Minute by Minute

Chapter 8

After a full day of driving, only stopping at fast food places for food, we made it to South Carolina. Josh decided to stop the bus in a parking lot near Myrtle Beach, 362.8 miles away from home.

"Alright guys, we're re resting here for the night," he says.

"How come? It's only been six hours," Oscar complains.

"Actually it's been twelve hours. We took two hours at each stop and we stopped three times," Mia says.

"Is it really ten oclock?" Naomi asks.

"It's actually 10:37," Aaron points out.

"Whoa," Max says.

"Yeah, first day on the road," Emma begins.

"Only two months and twenty-nine days to go," Oscar finishes.

Josh goes to turn off the bus and makes his way to back section where the cabins are. He turns to us letting us know that its been a long day so he needs rest and we should all go to sleep. Everyone start making their way to the cabins except me.

"I'm not really tired so I think Ill just go for a walk down the beach," I say heading towards the door.

"Ok," Josh says tossing me the keys. "Just be careful."

"Yeah Isla, maybe you should have one of us go with you," Mia suggests.

"I'll be fine. Dont worry about me."

I make my way out and start walking towards the beach. The area is silent, not a single person around. There were more stars in the sky than I had ever seen before. It was a peaceful and beautiful feeling, one that I hadnt felt in a while. Im a few feet away from the shoreline when I sit in the sand. Im looking into the ocean and I see everything that it stands for. The ocean represents polar opposites; chaos and stability. Its unfathomable but can remain unchanged for centuries. Theres a sense of peace in that.

As I stare at the ocean waves crashing against the shore, I feel a familiar presence lingering behind me. A smile forms across my lips. I find it very amusing that hes still running after me to make sure Im ok.

"Hi Aidan," I say without taking my eyes away from the scene in front of me.

"How did you know it was me?" he says as he makes his way to sit next to me.

"Lucky guess."

His eyes follow mine to the water. "What are you looking at?" His voice is almost a whisper, soft and tender. As if he knows wild thoughts are running through my mind and he doesnt want to interrupt.

"The moon and the stars." My voice is calm, almost as if I'm in a trace, which I think I am.

"Uh, Isla," he begins as he puts his arm around me. "Hate to break it to you but the moon and the stars are up there." He lifts my chin with his free hand causing me to look up.

"Haha," I say sarcastically at his poor attempt of a joke. "The reflection in the ocean," I say with a slight giggle. "But seriously, I like looking at the ocean. Calm and disorder all in front of me. Kinda how my brain feels right now."

"Tell me," he says. I give him a questioning look before he explains. "Tell me whats going on in there." He lifts his hand and presses his index finger to my forehead for a quick second before he speaks again. His voice is low, same as it was last night. "All the calm, all the disorder. I wanna know."

Him wanting to know whats going on scares me. I dont want to drag him down to where I am. "It's eight years worth of baggage Aidan. It's a lot. I dont know if youre ready for that."