Journey

Elijah

I don't know what I'm doing. Lorelei probably wants to be left alone today since our last day to be alone for the next two days. I just feel compelled to go to her. I took one of my pills before I go to her hospital room. They still haven't let her leave the hospital but it's been about a week since she could walk properly. I knock on her door. It takes a minute for her to answer.

"Who is it?" She asks from inside the room.

Even though she tries to hide it I can hear the quiver in her voice. She's been crying.

"It's Eli," I tell her.

She opens the door. Her eyes are puffy and red.

"Lore," I start.

I place my hand on her cheek. She leans into it. The feeling on her cheek against my palm fills me with the warmth I had been searching for. She grabs my hand and pulls me into the room. She shuts the door behind me.

"Do you need something Eli?" She asks me.

"Yes," I breathe.

I press my lips to hers and push her against the door frame. I wrap my hands around her waist and pull her closer. Her hands move under my shirt and press flat against the small of my back.

"What do you need?" She whispers against my lips.

"You," I whisper back.

She smiles. I kiss her one last time and hold her in my arms. Her eyes are bright. They look gorgeous. Her bright jade eyes. I get lost in them.

She looks down. Flustered. A bright pink spreads against her fragile cheeks. No not fragile but broken. Lorelei might be broken but she is not fragile. There's a difference. One day someone might come along and put Lorelei back together but if she were fragile she would miss out on life's greatest moments.

Broken is temporary but fragile is forever. She leans against my chest.

"I want this to be forever," She murmurs.

"And it shall. Until you get sick and tired of me," I smile.

"Oh Elijah. I could never get sick and tired of you," She says into my shirt.

I reach for her hand and twirl her in a circle. We spin in endless circles to a melody only we can hear. What an elegant girl.

I stop twirling with her and look at her cheeks. I cup her face into my hands. I kiss her tear stained face tasting salt on my lips.

I don't have to ask what's wrong. Everything is wrong. I know that much is true. Children aren't supposed to outlive their parents. That's what's wrong.

"We need to go," She tells me.

"Right," I say.

We grab our bags and load them onto a few vehicles. They are very bulky and not very good for driving in the forest but we are taking the longer route. I sit in the one with Lorelei.

"Welp this should take a lot less time," I tell her.

"Yeah, it's supposed to take only about five hours," She tells me.

Everybody piles into the vehicles. In our car there is America, Willow (Grayson's sister), and a boy named Ashtin. We did a training course to learn who to drive this thing. We all opted for me to drive since I am the only one who knows how to drive. Lorelei has a GPS so hopefully we won't get lost. Lorelei says good-bye to Alivia.

As soon as we have left the colony Ashtin is already asking questions.

"So, what was the sun like?" He asks me.

I get these questions a lot. And I mean a lot. America and Lorelei have tuned out mostly because they have already heard me explain this. However Ashtin and Willow listen with extreme intent.

"The sun is white. It was giant. It kept the sky a brilliant blue color. You should have seen it it was gorgeous," I say.

Ashtin looks like he is in deep thought.

"We need to move again," He says.

"What?" I ask.

"You said the sun was white right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"White is color suns turn before they go supernova," Ashtin explains.

I ponder this. Welp, what are we supposed to do about that?

I keep driving. Ashtin doesn't ask anymore questions. We sit in silence. We eventually pull over for reasons. I'm pretty sure Willow was throwing up behind a bush but I don't want to check.

I walk over to where Lorelei is stretching her legs.

"Hey." She says as I walk closer.

"Hi."

"That was some pretty impressive driving back there," She tells me.

"If we are allowed to I can show you how if you'd like."

Her face lights up at this.

"Yes," She says beaming.

She looks so pretty smiling that I can't help but smile back at her.

On the rest of the way Lorelei falls asleep so Ashtin is put in charge of the navigation.

We drive around until we finally get to the desert. The sight of sand brings back memories of my childhood. I feel indifferent. Lorelei stirs in her sleep beside me.

"So what are you and Lorelei?" Ashtin asks.

The question takes me off guard.

What are we?

My mouth feels dry.

"I am dating her," I tell him.

"Oh." He says disappointed, "Anything else?"

"Why all the questions?" I ask.

He looks embarrassed.

"We have a bet going on around camp about you two. One person thinks you guys are dating. Another thinks engaged. Another thinks expecting. Or the other unpopular one is that you are just friends," Ashtin tells me.

"Well we are dating. We are fifteen so that eliminates marriage and does Lorelei look pregnant?" I ask.

Ashtin looks even more embarrassed. 

I see it now. Smoke rising from buildings. I speed up. Lorelei, now fully awake looks terrified of the ominous smoke rising from the highrises of my colony.

"What happened?" I ask to myself.