Relentlessly marked

""Chapter 12

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The girl above is Pery!

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I wrapped the towel around my wet body before walking out of the hotel's bathroom door. Pery was sitting on the bed closest to the front door with the covers over her legs.

I reached down towards my bag to grab my red flannel and underwear.

"What time do you wanna get breakfast tomorrow?" Pery asked.

I looked at the clock resting on the table next to the bed that read the time, 12:34.

I reached over and set the alarm clock for 7 am.

"Are you crazy? I don't know about you but I love my sleep." She reached over and unset it.

"Pery. I need to get an early start on the day so I can back it back to California in a week! It takes longer when you don't have a car or money to fly there." I reached over to grab the clock again when she pulled it out of my grasp.

"Well I don't wanna have to worry about you being tired and sleeping in the woods! That's gross and unsanitary. I don't understand how people can camp! I mean sleeping on the ground?! That does not work for me." She shook her head.

"I know I should have brought some money but I already felt bad enough for leaving. I wasn't gonna steal from him!" I exclaimed.

Her eyes pointed to my bag stuffed with the food I took from the house.

"Okay well that doesn't exactly found I mean he won't miss a couple of apples and water bottles, and a bag of chips." I stated.

"No. But he does miss you. A lot." She shares. "Can't you feel his pain?"

"I told you already I'm blocking him out." I whispered towards the ground.

She stared at me with tired eyes.

"The least thing you could do is call him. Don't put him through the stress of wondering if you were taken and dying in a ditch or something, or if your dead or alive." She reached over and pulled something black out of her purse.

She extended her arm out showing her phone.

"Call him please." She pleaded.

"I can't." I replied.

"What if I make you a deal?" She negotiated.

"Go on." I said.

"I'll let you call your family first. But only one person! For one minute! If you promise to call Eli afterwards. And you have to stay on the phone with him for at least a minute." She said moving onto her knees while still on the bed.

I studied her hard making sure she wasn't playing any games. She looked genuine so I nodded.

"Fine. Deal." I replied. "But can it wait till the morning? I'm tired."

"Alright deal." She smiled and snuggled herself into the covers.

I dropped my towel and threw my flannel over my torso and shimmied my underwear up my legs. I crawled into the bed grabbing the remote turning off the tv.