Hidden Girl

36- No, I Don't Think So

Alex's POV

The car ride was completely silent, no one knowing the words to say.

Eric, Jenny, and Derek left almost right away for school, and Aurora was leaving next. Today to be exact.

I didn't go all cheesy and get her a gift or anything. I was barely holding it together even right now. Aurora is a strong girl, but she's been through so much. I don't know what to do.

We pull up to the airport and help Aurora get everything handled. None of us say anything, none of us wanting to say, not a "goodbye" to her, but a "see you later" since we knew that she hated goodbyes..

The time comes and we all stand up from our seats in the waiting area when they call her section. We stand in a line and she goes down it, saying how much she'll miss us.

I hear words exchanged between Azalea and Aurora, but I try not to eavesdrop. I see Aurora lean up to Azalea's ear and whisper something that made Azalea start crying and tears to drip down Aurora's face. They exchange a couple more words and a big hug before she moves down to Sebastian.

Sebastian, Mr. Tough Guy, has tears forming in his eyes as he talks to Aurora and gives her a big hug.

Before I know it, she stands in front of me, the moment I've been dreading most for months.

"You'll call me, right?" I ask quietly, and more tears stream down her face. Instead of saying anything, she wraps her arms around my neck, a complete instinct of hers by this point.

I wrap my arms around her waist and lift her in the air a little bit. I hold her so tight, so afraid of her slipping through my fingers.

I finally set her down and hold her against my chest.

"I'll miss you," she manages to get out.

"At least you'll be visiting at holidays," I try to lighten the mood, but more tears just fall from her beautiful face. "You're still the most beautiful girl I have ever met."

Aurora hugs me again, just around the waist this time. I feel her lift her finger up and tap a simple beat.

Three short taps, three long, and three short.

SOS.

This brings tears to my eyes, but I try to stay strong for her.

"You'll be okay in the end," I reassure her, using her own line at her. "And if you're not okay-"

"It's not the end," she completes my sentence with a broken look on her face like she had difficulty getting that one sentence out, like it wasn't true.

More tears fall from her face at that and I finally get concerned. She knows that she'll visit and that we'll talk every day. We'll work it out. There's really no need to cry over this. Maybe it's the nights she's afraid of.

I look down into her beautiful bright eyes that she shows us all the time now. The only emotion in them is complete sadness.

The lady calls her for the final call and she finally must leave me.

"Goodbye, Alex," she says with a tear dripping down her face, and without a look back at us, she takes her bags and walks through the corridor.

I start to comprehend what she just said to me, and then it hits me.

Aurora never says "goodbye". It was always a "see you later" because goodbyes make her feel like she won't see them again.

Then it hits me.

I quickly grab my phone and send her a text as fast as I can.

I'm never going to see you again, am I?

She is actually saying goodbye, for good. She's not just ripping me off like a band-aid. She's ripping me off and getting rid of me.

From: Aurora

No, I don't think so.

My mind goes blank and my body becomes numb. I collapse to the ground and stare at the message, unable to move or to comprehend what she just said.

The tears I was trying to hide run down my face as I read her words over and over again.

Why did the last words I might ever hear from her lips be a goodbye to me forever?

...---...

Aurora's POV

With shaky hands, I reply to his text. I can't believe I'm actually doing this.

I've decided to let go of everyone here and try to start over. With Azalea, we promised to talk as much as possible. Being girls that are so close, it's harder to let go when us girls talk all the time.

With Sebastian, I told him we'll talk as much as we can, but I don't think he knows yet that I'm not coming back.

And then there's Alex.

Dear sweet Alex who rides motorcycles and plays guitars. I knew that I had to let go of him.

Going back to that band-aid metaphor, he was the one that was holding in all of my pain, helping it not resurface. I know that long distance relationships never work, and it was best to let him go his own way. He needs to not hold onto me and to just forget about me, to move on. Maybe even get back together with Katherine. He needs me be completely free from me being a burden to him.

I sit into my seat and pull out a book that Azalea stuck in my book bag before I left. She told me to open it on the airplane.

As the plane starts to fill up even more, I look down at an album that Azalea made for me.

I open it and go through the pages, more tears sliding down my face.

There are a lot of pictures of just Alex and I hugging or hanging out. Azalea seemed to catch almost all of the moments we had together. In the middle of the album, it becomes pictures of all of my friends that I've made in New York.

Before I can finish it, the plane takes off so I shut it closed just to be safe. I hold on tight to the arm rests, digging my fingernails into the material. This is my first time on a plane, and I'm kind of excited. I used to think the closest I would ever get to flying was when I was riding Alex's motorcycle, but now here I am; about to fly.

We begin to accelerate and I know that this is it. I'm going to fly, and Alex isn't there to laugh his beautiful laugh at my facial expression as I squeeze his hand.

I another tear begins to fall at this thought. I release my grip from the seat and reach up to wipe it away. We hit an "air bump" I guess, and the album goes flying off of my lap and onto the floor. It opens to the last page in the album, and I feel as if I forget how to breathe.

The page is quite simple. It has a picture of Alex and I in the middle of the page dancing. I'm looking up at him as he looks down at me. My pink dress is flowing in the wind and my hair is also, since Alex pulled the clip out that night.

I stare at it for a couple seconds, amazed at how beautiful Alex looks, and just the way he's staring at me in the picture makes my heart beat faster. I look around the rest of the page and see a couple lines written on the side.

Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you
Over again
Don't make me change my mind
Or I won't live to see another day
I swear it's true
Because a girl like you is impossible to find

You're impossible to find

It's the chorus from the song Fall For You, the song that we danced to that Christmas Eve. I look out the window and see that we are already above the clouds.

I quickly pick up the album and set it in my lap. I decide to take a nap, but I struggle to.

I just keep thinking about that night under the stars, and how I will never see that boy's eyes again looking at me like that.

...---...