Chapter 6: That Eve

Eve set up the special dodgeball training machine her friend had built. It was a strange Frankenstein device that was clearly cobbled together. Consisting of several extensively modified electric baseball pitchers on a turret like base.

Eve then filled the basket on top of the ramshackle contraption with dodgeballs and set the attached timer. She then stood at a reasonable distance from the machine, in front of the barrel ready to practice.

The device juddered to life. It began to fire the dodgeballs out in a multitude of different directions and speeds. These throws this contraption unleashed far outmatched anything a regular player could toss. The perfect combination of speed, power and accuracy.

Yet Eve avoided every single one, dodging balls as she pirouetted around the gym. A few skimmed close, yet none made contact. As the machine ran out of rounds, she wiped the sweat from her brow.

She turned as she heard someone clapping behind her. Her friend had been watching her train. “Great performance as always Eve. I bet you could dodge rain in a thunderstorm”.

Eve’s eyes lit up. “You think I really could?”

Her friend Lily, while running a hand through her curly brown hair, quietly uttered her deadpan response, “I didn’t mean literally.”

“Well thanks for the compliment anyway.” Eve beamed. “Also, thanks for building that machine for me too.”

Lily blushed, tossing Eve a water bottle. “It was nothing really...”

Eve swallowed a large gulp of water “Although, could you make it fire even faster?”

“Fff... faster?” Lily gulped.

Eve gave Lily a friendly slap on the back, “Yeah, so fast those dodgeballs get lodged in the wall!”

“I don’t think that’s physically possible... but I’ll see what I can do.” Lily shyly adjusted her glasses. “Maybe it could if I made it bowling balls instead...”

Eve’s eyes lit up, “You could do that?!”

Lily shook her head, “Technically yes... but that would be far too dangerous.”

“Go on, What’s life without a little danger?” Eve gave Lily an encouraging elbow.

“I’m sorry, it’s just too risky, I can’t...” While Lily’s voice trailed off, she remained staunch in her refusal.

“Fine.” Eve pouted comically, showing Lily while she was disappointed, there was no hard feelings.

Lily was rubbing her own arms awkwardly, “Can we talk about something else please?” She requested.

“Ok, so are you finally gonna tell me who the lucky guy is?” enquired Eve casually.

Lily began stammering “Lucky... g... guy?”

“You think I haven’t noticed?” Eve teased playfully. “I’ve known you long enough to know you’re crushing on someone, so spill, who is it?”

Lily shifted awkwardly on the spot, “no one...” her words abruptly trailing off

Eve could tell Lily was lying. But decided not to push the matter. “Ok you don’t need to tell me. Just remember, life’s too short to waste your time worrying. For all we know we could be dead tomorrow, so...” She scooped a dodgeball of the floor and tossed it to her friend. “You gotta grab life by the balls, Chase your dreams girl!”

Lily fumbled the ball, immediately dropping it on the floor. “My... my dreams?”

“Yeah, like take mine for example, I want to get so good at dodging, that I can even dodge bullets”.

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Lily’s body surged with a mix of shock and awe “BULLETS?”

Eve gave Lily a thumbs up. “Yeah, so I’m training every day, to one day make that dream a reality!”

“Please... don’t ever actually try that,” begged Lily, shaking her head, unsure if her friend was joking.

“I won’t... until I’m ready.” Eve gave Lily a playful wink.

After pulling on her tracksuit and picking up her bag, Eve took Lily’s hand. “Come on, let’s walk home together”.

Lily’s heart thumped hard in her chest as Eve’s hand touched hers, distracting her from her concerns. She was having difficulty meeting Eve’s deep brown eyes.

“Yes, I’d like that”. Lily confirmed, squeezing Eve’s hand gently.

With that the pair left the gym, heading out into the cool, dark night together.

Despite the chill of the air, Lily’s palms were sweating as she clenched Eve’s hand tightly in hers. She prayed her friend wouldn’t notice. They exited the campus though the main gate.

Looking around, hoping to distract herself, Lily realised how late it had gotten. The streets were eerily silent, with the only thing of note being a large eighteen-wheeler truck. It was parked across the street from where they had exited the campus.

Eve makes some small talk as they walked home together. “Did you see that worlds strongest man show on TV the other night?”

“No, I didn’t” admitted Lily with a shake of her head.

“You should totally watch, the things those guy do are ridiculously impressive” Eve gushed. “Some of them are pretty hot too. Like Chad Swolemen for example”.

A sting shot though Lily’s heart, a brutal reminder that Eve wasn’t like her. That she’d never see Lily the way the quiet girl wanted her to.

“Do you... like that kind of look then, big muscles?” Lily asked. She flexed her free arm; fully aware her own muscles were average at best.

“Not normally” Eve confessed. “There’s just something about him in particular, the way he so easily flings trucks and stuff around,” Eve shivered. “It just does something for me you know?”

Lily fidgeted, finding the whole conversation uncomfortable. “Well, he’s definitely not my type” she admitted. “Although...”

Eve raised a curious eyebrow, eagerly waiting for Lily to finish her thought.

Lily gave a small smile, “I can see the appeal in watching someone pull off incredible feats of athleticism.”

“Are you okay?” Eve’s face clouded with concern. “You look really red and flushed all of the sudden.”

Lily turned away. “It’s just the cold” she stammered.

Eve brought the conversation back on topic, “I wouldn’t want a big muscular body like Chad Swolemen’s myself though. There’s no way a bulky frame like that would be able to dodge things effectively.”

Lily breath evaporated into the night sky as she sighed. Of course, no man, or woman could replace Eve’s one true love, dodging stuff. “You’ve got a lovely figure”.

“Thanks bestie, it’s honed though years of hard dedicated dodging” Eve boasted proudly, striking a pose.

“She still doesn’t get it, I guess she dodges hints as well.” Lily thought to herself, trying to not let her emotions show.

As they resumed walking along, Lily tried to forget her anxieties. She just tried to herself be in the moment on her walk with Eve.

But she couldn’t shake an ominous sensation that began to wash over her. She felt they were being watched.

Yet she could see it was only her and Eve here. The one other thing she could on the street that they were walking, was a single eighteen-wheeler truck parked across the road. Wait, was that the same one she’d seen when they’d first left?

Eve followed her friends eye line “Hey, what are you looking at?”

“That truck...” Lily whispered, pointed to the large vehicle. “I think it’s following us... what if it’s someone looking to kidnap us or something?”

“Really?” Eve’s eyes narrowed. “Only one way to find out.” She then cupped her hands at the side of her mouth and began yelling. “HEY TRUCK WEIRDO, YOU THINK YOU CAN TAKE ME? BRING IT ON MOTHERTRUCKER!”.

Lily’s whispers became more frantic. “What are you doing? Don’t antagonize them.”

“Oh? So, I shouldn’t do something like this then?” Eve sprinted over the road to the parked truck.

“Eve, don’t! Lily begged, her voice squeaking in fear.

“Relax.” Eve tapped her hand on the truck’s grille before running back across the road to her friend, who was rapidly hyperventilating. “No one’s inside, it's just an ordinary, empty, parked truck, nothing to worry about.” She reassured.

“R... right.” Lily’s voice quavered as she stood still shaking.

“Although it does make me wonder,” Eve gave a mischievous grin, “do you think I could avoid a speeding truck?”

Lily shook her head “I really need to make a list of things you SHOULDN’T consider trying to dodge.”

“Oh, so you’d rather I got hit by it then?” Eve’s voice was laced with mock indignation.

“You know that’s not what I meant!” Lily exploded.

“Chill girl, I’m sorry, hug it out?” Eve had her arms spread out wide.

Unable to resist cuddling up to Eve, Lily accepted the hug. The pair embraced, with Lily enjoying the close contact. Right up until Eve next few words undermined the tender moment.

“I still bet I really could dodge a speeding truck.” Eve sighed, somewhat wistfully, almost as if she was wishing for an opportunity to prove it.

Lily couldn’t even be mad with her. She accepted this was just the way Eve was, how she’d always been. “You’re incorrigible”.

“Thanks” Eve untangled herself from the hug. “Now we better pick up the pace, its super late and we both need to get home”. She offered her hand to Lily.

Lily laughed. Then she gave a sheepish smile and took Eve’s hand once more.

As the two resumed their walk home, neither of them knew what the future would hold. That the truck they had encountered had been anything but ordinary.

It had indeed been following them. Both Wheeler and Abeona watched the pair walking away through Wheeler’s windscreen.

“Target located.”