Light of my Life

Pier 15

LAUREN

After several hours, Alyssa's eyes fluttered open, and light filtered in. She blinked slowly around, observing her surroundings before her eyes locked on me at her bedside, and she smiled in her confused state.

"Hey, Laurie."

I smiled tiredly, "Hey, Alyssa."

"What happened?" 

"You haven't been eating, you lost consciousness due to lack of nutrients in your body."

She grinned sheepishly, "whoops."

My smile disappeared. "No, Alyssa you need to eat. That sort of thing isn't healthy. It hurts you more than it helps. You start growing hair in strange places, you get weaker, your skin gets really dry. It isn't good for you."

"But I lost weight."

"But you don't need to loose weight, Alyssa. You were so pretty before."

She sighed, looking away from me. "Miles was never into me, it just kind of wore down my self esteem I guess. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize to me," I shook my head. "Apologize to your body."

"I'm sorry body," she stroked her arm and giggled. I smiled slightly, and held onto her hand.

"It's all my fault," I whispered. She shook her head. "No, it is. I noticed you changing and I didn't say anything. Just like with Keegan. It's on me."

"It was never your fault with Keegan, and it's not your fault now. I've always had some weight issues since high school. They just kind of grew."

I stroked a bit of her cropped brown hair behind her ear and smiled at her hollow face. "You are so beautiful. Don't ever worry about that, because it will never change, even with age. You're the infinite kind of gorgeous." She smiled and blushed a bit.

"Thanks, Lauren."

We sat together silently for a bit, and then Alex waltzed into the room and stood over us. "Glad to see you're awake, Alyssa. Lauren, can I talk to you somewhere else?" His lips twitched. I glanced at Alyssa, and she nodded. I stood up and brushed off my pants.

"Sure, let's go. Allie, I'll be back in a bit."

She grinned at the both of us, shifting in her bed to a more comfortable position. "Have fun you two."

<====><====>

We walked together to Pier 15 and sat down on a wooden bench on the edge of the pier, leaning against each other. The sun set to the left of us. Alex looped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me close to him.

"What did you want to talk about," I mumbled, tracing the knots in the bench wood with my finger. He sighed heavily.

"Tomorrow is the band's last full day in New York."

We stayed silent for a while longer, and then I looked up at him, the setting sun warming our skin. "We never really discussed how we are going to make this work."

"No we didn't."

"Do you want to now?"

He shook his head. I agreed silently and looked out over the murky blue water from the metal fence that kept us on the pier. A couple of birds floated, diving down to get food and then popping back up, making loud obnoxious noises. Across the strip of deep river you could see Brooklyn Heights. I spoke up again.

"I hate Atlanta, Georgia."

"I do too," he agreed. "It's too hot all of the time." He hesitated. "Management wants to meet you."