Beyond The Sky

17

SERENA'S POV

I can't believe he's gone. I can't believe he's gone! Not now!

Just like that, I lost my soulmate!

Spencer and Isla take a detour to sit me down on a bench in the park for me to catch my breath. "Serena..."

They don't know how this feels, they've never lost a soulmate before. The pang of black and white after knowing color for a while hurts.

I start to sob uncontrollably. "Arlo's... dead."

Spencer wraps his arms around me. "I'm sorry, Rina... I don't know what else to do to help you through this."

"Just... help distract me for now? Tell me... how's the color world?"

"That's just going to make you cry more, Rina. You'll miss the color world."

"I... I guess you're right." I sniff. This is so hard. I'm sure it's hard for Arlo's family and friends, too. If only he knew how much this hurt me as much as them...

"Let's do something together, to help ease Serena's mind," Isla chips in, "did either of you have something in mind?"

I shake my head. My head is flooded with thoughts, but nothing like that. I look down at my feet, dangling off the bench. I've never felt so short; or even so small, so low, for that matter.

"Would you rather go home?" Spencer asks me.

"No, I want to be with you guys. I don't want to have to burden Mom, either."
"I don't think you'd be a burden to her."

"You think not?"

"I don't, Serena. But if you want to stay with us, I won't stop you. Just don't give us another scare like that. I know it's probably hard for you, but just try to have fun with me and Isla."

"I... okay, fine." I look at Spencer and attempt a small smile. "Let's try and go have fun."
You know, I did have a gut feeling something was going to go wrong. And, well, I was right. But... I wish I wasn't. I miss him. But how do you miss someone when you've only known them for two days? It's hard to say how in this world, but you just get that automatic connection with your soulmate, even if you barely know them.

My best friends--not even Evynne--didn't even know about Arlo. This is going to be a hard conversation to have in a few days... Thankfully, they're only worried about Spencer and Isla. So maybe I can avoid the topic for a while. I hope so. I truly hope I can. I don't want to talk about it. At least, not right now.

Spencer, Isla, and I spend the day hanging around. It really helped keep my mind off things and by the time we were done with showing Isla around, it was evening. I was relieved by this. Now to just wait until I get home so I can talk to Mom about what happened with Arlo... well, I guess, me and him. I don't know.