My Own

Chapter 2

The morning after was quiet, no one really wanted to talk. The tension was so thick, you could cut it with a dull knife. Bags were packed slowly and thrown into the trunk of the cars we had driven here, breakfast was cooked and eaten in silence, everything seemed to be moving in slow-motion all morning. We were only three people in the car I was in, Damian, who was sleeping, his tall frame stretched across the backseat, Sara, who was behind the wheel, her eyes focused on the road as her head bopped to the music playing softly in the background and me, I was just sitting there, losing myself in the music as trees flashed by in fleeting moments. The drive home was about six and a half hours away from out home town, be stopped half way to get some lunch at a small family owned café.

It was nice and warm inside, breads and pastries on display, we walked up to the counter and ordered what we wanted, we didn't have time to sit in the café itself and enjoy our food, so we brought it with us to the car, where we ate and drank in silence.

We pulled up to Damian' house first, as his was the closest to the city borders, he had woken up a few moments before, still half asleep as he stared up at his house sadly, the lights were off, it didn't seem like anyone was home. He opened the door and walked to the back, opening the trunk slowly he pulled out his stuff and set it on the sidewalk before slowly making his way to my window, he tapped the glass softly and I rolled it down for him.

"Thank you for this past week Eli, I... We all really needed it" he said looking at me sadly before turning his head slightly as he looked at Sara with adoration evident in his eyes "See you soon Sara" he said with a small crocket smile tainting his face. She turned her body even more than it already was and smiled brightly at him, completely oblivious to the way he was looking at her "Bye Damy!" she called out as she waved her hand around wildly, rather childlike. He turned around and grabbed his stuff before slowly making his way up the short rocky path that led to his house.

Sara and I sat in silence as we drove to my house, she knew how much I didn't want to go home but I had nowhere else to stay since I couldn't stay at her place anymore, her parents thought that I was taking advantage of their daughter since she had insisted that I slept in her room, even after she came out as gay, they thought that she got it from me, no matter how many times we tried explaining to the, that I wasn't into girls.

The lights were on in the kitchen, I didn't want to face them right away. I sat back and looked over at Sara, she was looking down at her hands with a small frown.

"I wish I could take you home with me Eli" she whispered while blinking away the tears that threatened to spill. "I know, its okay Sara, it isn't your fault" I reassured as I grabbed her hand and squeezed it in an attempt to sooth her, I hated to see her this upset about something she could not control.

After a while I started to get out of the car to get my stuff from the back, Sara got out as well and walked to the trunk of the car, opening it. She looked up at me before her eyes focused on the house behind me, sadness flooding her eyes. She quickly turned her head to the car and pulled out one of my bags, I pulled out the other one and placed it on the ground next to the one she had placed.

"I had a lot of fun this week Eli, we should do this more often" she whispered before throwing herself in my arms which I was holding open for her, after so many years I knew that she would be needing a hug right about now.

"we're almost done with school" I whispered back, hinting for another get-away when we had finally graduated. We'd need a vacation after the exams had passed and we had gotten our diploma. Her face lit up and a grin spread across her face "can we please go again when we finish?" she practically begged as she tugged on my shirt teasingly. I chuckled with a nod and caught her when her small frame came flying once again. I held her close to me for another few moments before setting her feet on the ground and pulling away. I looked back up to my house and let out a small sigh, I bend down and swung one bag over my shoulder and grabbed the other one, letting it fall to my side along with my arm as I stood up straight again.

"Bye Sara-baby" I called as I walked up the stony path leading towards my front door. "Bye E!" I heard her call right when I reached the door, I turned my head and threw a wave at her before opening the door. I heard the car slowly drive away right before closing the door. I was greeted with absolute silence, the light in the kitchen was still on but it didn't seem like anyone was in there anymore, they probably forgot to turn it off again, letting it burn like they used to do all the time, I thought that they had finally learned, I had left so many notes and they had started to turn it off. I guess me being away for that long had more of an effect than I thought it would.

"Hello?" I called out, hearing my voice bounce off the walls into the dark hallway, fading into nothing. I started walking further into the house, my shoes tapping softly against the wooden floor, creating the only sound apart from my quiet breathing. I looked into the kitchen when walking past, seeing no one in there I turn off the light. Making my way up the stairs, I sighed. When I got to my room and slowly opened the store and turned on the light, I looked around the room, looking at the blank walls. I picked up the oversized t-shirt thrown on my bed before making my way over to the dresser placed in the far corner. I placed the t-shirt on top of it and pulled my hoodie over my head and threw it on the floor before quickly pulling the t-shirt over my head, making sure not to look at the mirror. I crawl into the bed and text Sara that I'm safe in bed and that she has to remember to text me when she gets home and gets to bed so I know that she's safe. Turning off the screen and slowly tugging my phone under my pillow I close my eyes, keeping my hand placed lightly over the phone as if protecting it from someone or something