Elena.

Just then the door to the bathroom opened, making Ryan and I both jump and back away from each other.

Kadin walked out wearing his same clothes, drying his hair hastily, letting it lazily fall over his face once more moments later. He looked agitated, tossing his towel on one of the stiff and odd smelling lounge chairs.

I was going to talk to him about what Ryan had just told me, but Ryan spoke first.

“She now knows what happened. Do I need to-“

“There’s no need,” Kadin spat back, “I know exactly what happened.”

A heard a small growl erupt from what seemed to be Ryan’s throat, but I just looked over to see his mildly shocked expression.

“Well…okay then.” Ryan said, getting up and gripping Kadin’s shoulder. I saw Kadin flinch a bit, so with a quick and what looked like a painful squeeze, Ryan let go of him.

The blue haired boy then went on to go around the room looking for the few possessions he’d brought with him. All the while Ryan and I just sat by each other silently, watching him. He avoided our stares, but then forced himself to look at me. The light on the nightstand was just bright enough for me to see the glimmer in his eyes that barely peeped through his blue curtain of hair. His eyes looked at me with a mix of pity and sadness. He focused on the headstand to look at the clock. I did as well, and saw that it would take a very, very long time until they could leave again.

“You know,” Ryan said, “ I think it’s safe you walk around the building…so you don’t get bored.”

I would have objected, but I could sense a very tense atmosphere right now. Kadin, who had gone over to sit on the other mattress and turned the television on, simply nodded in agreement, the bottom half of his face that was visible not showing any expression.

“Well…okay then,” I said walking over to the door, making both Ryan and Kadin sit closer the wall and away from the sunlight I was about to bring into the room, “I’ll just walk around, bye.”

“Wait,” Ryan said calmly, reaching into his pocket and taking out some money out of his wallet, tossing it over to me, “just don’t go too far.” I asked them if they wanted anything, but they both shook their heads, and with that, I opened the door just enough for me to fit through, and closed it.

I held up my forearms to my eyes, to block the harsh sunlight that now surrounded me. I felt no pain, nothing at all, not even the warmth that the sun was supposed to bring to my bare skin. It was the uncomfortable brightness I’d grown unaccustomed to. I thought about going back into the room, but I was sure it was just as unpleasant and this was now.

So I’d have to put an effort in it, I thought.

I removed my arm, and then slowly opened my eyes. I hadn’t been paying attention to our surroundings when we’d gotten there, and I was slightly glad I hadn’t.

Our room was on the one and only first floor, facing the nearly empty parking lot. We were obviously in the middle of nowhere, and the only other living things in my view were a sickly pair of birds that were pecking at some of the road kill down the road.

I went on to walk around the building to see what there was, if anything.

And there was. Two things to be exact. There was a large and expensive looking RV van, and an very pretty girl getting out of it to walk towards me.

The RV drove up next to me to wait for her. Three of the many tinted windows opened, each revealing a disheveled looking guy, each having more crazily colored hair and smudged eyeliner than the last.

“Hey!” The one in the middle piped up, waving a tattooed arm at me. I held my hand up, and weakly smiled.

“We’ve got room for one more!” Another one said, both that had spoken then laughed.

I shook my head, and just as I was about to walk the other way, the girl called me…by my name.

I looked back over my shoulder to see her holding something extremely shiny. I looked from her to the guys.

“Is this yours?” She asked, holding out a silver bracelet towards me. I shook my head, and from the looks on the guys’ faces, they were just as confused as me. I took it, finding my name engraved on it in small letters.

“It isn’t mine. That’s my name, but it isn’t mine,” I said, handing it back. She didn’t take it, but she smiled at me, beaming.

“Keep it.” She said. I took it back hesitantly, it couldn't be stolen, could it?

"Char, isn't that the bracelet you found in the parking lot a couple hours ago?" One of then called, squinting at what was now in my hand. She nodded and looking at her watch, she said goodbye before disappearing inside the bus.

“You should come to one of our shows, just look us up," one of the members said, calling out the band name after wards.

“Okay, I will.” I said honestly, thanking the girl that reappeared in one of the windows to wave once more. They rolled up their tinted windows and drove away.

I put the bracelet in my pocket and went on to walk up to a steep hill and sat down next to the dull and dying tree, that still all the less provided shade.

I went on to examine the new bracelet. It really was beautiful, and for a girl to give it to a complete stranger, even if it had the stranger's name on it, was weird. I ran my thumb over the carving of over it. My name was not that unique, although I don’t recall ever meeting anyone else with it. My father had chosen my name, why, I wasn’t sure. The last I had heard from him (which was more than a decade ago) was that he was in the neighboring country, working with the government. On what, I didn’t know. He was just as much as a stranger when he was with us than he was now.

There were very detailed and intricate designs on it, it was something else that made it unique, not something I could necessarily point out.

I studied it more closely, determined to find what made this bracelet so intriguing. And that's when I found it, a hinge, and with a little help from my nail, I opened the heart shaped charm open. There was something inside.