Long, Endless and Dark... (Charlotte)

"So?" Dustin grabs a handful of my fries and throwing them inside is own pile.

I roll my eyes, the mall's music banging in the background, merging perfectly with the obnoxiously loud chatter of the crowds around us.

I stare at Sara, my teeth clenching to see her still texting away. Who is she talking to? She never uses her phone when she's with us? Or at least tells us if it's something's up.

I force my eyes to focus on Dustin, watching me wide eyes, swallowing his food in anticipation.

I sigh, the back of my neck itching with agitation.

Where should I start?

"So..." I mumble, "Something weird happened..."

"Weird?" Dustin grimaces, a rogue smile appearing on his face, "Weirder than us?"

"Well-" I begin, but he interrupts me with a laugh.

"Damn, Charlie, what's making you so nervous?" He grins, "Your whole face is red."

I scowl at him but he ignores it, pretending to focus on his food before I burst on him.

Sara scoffs, finally gazing up from her phone, deciding to finally take part in the conversation.

"Would you shut up and let her speak, Dustin?" She snaps, placing her phone on the table, taking a longing gulp her peach iced tea before saying, "Go on."

I heave in a prolonged breath, letting my lungs draw in air until my chest felt like bursting.

I muster out the rest of the words forcefully, feeling nauseated and disgusted as the words slurred out of my mouth. I don't know why I feel this hatred towards a stranger, but I definitely am not planning to hide it as I bitterly hiss the whole incident.

I stare down at my sandwich, trying not to make I contact as my hands fidget uncontrollably in my lap.

I told them how Rufus and I found the boy on the verge of dying in the rainy forest, and explained thoughtfully about Jason and Dad carrying him home. I tried not to hide any details, my brain urging me to tell them everything. I even mentioned how he was unconscious for almost a whole week but only told him that he was sick for two days so we don't freak him out. Which I personally think is dumb but Dr. Kingsley insisted that it'd be for the best, not to make him uncomfortable.

As I finish talking I finally let myself look up to find both of them gawking at me in astonishment. Even though they're eyes were wide in shock, something abut their expressions was different.

Sarah looked horrified and stunned, almost not believing that whatever she was hearing was true as she blinked in confusion. Whereas, Dustin couldn't stop smiling, as if he didn't doubt a single word I was saying and was excited about the whole incident happening in our ordinary town. He almost looked... envious.

"So... he's still here?" Sara asks, pushing away her food to Dustin when I nodded, "You can have it- I don't feel like eating anymore.."

"What's his name again?" Dustin inquires, reaching out for Sarah's tray.

"Joey." I answer, bluntly.

"Joey what?"

I lean closer to the table, not able to control the strong urge to reveal all my suspicion, "That's the thing. He didn't tell us anything else about himself. Just his first name. As if that's all we need to know.."

Dustin motions his hands randomly in the air to draw an effect to his words, "Mysterious..."

"More like strange." Sara points out, tilting her head to the side, "I wonder who he is."

"I wonder what he's hiding." I add, knowingly.

"I wonder how in the world did u experience all this!" Dusti explains, "You of all people."

I nod, a small perplexed smile creeping on my lips. Dustin is right. It's strange how this happened to me. Me, who never bothered to look up from her book and see the world and it's reality, unless i saw these to idiots for friends with me. Me, who didn't believe in miracles - or in my case, unfortunate events.

I always thought these kinds of things happen in movies and books. Not real life. Two years ago I wouldn't have been surprised about this happenning. I would have expected it. Back then my belief in stories was strong enough to move in the world, to bear it.

But then, after days went, and time wasted, I finally realized how stupid it was for me to believe I was some main character. That my life was special. Everything up till that moment was just so plain that I lost hope. It hurt to finally step out of the room of fantasy and enter the long endless and dark hall of reality. Where I was supposed to walk and walk, with no hope of ever entering the room I exited.

What I expected was to live like an ordinary person, not expecting this random mystery to distract me.

Not expecting another room in the black infinite hall.

But this room is different. It isn't bright and colorful like where the fantasies existed... this place is grey. Big but suffocating. Light but so burdening.

"I don't know why this happened to me." I finally say, my eyelids heavy and... for some reason, sad, "But I'm not going to enjoy this, that's for sure."

Sara gives me an uncertain look, "Why is your Dad even letting him stay? Now that he's awake, shouldn't he go? Clearly you guys have done enough."

I rest my head in my hands, my elbows placed on the table, "That's the point. I don't know why he's letting him stay. Dad said that he can leave once he's well enough to."

"That sick, huh?" Dustin frowns, looking somewhat serious. "Damn..."

I stand up, "Yeah. Unfortunately, I'm not in the place to argue with my father. So, in other words, this person who I don't know anything about, will stay."

"Wonder where he came from?" Dustin keeps popping queries.

"I have a lot of questions too." I sigh, "But sadly, I can't get any answers."

"You can always talk to him." Sara suggests.

I scoff, "Not even in my dreams." I grab my purse, "I'm going to head out. I'll meet you guys later."

Sara stands, following me, "I'll come with you."

We start to walk away from the food court when Dustin calls out from behind us, "Hey, Sara! You paid for this, right?"

Sara smirks, "Sure. If that's what you want to believe."

Before he could comprehend what she meant, we were already out of view.