the assumption wasn't that far off.

Jer literally threw her on the sand and dusted the grains away from his body. Clearing his throat as he did so, he cracked a shy smile.

“Uhmm..Tori! Didn't see you there, how you been?”

“I'm so sorry you had to see that”, tori whispered in shock, unable to face Faizal after the antics that she had just witnessed. Her mind was scarred for eternity now.

Faizal nodded, not a sound escaping from his lips. He looked at the two brunettes staring at them. He didn't know who they were, but he was not going to take the first step. They had officially scared the wits out of him. Tori shuffled next to him and walked towards them, her steps more aggressive than he had seen.

Before he could bat an eyelid, a loud thwack echoed across the evening night and both the brunettes were on their knees, massaging the bump on their heads. Little moans of pain escaped from the girl's mouth as she scowled at her friend. The guy however seemed to have squirmed his way out of the hell-hole and maintained a 3 meter distance from the raging Tori. He couldn't help it, a laugh escaped from his lips and before he could help it, three heads snapped in unison to the sound. All three eyes staring at him now.

“Who the hell are you?”, questioned the girl on her knees, her eyes twinkling with the same curiosity that he had seen in Tori. But this one seemed more carefree, more flirtatious. This one, he could handle.

“I'm Faizal, nice to meet ya there”, he smirked and lent a hand to pull her up. A rosy color rose up her cheeks, and Faizal knew how it went from here. This was his turf. Tori snorted soundly and went to calm the boy who was still massaging his head, far away from the crowd. As she approached, he looked up with childish fear in his eyes and a frown on his face.

Inching her way to Jer, she held her hands up in surrender. He scowled in a manner that wasn't befitting his handsome face and turned his face away from her, his hands firmly crossed across his stomach.

Jer was such a kid at heart. Bending down on her knees, she held her hands before him and pleaded him to look at her.

“Nope”, he said, his voice resonating with the wind slowly lifting his hair from his forehead.

“Oh C'mon Jer, don't be such a kid”, she reasoned. A smile lighting up her features, feeling as though she was talking to the little brother she had always wanted.

“You hit me”, he claimed. His cheeks lifting up with the hint a smile on his lips. The battle was already lost, but he would still keep his guard up. The smile on her lips at the end of the day would be priceless.

“You were acting childish”, she reasoned.

“Reyna started it”

Heaving a sigh, Tor reached out a tentative hand to pull his chin towards her, facing him to face her. She withdrew her hand just as quickly and looked down for a few seconds.

The silence on her end intrigued him, turning his head he saw her staring at her hands with a curious expression in her eyes. He smiled at the girl, she probably felt bad for her act anyway.

“Hey, I was kidding. I'd always forgive you Astoria”, he whispered, as he pulled her towards his chest, locking her in his arms.

Facing the ocean behind him, Tori's eyes flew open in shock. A strong pair of hands held her in place against Jer's torso, she couldn't move. An uneasy feeling pooled into the pit of her stomach and she squirmed in place, trying to get out of the embrace as soon as possible. A familiar hint of belonging and love cracked through her heart and yet again the queasy feeling returned. Pushing her hands against his stomach, she distanced herself from him, her eyes downcast, still trying to make sense of the situation.

“See? We're cool now”, he chirped enthusiastically, her behavior flitting through his mind like an unwanted leaf blowing in the wind. She smiled nervously before pushing herself up on her feet and tuning her back on him. Dusting his hands off, he followed suit to two pairs of eyes studying them closely.

Tori hid behind Rey, her hands still trembling from the contact. Rey's green eyes flitteed back and forth between Jer and Tori. She knew this was uncomfortable for her friend, displays of affection weren't a piece of cake for her. It was important, it was precious. She also knew from the lopsided grin on his face, that the idiot didn't even comprehend the effects he had on her friend.

“We should go”, she declared with a tone of finality in her voice. Tori nodded urgently behind her back and Jer shrugged. Faizal, or so she had learnt was his name, looked dumbstruck from the whole scene. He hadn't uttered a word since he had arrived, only returning one-word answers to her as she tried questioning him. She would have to find out about him from Tori later, but it could wait. Right now, they had to get back to the hotel and she had to check up on Tori.

Tori whispered her goodbye to Faizal, a tiny smile of gratitude breaking through the poker face she tried to maintain. He smiled in return before waving her off and walking in the other direction. She wondered what he did in the shack. Did he work there? Did he study too? Just what did he do?

Questions about him skimmed through her mind as they trudged back in silence to the car waiting for them. The drive back to the hotel was painfully silent, as if a cold entiity had sliced through the air, leaving behind only silence and loneliness in the atmosphere.

A loud thud rumbled through the hall, soon enough two fingers snapping in front of Tori's face.

“Hello, earth to Astoria. Do you read me?”

Her eyes flying to focus, Tori zoomed in on the two fingers coming dangerously close to her face. Crossing her eyes out, she slid back on the bed and hit her head against the wooden headboard. A strangled “Ow” escaped her before Rey huffed and sat down next to her.

“Are you going to talk about it?”

Tori looked up to meet two green eyes looking down at her with concern pooling in their emerald world. Reyna was looking at her sadly, a small smile on her face. She had seen this face too many times and she knew exactly what was coming next. She steeled herself and reached inside her mind for the mask of indifference.

“There's nothing to talk about.”, she stated firmly. They had come here for a vacation and not to vent out her feelings. No matter what they said, she did not need therapy. She was fine just the way she was. People died all the time. Tori had just emerged stronger from Alex's death. She knew exactly what she had to do know, and there was no need to get pitiful glances for that realization.

“Tori, It's alright. You can just-”, Rey started softly.

“There is absolutely nothing to talk about Reyna”, Tori glanced back at her friend sitting on the edge of their bed. The cold and icy look in her grey eyes had stopped the words from pouring out and Rey knew that it was better not to ask now.

She nodded gravely and watched as Tori flung the towel to one side and walked into the balcony, shutting the door behind her firmly. A heavy sigh escaped her lips as Rey fell on her back into the soft comfy bed. She had expected a somewhat insecure Tori but now she seemed to be slipping away from her fingertips. Rey always knew exactly how to behave around tori, it came as second nature to her. The past year had been hard, but not impossible. But the past few days, Tori had become a complete stranger to her. Rey couldn't understand the girl looking out at the shinning lights and cloud reaching skyscrapers. There was a stranger in her room, a stranger that she loved deeply.