Limbo

wake up

    "We have to go to school tomorrow, Arthur." Ludwig said, hot red sand crunching under his knock-off Adidas sneakers. They were $5 at goodwill, what could he say?
    "No we don't." Arthur replied simply, pushing ahead up the barren cliff. Ludwig couldn't understand how Arthur was surviving in the desert; he was wearing black skinny jeans, boots, and a leather jacket. It didn't make sense. Then again, nothing about Arthur made sense. He was a bit unpredictable.
    "Correction, you need to go to school tomorrow." Ludwig had dropped out of school about three months before, to everyone's confusion. A 4.0 student, Ludwig was expected to attend a prestigious university and get an amazing job, but all of that was put on hold (or thrown away all together) when he suddenly stopped attending school his senior year. He had obviously not been himself in the months leading up to his dropping out, never leaving his room after school and rarely eating. However, Gilbert, his sole caretaker, just suspected that Ludwig was going through his painful teenage years. Not battling, and losing to, depression.
    "Whatever. I can miss a day." Arthur brushed it off easily, like his grades could wait. "We have to have fun every once in a while, right?" Arthur smirked and nudged Ludwig with his elbow.
    "If you insist." Ludwig mumbled. Fun. It was kind of a hard concept for Ludwig, a shis idea of fun was a six pack of beer and the National Geographic channel. He had never ran away, snuck out, or been to a party. Hell, he hadn't even been to a school football game.
    The hike up to the view point was nice, although sweltering. Ludwig was close to dying despite being in a tank top and shorts, Arizona really was unforgiving. He had also forgotten to put sunscreen on, and he was 95% sure that he'd find red burns all over his skin later.
    They reached the cliff edge just as the sun began to set, tinting the few clouds in the sky a mellow pink. Ludwig spread a thick woven blanket that he procured from his back pack on the rough ground, Arthur merely watching the empty desert with a cigarette in his mouth. Ludwig hated that Arthur smoked, but he had slowly grown accustomed to the smell.
    "Are you going to sit?" Ludwig asked after settling down on the blanket. He had already opened a beer for himself and was contently enjoying his alcohol, which seemed to be the only thing he could enjoy these days. Arthur took a while to respond.
    "Yeah. I'm coming." Arthur said, not actually turning around for another minute or so.
    Arthur plopped down onto the blanket with a sigh, grabbing his own beer from Ludwig's bag.
    "Cheers." Arthur said in a voice totally not suitable for a cheers. Ludwig merely nodded and they rose their drinks before taking the first drinks. Arthur finally took off his jacket.
    "Everything sucks." Arthur said, interrupting their silence.
    "Agreed." Ludwig replied seriously. Yes, everything really did suck. For the past year not a day had gone by where Ludwig didn't feel a gaping hole in his chest, and he wasn't sure if it would ever stop. When would the day come where he didn't think of his funeral? Or where he got the motivation to go to school? Just hiking up the cliff was a major pain in the ass, how he was supposed to, let's say, get a job? Ludwig felt like he was in limbo, teetering between life a death. Because is a life spent sleeping and watching reruns of Naruto actually living? Or was it more of like a weird half-existence? It was like a dream. When would he wake up? Fuck, wake up!
    "It'll get better." Arthur said with almost uncertainty in his voice. Like he used to believe it, but now it had no actual meaning.
    "Yeah, right." Ludwig said sarcastically. They both laughed. And they kept laughing. They laughed until their stomachs hurt, and they missed the sunset altogether.