-Ky-Tsung-

   She looked even more beautiful than I remembered in class. It must've been the full moon

tinging her hair silver and her skin pearly. Although her eyes seemed scared of me, her body was

rigid and her gun unwavering.

"What the hell?" she demanded. "Ky-Tsung?"

I tried to ignore the hate in her voice and swallowed. "We need to get out of here."

Just then, voices came from a few halls down, among them Min-Jung and some of my other friends who

were not going to treat Chi-ya as nice as I am now. I just saved her . Where's my thank you?

I ran past her and I heard her following me. Hopefully, she wasn't going to pull that trigger on me. Stun

guns hurt so much that most people compare them to being electrocuted.

I quietly opened a door on the far end of the hall, breathing a sigh of relief. I knew the exit was here

somewhere. I ran down the stairs, but she stopped me. "Where are you going? There's Invalids down

there!" she whispered fiercely.

"No, there are none on the ground floor anymore. They're all spreading out on the top floors," I replied.

Reluctantly, she followed me down the stairs and through the back exit of the building. I put a finger to my

lips and peeked around cautiously. There was nothing except a small layer of snow drifting over everything.

It started snowing tonight.

We made a quick dash across the street and ended up running down alleys and weaving in between smaller

buildings and shops. "The Flexi-Tube," she said from beside me, avoiding my gaze and looking straight in

front of her. I don't know why she's acting like this. She thinks I'm Cured because of my Cured friends at

school. It's probably because I'm an Invalid. Oh crap, I don't know what to do about that. Maybe knock her

out to make her forget tonight.

"Yeah, me too," I reply. Believe me, Ms. Hong Kong chick, I can't wait to get home, either. 

After a few minutes, I realize that she was slowing down. "I need a break," she said. "Don't ask."

We came to a stop at a dark alley behind a small restauarant. She bent over, hands on her knees, breathing

deeply. Sweat shone on her forehead. As she slid down, her back against the alley wall, she let out a shaky

sigh. Before she bent her head and drew her knees up to her chest, I saw a flash of tears streaked down

her face. I sat a few feet away, awkwardly looking around.

The full moon was enough to illuminate both of us in this alley. Out of the corner of my eye, I see her

glancing at me, and I realize that she was shivering badly. I look at her and realize she was only wearing a

shirt and jeans. She must've left her insulated Flexi-coat back in the building.

Without a word, my guy instinct took over and I took off my sweatshirt. My shirt underneath was soaked

with sweat from running and the break-in, and I knew I would be freezing in a couple of minutes. I held it

out to her and she stared at it with resentful eyes, like ew. It's from an Invalid.

But she avoided my eyes and took it, putting it on. Immediately, her shivering subsided and she closed her

eyes. I couldn't help but steal side-long glances at her. I bet my status as an Invalid that no guy except her dad

has ever even been nice to her, let alone given her a sweatshirt.

It makes me unsettlingly sad, because the fear of amor deliria nervosa in the cities has boiled down to this; guys

and girls can't even be kind to one another anymore for fear of contracting amor deliria nervosa. I had no clue

how to get her to not tell anyone about me. I would get turned in and cured, for real, this time. The notion scares

me half to death, but I couldn't bring myself to talk to her about it.

She opened up her eyes after a minute and stands up, brushing off the seat of her pants. The sweatshirt is

too big on her but she pretends not to notice.

We keep running towards the Flexi-Tube stop, and in a few minutes, we see it, its lights bright and glowing amidst

the darkness of night. Shoot, I haven't knocked her out yet.

Chi-ya takes the sweatshirt off and hands it to me. Abruptly, she turns around and walks toward the Flexi-Tube,

but stops and hesitates. She then turns around and brings her eyes up meet mine. In the moonlight, they're a light

amber color, bright and curious.

"Thank you," she says.

I don't know if she meant saving her from that other Invalid, or giving her my sweatshirt to keep her

warm, or getting her out of that raid. It doesn't matter. All I know is that in her words, there was a

genuine appreciation and that she wouldn't tell anyone about tonight.

"Yeah. No problem," I reply.

Without another word, she ventures out into the platform, blending in with the busy crowd of Hong

Kong people with late-night shifts at work. I put on the sweatshirt and catch a faint scent of spiced apples

and caramel, but its gone the moment the Flexi-Tube pulls away, leaving me pondering about what happened

tonight.