Fire and Ice

Chapter 25 † Kayleigh

I feel a little sorry for laughing at Ender when he seems so upset about the whole "flattened like a pancake during liftoff" mess, but he really just looked so silly. I finish off my giggling fit quickly and apologize, walking over to where he still massages his temples. I sit in his proclaimed seat and look out the window at the universe. Not much is visible at the speed we're going, but many trips this ship and I have been on have yielded stunning views.

"That was where I was sitting," Ender whines. I look back to find him pouting behind me.

"Ohhh that was where I was sitting," Petra mock whines in a higher voice miming boo-hoo crying at Ender.

"Petra don't-" I stutter before Ender interrupts.

"Ohh that was where I was sitting," Ender mimicks in an even higher pitched voice, grabbing Petra around her neck and ruffling her hair aggressively.

"Hey hey now children," I say, standing up and separating Ender from Petra, "no fighting." I keep my features as still as possible.

"But mooooooom," Petra whines. I break down laughing, unable to keep myself together. Ender and Petra laugh as well. I check the time. 1826 hours. Dinner time. I feel a small lurch from beneath my feet from the ship. I glance over and find Ender and Petra unaffected. The lurch comes again, followed by a tap against my foot and humming from the hyper space engines. We're almost there... they lilt, the consciousness embedded into them carefully monitoring everything, watching my mood and emotions.

"You gotta go back to piloting?" Petra asks. I realize I'm still staring my armbands down, the holographic watch still displayed. I tuck my arm behind me in a sudden burst of self-consciousness.

"Ah, no?" I say, not quite knowing how to explain to them my ship's tech. "We're almost there." Petra looks taken aback.

"Really?" She scoffs. I frown and nod. Are you insulting my ship?

"Fastest ship in the fleet. I thought you read the specs?" I ask innocently, tilting my head to indicate the slight insult. Ender frowns as he looks back and forth between us, none of our usual joking manner to be felt. Petra half smiles at the jab, obviously trying to prepare another point. "It's also time for dinner." I proclaimed, if only to ease some of the newfound tension. Ender perks up at the metion of food. I jerk my head to the rear door that Ender was squished up against during take off and start walking in that direction.

[][][]

The flight was extremely short. We arrived late Tuesday evening, despite Kayleigh saying it would take longer. We dock at an independent port landside and travel to our IF lodgings approximately thirty minutes away from my parent's house. They escort us to our rooms, one for the girls, and one for me, and we settle in for the night.

I think.

Petra and Kayleigh's standoff before dinner was... strange. It all seemed normal until Petra and I were caught off-guard by the speed of our travel.

Then Kayleigh got pissed.

I can't quite pinpoint it.

I push it to the back of my mind and ready for bed.

≈≈

Kayleigh and I were put in the same room together. The air is tense, to say the least, as we take turns showering and getting dressed for bed.

She walks in to use the other sink as I'm brushing my teeth.

"So," I say, mouth full of toothpaste. Bad plan bad plan I think. Spit it out stupid! I spit my toothpaste into the sink. "I say something that evoked your icy wrath?" I sip some water to fully cleanse out my mouth. In the mirror, Kayleigh applies some sort of cream to her face, rubbing delicately under her eyes.