Indigo

IX

     Answer? Two weeks. My blood boiled the entire time. Around the tenth day, I was sure that Lucas had given up on me, I would have. But every time he walked out the door, he always came back, much to my surprise. I began talking more freely around the twelfth day of my incapacitation. Even if it was just a few words, it was relieving to hear my own voice cutting through the thick metal that was the silence.

     It was the fourteenth day since I'd been sick, but I'd made a full recovery. We were leaving today and I had just woken up from a restless sleep, but I hadn't had any dreams. Lucas walked into the room.

     "Hey, morning. Get ready, we've gotta leave soon." I groaned at him. He chuckled at my mock discomfort. "Come on, we don't have all day, they'll be expecting you soon."

     "Fine," I grumbled, "Just let me take a shower first." He whispered something under his breath that sounded like, "Girls." I brushed the comment away and made my way to the bathroom. It felt so good to stretch my legs after they'd been immobile for so long.

     A while later, I was in my usual comfy, black leggings and a Def Leppard shirt with the Pyromania album cover on the front. I had on my navy blue Converse high tops and my hair was in a messy bun that really gave off the I just woke up, deal with it vibe.

     An hour later, we were at the airport flying back to Washington. Lucas said that his car was already there. They'd been tracking me for a while. We'd need a moving van.

     "Why?" I asked him. "Well you're going to need it." He stared at me like I was stupid. "You're the Amethyst leader. They've already got an apartment back at headquarters for you. You know, you're a pretty big deal back home."

     Learning this surprised me. I didn't feel like I could ever be a leader or someone that anybody looked up to. I never felt like I could do anything that would affect this world in any way. The thought of me being a hero was as foreign to my brain as Mandarin.

     Nine hours later, we were back on the ground in my hometown. Except, my hometown no longer felt like my hometown, now that I'd learned the truth.

     It was late, so we decided to spend the night at my apartment. As soon as I walked in the door, I was greeted by my pet kitten, Hazel. She rubbed against my leg, her white-grey fur smoothing out from the friction.

     Lucas slept on the couch in the living room. My bed was soothing with Hazel lying next to me. I was scared to go to sleep. I didn't want the dreams to come again. I kept awake as long as I could, but eventually sleep won me over and I slipped away into darkness.

     When I woke up the next morning, my muscles felt like a vulture had been using them for a nest, but I was much better. I stretched my arms above my head just as Hazel extended her paws towards me. I stood up and brushed off my blankets. Walking into the small area that served as my kitchen, the kitten bugged until I fed her her favorite treat, turkey. The landlord, a sweet old woman named Annie, loved Hazel, so I figured she'd been taking care of her.

     My gaze drifted over my barstool countertop to the white couch that Lucas lay on. His life had been full of sorrow, I could tell. I had grown to know him in the past two weeks. But now, I trusted him completely, with my life even. Now, he looked peaceful, the sadness had gone from his face. He stirred and I ran to the garage for boxes and a tape gun. When I got back in the house, I was greeted by a groggy Lucas.

     "Morning." I said. He seemed to have to carefully process the words, he wasn't full awake yet. Even so, when he saw the boxes in my hands, he immediately came to help me. He took about half of the boxes and set them on my living room.

I had a cup of coffee, as did he, then went to go pack my things while he got the moving van.

      I began with all of my clothes, then moved on to my books. After I'd gotten all the other stuff from my room into boxes, Lucas arrived with the moving trailer. As he loaded my things, I packed up my kitchen things, carefully putting my dishes in a box. After we'd finished getting everything in the trailer, we headed out to get dinner, as it was already 6:30.

     Hazel slept on my lap in the shotgun seat of my 1973 dark red Impala, which was pulling the moving trailer. We quickly stopped for pizza, then began our long drive to Ely, Minnesota.

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Sorry I haven't updated! I don't have a good excuse, so I'm not gonna give one. Is it bad to advertise your own story? Well I'm going to do it anyway. I'm starting a short story/fanfic for Back To the Future. It's called Keeping the Timeline and it'll be out really soon, so go read that if you want to. Also... Shoutout to Huntress_of_Artemis_ , 101PlacesToGo these guys are just great authors and amazing friends. Love you both!! Media is Indigo's car.
ALLONS-Y
     -AJ Smith