“What is that?” Aerek asked the girl curled up next to him.
She looked up at him, not understanding, and mumbled, “Hmm...? What is what?” She had to look up even when they were both sitting. He seemed to grow every time you looked away and had not only a body that resembled a beanpole, but also the awkwardness that often came with getting accustomed to a person’s new height.
They were sitting in the space left between a dark red couch and the wall behind it. To them it was late at night, even though most people in the 11th story apartment seemed to be very much awake, blasting music and weaving through the crowd. That was where Aerek’s sister, Iasmin, was now. As always, some college guy had asked her to dance and she had not been able to find a good excuse not to.
Danyana was often envious of her. She was pretty and smart and she was able to work hard for hours on end to create something beautiful. Still, she had known her for almost all her life. They were almost sisters, yet she and Aerek were closer not only in age (only a year apart) but also in personality. They usually found the quiet corners at parties like these while she enjoyed them. It was not clear to them why they came, but it was a routine now. They did not even know who hosted this one; they wandered in with the crowd and would probably wonder out without being introduced. This was what boarding school teenagers were expected to do, wasn’t it?
Iasmin’s return quickly broke her train of thought and she sat up to stretch her back, nearly knocking over the potted plants that seemed so out of place in the room. “How did you get away from this one?” she asked her, though not really interested.
Iasmin did not answer her. She, too, had noticed the gray haze in the corner of the room. If it were not for the tan and gold patterned wallpaper, they would have easily looked over it. As it was, something several inches from the corner of the room distorted the thin gold lines. It was not like a cloud of smoke, but rather like looking through a mirror. It did not have definite edges but simply ceased to exist. Aerek was the first to find a name for it, while the girls were still admiring the spectacle from all sides. “It is a Window,” he whispered.
“No, not like the one on the wall above us. I mean a window to somewhere else. A Portal,” he hurriedly added.
“We understand what you meant,” Iasmin reassured him, “I think we should actually meet our host, just this once. It could help us find out what this is.”
“I don’t think we should mention it, though. I’m starting to think this couch wasn’t placed this awkwardly by chance,” Danyana remarked, though she wasn’t too keen on meeting anyone new tonight. It was late enough already. She was curious about the mirrory haze but it wasn’t enough to make her fully awake.
“I could ask someone at school… ” Aerek proposed, “That way you could get some sleep, Dani, you look like you need it.”
Her yawn was the only response he got
~.~.~.~.~
By the time she woke up most normal people were doing their lunch dishes. Iasmin, with whom she shared a dorm room, had been up since seven, reviewing her French vocabulary and writing her scholarship essays. When she saw that Danyana was awake, she put away her books and faced her, serious expression on her face.
“Rek called earlier. He found out something about that apartment.”