The Only Hope

Book 1: Chapter 3

In order to avoid any more trouble, I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon with Maia. She was paler than before, and had deep black bags under her eyes. She smiled when I came into her room, slipping my jacket off.

“Hey.”

“Hey. How ya feeling?”

She closed her eyes, sighed, and shrugged.

“I’ve had better days, I’ve had worse. I prefer better, though.”

“Me too.”

I kissed her forehead, as I sat down on the side of her bed. I pushed some of her fallen hairs from her face, giving her a smile. She gave a small one back, as I placed her right hand in both of mine.

“So guess what.”

“What?”

“I saw Gommu in the park today.”

She sat up a little, her eyes getting alittle bright.

“Oh you did, what did you guys talk about?”

“He told me, get this, that the Avatar came to see him.”

Her mouth fell open with a smile, and she let out a little girl giggle. She pulled her hand from mine, and cover her mouth. I knew this would cheer her up.

“Really? Did he say anything else?”

“Yes. That she used her water bending to get a fish, and then fried it with her hand!”

She fell back onto her pillow, laughing her head off. She laughed so hard she began to cry. I laughed along with her, though I was happier that I made her happy. After a few minutes she stopped, or at least laughed soft enough so that we could talk.

“I also walked over to the City Station… and I ran into Skoochy.”

I mumbled the last part, but she still heard me. At once her face got gloomy, and dark. She didn’t like it when I headed over to that side of town. Almost as if she was the older sister, and I the younger one.

“Why’d ya go there?”

“I don’t know. After I talked to Gommu, some rally jerks tried to start up a fight with me. So I walked away. I didn’t realize where I was going until I was there.”

Her face got darker as I talked on.

“I don’t like it there. And I really don’t like it when you go there.”

I sighed, and rolled my eyes.

“I know you don’t. And I don’t either.”

“You told me you would stay out of all that gang and rally junk.”

“And I am. I  didn’t go to them, they came to me. But hey-“

I gave her a small nudge with my left elbow.

“I didn’t get into any fights.”

She gave a small smile, and nodded her head.

“Yeah, I guess you didn’t.”

Her eyes begun to droop a little. I helped her lean back in her bed. I then slipped my shoes off, and she moved over a little bit. I laid down, slipping one arm under her, and one arm over her. I rested my head next to hers, so close I could hear her small breaths.

“Shh, go to sleep. I’m right here. I love you.”

She turned her head, and looked at me.

“I love you too.”