My Only Hope

My Only Hope- Chapter 18

Before too long, (or long enough for me to go insane, anyway) we were surrounded by meadows with fences alongside the road. It was beautiful, but personally, I liked the city more. By the look in her eyes, I could tell Sally disagreed.

I admired the trees in the meadow. They were bright; from deep, warm browns to Fire Engine Red, as if fall itself had given them a makeover.

I began to think about those trees. It amazed me to think that they started as little seeds, falling from another tree. Some of them soon manage to sprout, slowly growing and changing. Somehow, they beat all odds, though the pouring rain and harsh weather. They get older; wiser in a way. They grow leaves, only to have them change in fall. Suddenly, it gets cold. Chilling breezes slowly blow the leaves until they are no more. It dies. As spring comes, they begin anew, and the cycle starts again.

A sudden hand waved in front of my face brought me back reality. I really did space out too often, so I made a mental note to focus.

“Rose? Hello, anyone there?” Sally asked sarcastically.

“Sorry, I was deep in thought,” I replied.

“Yeah, you seem to have been doing that a lot recently,” she stated.

Logan listened to us, though I do not know why. May be he was just bored.

The car ride continued on, as we continued our small talk. I learned Derek’s favorite food was cinnamon rolls, and Sally hates rap music. She says not offend any rappers out there, but it is slightly hard to comprehend the words being said.

          The only person I did not learn  much about was Logan. He mainly kept quiet and listened to everyone else. When I had asked him a question, he smiled kindly and said it did not matter, whatever that meant.

          He would not answer me about family and friends, or what he liked to do in his spare time. His answer would always be the same. I just figured it was a touchy subject, so I let him be. 

I suddenly got the sinking suspicion he was hiding something from us. He was really quiet most of the time, but then again, that could just be his personality.

He’s very silent and mysterious, I realized, and he’s not bad looking, either. I mentally scolded myself for thinking such things. Liking him would definitely complicate things, but I continued to think about him.

 He seemed calm and collected, but there were moments you could see through his mask. When I asked about certain things, his eyes would flash a hint of sadness. Even regret. Then, he would collect himself.

“Hey, this looks like the place,” said Derek looking to his left.

I glanced in the direction he was looking, and sure enough, there was a little rundown house with white paint and a metal roof. It appeared as if no one had been there for a while. To its right was a little red barn. It was perfect for a temporary home away from nosy citizens who might witness our ‘strange habits’ of levitating boulders and what not.

As Derek pulled into the dirt path, I realized we had a problem: anyone passing by would notice the hot pink convertible and think something was suspicious.

Sally also realized this, because she said, “Derek, drive into those woods over there,”

Derek did as he was told and soon we were surrounded by trees. Fortunately, the trees concealed our conspicuous car.

We all climbed out of the car, stretching our legs when we got out. We made our way to the little white house. It had two bedrooms, so we would split boys and girls.

The room Sally and I shared had a very small bed, so I opted to sleep on the floor. Turns out, they had blankets in the closet in the corner of the room, next to the door. It was surprisingly spacious. You could easily fit Sally in there comfortably.

We both walked into the boys’ rooms. Their bed was much larger, but to keep it from being awkward, Derek decided to sleep on the floor. I left to prepare blankets in the other room. My fellow companions met with me there.    

When I finished my makeshift bed, I plopped by Sally on the bed she was sleeping on. Derek and Logan stood near the corner of the room.

“So, how are you going to help us with our power?” Sally asked, bouncing on the bed. I was shaken in the process.

“I figure we just need to have you practice the skills you already have. Hopefully, along the way, new powers should surface. I do request that each of you have at least an hour individually f to focus on strengthening your powers,”

“So, like a private lesson?” Sally asked.

“Yes, anyway…” As he began to explain deeper, I realized something: The inside of the house did not look as old as the outside.

Sally, as before, realized my conclusion as well. Logan stopped talking. It was silent.

The only thing we could hear was the car driving up the dirt driveway.