Chapter Fifteen
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Day Fifteen: Meteor
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When I wake up, Asteroid is in my arms and everyone else is staring at us.
“Uh… hi?” Asteroid stirs in my arms.
“Meteor? What is it?”
“Shh. It’s nothing. It’s just the others.”
“Oh.” I kiss her head, then she falls asleep again. I gently stroke her hair, looking at her tenderly.
“You guys? Why are you staring at us?” I whisper. Michael is the first one to answer.
“I only just met that girl two days ago, and she was utterly and completely heartbroken. Now, she’s the happiest I’ve ever seen her, which is strange given the circumstances.”
“Yeah,” Nova adds. “From the night you left, up until we left, there was one sound in two places. The sound was her crying; the places were her bedroom and your bedroom. Now, she’s sleeping as though you never left her.”
“Left. Not ‘left her’.” Star gives me a sad smile.
“No, Meteor. You didn’t just leave. You left her. I think that’s why she was so sad. She knew you had to leave, but in doing so you had to leave her.” I feel Asteroid shaking and look down to see her crying.
“Asteroid? What’s wrong?”
“They’re right, you know.” She says between sobs. “I knew you wouldn’t leave me unless you had to, but I couldn’t help feeling like it was my fault. And now look at you! You’re cut and bruised and there is nothing I can do to help.”
“Oh, Aster!” I pick her up, straining under her weight because of all the lost blood, but I don’t show it. I need to be strong for her. I carry her into the next room and close the door. This room is like a living room, with couches and chairs. I sit down on a couch and hold her in my lap. “Aster, this is not your fault! Honey, I’m going to be fine! I promise! And I left for you, I didn’t leave you!”
“You left for me?” I sigh.
“Yes, Aster, I left for you. I left to get the recipe, but Bill turned evil, sliced my leg open with a sword, then locked me in a closet for three or four days!” I take a deep breath and tell her the whole story. She’s a statue throughout the whole tale, not moving or talking. “Well?”
“You did all that… for me?” She whispers.
“Aster, I would die for you. You know that, right?”
“Yeah. I guess I do. That doesn't mean I want you to! I never want you to die! If you had, I don’t know what I’d have done. I probably would’ve died, too.”
“Aster, don’t think about it. You’re here with me and that’s all that matters to me.”
“We should go tell the others about Bill. I mean, my dad.” She starts shuddering in my arms. “He hurt you. He’s my dad,” her big, blue eyes are filled with tears as she looks at me and says, “and he hurt you.”
“Oh, honey. I’ll be fine. It’s you I’m worried about! Tell me what’s wrong. You can tell me everything.” And she does. She stands up and starts pacing as she talks.
“When you left, I spent days locked in my room and your room. Right after you left, I cried for two whole days. That is not what a good team leader would have done! A good team leader would have immediately organized a search party, and found you before you could get hurt.” She collapses onto her knees and puts her head in her hands. “I have cried almost nonstop for days. It didn’t help one bit.”
“Honey…”
“It would’ve helped if I’d found you sooner. Or better yet, stopped you from going in the first place!”
“Aster!”
“I am never going to let any of you out of my sight again!”
“Asteroid!” I say that a little more harshly than I should have, because she looks up and hurt registers in her eyes. I walk over to her and drop down beside her. I pull her onto my lap and hold her. “Oh, Asteroid. Don’t worry about that. Don’t think about that. Just don’t think.” She relaxes and only then do I realize how thin she is. She must be as weak as I am because she’s fallen asleep again. “Come on, my Asteroid. Let’s get you to a nice, soft bed.”
“I like the one I have now.”
“Well then, let’s get me to a nice, soft bed.” I pick her up, her cheek still resting on my chest. I carry her into the next room. By the time I get there, she’s asleep. I sit down on the twin and stroke her hair. All conversation stopped as soon as I opened the door.
“What?”
“Well…” Star starts, “why did you leave?” So I tell the story for the second time today. There are a lot of “whoa!”s “wait, what?”s and “aah!”s. When I finish, I ask for their story.71Please respect copyright.PENANAPAAMIWf8Zt