The Boy In The Spotlight

Chapter 5

"You... you're Eric Webberly, aren't you?" they stammered.

I regarded them. They had short pink hair, and neutral sounding voice, purple band tee-shirt and gray jeans. "And what if I'm not?" I said calmly.

"Well, there's no way that you're not him, is there" they contradicted themselves

"I mean, you look like him, you sound like him, you dress like him. You are him, right?"

"Am I or am I not?" I asked. The cashier looked extremely flustered. I handed the money to the other cashier, and took the chocolate, " Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go,"

As I walked over to Nicole, I gave her the chocolate and took her other hand and pushed open the doors.

"What took you two so long?" Mon said as we got back into the car. I glanced over at Nicole and saw that she was giving me big pleading eyes.

"Oh, you know, the usual. A random person recognizes me and then doesn't want me to leave." I kind of shrugged when she looked in the rearview at me. I hated lying to her, but I could tell that Nicole didn't want me to tell anyone, especially mom.

"That doesn't really sound like the usual to me but whatever," Mom said doubtfully.

We got back onto the highway and drove in silence for several miles. Cecil kept changing the radio stations whenever a song he didn't like came on. By this time we had passed the city limits and were on our way through the passport terminal, and into Canada.

As we passed through the new terrain, Nicole pressed her face against the window so that she could see outside. We passed farms and woods, mountains and parks. It was almost midnight when we got to our new house, the moving van was already there and it looked like it had been there for a while.

Mom told us that it was too late to tour the house, so we went into the first room we found. We set up some blankets and pillows and settled down for the night. I pulled the covers over my head and checked my phone to see if I had internet. No, I thought, of course, I don't. I'm basically in the middle of nowhere in Canada. Why in the world would I think that I might have wifi? I looked through my camera roll, seeing the faces of all of the friends that I left behind hurt.

After twenty minutes, of pure silence, I felt a small hand on my knee. I quickly turned off my phone and pulled the blankets from over my head.

"Yes?" I asked quietly, pushing my short curly hair out of my face.

"I'm scared. I don' wanna sleep awone," though it was dark in the room, I could faintly see her wide, scared, blue eyes staring back into mine. 

"Why are you scared?" I moved my blankets so that she would have room.

She layed down and then stared at the ceiling, "It... It just doesn't feel wright to be here,"

"Hmm... I know what you mean, but you'll get used to it after a little bit," I assured her, and myself. I realized then that the first time that she had moved houses she was only one, so she wouldn't remember what it was like.

"What was it wike the wast time that we moved?" she turned her head to the side, looking at me.

"It, um, it was kind of like this. except we didn't move so far away. We were still living in the same city, unlike now. You were one the last time we moved." I turned my head away from her, thinking.

"We're never going back are we?" she sighed, the noise echoed around us in the quiet space.

"No... no, we're not, Nickie..." it didn't feel right to say that, but as soon as I did I knew that it was true.

"That's what I thought... g' night Ewic," she shifted so that her back was to me.

"Good night, Nicole," I whispered. A few minutes later I could hear her breathing and I knew that she was asleep. After laying there for a little while more, I finally fell asleep.