Salvation 2035

Chapter 27- Family Affairs

『Abel』

     It's morning. I had a bit of a rough night, given how everything has been weighing on me recently. I drag myself downstairs knowing full well what this day holds. Just more driving and laying low. Well, technically I don't have to, but for the benefit of the group, we do it.

     Elpis hasn't called me in days- no, weeks. It's actually worked out pretty good since I've been in pretty close quarters with the others. I guess it was just her job to set me on my way, and nothing more. Since nobody's up now, I guess I could give her a ring. Maybe I can sort out my priorities if I talk to someone.

     I head out to the backyard. The sky is an orangy-grey from the sunrise. To my surprise, someone else is already awake. Even more surprisingly, it's Tsuki. He's sitting on the swings, facing the lake. His hair, which is sort of half-up-half-down, gently sways as he rocks back and forth. Rather than those old, naturally-ripped skinny jeans, he's wearing oversized black pants with a bit of white stitching in them, which matches with his jacket.

     "Look who's up early," I greet him.

     "Oh, hey," he looks over at me, his eyes smoked with purple, and his mouth painted with dark red. "It's been forever since I've been on one of these."

     "Bringing back the good ol' days?"

     "Yeah, I guess," he chuckles.

     "Did you eat yet?" I inquire generally.

     "Yeah. Toast."

     "Toast," I repeat, nodding. "I had that too, but I also had some yogurt."

     "There's yogurt?"

     "Yeah," I affirm. "Serafina won't care if you have some."

     "Nice," he smiles.

     "You know, when I eat vanilla yogurt, my brain just thinks it's ice cream because that's the only other vanilla thing I eat, so if I eat it for breakfast, it's like I'm eating dessert for breakfast."

     "I never thought of it that way," he notes.

     Needless to say, silence followed that conversation. It's just the two of us, with the wind whistling through the trees. I guess I could talk about the weather to fill the void. There goes calling Elpis. But wait, I got a perfectly good person to bounce my problems off of right here.

     "I got something... a bit serious to talk to you about," I inform him.

     "Go ahead," he nods.

     "Recently I've been thinking about if I should go through with this whole escaping to Canada thing," I say plainly. "It's just that if I leave America, I know I won't be able to go back, and that'll probably mean forfeiting the opportunity of education. As far as Cromwell knows, I'm not involved with you, so I'm pretty much free to do as I please. But if I stay here, it'll be incredibly difficult for me to track down my parents. And I have no idea what's in Canada- what if it's worse than here? It's just difficult for me to figure out what exactly I want."

     "Choosing between your family and your education..." he contemplates. "It's difficult for me to choose which one I would want more. Education leads to self-fulfillment and helps you to realize your true potential but at the same time, you don't necessarily need it to succeed. You want to be a doctor, and your parents are doctors as well, so if you were to find them you could just learn from them."