Moirai

Motel California

The bright sunlight blocks Marina's vision of anything in front of her. Raising a hand above her eyes, Marina squints to adjust her eyes to the newfound shade. She furrows her brows, seeing a hill and few houses that surround her. It feels familiar to her but she can't seem to put a name on it. She drops her hand from her face as soon as her eyes adjust to the bright sunlight, allowing her to get a clear view of the land around her.

The sunlight is brighter than it normally is. Marina eagerly looks around in hope of finding someone, anyone, that can tell her where she is. Up on the smaller hill, stands a man beside a tree. He's standing in the shade the tree is emitting.

"Hello?" Marina calls out. Her voice echoes around her and confusion crosses her face. The man doesn't move. From where she stands, he seems small. Marina notices everything around her is brighter in color. The grass is a bright neon green, the sky is a bright blue, the sunlight makes everything around her white.

"Marina." She hears her name echo around her. She follows the voice but can't find the source. It seems to come from all around her.

"Hello?" She calls out once more. She takes a step forward and it feels as if her foot weighs a ton. She's almost walking in slow motion. "Hey, where are we?" She calls up to the man. Her voice echoes all around her.

"Marina." Her name is being called again. It echoes around her once again. This time, she feels like she knows who the voice belongs too. With her brows furrowed, she looks at the man and watches as a bright white light shines over him. It gets brighter and brighter until it reaches her. She covers her head with her arms to protect herself from the light.

Marina awakens in her seat on the bus. She can hear the voices of the others. She can hear Coach Finstock rustling through some papers. She squints her eyes as the lights to a motel outside the bus shine bright onto her.

"Marina." A body under her head vibrates. Her eyes open wide in realization she had fallen asleep against Isaac. She moves away from him once she recognizes his voice as the one calling her in her dream.

Isaac smiles at her, reading her facial expression. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He says. Marina shakes her head. "No, it's - " She yawns, "Was I sleeping on you this whole time?" She asks him. Isaac slightly nods, a smile tugging at the ends of his lips. "Why didn't you move me? Or at least woken me up."

Isaac looks at Boyd who walks past them to get off the bus. Marina's gaze meets Isaac's again. "You were comfortable." He states, "I couldn't bring myself to wake you up." Marina turns her head to the opposite side of the bus, towards the windows on the other aisle. Her face flushes a pink shade. Isaac picks up on Marina's heartbeat once it begins to race. A smile lands on his lips.

Looking out the window across from her seat, the moon is out and the only light down the road is from the huge motel sign the bus is parked near. She watches more of the cross county team make their way off the bus.

"Motel Glen Capri?" She reads the name on the sign. "Why are we here?"

"The cross country meet got pushed to tomorrow. Coach got us rooms here because it's the closest motel with the most vacancies."

She watches Danny and Ethan head past them, stepping off the bus as well. Marina notices Isaac patiently waiting for her to stand up. She grabs his duffel bag from underneath her legs and hands it to him. Lydia winks at Marina while Allison smiles at her as they pass by her, the boys behind them. She rolls her eyes and stands up, letting Isaac lead the way off the bus. Coach steps onto the bus again with the sets of keys in his hands, "Come on, get a move on it. We're here for one night." He states.