I am not looking forward to today. And that might be a little surprising since it is a gloriously sunny Sunday with no fitness training and very little homework backlog for me, but it is what it is.

My body aches. Or maybe it's my mind manifesting an excuse so that I do not need to get out of bed. I can't be sure.

Whimpering softly, I pull my sheets closer and snuggle deep into my pillow as I look out of the large window to the left of my bed. The sun shines brightly in the clear azure of the sky, but it isn't harsh and blinding. It's soft and gentle and seems to be empathetic towards my dampened spirits.

With a quiet sigh, I sit up in bed and rest my back against the panel at the back that acts as a kind of cabinet where I keep my current reads, medicines, nail paint bottles and hair ties that have an unusual habit of disappearing and appearing at will.

Twisting my neck to the right I massage the other side slowly, before collecting my hair and tying it into a haphazardly shaped bun that mirrors my mood.

"What now?" I ask out loud, tapping my fingers on my knees, although there's no one to hear me.

I contemplate calling Izzy, it's been two weeks since we last talked, but I decide against it. She did mention that she had an internal assessment coming up since the academic year in India begins a couple of months before ours and I don't want to be the kind of person who only calls when they're feeling lonely, a last resort. That's simply pathetic.

Mindlessly, I pick up the book about block-chain and cryptocurrency investing from the cabinet behind me and open the chapter about cryptocurrency volatility where I had stopped. Honestly, I've been finding very little time to read ever since I've been thrown headfirst into the midst of this protection program for Nathaniel. With regular fitness training, school, homework and my newfound interest in machine learning, there was just enough time left to squeeze in for my nightly skin routine and meals.

I read five pages of the book only to find that I don't remember anything I read, so I flip back to where I started and try again.

"Ughh..." I cry out in frustration, bending my head backwards to rest on the panel behind, "I can't—Fuck!"

I really want a little time to myself- some peaceful solitude before I have to make up with Nathaniel, properly this time. But it turns out that anxiety, aching limbs and absolute solitude is a recipe for acute unproductivity.

I kick my sheets off my body and tumble out of bed in an ungraceful heap. Cursing under my breath, I make my way to the bathroom to finish my morning business and clean my teeth.

"Nathaniel definitely does not want to talk to me." I breathe out, studying my eyebrows carefully as I talk to myself in the mirror, "But I need to produce a detailed report of what he saw yesterday, or Dad's going to ground me. How the fuck am I supposed to do that?! I wish I already knew that. But I'm Ariya fucking Davis so I'll figure it out eventually."

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I sigh dramatically. Tackling this situation would require nothing short of a fucking miracle and by that I mean I'd have to be able to read minds.

Picking up the empty casserole from the previous night, sitting on my desk, I make my way down to the kitchen.

There's a note stuck on the refrigerator, under an old Disneyland souvenir magnet.

[..- .-. --. . -. - ....... -- .- - - . .-. ... ....... - --- ....... .- - - . -. -.. ....... - --- ....... .- - ....... - .... . ....... .... --.- .-.-.- ....... - .- -.- . ....... -.-. .- .-. . ....... --- ..-. ....... - .... . ....... .... --- ..- ... . ....... .- -. -.. ....... --. . - ....... - .... . ....... -... --- -.-- ....... - --- ....... - .- .-.. -.- .-.-.- .......] 59.68

I roll my eyes in frustration. Trust Dad to write a simple going-out note in Morse code to make my life harder.

Shaking my head, I huff to myself and begin translating the note into English.

[Urgent matters to attend to at the HQ. Take care of the house and get the boy to talk] 59.68

59.68 was probably the radio frequency I could send out a message on in case of an emergency but it was clear that he was not to be contacted unless required urgently and there was no way I could wiggle out of talking to Nathaniel.

Neatly folding the piece of paper, I slip it into my shorts pocket before pouring myself a glass of water.

Inhaling deeply, I walk into the makeshift security controls room that Dad has built next to his bedroom on the ground floor and find the secure telephone line that's assembled in the corner.

Picking it up, I dial Nathaniel's phone number from memory and wait patiently as it rings. I'm sure he's familiar with this number and the odds of him picking up and having a conversation with me are approximately 4.75 times that if I call from my own phone or simply knock on his door.

The ringing of the line stops abruptly as the call connects. I can barely hear Nathaniel's even breathing as he presumably waits for my father's message.

"Good morning." I say finally, my tone courteous and smooth as melting butter.

"Good morning Ariya." He answers after a moment, a hint of bitterness evident in his voice, "What do you want?"

"To talk." I reply simply.

Nathaniel remains silent for a moment, and I'm afraid he's going to cut the call then. But he's too courteous to cut me off unanswered.

"I'm sorry, but I do not want to. I know that your father wants my first-hand statement but I'm not ready to talk to you. I need some time to figure out my thoughts without interference from either of you and I'd appreciate if I'm allowed to complete my AP history essay in peace." He states politely, and I can already tell that there's no chance I'm going to complete my designated task.

My brow lifts up at that.

"You're doing homework?" I ask, suppressing a giggle.

"Yes, it's an opportunity for me to brush up on my reading and to remain in the teacher's good graces. Now if that's all, I'd like to get back to my work. Have a pleasant Sunday."

With that the telephone line goes dead. Obviously, his courtesy only extended up to answering my phone and making it explicitly clear that he did not want anything to do with me at the moment.

I exhale loudly, already at my wits end with the situation.

I give myself a mental pep talk, with promises of treating myself with cookies and extra sleep.

"You'll find yourself coming to me yourself, love." I surmise dramatically, the gears of my mind whirring precariously as I think, feeling a tad bit more confident than before.

The mundanity of how Nathaniel plans to spend his Sunday is laughable, honestly. A crown prince, soon to be king of a sovereign nation, worrying over history homework. But I suspect he's back to studying classified international records, behind closed doors, to find out who Volatis' unknown enemy is. That's the only thing that makes sense.

I glance around at all the security equipment that has been squeezed into the tight confinement of what I presume is supposed to be a pantry behind the kitchen. My eyes run quickly over the two curved monitors, one playing real-time CCTV footage and the other with its screen in screensaver mode, and a couple of locked cabinets as well as the secure intelligence department handled Wi-Fi router for secure internet searches that could not be tracked.

"Fuck, of course!" my mouth twists into a sly smile as I shimmy my mobile phone out of my pajama shorts pocket and enter the IP address of the houses Wi-Fi router into the web browser and switch it off, before changing the password and switching it on again so that all the connected devices get disconnected.

Nathaniel won't notice until he closes his current windows and when he does, he shall not be able to reconnect his gadgets to the internet. And when he does come crawling to me for the password, I'll be ready.

Satisfied, I exit the stuffy room into the kitchen and fix myself a bowl of dry cereal and a glass of heated milk. I stare at my breakfast ruefully for a moment, tired of eating the same thing every single day because of my and Dad's lack of culinary skills, but finish it quickly nevertheless. Cereal and milk for breakfast along with a fruit occasionally, lunch in the school cafeteria and boiled chicken and greens for dinner had become a routine. Takeout was strictly prohibited.

"I need to learn how to cook, if not just for the sake of my own taste buds." I mutter to myself as I rinse my cereal bowl and glass, before heading up to my room.

I have a confrontation with Nathaniel to get prepare for and I'd like to feel my best when I do that.

I take ten minutes to take a quick shower and wash my hair. After I'm done, I slip into an oversized tie-dye hoodie paired with black tights. Just as I finish drying my hair, a knock sounds on my closed door.

"Coming!" I call out, biting back a grin as I spray a whiff of vanilla extract body spray onto my neck and wrists.

Nathaniel looks furious when I open the door. Well, as enraged as he can be as he struggles to keep up the mask of his usual calm and composed demeanour. His dark blue button up is rumpled on one side, sleeves rolled up unevenly on both hands and his eyes are rimmed with red. He looks like he hasn't slept at all.

"Done with homework?" I ask innocently, pushing the door wide open as an invitation for him to enter my bedroom as I walk up to the window ledge and sit on its edge.

Nathaniel lingers at the door.

"The internet connection seems to have some sort of a problem. My laptop isn't getting connected and I went down to check the router but it's still switched on." He grinds out from between his teeth.

"Oh, it's probably some technical issue. I'll ask Dad to look into it when he gets back home." I say, with faux understanding, "You can refer to my essay and complete yours if you want."

"Do I look daft to you, Ariya?" that's closest he's come to cursing in front of me, "The network connection magically seemed to get cut off just after your phone call and it isn't very hard to put two and two together. Now, I suggest you give me the changed password and I'll be out of your hair before you know it."

"Sure," I shrug, "Just answer the questions I ask you about yesterday and we can both go back to pretending that the other does not exist."

Nathaniel clenches his jaw, his lower lip quivers like he's going to have a breakdown any moment. His eyes flutter in a momentary lapse, and I notice water lining his lower lids for a second before he blinks them away, as I study his response.

At that moment, realization hits me like a speeding truck. Judging by how devastated I was yesterday, he was probably just scraping by, heart and mind bursting at the seams- literally begging for an outlet. Any small altercation in the program didn't just call for a rap on the knuckles like it did for me. For him, it could very well the downfall of an entire country, it's people and the global nuclear weapons industry.

The thought shakes me, and I'm alarmed at the actual severity of everything that I so conveniently chose to ignore. Everyone kept talking about it, but somehow until now I couldn't bring myself to actually see it.

Honestly, I feel absolutely miserable now. Stupid. Here I was, blowing my fuse over how it was wrong of everyone to push the blame onto my shoulders, failing to see the bigger picture as I drowned in self pity and defensiveness.

Nathaniel appears to be conflicted as he stands outside my door, glaring at the floor with one hand in his pant pocket and the fingers of his other hand dug into his palm.

"I'm truly sorry." I blurt out, the words leaping off the tip of my tongue before I can filter them. I leave it at that this time, knowing that no words could do justice to how I felt now.

He looks up wearily and holds my gaze and it takes me a moment to remember that he has an uncanny ability to read emotions. I can tell that he's reading into my apology right now.

I jump off the window ledge and walk towards Nathaniel with uncertain steps, giving him ample time to go away if he wants. When I'm within arm's length of him, I reach out and squeeze his arm reassuringly.

"Fine." He mutters concedingly, looking away and extracting his hand from my grip, "I'll give you my statement."

He makes himself comfortable on the arm chair next to my bed, crossing one leg over the other in an aristocratic matter as I settle on my bed with my legs crossed.

I grab my phone so that I can record his statement and make the necessary notes later.

"You know you could be a pretty good diplomat if you were willing to be more responsible for your actions." Nathaniel says looking out of the window at the view outside. It's the same as that from his bedroom window, just from a floor higher.

"That sounds like an underhand compliment, but I'll take it." I give him a tight smile, "Another thing I'm good at is research so whatever you're doing, I can help."

He shrugs, waiting for me to start with my first question.

"Really." I repeat with more fervour, "Remember when I told that friends never let each other battle anything alone, nor do they ditch each other at their lowest points. And I like to believe we're friends— despite our differences."

"I'll keep that in mind, Ariya." He smiles tightly, it's almost genuine, "But right now I'm tired so let's just get this done first."

I nod wordlessly, not wanting to push him, and forward the new Wi-Fi password to his number.

"Okay, let's start then. What—" I trail on, starting with the list of standard questions I'm supposed the get answers for.

A sense of tranquil washes over me as he talks. I know he hasn't forgiven me completely yet, but it puts me at ease to think that least we were getting there. For now that's enough for me

•><•

Do you think Nathaniel is too closed off? Like we haven't seen much of his personality yet, except for his uptight and polite behavior.
And do you wonder why Ariya is so self centered?

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