New Girl in Town

Chapter twenty-two

Elijah (Mon, Dec 15)

I parked the car and Kate and Patrick jumped out of the car as if they'd seen a ghost. Elisabeth, on the other hand, remained inside the car with me. She was staring at the view outside.

"It's so pretty here. I've missed this place. I would come here every other week to watch the sunset with Kate. It was lovely," she said, looking at me with puffy eyes. I stared at her, trying to understand her emotions at that moment. Was she feeling sad? Happy? Overwhelmed? I couldn't tell. She wiped the tears from her face and stared back at me. She took her seat belt off and got herself closer to me. Our lips were a few inches away. I could feel her warm breath as she was getting closer and closer until the gap between us was closed. Her cold lips collided on mine before I could even realize it. She didn't move at all, she just kept her lips on mine, tears rolling down her face. I could feel them reach my cheeks. It felt as if they were burning my skin. That's how warm they were. A second later, she broke the kiss, this time looking straight into my eyes. I could finally see the pain she was feeling. She's been through a lot lately. And it's breaking her apart. I can see it. "Thank you. Thank you so much for this trip. It's so thoughtful of you to do this for me. I don't want to go back home. I want to stay here. And never go back. I want to be close to this beach forever," she said, immediately remembering that Kate and Patrick are here, too. "Let's go! What are we waiting for?" she opened the door and rushed to the others. I locked the car and walked in their direction, seeing how happy they all were. It was so heartwarming to see them like this. Playing around in the sand like little kids. I could look at them forever.

"Hey, are you gonna be standing there forever, or are you gonna join us?" Kate asked, waving for me to join them. I decided to get off my thoughts and enjoy the night. I ran to them, the cold air hitting my face. It was so cold, I felt like I could become a frozen human. I opened my arms and hugged Elisabeth. She was right. It felt so good to be free at once. Away from all worries, from home, from problems. To just live in the moment. That's what all of us needed after what's been going on.

It was about 4 am. We were all sitting on the sand, watching as the waves were getting bigger and bigger, being hit on the surface.

"The night sky looks so pretty, don't you think?" Elisabeth asked me. I looked up, seeing as there were hundreds, no, thousands of stars, shining in the sky. I felt so at ease. It was...relaxing.

"I know, right? It's gorgeous," I replied, seeing as Elisabeth had already fallen asleep on my shoulder. It must've been tiring for her to stay up until this late. We'd usually go to sleep at about 3 am, not later. "Should we head back home? It seems someone needs to get some sleep," I said, pointing at Elisabeth next to me.

"I'll drive," said Patrick, taking his license out of his bag.

"And you can stay at my house if you'd like," Kate added, smiling at all of us. After all, we all needed to rest, and an hour and a half drive really wouldn't be the best idea ever.

Elisabeth and I slept in the guest room - which they surprisingly had -, and Kate and Patrick slept together. It was past 5 am. I don't remember when the last time I had slept this late was and was surprised by my own self, too. Elisabeth was lying on the bed, sleeping peacefully, but I just couldn't get myself to sleep. It felt so hard to sleep, knowing we would soon have to leave, and that things would turn back to what seems to be normal for us right now. It was a hard thing to deal with, but we all had to accept it.