We ran for a solid 20 minutes.
20 minutes in which my heart was pounding and my legs kicked endlessly. Every couple minutes, I turned around, making sure no one was following us.
The weird part: No one followed us.
Aidan and I ran and ran yet we saw nor heard anyone behind us. And you'd think with our weird super hearing ability we'd know if someone was behind us.
"Lauren..." I heard Aidan's rasping voice from behind. "I think we should stop... and rest."
I slowed down my pace and turned around. "Good idea." I saw his tired figure leaning against a large tree. In the moonlight, I could see his face, which was as red as a tomato. "Are-are you alright?"
"I just ran-" He took a deep breath. "-for 20 whole minutes-" Another breath. "-without stopping." He collapsed to the ground and leaned against the tree. "How do you do it?"
"Do what?" I ask as I walk over and sit next to him.
"Look at you. You're barely tired. You look fine." He said between breaths. "You'd do fine on the beep test."
"What test?"
"Never mind." He leaned back against the tree and let out a yawn. "What time is it?"
"Does it look like I have a watch?"
He groaned. "Sometimes you can be so helpless, Lauren. You know that?"
"Yeah, but I'm extremely helpful at some times too." I reached for Aidan's backpack, which was placed beside him. I grabbed his phone to check the time.
"Wait." Aidan yelled. "Don't-" He tried grabbing the phone from me. I pushed him away.
When I turned the phone on, I saw a photo of two people.
"-turn on the phone." His voice trailed off.
It was a photo of the two of us, when we were younger.
I put the phone down, aggressively. "You know something." I spat out. "Something about before all of this."
"Lauren, I can-"
"You knew me from before me coming to the institute." I stood up. "You-you didn't think that we were in each other's lives before all this," I waved my arms around. "You knew. I thought you remembered nothing about your past, Aidan."
"Lauren, it's just one photo." Aidan said.
"Why didn't you want me to see it?" I asked, in a gentler voice than before.
He bit his lip. "I-I-"
"You, what?"
"I have my reasons."
I lowered my eyebrows. "I heard that so many times in the last five months. 'I have my reasons.'" I mocked him. "Are you trying to say that you're working with them." I point to the direction we came. The direction the Institute is.
"Lauren, are we actually fighting about a photo?" Aidan asked, his tone angry.
"It's not just that!" I said loudly. "You know who your family is."
His eyes widened, like I just exposed him. Instead, he said, "What are you talk-"
"Don't think you don't know what I'm talking about." I continued. "That day we got caught in the office. You called someone 'mom'. I heard it with my own two ears, Aidan."
"There was a lot going on. You probably misheard." Aidan said bluntly.
I created fists and kept tightening them. This boy and his lies. I felt my face turn red from anger.
Instead of saying anything back, I walked over to the other side of the tree and lay down, using my bag full of clothes as a pillow. I stared up at the dark, forest canopy, and beyond that, the stars dancing in the midnight sky.
I heard the soft crunch of leaves made by Aidan's feet. "Not talking, huh?" He asked.
I didn't reply. Instead, I turned to my left side, my back facing him.
"Lauren," I heard his voice say. The voice that felt the most comforting during my time at the Institute. "This can't happen. Not now at least."
Why not? I thought. I could survive out here without you. Maybe you could just rot out here.
I heard him sigh. "Alright then, I'll take first watch."
I felt him sitting on the ground, near me. I turned and laid on my back. In the corner of my eye, I saw Aidan grab his laptop from his bag and started typing.
Can you get internet connection from the forest?
I closed my eyes and fell asleep to the sound of the crickets chirping and Aidan frantically typing on his keyboard.
-:-:-:-:-
After what felt like sleeping for 5 minutes, the sun was up. Bright and shining. With all its strength.
Ugh. Why is the sun so happy and bright all the time?
I rub my eyes, trying to wake myself up. There's no point in trying to sleep. I guess I should do something "productive."
I stood up, stretched, and ran my fingers through my, now, really tangled hair. I brushed the leaves off my sweater and pants and picked the leaves out of my hair. It was then that I smelled an awfully amazing smell coming from somewhere.
I sniffed the air like a dog. Where's it coming from? I circled around the tree and found nothing except for our bags.
Wait a second. I looked around frantically. Where's Aidan?
I panicked for a second before I remembered; I was mad at him. And I didn't need him... not really.
But that smell. Where's it coming from?
I walked toward the direction the smell came from. Farther into the forest. My stomach occasionally grumbled. I tried thinking about the last time I ate. It doesn't some to mind.
I hear the sound of water in the distance. I pass a few trees and I reach a river. The water flows downhill. Its blueness glistens when the sun shines down. I look around and spot a campfire with something cooking. Beside it is no other than Aidan Davis.
I approach him as he turns the meat. I tried to be subtle but I stepped on a twig and it made a large crack! He looked up from the campfire and smiled.
"Had a nice nap?" He asked.
I heard the sound of the firewood cracking. Birds chipped from up in the trees. I didn't reply.
"Still not talking to me, are you?"
I didn't say anything. Didn't do anything.
"So I guess that's a yes..."
It's funny how he sounds like the day I met him. I thought to myself.
"Want breakfast?" He asks.
My stomach grumbles yes but I don't reply. Instead, I break my silence and ask "Where'd you get all this from?"
"Ahh... so you're talking." He said with a smile. "And I went for a midnight hunt."
"With what?" I asked, my tone not friendly.
"A bow and arrow." He grabbed the weapons from behind the log he was sitting on.
"Where'd you get it?"
"Found it." Aidan replied as he took the meat off the skewer thing.
"Where?"
"Somewhere."
"Well, this conversation is going nowhere." I said as I marched off. Not far though. To be honest, I didn't want to be alone. I walked over to the riverbank and sat down. There was something about it that felt familiar, sitting next to the river.
I tune popped in my head. I started singing.
"Life was stringing me along... Then you came and you cut me loose... Was solo singing on my own... Now I can't find the key without you..." The words came to me as I sang.
Aidan came to sit next to me. He held a plate of some kind of meat and berries. "I didn't know you sang." He said as he popped a berry in his mouth. "In fact, I didn't think you knew any songs."
I didn't reply to what he said. "Are you sure those berries are safe to eat?"
"Yup." He replied. "They're blackberries. The meat is squirrel. It actually tastes good. Want some?"
I shook my head.
"C'mon. You need to eat something. When was the last time you ate?"
"When I thought I could trust you." I replied back.
"Again Lauren?"
I stood up. "I'll be going now."
I started walking back to the tree that I slept under last night, questioning is I could still trust Aidan. I mean, he's done so much for me so far, yet he has so many secrets.
Except, I didn't make it to the tree.
I blacked out before then.