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“I can’t ever understand the point. It never turns out well for people when they do it,” I mused.
“I guess it all depends on the lie. There are the little white lies you tell to keep from hurting someone’s feelings, and then big lies that badly damage relationships when the other person finds out the truth.”
“Tell me a white lie, Franky.”
“Hmm.” He looked around the room and then perked up, smirking. “Your hair doesn’t look too bad right now.”
He moved out of the way of the closet mirror and positioned himself behind me on the bed, nudging his nose into the back of my head. I widened my eyes at my reflection. White and black hairs stuck up everywhere, and one side was caked in blood.“Yeah, that’s definitely not true.” I laughed and his deep, shaking sounds mingled with mine.
“Don’t worry. I’m not looking my best either after fighting off bugs and sweating from all the work it took to bring you up here.”
I turned around and eyed him closely. “You look perfect to me.”
“Looks like you fully understand a white lie now.” His smile lit up his flushed face.
“Kind of. But I really do think you look perfect.”
Franky was fading away again. I grabbed on to him, trying to stay where I was, and failed. He’d been there when I last woke up, and I was more than confident he’d be there again.
Twelve
Franklin
His eyes closed, and he didn’t open them again for another hour. It was only for a little over a minute when he finally did too. He really had scared the crap out of me earlier. I couldn’t believe I’d called the guy at the gate a douchebag. It wasn’t often I said vulgar words, but I was so angry it had just slipped out. He’d called Nova a freak. But he was the one who’d been able to sit there and watch someone fight for their life, not lifting a finger, and with a smile on his face. As if watching a living being get eaten was some form of entertainment.
If my hands hadn’t been busy holding Nova, I would have beaten his face in. Then I probably would’ve been banned from the base. I felt sick at the thought of not seeing Nova waiting for me at the library or smiling in the hotel lobby with syrupdripping down his chin. As much as I’d wanted to teach the guy a lesson, I wanted to come back to trade with Nova more.
“Franky.” He sounded clearer and more alert than the last time he’d tried to talk to me.
“Look who’s up again. Can you move your legs a little now?”
He lifted one up and nodded. “Looks as if I can. I don’t feel dizzy and off-balance anymore either.”
“You shouldn’t speak so soon.”
He licked his lips. Shiny and wet, they called to me. I was eager to see if they’d still taste like syrup. “I really do feel fine.” He shook his leg and lifted it again.
He had full range of motion in his legs and arms, but when he got up, I had to wrap my arms around him to prevent him from crashing to the ground. “Okay, I guess I did speak too soon,” he admitted. I lowered us back down onto the bed and we sat next to each other. His knee knocked against mine and our arms rubbed together.
“Told ya,” I said with a smirk. “Let’s try having you sit up for a bit before you attempt standing again.”
We talked a little about what all we could do today, and I told him what time I had to leave tomorrow. His tone went from happy to sad in a matter of seconds.
“I have to work Tuesday. I’m trying to spread out my vacation days so I can make multiple, shorter trips to you, instead of only two or three long ones.”
“Do all humans work?”
“We have to if we want to be able to pay for things. Everything costs money in our world unfortunately—medicine, food, houses, and phones.”
“You don’t need money to live here. I didn’t even know what it was until Henry explained it to me. I’ve seen it in movies but didn’t really understand how it worked or where it came from.My old master traded for things like I did. Not all the deals he made were good though.”
“You mention him a lot. Where is he now?”
“I . . . gone. He isn’t here anymore.” His face paled and I didn’t want to upset him more than I already had so I didn’t push for more details. Obviously, he’d been a bad man and hurt Nova. He didn’t need to tell me because I saw it in his eyes every time he brought the man up. He was all he’d known for so long, so of course he was part of a lot of his memories.
I only wanted to be a part of the good ones. “You said you lived in a cabin, right?”
“Yeah.” He played with a loose string hanging from his arm. “It doesn’t have any rooms. Only one big one.”
