I'd like to say that I trusted Roopal. That I went to the mental hospital at the exact time he told me to, with no worries about anything that could go wrong.

In reality, I was terrified. Thoughts of traps, under-the-desk payments, possible blackmailing, and basically all other worse-case scenarios ran through my head as I got to the meeting spot on the roof almost an hour early, darting my head around at every sound and at every blur I saw through the corners of my eyes. I moved slowly around the perimeter of the roof, looking into every crevice and behind every metal unit, while making sure I stayed low, to avoid being seen by people in the streets.

For that next hour, I nearly went insane. All I could think about was the possibility of dying, and yelling at myself for making a plan like this over the phone. After all, Roopal was one of the most trustworthy people that I knew, but my mind was telling it that it may have not been Roopal that had been speaking to me.

Needless to say, I was justified when my heart nearly leapt out of my throat as I felt a pair of arms wrap around me from behind.

"Hey, Gi, it's me." I felt the fabric of Nadia's hijab against my neck, but I still needed a few seconds before I could calm down my heartbeat and breathing. "You okay?"

"I really didn't need to be scared like that, I was already paranoid." I turned around to look at Nadia, who for some reason didn't have her usual, mischievous grin on. In fact, she looked concerned, as she brushed my hair out of my face.

"I think I got that, but are you okay?" She sat down into a more comfortable position, pulling her arms away from my waist and holding my hand as I sat next to her.

"I'm fine," I said, looking out at the setting sun. It hurt, and I had to squint my eyes a bit, but I still appreciated it being there. The sun still being up at five in the evening meant that summer was coming soon. And hopefully, summer would just be a break from everything.

"Gi, you know you can be honest with me, right?" I felt Nadia's arm wrap around me, as her other hand combed through my hair. "Roopal told me of what happened, with the Konda sisters. I don't want to see you scared of everything."

I leaned my head on Nadia's shoulder, closing my eyes for a moment. Even though I knew I was sitting next to Nadia at that moment, something in my body made me feel like I wasn't actually there.

"I'm not scared, it's just," I opened my eyes slowly, "just, I've been through a lot lately, okay? I guess I've been on edge a lot because I haven't had much of a break."

"Honestly, I'd switch with you, if I had the chance. Life does get quite boring here."

"But, you don't have to deal with what I've dealt with. It's not just about getting to see life, it's tiring. And stressful." I looked up at Nadia, squinting my eyes slightly. "Question,"

"Answer." Nadia laughed softly, and I couldn't help but laugh with her, even though she just cut me off.

"Really? Anyway, I just want to know, how much of my life do you know about, like, from other people. I feel like you're always saying that someone told you about something in my life."

"Uh, well, basically anything anyone is willing to tell me. Like how you tried to train your powers but you did it wrong so you passed out." Nadia ruffled my hair as she spoke, and as I felt my cheeks become hot.

"Okay first of all, I know that was Adriana that told you. By the way, she hates me." I sat up as I spoke, gesturing my hands in an abrupt, flailing manner. "Second, I wasn't doing it wrong, I just maybe overexerted myself a tiny bit. I was fine."

"I highly doubt she hates you. She's just annoyed because I told her to keep an eye on you, and now you're suddenly dying every other day." Nadia stayed quiet for a second, looking at me and smiling softly.

It was then that I paused for a moment, looking at Nadia and seeing her for what felt like the first time in a while. She still had the same metallic eyes, which always glittered in the sunlight, especially in sunsets like the one that evening. And the way she brushed my hair back, the way she held me, it was the same way she had held me a million times before.

But something felt different about her. She didn't feel like that carefree girl that I had been friends with forever. She seemed more serious, more mature, especially in the way she looked at me. It was almost felt like in the bad fantasy movies that I watched a million times, where she was a knight, and I was some sort of young noble that she had to protect. Only this wasn't a bad fantasy movie, and I was feeling things that I never felt before.

I remembered then that I didn't eat dinner before coming, and wondered if I was about to die due to low blood sugar.

"I'm fine, I am." I felt as if I needed to reassure her that I didn't need to be watched, but I had no clue how to press my case. "I'm learning how to control my power, just like how you kept telling me to. I'm learning how not to hurt people anymore."

"But, I mean," Nadia began to look less happy, and more worried. "Was that what you were doing before you passed out?"

"Of course, if I don't learn how to stop it from puffing up, I'll probably hurt everyone I care about."

"Gi, you probably hurt yourself trying to do that, though. You probably have to learn how your powers work first." A look that almost seemed as if it was one of disappointment spread across her face, and I felt like I got shot in the heart.

"I, I thought this is what you wanted me to do, though. Train. I thought this is what training is, um, I, I thought you would've been happy." I felt my throat start to choke up, and I just tried to hold it back. Nadia had already been through a lot, she didn't need me crying.

"I'm happy for you, but, I'm scared that you're going to hurt yourself. I don't want to see you in pain." Nadia reached out to grab my hand, but I flinched away. I didn't think about it. I didn't even want to. I didn't know why my body was doing that, my only thought was that I needed to get away.

"I, I need, dinner." I got up hastily, not waiting for Nadia to say something before I started to move away. On one of the other sides of the roof, there was a ladder I could climb down, and I just focused on getting there before things got worse.

"Gi wait, I'm sorry, please don't, please don't run." I heard Nadia get up behind me, but I wasn't thinking right. If I had been thinking, maybe I would've stopped. Maybe I would've tried to calm down. Use one of those strategies that Greenstein always told me about, but I never listened to. Instead, dumbly, I ran. And Nadia grabbed my wrist. "Gi—"

I felt the spikes go before I could even try to warn her. I heard her scream out in pain. My heart dropped into my stomach. Everything around me started to ring.

I hate you, I fucking hate you! I didn't look back. I didn't need to hear the words to feel them. My body ran. I didn't know where I was. It climbed down the ladder and ran. It passed some people in the alleyway, but I never saw who. Didn't care who.

The next thing I knew, I was in my apartment, and it was dark. I didn't know what time it was, and I didn't really care. My dad wasn't home. Good. My whole mind was spinning, and the only thing I wanted was to lay down and wallow peacefully about what I had just done.

No lights on. No care to really try to change. Just threw my shoes off, and went to grab some blankets before I actually passed out.