At Dusk

10

The guys come back with coffee as I finish catching up Weston. We all start laughing and talking about how upset Oliver was that I had changed a part of my outfit and so he took off parts of his suit. The guys eventually fall asleep leaving just Weston and I awake.

"So are you really going to do it? Are you really going to stay here and become Chancellor?" Weston asks me quietly so the others don't wake up.

"I have no idea, I still have time to decide, to be honest, I just need time to process everything," I admit.

"Just make sure whatever you decide is for you and what you want to do not because someone else wants you too," Weston makes sure I know.

Many thoughts flutter through my head as I nod to him. When did life get so confusing? I move in my seat getting comfortable once again. Why is it so fucking hard to grow up? It was so easy when we were kids just watching everything from a distance. Sometimes I wish we were still kids sitting up in Weston's treehouse pretending that the world doesn't exist. If only time had just frozen and we could have stayed there forever, but now everything has changed and we can never go back to how it was, it will never be the same.

"I think I'm going to go get some air, you should get some rest," I tell Weston as I peer out the little window to outside.

"Okay but when you get back you are going to have to tell me all about the sunrise," Weston smiles, "Because."

"The moon, the sun, and the stars will always be there," I smile grabbing my jacket and walking out of the room.

I pull on my jacket as I walk outside and I take a deep breath like I have been doing a lot these days and I tell myself everything will be fine. I sit down on one of the metal benches outside the hospital. The cold metal sends a chill up my back making me shiver but I welcome it. I let the chilly air fill my lungs as I try to clear my mind, waiting for the sunrise to start.

"Hi, is this seat taken?" I hear someone ask.

I look up to see a very cute guy standing there. His brown hair flops over his face but you can still see his brown eyes shine through. He towers over me as he waits for an answer with a small smile on his lips.

"No, go ahead," I mutter making a little more room for him to sit down.

He sits down staring into the distance before turning his head and looking at me with a puzzled face that he quickly shakes off.

"So what brings you to the hospital?" he asks twiddling with the little black woven bracelet on his wrist that has an Ikaika symbol on it.

"My friend is a patient, he got bitten by a coyote," I reply looking up into his eyes.

"Ouch," He responds scrunching up his face but still looking cute.

What am I doing, I need to stop crushing on complete strangers just because they talk to me once.

"So why are you at the hospital?" I question.

"To be honest I was just passing by and it looked like you could do with some company," he smiles still playing with his bracelet.

A small smile appears on my face from this small act of kindness. It's nothing huge, just someone checking in on me but it makes a difference. It makes me feel less alone.

"I just got life-changing news and I have this huge decision to make and I'm kind of freaking out, I want to tell my friends but they will just feel sorry for me and that's not what I need right now, I have no idea if everything is going to be okay and it makes me want to scream or cry or both," I babble on, "And I am so sorry for ranting to you about this."