I'll Meet You There

Chapter 17

    Griffin pulled into an empty parking lot.

"Do you have a curfew tonight?" He asked.

"I texted my parents earlier and told them not to worry." Ally said.

"Okay." Griffin said, turning off the car.

"So where are we anyways?" Ally asked, looking around.

"You'll see."

    Griffin was holding Ally's hand when they both got over a gate.

"Isn't this breaking and entering?" Ally asked, worried about being caught.

"Technically we're only entering." Griffin said, winking.

    And just then there were huge glass aquariums. Ally stopped walking. They were in the aquarium just outside of town and they had gone through the back.

"The animals aren't really outside at night, they put them in different tanks but I-" Griffin started, worried about what Ally thought.

"No Griff, it's great." Ally said, looking around.

"Come on. I know a spot." Griffin said, glad that Ally liked it.

    The spot turned out to be a picnic table, surrounded by several more. It was located in the centre of the aquarium, surrounded by gift shops and tanks. They sat across from each other. Griffin had taken out all the photos he had taken earlier that night and had spread them out.

"I really like this one too." Ally said, holding one up. It was one of both of them standing in front of a sweet stand. They had asked an older man passsing by to take it for them, he had happily obliged.

    Ally was in mid laugh, holding cotton candy and Griffin was looking at Ally.

"Me too." Griffin said, "But this one is my favourite."

"Let me see?" Ally put out her hand.

    Griffin placed a photo of Ally in her hand. She was looking up at something, possibly a ride. The lights were everywhere and Ally's eyes reflected from them. Some pieces of hair were loose from the wind and blowing around her face.

Ally laughed, "Please, I look terrible."

"No you don't. You look beautiful." Griffin said.

    Ally didn't say anything after that.

"Ally? Can I ask you something?" Griffin asked.

"This sounds serious, yeah." Ally said, concerned.

"Would your brother like me?"

Ally stared at him, "Why do you ask?"

"Well it's just because I know he's your older brother and I want to make sure he would like me. You're important to me and..yeah." Griffin looked away shyly.

"Yeah I think he would like you." Ally said.

"Tell me about him." Griffin asked.

Ally hesitated, "He was funny. He could always make me laugh. And he made it look so easy to make friends. And he was a year older so he always got something before me. Once he got his license he would drive us on what we called midnight parties. We would go out to McDonalds or Taco bell and grab food late at night. It was great."

Ally stopped and brought her hands to her face. They came back wet, she hadn't even realized she'd been crying.

"I just miss him." Ally said quietly.

Griffin came to the other side of the table and sat next to Ally. He put his arms around her and held her.

"I miss my mom too." He said.

That only made Ally sadder.

After a while Griffin drove Ally home. Ally was in her bed almost asleep when her phone went off. It was a Griffin's number.

"Hello?" Ally said, groggily, rubbing her eyes.

"Hello? Is this Ally?" A frantic voice said.

"Yeah this is Ally. Who is this?" She said, wide awake now.

"My name's Sean, I'm Griffin's dad. Listen, Griffin has been in a car accident and the police found his phone. I thought you should know he's at the Central Frenick hospital. He's not doing so well." He said. You could feel the sadness through the phone.

"Wait can I come to see him? Will he be okay? What happened?" Ally asked all at once.

"Only family for now but if you want to come tomorrow you can see him and I'll explain everything." Sean said, gently.

"Thanks." Ally mumbled and she hung up. She knew only family could see Griffin but she could still wait at the hospital.

She quickly got dressed and ran downstairs. She left a note for her parents saying where she was going and ran outside. Since she didn't have her own car yet she used her dad's. She drove as quickly to the hospital as she could. The only thing in her mind was that if Griffin didn't make it, Ally wouldn't know what to do.