15. Newfound Doubt Amidst the Chaos

Natalie

Of all of the places and people in the world, I ran into my sister's best friend in some fancy hotel in Austin. How did I end up here? Well it started when I heard about Dani's death. My family had called and told me the news and I made arrangements to take a bus to help with her funeral.

Of course, my plans fell through because of that damn meteor. The buses stopped running and there was no other mode of transportation I could rely on. But there were some people traveling so I figured I could hitchhike my way home.

But the only ones interested in picking me up were truck drivers. And they only took me on believing that I would repay them sexually. But I'm not that easy. Some of them were decent, but this last guy was a total creep. I couldn't wait to get away from him. But he kept pestering me and kept waving the fact that he shelled out the money for the room so I owed it to him.

Luckily this kid from a room across the hall called out to us and I took my chance to escape. Once free the kid grabbed my hand and pulled me into the room. I took a few moments to recover from the ordeal and that's when I saw him. "Riley?"

Riley looked at me and dropped the bag he was holding. He looked like he had seen a ghost.

"Dani?!?!?!" Both he and the kid called me by her name.

"I'm sorry," I said, "I'm Natalie. Dani was my older sister."

"So she also had a sister?" Riley asked.

Shit, he's onto me. I had to come up with something fast. But someone jumped in and saved me from that.

"Anyone care to explain?" asked the other guy.

The kid answered for him. "You see, Dani was my Pop Goddess who committed suicide."

"That was her?" the guy asked. "I think I read about her. She was part of a girl group then went solo, right?"

The kid nodded and asked Riley, "Wait, Riley you knew Dani?"

"Yeah, we hung out a couple times. I was one of the group's sponsors."

"I'm sorry for the confusion. I'm just her sister. I'm no one special." I said.

"Don't say that." The kid said.

"So Natalie," said the other guy, "What brings you here?"

I told him my story. "Well, I was going to school in College Station when I heard the news about Dani's death. I originally bought a bus ticket to go home, but now with the meteor that isn't happening."

"Where do you live?" the guy asked.

"San Antonio."

"That's not too far." he said.

"But on foot, it's more like from here to the moon." I replied. "I had to resort to hitchhiking but these truckers are scary."

"Not to sound like that guy," the other guy said, "But dressing up like that, these guys will get the wrong idea. Not saying it's your fault or anything but these truckers are pretty twisted horndogs."

"I guess you're right, but dressing like this gets the cars to stop." I fidget nervously as I ask them my request. "If it's ok with you, may I stay the night here with you?"

"Huh?" the guy asked.

"It's ok if it's a no…" I began to say until the kid interrupted.

"Of course you can!" He walks up to me and puts his hand on my shoulder as a friend would. "We can also take you home too!"

"Are you sure about that?" the guy asked.

"C'mon Ethan," the kid said to the guy. "It's only an hour and a half away."

"Normally." said Ethan. "Remember, the streets are pretty packed and we have to navigate carefully out of the city and all."

"Excuse me," I interrupted. "But how old are you?" I ask the kid.

"I'm sixteen." the kid answered. "But I just want to tell you, I was a big fan of your sister. She really helped me out when I was going through pretty shitty times. When she died, I felt like everything was over, and with the world ending and all, I started to question what the point of it all was. But I believe we were brought together for a reason. Like it's destiny. I know I sound like some crazy kid, but I believe we met you so we can take you home to your family."

I looked over in the corner of my eye and all three of us were looking at the kid like he had just admitted he was God or something. But despite the craziness of his rant, it was pretty sweet of him. I politely asked Riley and Ethan, "Are you two okay with this?"

"If it's ok with Aaron," Ethan answered, "Then welcome aboard." He chuckled.

I held on to Aaron's hands and leaned in close to him, my face just inches away from his ear. I whisper to him, "Thank you for being my knight in shining armor."

Aaron suddenly blushed and giggled like some lovestruck fanboy, and began babbling nonsense. After a few moments of this he collapsed onto the bed with a goofy smile on his face. Riley began panicking and Ethan just laughed.

"Hey," Riley was calling for Aaron to wake up, "Aaron, are you ok? Hey, Can you hear me?"

"Is he ok?" I asked, genuinely concerned for him.

"Yeah," Ethan replied, "He's ok. That reaction is perfectly normal for boys his age?"

"It is?" Riley asked.

"Yes it is." Ethan said. He then asked me to go get water for him while they attended to Aaron. These two made me laugh, it was almost like two dads caring for their own kid. Aaron is pretty cute and interesting.

However, as I went to get the water, I looked back at Riley. As Aaron said, we were brought together for a reason. And mine is to find out what happened to my sister. Why did she kill herself? What drove her to do it? And most importantly, was Riley responsible for her death?

He was her best friend, why didn't he stop her or talk her out of it? I had to find out, no matter what.

Ethan

To be honest, I wasn't thrilled to know that Riley knew Natalie's sister. Knowing him, they probably dated and he betrayed her like he did me. It made certain thoughts pop up in my mind.

Did she kill herself because she fell for him like I did, and he broke up with her like he did me? Why was I thinking like this? Why was I acting like some jealous lover? I should be used to this, knowing how he is. And besides, this was in the past. He promised me that he wouldn't be with anyone else but me.

I finished getting ready for bed and I saw that Aaron was asleep on the bed, Natalie on the pullout, and Riley was making a makeshift bed on the floor for us.

"Why are we on the floor?" I asked.

"Don't complain," Riley answered. His voice clearly sounded tired. "Let's just sleep ok?"

We just lay there for a few minutes. He stayed on his side with his back facing me. I lay on my back staring at the ceiling with those thoughts flying all around my head, buzzing like a bee's nest.

"Riley?" I call out to him.

"Hm?" He replied.

"You and Dani were dating, right?" I just blurted out the question, not caring about being delicate about it.

"Is that what your man's intuition is telling you?" he asked back, no emotion in his voice.

The hell is up with him asking me like that? "If I had to categorize it like that, then yes."

Riley sighed heavily and answered, "No we weren't."

"So friends with benefits then."

He turned around and faced me. "No, not even that. Not with her."

"Really?" I asked, relieved somehow with the revelation.

"Still, I didn't think we'd run into her lookalike sister." He stated. "I guess fate isn't just a figment of Aaron's imagination."

"Maybe he's a witch." I said jokingly.

Riley managed to laugh at the thought of Aaron having some kind of power like that. "Then I wish he'd stop the meteor while he's at it."

I look him in the eye and see he has become pensive on the subject. "Do you really?" He just nodded, not really answering my question. "Weren't you going to take the drug you gave to Aaron and my dad?"

Riley turned his back to me again and said, "Yeah, I guess so. Life's a bit easier knowing it'll end in a few days."

His words scared me at that moment. I wasn't scared of him, I was scared for him. "Why?" I asked him, genuinely wanting to know why he wanted to die.

"Not tonight, Ethan," he answered back, "Don't ask the hard questions right now. I'm really tired."

"What happened to you?"

"We still have five days," he said. "If you really want to know, then stay with me until the very end."

At this point, how could I not? I went to bed relieved on one matter but plagued with another. Now new questions arose in my head. Was he actually remorseful for leaving me? Did Dani's death shake him to his core? We've been apart for so many years. So many things may have happened. So many things have changed. All I could do was reach over and pull him close to me. He held my hand as I held him in my arms. I just hope that I can keep him off the ledge, because now I can't live without him. He left me once and that destroyed me. If he were to leave again, I am certain that I won't survive it this time.