Separated

Chapter XVI

MIA

Music: To the Gateway from Super Mario Galaxy

Our victory celebration is short-lived, but still bittersweet nonetheless. After the helicopter has sunken into the ocean, Sam flies us back to the shorelines my side of the group landed on when we first arrived on land. Several people are still in awe at everything that's happened over the past half hour.

"Oh my God... it's a fucking miracle..." Avery mutters as she takes her first steps on land.

"I can't believe it. I simply can't believe it," Heath says, laughing out of satisfaction.

"We literally beat every possible odd..." Skylar murmurs.

"I know, right? It's so surreal," Shanna says.

Sam and Elle meet up and grab each other's hands. For a few seconds, they just stand there, making eye contact with each other, with bright smiles on their faces. I can tell one of them wants to say something, but neither of them knows what it is. Then they wrap each other in a big hug.

"Ah... they're such a cute couple, aren't they, Mia?" Mackenzie says, walking up to me and wrapping an arm around my shoulder. I can't argue, but I don't understand them. It's obvious they love each other, though. I guess I can give them that.

"Yeah..." I reply, although I'm not sure how much I believe it. I really don't want to have to tell Mackenzie about what happened earlier, since she wasn't there to witness it.

I do decide that I want to at least try to make things right.

Without explaining anything to Mackenzie, I walk over to Sam and Elle. I lightly tap Sam's shoulder, and he turns my way and says, "Yeah?"

"Can I, uh, talk to you for a minute... Alone?" I ask. I notice Elle's eyes widen in fear, and a pang of guilt hits me.

Thankfully, Sam doesn't even seem suspicious. "Sure."

The two of us walk closer to the water, away from everybody else. I take a deep breath and tell Sam, "Okay, I just wanted to tell you this now so you wouldn't have to find out the hard way..."

"Just get to the point," Sam sighs. Now he's starting to notice that something's not right.

"I may or may not have attacked Elle when we were all separated."

"You WHAT!?" Sam's sudden calmness abruptly changes to a flash of anger.

I shush him. "Now, see, this is why I wanted to tell you myself. I was hoping you wouldn't be too mad..." I know it sounds slightly ridiculous, but it's the best defense I can come up with.

Sam looks at me like I'm crazy. "Uh, yeah, I'm mad! Why the fuck would you do something like that!?"

"I don't know... It's not something that I can explain..." I sigh.

Sam shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath. "Have you considered talking to Elle about this?" He asks this in a much calmer tone.

"Are you kidding me!? I can't just go talk to her about this!"

"Mia, relax. Elle's a much more forgiving person than you think," Sam tells me.

"Sam, you didn't see the way she looked at me... I doubt she wants anything to do with me."

"If you apologize, she'll probably forgive you."

"And if she doesn't?"

"Well, it couldn't hurt to try," Sam shrugs.

I ponder the decision for a moment, then come to the conclusion that there really isn't a better option. "I guess you're right," I sigh.

I take in another deep breath and walk over to Elle. She flinches when she sees me, but doesn't try to run away. "Hey," I say, giving her my best smile.