Truth or Dare

Island Boy and Archer Girl say goodbye for now

Wes

I spent most of my time that week with Lydia in her room. Some nights I slept over, her dad never minded and neither did mine. My dad mostly gave me space the whole trip, he wasn't really good when it came to these situations.

"When do you have to go home Wes?" Lydia asked one the fourth day of my visit.

"I don't know. Christmas is in a little over a week, my dad wants us home before then. So a few more days? I'm not sure."

"I don't want you to leave," she muttered, looking away from me. I knew she didn't want to be alone again. She had told me so many times how alone she always felt here. How much she loved her friends but it seemed like they always forgot about her until they needed her for something. I didn't want to leave her either. I had loneliness and misery waiting for me back at home, and we'd have to revert back to only communicating through texting and calls on Skype, maybe the occasional phone call. I didn't want to go back to that.

"Trust me Lyd, I don't want to leave either. You and Hayley and Annie are basically my only friends on this continent. Why would I want to leave you guys? But I have to go back, and you have to stay here and get better."

"Promise you'll stop by and say goodbye before you leave?"

"Of course," the door slammed open and Annie walked in, still in her private school uniform and her hair a mess.

"Where the hell is Brando and how long will it take me to find him to beat the shit out of him?" Annie demanded, earning herself giggles from the two of us.

"Jail cell. You'll have to go through a few cops to get at him."

"Damn it, I drove like a crazy girl to get here and I missed the chance to kill him myself." Annie laughed and sat down on Lydia's bed, hugging her and pushing some hair from her face. "You look good kid, defs not like you got rundown a few days ago by your psycho ex."

"Nice compliment Annie," I rolled my eyes and laughed.

"Don't think I didn't notice you Island Boy," Annie got up and walked to where I stood. "You got taller."

"Not by much," I smiled and hugged her. "Nice to see you too." She broke the hug and looked back at Lydia.

"So, what I miss besides the chance to kill the bastard?"

"Um, Nicole and Charlie are trying to date again, Hayley is leaving for England tomorrow, Caroline is dying her hair back tomorrow and Caleb and Amy are still together." The two of them started talking about their other friends and I sat in my corner and listened. I had met most of the people they talked about, I knew Caleb and Amy were going out and in love, and Caroline was Lydia's other best friend. I smiled, knowing they were going to take good care of her.

I left two days later. My dad just told me before I walked out the door of our hotel that we were leaving that night. I only had hours left with Lydia before I was on a plane back to hell.

"Lydia," I ran into her room, and saw her sitting up reading a comic book. "You know you're the biggest nerd I've ever met."

"Don't diss comics. They're fantastic," she laughed and put the comic on the table next to her. "What's up Island Boy?"

"I'm leaving tonight," I blurted out before I could stop myself. Not how I wanted to start my last few hours with Lydia. "I'm sorry, my dad just told me. Our flight leaves in five hours."

"Oh," Lydia muttered, sounding a tad hurt. "I was wondering when you were going to leave. I knew you couldn't stay forever. I just didn't think, I thought we'd have more warning."