The food looks amazing, and Ekram wasn't exaggerating when he said there'd be a feast.
The table is outside, and it is the longest table I have ever seen. It's more like a picnic table really, and there are at least fifteen people seated when Colton and I arrive. At the end of the table sits a couple, who look to be in their mid forties. The children sit next to them on either side of the table and the rest of the family takes up basically the rest of it. There are two seats at the opposite end of the table.
"Welcome Colton, it has been a long time since we've seen you." The man at the end of the table smiles. "Who's your friend?"
"This is Juliet." He replies while taking a seat.
"It is nice to meet you, Juliet. My name is Arslan and this is my wife Emine." The girl next to him grins; they have to be the parents of Kara and Ekram because they have the same exact long nose. Emine has thick brown hair that sits at her shoulders, and her lips are always set in a slight smile. Arslan has a wide jaw and thick eyebrows.
"It's nice to meet you too, the food looks wonderful." I sit down and exhale softly at how good it feels to finally sit down after five hours of walking. Five hours.
The sun isn't even setting yet and I'm starting to get tired. I could fall asleep right here, but my hunger prevented that.
"Why thank you, I always love cooking big meals." Emine looks around at the group. "Come on now, dig in!"
Everyone reaches out at different plates of food. I see lots of ham and beef, along with corn, carrots, and tomatoes. They're all embellished with dirt, like they had just been picked from the farm and haven't been washed. I don't care.
My plate is filled with food within a few seconds and I ignore how unappetizing some of it looks. I wouldn't care if it had food poisoning, all that matters is that something needs to enter my stomach soon.
"So Colton, what brought you two here?" Emine asks.
Colton swallows before answering. "Just another trip to look at the museum." The way he lies made me almost believe it. He does it so casually.
"You looked like you haven't aged a day since you were last here, how many years ago was that? Two?" Arslan comments, which makes a nervous smile spread across Colton's face.
"Maybe it's the water back in Cyprus." He chuckles.
"Who's your girlfriend?" Kara inquires, almost shy to ask the question. I can feel my cheeks fill with color and I can't help but laugh. Colton looks disgusted by the idea.
"She's not my girlfriend, she's just a friend. This trip is strictly professional." He counters, which makes the whole table go silent for a few seconds. It's humorous how offended he is by that.
"Well we're all glad you're back, you're basically the only guest we get. The kids hate it when you're gone." Arslan notes, and the kids nod in agreement.
"How long are you staying?" Ekram questions with a mouthful of food.
"About two days, if that's alright with you two." Colton replies. He's being polite. I suppose it's different because we need a place to stay, but it popped out of nowhere. He's nice to anyone who he needs something from.
"That's totally fine, take as long as you need." Emine's lips curve up in a smile. I'm taken back at their generosity, Colton ought to learn something from them.
Since I assume the food was attached to a plant not long before it appeared on this plate, I'm not surprised when the corn and tomatoes tasted a little like dirt. I have never eaten a whole tomato until this day. I never even liked tomatoes when I was alive, but anything sounds appetizing right now.
When I sink my teeth into it, the juices inside seep into my mouth and soothe my sore throat. A little bit leaks from the corner of my mouth and down my chin.
I try not to devour my food like an animal because that would be embarrassing for the family to watch, but I have such a large urge to eat as if 15 people weren't watching me.
They didn't have to tell us that they don't get guests often for me to notice. I can tell because most of them watch us eat like something is supposed to happen to us. Maybe they really did poison the food. Or they just haven't seen two normal, living Americans.
The idea of eating dinner with a strange family in the middle of nowhere isn't very intelligent, but I trust them because Colton does. Or maybe it's the two kids who seem like the happiest little balls of energy, or how nice Arslan and Emine are to us when we're just here for their shelter and food.
Or maybe I'm beginning to trust Colton after these past few days. He has led me to the right places so far and has been a quick problem solver. After lots of trips to the Underworld, he has probably gotten an understanding of how the world works and how to navigate. It just amazes me that he does it with no trouble whatsoever.
I watch him eat his corn, wondering what is going on in that pretty mind of his. His hair is messy, his face dotted with dirt and freckles. Yet he still looks presentable. He still is prettier than most guys I've seen, and it's not the magic of the Afterworld doing that to him.
When we were sent down to Earth, practically everything went back to how it was when I was alive. My hair is frizzy and easily put into a mess. My eyes aren't gray and red anymore, and my skin isn't as smooth. But Colton, he didn't even change that much.
When he catches me stealing a glance, he smirks and I quickly look away, ashamed of what I'm thinking. I have to remember that he has been rude to me this entire time and doesn't have an ounce of empathy for me while my brother is suffering in the Underworld, a place that is so bad Colton refuses to tell me about it. He must be brave going back there several times willingly.
No. I tell myself. I can't keep admiring the positive attributes when there are too many negative ones connected to him.
"Like what you see?" He questions. I was hoping he wouldn't say anything about it.
"You have a piece of grass in your hair." I cover myself quite well, and reach for a piece of grass that is actually in his hair. He let me take it out and toss it onto the ground. He doesn't look too convinced, though.
"Are you from Cyprus too, Juliet?" Ekram asks.
I look nervously at Colton, and he nods slightly. "Yes I am."
"What city?" Arslan returns, taking a bite of his food. My eyes widen.
"Uhh." I peer at Colton, who is just smiling. I don't know a single city that I could name. He appears quite amused and knows that I need his help. I raise an eyebrow as if to ask him to name a city so I won't embarrass myself, but his expression doesn't move. "I'm from the southern part of it." I answer finally, annoyed at Colton's refusal to help me.
"Your English is really good, did your parents teach you?" Emine asks. They all have a slight accent, but Colton and I don't for obvious reasons.
"Is it? My parents were born in the United States and moved to Cyprus after they got married, I can't remember why." I lie.
"America?" Ekram shrieks. "That's the place where dreams come true."
I smile at his innocence, but I doubt they really know what the U.S. is actually like. For some it's a place where they can live freely, but for others it's just another country that is starting to become a mess. I never realized that some people dreamed of living where I did when I never really thought it was that cool.
Coming here actually gave me a new perspective on my past life, and how lucky I was to live somewhat of a life in a privileged country.
Colton looks slightly confused. He probably didn't know the recent world as well as I did. It's interesting knowing somebody who was actually in a world war but didn't know about the same celebrities as I do, like Harry Styles for instance. He was never alive at the same time as the greatest celebrities of all time.
He probably assumes that America is the same as when he died, which is far from the truth. Back then it wasn't really the place where dreams come true.
"You sure do want to travel, don't you?" Arslan chuckles.
"Have you two traveled at all?" Emine prompts, beginning to clear the empty dishes from the table.
A slight smirk spreads across Colton's face. "I guess you could say that. I've been to America actually and it's not as great as you think. What you've heard about every place is more interesting than the actual place." Ekram frowns slightly. "But you don't need to go to America to conquer your dreams, you can do that anywhere." He winks at Ekram and gathers a few plates around him.
"You don't have to help, Colton, really. You two need to get some rest after your long journey." Emine grabs the plates from his hands and heads into the large house behind her.
"We'll clean dinner up, why don't you two go bathe in the lake?" Arslan suggests.
"Bathe in the what?" I repeat, looking up at Colton.
"In the lake. Come on." He instructs. Of course. In the lake. That's probably infested with leaches or something.
Is that the same lake they use for drinking water? I cringe at the thought. I'll just have to get it over with.
HAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAH YOU KNOW I HAD TO PUT A CHAPTER LIKE THIS INTO IT LOL
don't expect anything tho
unless...
nah
unless...
nah
unless...