This World is Outrageous { BOOK 2 }

Chapter 17--Bay

Chapter 17

Bay

We don't know where we are going and we have no one to tell us if we are going in the right direction.

Casper, Ridge and I are on the hunt for food. Clearly famished, I don't know how we still stand upright. Walking from two in the morning to present time of 2:45 makes my body feel weak. I despise feeling weak. My legs have reached the point to where they feel like jelly. I desperately wish to lay down and call it quits for the day. If only we weren't so close to getting out of Ohio via bus. I keep reminding myself that in a few short hours we will be sitting on a bus, able to relax. I hope that will be the case and that we can sit with zero interruptions. We'd be free to relax, eat and drink. That'd be a nice change of pace.

My feet no longer handle the terrain well. It seems with each step my legs get into a bind. They get twisted and I fall as a result. I get back up each time with quite a few scratches and deep cuts, along with both of my ankles twisted and aching.

After fifteen more minutes of this repeated cycle, Bunk calls for a break. I throw myself down on a nearby slab of concrete, my butt vibrating as I hit the hard surface. I grunt slightly but ignore it for the most part. It pleases me to be able to sit. Even though being hot in such cold temperature feels nice, I am ready to be still again so that I can get cold once more. I'm miserable.

As we sit, I finally get to think of what happened with Bunk and I. The Nebraskan kissed me. Full on kissed me. I don't know how to feel or what to think. What are you supposed to feel after your first kiss?

Moments before he kissed me, he gave me the lowest blow and the words he spoke he could never take back. But then he kissed me, and it's like all of my worries and doubts about Casper and what he said fled from my body. I felt safe, warm, and protected when his lips met mine. All of the burdens I bore in that moment melted away and there was only him and I.

I have never held anyone's hand because it's against the morals of the Pure State, yet there I was kissing a former New Yorker turned Nebraskan, and I loved every second of it. I wanted his lips to linger on mine. I wanted to savor the smoky taste of his lips for just a moment longer. His lips were soft yet firm and I wanted more from him. When he kissed me, it's as if I came alive. Want and desires I never knew existed awoke within me. I don't know what he did to me, but I am not one to complain about the newly awakened feelings stirring within my person.

"I don't want to travel too far out of the way for food, but we need to eat," says Casper between deep, shaky breaths, "We don't want to venture too far from the bust stop. Last thing we need is to not make it back in time and the bus have already departed."

I laugh dryly. "And if it already departed?"

"We could always run and catch it." Ridge suggests.

We both stare at him, our looks making it clear that we veto his idea.

"Lucky for us the bus shouldn't be ahead of schedule. The next arriving bus is at four, you read that." Casper comments to Ridge.

Ridge huffs and sits back. "Look, unless you have a better plan then I suggest we go for it! If we miss the bus, we run for it."

"I can't tell whether or not you're being serious." I reply, "Your sarcasm and seriousness all mesh together after a while." I chuckle, "Look, I think we need to continue walking. If the bus leaves at four o'clock—then we are going to want to get there at least five or so minutes before it departs, if not more. So we best head back. We've already ventured over an hour away. We will be cutting it close, don't you think?"