❝she was their autumn moon, brilliant and beautiful, guiding their way though the dark...❞
❝... and they were all of the stars in her night sky - glowing constellations,
forming a map that lead her
...
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ELI STARES AT HERSELF IN THE MIRROR AND A GHOST OF WHO SHE ONCE WAS STARES BACK. Her eyes are the same shade of sapphire they've always been; dark hair highlighted from the sun falls in loose waves to her waist. Besides the weight loss and sallow, pale-looking skin, almost nothing has changed. Looking at herself, though, Eli can't help but think that she looks... small. frail. vulnerable.
broken.
She wishes, not for the first time, that Luke was here with her. His smile always makes the world brighter, somehow, and that's something she desperately needs right now.
Not caring enough to change out of her t-shirt, jeans and hi-tops, Eli shrugs her blue and white varsity jacket back over her shoulders and inhales in the familiar scent. For a moment, as she breathes in leather and licorice and stale cigarettes, Eli can almost imagine herself as she was before this whole shit fest started – sitting in the bed of Luke's truck with Cara, Haz, Z and Joo-hyuk, overlooking the Valley and doing whatever crazy shit came to mind. They were young and happy and free. The world belonged to them, and they felt like nothing could ever change that.
But then it all came crashing down when Eli met him.
Shaking her head, she shoves those thoughts down, down, down.
"Now is not the time, Elizabeth Louise," she scolds herself quietly, shaking her head. Heading into the bathroom, Eli re-applies the concealer under her eyes and adds a bit of eyeliner.
The less dead I look, the better.
She passes Charlie on her way out. "Bonfire with Jake," she explains when he asks, giving her dad a hug and a quick peck on the cheek before hopping into the truck and making her way to La Push. She has to Maps her way; she was way too young to remember how to get there before.
On the way, a song she recognizes comes over the radio. Eli immediately cranks it up – there's only one alt station that reaches all the way to Forks, and even then, it still comes out a little fuzzy.
