Fly ∆way Girl

|5|

|HOLDING ONTO YOU|

"Harley..." Josiah was behind me now, but I didn't take my eyes off of Larson.

"Harley...who is this?" His calm voice said a little louder.

Larson's smile faded and he took a step back, as if to give me and Josiah some privacy.

I finally turned to face him. Concern flowed over his entire face, narrowing his eyes and pursing his lips.

"This is Larson..." I said.

Josiah's jaw tightened slightly, then his lips parted, seeming like he may speak, but he quickly closed them again.

"Hello..." Larson said politely, but with awkwardness seeping through.

Josiah removed his piercing stare from Larson, and directed it to me. "Harley, let's leave, now."

Confusion and anger swirled around me at once. "Josiah... Something happened to me and I want to find out what it was.." I said quietly.

"Harley, nothing happened to you, let's go." He returned sternly.

"My body's not here, something's wrong, I know it.."

He started to fire back a response, but Larson cut him off. "Back off man, you don't own her. She doesn't have to leave with you."

Josiah carefully considered Larson's words. His face softened a bit as his gaze turned back to me. "You don't have to come with me, Harley, but you're better off..." His dark eyes seemed to beg me, but I could tell he was too prideful to do so. "You shouldn't associate with others here.."

"Harley.. please, i don't want to be alone." Larson diverted my attention back to him, "I'll help you figure out what happened to you, I'm gonna search for answers for myself too." I studied Larson's pleading expression before turning back to Josiah.

"Josiah, why should I leave with you? How do I know I can trust you?" He ignored my question, though his expression suggested he had an answer to it. He stood unmoving, waiting for my decision. "Why can't we just stay together?" I asked both of them.

"I'm not helping you chase after something that doesn't make sense..." Josiah answered simply.

"But I want to know... and you won't answer any of my questions. You don't understand why I need it, you're not dead Josiah..."

I heard a gasp from Larson behind me. "That's impossible, how are you here?"

Josiah ignored, no avoided the question. "You don't want to find your 'answers', trust me. I can help you better than he can."

"What do you know?"

Josiah's eyes squeezed shut. He only slightly opened them to answer. "I can't share with you what I know... That wouldn't be fair would it?" One corner of his lips pointed upward, revealing a small dimple. "I can see that you have made your decision."
He turned off towards the gate.

"Wait-"

He vanished into thin air, leaving no trace behind. He may be the only person that can explain things to me, now he's gone.

Larson's eyes were wide with curiosity, maybe even a little bit of fear. "Who was that guy?"

"Josiah.." I wanted to say more, but that was all the information I had. He got a lot out of me, but managed to dodge every question I had for him. Right now, Josiah is all I have on him that doesn't sound totally crazy.

"He's creepy, right?" His hand reached to dig his fingers in the back of his hair. "That dude was weird, he's so...calm, but in a creepy way. He was angry that you didn't follow him, why?"

I didn't have a very good answer to that question either. "I have no idea. He knows something though, something about my death."

"Yeah, well let's not conjure him back up. Come on." He motioned for me to follow him on down the path.

After leading me to a clearing off to the side of the graves in the cemetery, we laid down in the grass.

I stared at the clouds for a while as they floated through the extra blue sky. I assume Larson was doing the same; he looked up toward the sky too, but I couldn't tell if he was admiring the view or in deep thought.

"Larson, how did you know your name?" I asked him.

He turned over to his right side and propped his head on his outstretched hand. His blue eyes looked over me for a second, then he lifted his necklace for me to see. "I came with a label..." He said with a playful smile.

I took the dog tag in my hand, examining it. I read it now without effort, "Larson Kale."

"I think I only wore it for looks; I'm a little young for the army..."

That's probably true. He looked younger than me. He wore a soft, blue V-neck shirt under a dark gray hoodie; an outfit that suited younger generations.

He noticed me examining him and he smiled so wide that his eyes were nearly closed under his brooding eyebrows; his eyes, however remained the same glowing blue. They were the kind you could get lost in, like they were a mystery all on their own. They held my interest for a few seconds, then he closed them to lay back down.

"How long have you been here?" I asked him, breaking the silence yet again.

"About a week I think.." He said. "I feel like I've been dead for a while though."

"Why do you feel that way?"

"My life wasn't that great, Harley." His eyes were fixed on the sky now, possibly just avoiding me. "I'm glad I'm dead. Life was hard, this place...it's better." His head rolled to face me, "death was my freedom."

I can't see this beautiful boy having any trouble finding happiness when he was alive. What was his troubles?

"I'm sorry you feel that way." I said, trying to sound comforting. My thoughts shifted to the picture of me in the school hallway. It's hard to relate to someone when you don't know their situation first hand.

"It's okay, I have you now, right?" His eyes watched me carefully; hopefully.

I took his hand, "Yes, you have me."

He smiled, "Thank you for making death a little easier for me." He added a chuckle after his morbid comment.

I laughed a little too. "Where do we start? How can we piece our memories back together?"

"I don't know... That's quite a dilemma isn't it?"

"That it is.. Especially when I remember almost nothing.."

"I don't remember much either, but maybe the more we explore this 'world', the more we will discover." He said, standing to his feet.

I stood up too, straightening out my long, pink sweater that nearly covered my Jean shorts. "How much time do you think we have?" I asked suddenly. It's a question I've been pondering, but have been too afraid to say aloud.

This question worried Larson too. He shoved his fists into his hoodie pockets, "I don't know Harley, but we may need to hurry." His eyes flickered around the grave yard before he took my hand.