Lainey and the Magicians (First Draft)

Chapter 41

 "Lainey, you should leave to go to Mars. I heard your songs and they were pretty good. I felt the same way about you and it's crazy, but I want to hang out with you more too. You should leave if you want to go to Mars. I've got family living there. We can still be in contact and you can hear about Earth. You can live with my parents and family far out in the outskirts of Mars. However, the main reason I don't think you should leave is that people need you on Earth and you have friends here," Nathan said when they were outside the club having a moment. Marco and his friends left them in private on purpose.

 "Thank you. You were who I was singing about anyway, but living with your parents is too far for me right now. I do have friends here and Earth does need protection, but you can protect it for me. Earth's not my home. I'm a Martian at heart. Actually, I'm kind of being cowardly about this Mars thing, but I don't know if it's true or not," Lainey replied, all over the place.

 "You'll change your mind when you get there," Nathan said. As Lainey was standing up and walking off toward town to buy a spaceship at one of the shipyards, Nathan followed her. He snuck a kiss on her lips. She had noticed he was coming and she allowed him to sweep her into his arms.

 "I don't know if this is love, but this is definitely a very close friendship," Lainey replied, her eyes locked onto Nathan's eyes. He escorted her to the shipyards. They passed some stores on the way and they bought some supplies. When she was heading to get on her ship to Mars, Nathan handed her his phone.

 "You can say some final goodbyes to people if you want," Nathan said. He placed his hands together and looked away from Lainey. She could tell he was holding his composure with her. She wanted to be around him more, but Mars was more important than love. Lainey called people for the last time. If there was trouble and the fight came to her on Mars, she would come back especially to close friends like Nathan and Grace. She thought about her past relationship with Christopher Tom. It lasted two years. How long would this last?

 As far as Lainey was concerned, she tried to convince herself that it was a fling that ended just as quick as the feelings had begun. She called Piopold, David, Grace, Codebreaker, Chard, Marco, and told them all that she was going to Mars. What about that pumpkin face she'd seen earlier on the dark-eyed man? "The dark-eyed man had a pumpkin face on him for a few seconds," Lainey said on the phone to David.

 "We'll handle him, but you can't have everyone handle your problems," David replied.

 "Yeah, Lainey, David's right. You can't have everyone else solve all the world's problems. One day, there might not be anyone willing to fight. When it comes down to it, you're willing to fight against people like Emerald and Fire Rider. You're not scared when you're in the middle of the fray. Think about that when you go to Mars. Here's something to remember me by," Nathan said. He handed Lainey a locket with a picture of both of them.