Boy

Ryan closed her eyes and let the wind blow through her hair. She raised her arms as high as she could and let the breeze massage her fingers. Brandon just smiled to himself and kept driving. They'd been moving from place to place in that car on dirt roads.

They had no means of communication, and by now they were hundreds of miles away from the city they left. If something happened back there, they didn't know anything about it. Maybe Brandon did.

He had a bad feeling since they left the last motel. He knew something went wrong when they left. His mind was fuzzy, and he could barely focus enough to lift a fork. With his hands, maybe, but any other way seemed impossible right now.

"Are you okay?" Ryan asked him when he pulled to the side of the road.

"I…I just need to stop for a minute," he said, running his fingers through his messy head of hair.

"What's wrong?" she asked, reaching over and touching his face. He was pale, and there was a thin film of cold sweat on his cheek, only making her worry more.

Brandon didn't answer. He stared ahead at the tan dirt road. Pebbles rolled across it, and it seemed to stretch on forever. For a second he thought that if they kept driving, they'd stay on that road forever, never getting anywhere. Like their life together would be pebbles, soil, and hot, blistering sun.

"I shouldn't have made you leave with me," he said, turning his head to look at her.

"What do you mean? Of course I wanted to leave with you…" she said, shaking her head.

"You mean to say, that if Eric wasn't mad at you, and I didn't guilt you into going, you would still be here with me willingly?" he asked, looking at her in the eyes.

She was silent for a few seconds, making Brandon twitch slightly.

"I love you," she said finally. "And I know love conquers a lot, and it'll make you do anything. I just want to be with you, okay? That's all I want."

Brandon smiled. That's all he needed to hear to keep going. At least for now.

Eric ran to the front door of the apartment, sweating, panicking. He swung the door open and looked around frantically.

"Somebody help!" he screamed. "Somebody call 911! She's not breathing…I can't find the phone…" His eyes were bloodshot, and he could not seem to catch his breath.

An old woman poked her head out of her living space down the hall.

"What's wrong, son?" she asked, worry in her voice because the young man sounded so distressed.

"Call 911! Hurry! Please just do it!" he screamed.

The old woman's eyes bulged, and she hurried back into her apartment and to her phone. She dialed the number and hurried back to see if the boy was alright.

"They're coming, okay? It's alright…"

"No, it's not alright! She's not breathing…she collapsed!" Eric gripped his hair and shut his eyes tightly.

"Who, son? Who collapsed?" she asked.

He didn't answer. He just dropped to the ground and started sobbing.

"I have to tell Ryan…I have to tell Ryan…"