Dusk & Dawn

15- break from reality

The present

I pulled myself out of my chair when I heard the screeching of car brakes. Sia walked with a nylon bag that looked like lunch from KFC as she approached the front door. My gaze flickered to the very familiar car.

My heart raced at the sight of Ezra coming out of his car and leaning on it. When his gaze found mine, my heart fluttered.

I picked up my phone and my jacket after signaling for him to wait. I took a quick glance at Gianna's room, and with the way she smiled at a video that Sia showed her on the phone, I knew that Sia made her truly happy. I wondered if she was like Tasha to me.

Mom wasn't in the living room when I got down, and I really hoped for her to see me do what she asked – that I leave. For some reasons I didn't know, Aunt Kate was nowhere to be found all day.

In spite of my heated argument with mom and the frustration that I felt from it, seeing Ezra that evening brought me a cloak to wrap up all of my worries.

He was like alcohol; an addiction.

I went up to him and instantly pulled into his embrace. He was surprised for a moment, and I could feel his muscles tense up seconds before relaxing. He patted my hair as he embraced me, his tone soft,

"Are you okay?"

"I've been better." I smiled at him as we pulled apart. I watched his gaze move from my jacket to my house and then back to me. He then placed his hands on my forehead and nodded at my normal high temperature.

"Going back to school?" He asked me, and I nodded instantly to his question.

As he drove to his house to get his belongings, I stared outside the window to view the beautiful sky full of bright stars, some shining greatly, others not. I stopped ignoring Ezra's intermittent gazes, so I turned back to him.

"Are you fighting today?" I asked him.

"Healing from the last one," he simply responded, but I was glad that he was skipping that today, though quite saddened by the fact that he was going to go back to it once he was fine.

"Do you think that you could ever leave alcohol?" He randomly asked me. I burst out laughing, unsure of what to say, and by the time I looked back at him, his eyes filled up with worry and concern.

"Do you think that you could ever stop fighting?" I threw his question back to him.

"That could be arranged," he didn't look back at me as he replied. He only stared right ahead, focusing on the road, like I had touched a nerve I wasn't supposed to. But I wasn't going to stop, so I continued.

"Why do you fight? Money? Strength? Passion?" I asked him again, but he scratched the back of his head and tapped on his wheel as he turned back to me.

"Why do you drink, Raine?" He pushed back my question to me as he stopped his car at the traffic sign and turned to me.

"To not feel too much at a time," I responded.

"To escape your fears and your worries for a little time," he asked, and I nodded in response. He nodded too, like he understood.