Blood Supermoon

17. The Only Promise

Come to me, I can't close this distance between us on my own...

She stayed at Clay's that night. Josandra didn't think that Lue would want to be in the same room as her after their argument.

Time. She just had to give her time and Lue would calm down. She was sure of it. They had argued before.

She was lying on her stomach Clay's couch, in the living room. Clay said they could share her room, but it made Josandra uneasy.

It was dark, but she held a crumpled piece of paper in her hand, flicking her lighter on and off to read bits of it.

"This bliss is yours, Living/ World, and alone it endures. Music at midnight/ Young wine. Lovers hand in hand/ By daylight, moonlight. Living world, hold me/ In your mouth..." she whispered.

She squinted her eyes and smiled.

"Hmm, I should've let her read some more."

***

Morning. Noon. Another day passed. By the third day, Josandra had run out of patience and paid a visit to Valerie's. When she arrived, she wandered around the fields. There sitting in the dirt, was Lue. Josandra's eyes widened.

"What are you doing?" she called.

Lue's head shot up. When she recognized Josandra, she didn't say anything for a minute. Then, as if everything was fine, she returned to her planting.

"What does it look like? You haven't been here. Someone has to take care of 'em," she said.

Lue took a break shortly after so they sat together on the bench, facing the trees. For some time, neither of them said anything and it felt awkward. Then Josandra took a deep breath.

"I'm sor—"

"Save it," Lue said.

Josandra frowned, "But I've been working on my apology for three days now."

"None of that matters anymore."

Josandra's shoulders sagged. So she was still saying things like that. None of this mattered. They weren't friends. There was nothing to end. Her heart sank.

"I'm leaving on Sunday," Lue said.

Josandra stopped breathing and her entire body faced Lue. Lue didn't turn towards her. She just continued to stare out into the fields.

"I...I've known where I needed to go for some time now. Ever since you completed the map. I...just wanted to make sure you'd be okay here. You will be," Lue said.

"Y—you knew where you needed to...?" Josandra repeated.

"You have Valerie and Jackson here. Don't forget that."

"You knew...?"

"I was gonna leave today, but I wanted to tell you. Thank you for coming back here," Lue said.

With that, she rose, walking back towards the house. Josandra's head was reeling.

Damn it, Clay. She just had to go and sever things between them. This was all happening too fast. Lue would be gone in two days. She was really going to leave her here after everything they've been through. No. Not like this. Not ever. Josandra didn't want that. Gritting her teeth, she rose to her feet.

"Take me with you," she said.

Lue stopped walking.

"Take me with you. I want to know where you're going so that...I can make sure that you'd be okay there, too. I—I won't stay for long. I just want to make sure you'll be good," Josandra said.