Chapter 10: Awkwardness

Kym's POV

'Kym, there you are. I have been looking for you.' I turned around as Ben approached. I was out drying some clothes in the vicinity of our camp. 'Meet me at the back of the camp near to the woods after you are done. Bring along the knife that I gave you,' he said and then walked away before I could answer him.

Thirty minutes later I was striding to the place that Ben told me. When I reached he was already there, sitting on the hard ground. He got up when he saw me.

'Are you ready for your first day of training for self-defense?' This doesn't sound like a question but more of a statement. I will never be ready but I don't think he would accept that answer. I just stood there trying very hard to look ready and eager.

'Did you bring along the pocket knife?' he asked. I showed it to him and he was pleased.

'It would be good if you can have a gun with you but I know you will refuse it so I'll be teaching you how to use the knife as your weapon in case you needed them to protect yourself,' He said as a-matter-of-fact.

'The skitters are strong, not that you do not know about it already. When you encounter them, take out your knife, gather your strength and lunge at their throat,' he said while showing me the moves. I just stood there and gathered as much info I could. I have encountered the skitters before and fought them off but I have never really learn how to kill them or protect myself.

'Imagine I am the skitter and that you are holding an imaginary knife. Come on Kym, lunge at me,' he called out when I didn't move. I took a few steps towards him, raise my right arm and then drop it back to my side.

'Ok…let me try again,' I said sounding a little embarrassed. I am not sure why but with Ben standing in front of me, I just can't lunge at him. My heart was racing.

'Ok. Now!' Ben raised his voice and I ran and lunge at him. At the same time he was giving out instructions on how I should be doing it correctly. We practice a few times and I got better every time. I was gaining some self-confidence.

'Let's try one last time,' Ben said and I got ready to lunge at him again. This time I tripped and fell on top of Ben when he lost his balance trying to catch me. We both landed on the ground with a loud thud.

'I am so sorry Ben,' I said as I tried to get off him. That very moment our eyes met. None of us spoke and I could feel my heart thumping wildly. What an awkward moment. My immediate thought was to tickle him to hide that awkwardness. He laughed as I kept tickling him. He tried to wriggle away from me which he did because he is so much stronger than I am. I stopped and we were both laughing like kids. As we lie on the ground we turned to face each other and smiled.

'That was fun. I haven't laughed like that for a long long time,' Ben said as he put one of his arms under his head. I did the same.

'Me too,' I said and turned my head up to the sky. It was a bright sunny afternoon which was very rare because most of the time it would either be raining heavily or drizzling.

'Kym, remembered I asked on the rooftop if you ever wonder what life would have been if the invasion didn't happened?' I just nod. 'You said you think about it all the time. What do you think about?' he asked. I didn't expect him to ask me that. He sounded serious and I turned to face him.

He was holding his gaze at me.

Ben's POV

Kym turned her head towards me for a brief moment like she was contemplating answering the question and then she turned her gaze back to the sky. I kept looking at her and finally she spoke.

'If the invasion didn't happen, mom, dad and Amelia will still be alive. We will be like any ordinary family. Every day after school I will get to see mom and Amelia, and dad would be having dinners with us every night. On weekends, I will be hanging out with my besties, talking about boys, movies and music. On summer break, my family will be travelling to our grandparents' place in Florida. We would be taking pictures and spending time in the beach. If the invasion didn't happen, Amelia will have a chance to try out for the school play which she has been anticipating. Who knows, she might become an aspiring actress and she might get accepted into the school girls' soccer team. I might have applied for law school and got accepted. I might even have gone on dates and experience my first kiss,' Kym said. There wasn't any bitterness in her voice but sadness.

'You have never kissed before? Don't you have a boyfriend when you were in school?' I asked. I was surprise. Kym is beautiful and guys would definitely not miss a chance to go out with her.

'I have gone on a date just a few months before the invasion. I have just turned 15 and there was this guy in my history class whom I have been having a huge crush on for a long time. When he asked me out, I was thrilled. He wasn't my boyfriend but we did go out once. It was really awesome but we didn't kiss,' Kym said and smiled sweetly, still looking up at the sky. She must have been remembering that moment. I am not sure why but I felt jealous towards that guy, whoever he was.

'How about you?' she asked after a moment of silence between us.

'What about me,' I pretended not to know what she was asking.

'Aw…come on Ben. I spilled mine. Now's your turn,' she looked at me with such a beautiful face. When I remained quiet, she started to tickle me again.

'ok, ok…I'll tell you,' I said in between laughing and trying to avoid her tickle.

'You want to know about whether I dated before in the past or what it is that I think about if the invasion never happened.'

'Both.'

'Well….If the invasion never happened, my family and I would have continued to have camping trips every summer. Hal would have continued to be the famous jock in school with all the girls swooning over him. Matt will have the opportunity to experience normalcy and I probably would have applied to study medicine. Mom would have been so proud of us, even though we gave her so many headaches. Dad would have continued to lecture in the university. We would play chess, scribbles and monopoly after dinner every night. During weekends, I will be browsing books in the library while Hal will be out on hot dates with the girls. Matt would be pestering mom to take him to the arcades,' I said as all those memories flashed before my eyes. Both Kym and I were quiet before she started asking questions again.

'Ben. Although Hal called you a Math geek, I am sure there are girls in school who are interested in you,' she said. That was so random it got me laughing.

'What's so funny? I am serious. I am not trying to make you feel better,' she said, her tone of voice was serious.

'I don't find it funny but I have never really paid much attention to girls besides books,' I said but things might have changed now. I didn't say that out loud.

'So, you have never been on dates before? Have you ever asked a girl out to the prom at least? Never kissed a girl too?' Kym was shooting all these questions at me and I wasn't sure which to answer first. After thinking through I replied.

'Ok, the answer to all the three questions you asked is a yes!'

'Wow! Not bad! So, tell me about them, I mean the girls you dated before,' Kym asked. I can't believe she wants to embarrass me.

'It's kind of embarrassing so I don't think I want to tell you that,' I said and felt my face flushed.

'Aw..come on. Didn't you say we are best friends? I have already told you about mine. It's your turn now.' When I remained quiet, Kym kept pestering me until I gave up.

'My first date was with this girl in my Chemistry class. The first date we went on was for prom night. She was also the first girl that I kissed,' I said.

'That's it? Didn't you ask her out again?' Kym was curious.

'Well, she moved away after that year. And not long after that, the invasion happened.' Kym looked at me and I turned to look at her too. I am certain both of us were thinking about the same thing – the invasion took everything from us. We aren't certain whether both this girl and guy were still alive.

'What do you think our lives would be from now onwards?' she whispered. She looked so serene and peaceful. She looked beautiful.

'I…,' before she could say another word I leaned towards her and kissed her full on the lips. I don't know what came over me but I felt the sudden urge to be close to her and to feel her lustrous lips against mine. I must have taken her by surprise because I felt her tense and then she kissed me back. And almost immediately she pushed me away. We scrambled to a sitting position.

'I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me. I didn't mean to scare you,' I said. I was shock at my own action.

'I'm sorry too. Let's go back to camp,' she said trying to sound normal. She got up and walked back to camp without waiting for me.

She was sorry! Sorry that I kissed her or sorry that she kissed me back? I desperately wanted to know.