Far Away

Chapter 12

Bella's POV

 
    After I caught him tear up, we stopped talking. Instead, he stayed in one corner while I tried to clean this place before it got too dark.

    I picked up one of his spare shirts and dunked it in water from the creek. I'm going to attempt washing the floor, mantel, and fireplace.
    It took a couple of hours to get the spot out of the fireplace but when I finally finished, the sun was setting. Drew quickly walked over to the door and bolted it. He did the same to the windows and the recently cleaned fireplace.

   I hope those creatures don't come back. I don't know what I would do if they broke in. Would I survive it? Most likely not.

   Drew walks back to his corner but not before running into the nightstand and his chair. He yells and I can't help but laugh. I'm not a bad person, I just laugh at people's pain. ...Ok, I might be a bad person.

     "That's not funny." He says, with what I can always imagine is a pout.

      "It totally was," I say. "Do you think they are gonna come back, Drew?"

       "The Dejande? No, they only come every couple of nights."

       "Why do they even bother us? Don't they have their own place to stay?" I ask

        "They do but the people in charge put them here because of me."

         "Because of you?" I ask. Why him? What did he do?

          "Yeah. When I first came here... I tried to escape. There was a small hole in one of the walls and I got myself through. But Bella? There are more of them. More habitats. More aliens. More monsters.
          In one of the exhibits beside us, there there is this one monster that spits acid and can fly even though it's wings are ripped with holes. It's truly the worst thing that I have ever seen. I barely made it out but there was a hole in its cage where the glass was. It was too small for the monster but big enough for me. I made it out and when I did, I found myself in a corridor." He says, before he stops. Drew looks at me and then he continues speaking.

    " I walked down the corridor and I saw so many monsters. Most of them are in a habitat like us. But others...the other's work on the ship like the Cokara. And then there is the leader. I only met him briefly when he put me back in the exhibit but he is pure evil, Bella.
       He looks like us except that the whites of his eyes are blue. And he has all these crazy tattoos that cover his body. He was absolutely terrifying."

      By the end of his story, he was shaking. I get up and wrap a blanket around him.

     "That's enough for today. Get some sleep." I say, rubbing his back soothingly. I don't know why I'm touching him but it seems to calm him down.

    Soon, he falls asleep and I move over to my chair and curl up. I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the arm rest.

    The next day, Drew and I work on the shack. I mention that the wood on the floor is kind of rotting and he said that he would fix it.

     We go our separate ways, him to the woods to make floorboards and I to the other side of the habitat. I want to make the shack more homey considering that I'm not going to leave anytime soon.
     Maybe I can make a rug. I mean weaving shouldn't be that hard right? Wrong.

      I can't get the pattern right and it is taking a long time to even make it. By the time lunch rolls around, I meet Drew at the food slot.

      Today, we were having cornbread, fish, and celery. A weird combination mix. Oh well. It's food. I give Drew my celery considering I don't have peanut butter with it. I know it's weird but I can't eat it without peanut butter.

      "How are the floorboards going?" I ask

     "They're going. I've got some of them done but it might take a couple of days till I am finished. What are you doing?"

     "I am trying to make a rug but it is super hard. But I refuse to give up." I look at him and for the very first time that I have been here, he smiles. He looks so carefree when he smiles, like he has never had a worry in his life.

     " I'm sure you'll get it. I actually know how to weave if you need help." He says, biting into the cornbread.

     "I would greatly appreciate it. I have been struggling all morning." I say, ripping into the fish and tearing a piece off.

      After we finish with the food, we slide the trays through the slot and go over to where I was trying to make a rug. He looks at my attempt of a rug and then at me.

     "Ok, this is pitiful. You don't even have the pattern right."

      "You don't think I know that? At least I tried. I wanted to make something for our home."

    Home. Is that what I'm calling it now? I guess I could call it home even though I don't have people that I absolutely love in it. It's just me and Drew.

    Could I possibly love Drew? I mean I don't really know him but I live with him and he hasn't tried to kill me since when we first met. But could I live him? Would I be able to?

     I could see it happen but only if he completely opens up. But for him to open up, I would have to. And opening up is hard for me. I don't like the feeling of vulnerability. He could hurt me and I would be left to pick up the pieces. Maybe I could just get to know him.

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     Drew is making the rug. He's already halfway done when I snap out of my thoughts and sit down in front of him.

    "So what was life like in 2020?" He asks, looping a piece of long grass with another.

    "Uhm.... well I lived in a city. It was always busy. People walking and driving to places. Women have more rights but are being threatened. Black people are still having racial slurs thrown at them. In 2016, there were people who dressed up as clowns and were killing people. It was crazy but as I look back, it was kind of funny but in a terribly way. I can't even explain it.

    The LGBT+ community have more acceptance now and gay marriage is legal. I really am proud of their accomplishments. They even have a month that is known as pride month and they have pride parades and other stuff.

    There are still people who don't accept them but not as many as there were before. My cousin wanted to go to a pride event but there wasn't any in our town so she went to another city nearby that was hosting one," I say. Drew stops weaving and looks at me for a while and then continues working.

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Drew's POV

      When she mentioned gay marriage, I couldn't help but think of Jerome and I. If only we were born in the right decade. I could be with Jerome right now.

      We would have our own house and celebrate with others like us. What a life that would have been.

      I can't help but feel envious of Isabella. She grew up with this. She accepts us and is proud of us. She hasn't had to deal with anything that I had to deal with. She lived in a world of acceptance.