"It`s him isn`t it?" Addy`s soft question floats over my shoulder.

　　She holds the door that leads to her woods. I leave my equipment on the table and join her. My eyes close, momentarily blinded by the force of the sun.

　　"Well." She pushes.

　　"What?" I pretend I have no idea what she`s talking about.

　　"Uh huh. I knew it. You go all dead face around him like when you first got here."

　　"Dead face? That`s not even a thing."

　　"Yep, it looks like this." Addy twirls in front of me walking backwards. She scrunches up her face like she smells something terrible.

　　"You look like you ate Fletcher`s sandwich surprise."

　　Her eyes squeeze shut and she clutches her stomach facing forward again.

　　"Who puts horseradish and chocolate sauce on a sandwich? God, what`s wrong with him?" She throws her arms up in the air as we enter the trees.

　　"Whatever it is, you probably have it too. You`re his twin."

　　"Thanks."

　　The cool shade is refreshing. We have about fifteen minutes until dinner and all I want to do is hide in my pod. I don`t want to think about breaking into the lab tonight. About hiding my powers from the new gear. Or whatever Cole and his father are preparing for me.

　　"You`re doing it again."

　　I side eye her, and she rolls hers.

　　"I miss this." Her light footsteps, almost triple mine to stay at my side. "You never follow me around anymore."

　　"What`s the point? I can`t track you." My exhaustion seeps through.

　　She grabs my elbow pulling me to stop before the rock formation she likes to leap from.

　　"Admit it. I`m really good." She beams up at me with her shiny blue eyes and proud smile.

　　"You`re really good." I parrot back.

　　"I`m the best." She says.

　　"You`re the best." I deadpan, staring down my nose at her, making her smile even bigger.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

　　"I`m better than you." She leans closer.

　　I stay quiet on that one but one side of my mouth twitches to hold back a smile.

　　"Ha! I got rid of your dead face."

　　She bows in a circle to the nonexistent audience around us. Then jumps on the ledge of the boulder and turns back to me, a head above me now.

　　"You. Are. One. Of. Us." She punctuates with a finger to my chest, all mischief gone.

　　I swallow hard and rest my stare on the Elite Squad emblem of her uniform. The stark, deep red of the stitching stands out bright against the black.

　　"We all have a before, Rain. Before the Elites. And we have now. You`re with us now. We take care of our own, just as you will take care of us."

　　My eyes snap to hers. Will I? I can`t be there for them as they claim they will for me. I don`t want her to trust I will be.

　　"We worked too hard to pull you out. You`re not retreating now, Oren. Understood?"

　　I don`t see what she sees but I nod in answer to be done with this.

　　"Good." She finishes with a smile and places her hands on her hips. "Because I dragged you up here to find out why you can`t stay away from the captain."

　　My face is on fire before I can school my features. I was not expecting that.

　　"I don`t . . ."

　　"Don`t say you don`t know what I`m talking about. All the time you tried to track me, I tracked you too."

　　I pull at my uniform collar and shift on my feet. It was cool when we got here, now I`m sweating. Thankfully, I never have to talk for Addy to keep the conversation going.

　　"Whenever you gave up, I`d follow. You`re in tune with your surroundings, with extreme awareness. It`s the best practice I`ve ever had." She nods.

　　"Okay."

　　"But it wasn`t until a week later I realized you didn`t give up tracking me." She pauses, waiting for me to confirm.

　　The truth is I didn`t give up until this last week.

　　"You never gave up. You only changed your target. I watched, night after night. You`re always so focused but after about twenty minutes, sometimes longer, you changed. It`s like a switch flips inside you."

　　She jumps down off the ledge and steps up to my side again.

　　"It`s like you`re being pulled away. And guess where you end up?"

　　Her sight is set straight into the trees. I don`t answer. Because I`m aware of where my tracking leads. It always leads me to wherever the captain is. I thought it was because the captain varied her routine so much.

　　"A coincidence." I say.

　　It`s what I told myself each and every time I saw the captain. She affects my powers and my senses seek her out. It`s why I stopped trying to track Addy. I have to stay away from the captain.

　　"Yeah?" Addy says. "Maybe."

　　We stand side by side, quiet.

　　"We should get back."

　　"Yeah."

　　"I can`t wait to tell everyone you said I was better than you." She laughs racing to the arena door.

　　"Addy." I increase my pace.

　　Addy`s eyes go round seeing me chase her. A coughing snort of a laugh escapes me, making her smile back. I`m not sure when or how, but the Elites did pull me out. Until Cole arrived, I didn`t realize it became harder to hold back than to let loose. I break through the tree line right behind her and stop dead in my tracks. Cole stands outside the entry doors, arms crossed over his chest like before. His eyes squint looking us over. The lines around my mouth smooth out and my brows lower heavily. Addy turns forward to see why I stopped. She slows into a slight jog and goes right up to Cole. I stay back.

　　"Cole." Addy calls out.

　　His face slides from cold to warm as fast as a blink.

　　"That`s me." He smiles down at her.

　　"Just the person I was looking for." Addy hooks her arm into the crook of one of his, pulling him to the door.

　　He gives me a wink and slips inside with Addy, leaving me outside alone. This mission can`t come soon enough.