Who Else Will Love You?

"I'm so sorry I'm late." Eden apologized the second she walked through the door.

"No need to apologize, dear. You're exactly on time." The woman said gesturing towards the clock.

"I ran as fast as I could. How are you Gramma?"

"Just fine." The woman said. "Have you been alright?"

"I have." Eden said proudly.

She was leaned up in her hospital bed, an IV sticking out of her arm. Her skin was grey and her thin hair was white. But despite being on her death bed, the woman still had a sparkle in her dark brown eyes and sass in her raspy voice.

"I accidentally did drugs today." Eden confessed.

"Accidentally? No one does drugs accidentally." Gramma said with a stern look.

"Well they handed it to me and I didn't know what it was. I just did what they did." Eden defended.

"Back when I was your age, we did all sorts of drugs and had no clue what the hell they were. You don't just go along with something completely clueless. You had some sort of idea what you were doing."

"I guess. . . I met a boy." Eden said changing the subject.

"What's he look like? What's his name?" Gramma asked.

"He's a bit taller than me and pretty skinny. His hair is sorta long and he has the cutest smile. Not to mention his eyes, my god Gramma, his eyes are like heaven. They are so pretty." Eden swooned.

"Name?"

"Echo."

"Echo what?"

"Echo Page."

"I thought you were gonna say Echo Smith like that hip new band on the radio." Gramma said with a smile.

"No, Gramma." Eden laughed.

"Is he the one you did drugs with today?" Gramma asked, replacing her smile with a stern face.

"Yeah." Eden admitted.

"You be careful with boys who do drugs. They get aggressive." Gramma warned.

"Yes, Gramma. I will." Eden promised.

Eden was the only person who ever visited her Gramma, and she showed up at the hospital at the same time day in and day out. She'd never ever been late and didn't plan on it. Her Gramma was the only person she really relied on. She kept her Gramma updated on the outside world and what was cool while Gramma told funny stories about what had been cool when she was growing up. Every once in a while, they had serious talks about Eden's self harm problem and if she'd been eating, but more often than not, it was light hearted and it kept Gramma alive.

~

"Mom?" Eden called out when she got home.

No response.

"Of course." Eden said to herself.

She trudged through her house and up the stairs to her sanctuary aka her room. Eden wasn't proud of much in her life but the one thing she was proud of was her room. Christmas lights hung along the ceiling giving the room a nice glow. Her twin sized bed was pushed up against the wall and was made up with a blanket that featured a rustic british flag. She had a few posters hanging on the white walls and nice plush carpet. Eden loved her room to no end, even though it was on the small side.

Eden pulled out her laptop from under her bed, opened it and began browsing the web. She sat for hours browsing mindlessly, until she heard the front door open and a bunch of people walk in. Her mom and her mom's alcoholic friends. Eden hated it when her mom brought these people into their home, and she hated it when her mom drank, but there was nothing she could do about it. She pulled out her phone from her school bag, and debated who to call. She had no friends anymore. The hospitals' visiting hours are over. Her brother is dead. Her dad is a jerk. Who could she call? She pondered her options or lack thereof before she dialed Echo's number.

"Hello?" Echo answered.

"Wanna hang out?" Eden asked.

"Right now?" Echo asked.

"Yeah."

"I knew you'd come around. Come on over." Echo offered.

"I don't know where you live." Eden stated.

"35 Carroll Road."

"That's all the way in Pasadena." Eden said.

"I know."

"I don't have a way to get there. It's too far for me to walk." Eden told him.

"I'll give you a ride." Echo offered.

"Okay."

"I don't know where you live." Echo stated, copying Eden.

"46 Hill Road."

"That's all the way in Severna Park." Echo said, mocking Eden again.

Eden scoffed.

"I'll be there in fifteen minutes." Echo said.

"Okay." Eden said and hung up the phone.

She could hear her mom's slurred words and drunken laughter coming from downstairs. She couldn't wait to get out of here. Perhaps she could use Echo as an escape to get out of her house when she needed to. She went downstairs unnoticed and snuck into the kitchen. Thankfully her mom and drunk posse were in the living room. Eden opened up the cereal cabinet and grabbed out a bottle of vodka. She slid it into her bag and quietly walked out the back door. She went around her house and sat on the front steps waiting for Echo. He pulled up in the driveway a few minutes later and Eden sprang up instantly, running over to his car and getting into the passenger seat.

"Hey." Eden breathed.

"Hey." Echo said with a lopsided smile.

He pulled out of the driveway and began driving towards his house. Soft indie music played through the speakers as Eden and Echo rode in silence.

"What's your middle name?" Echo asked after a few minutes, breaking the comfortable silence between the two.

"Cora."

"How interesting." Echo said sarcastically.

"I didn't get to choose it." Eden defended.

"Good point. Last name?"

"Rhodes."

"Eden Cora Rhodes. I like it." Echo smiled.

"What about you?" Eden asked.

"Echo Cyrus Page."

"Doesn't flow that well." Eden stated.

"I know. Mom wanted Echo, Dad wanted Cyrus so compromise." Echo explained.

They rode the rest of the way in silence. Echo pulled into his driveway, and exited the car. Eden followed suit. They went up to the front door, put his hand on the door knob and paused before opening it.

"My family is pretty weird." Echo warned.

"It's alright." Eden said.

"Alright."

And with that, Echo opened the door and they both stepped inside. Eden was almost shocked at what she saw. Two girls were fighting, not physically but they might as well have been.

"Phoenix! Chance! Quit!" Echo shouted over the two.

They both quit arguing and stared.

"Who the fuck is this?" One of the girls asked rudely.

"Chance, this is Eden. Be nice or I'll tell Dad."

Both girls immediately backed down. Echo grabbed Eden's wrist and pulled her through the house leading her to his bedroom. He opened the door and slammed it behind him.

"Were those your sisters?" Eden asked as she sat down on his bed.

"Yeah." Echo answered.

"How many siblings do you have?" Eden asked.

"Four sister and five brothers."

"Do they all live here?"

"Nope. Two of my sisters and one of my brothers live with my mom and the rest of us live here with my dad."

"Name them all." Eden challenged.

"Chance and Phoenix. They were the ones fighting. January and Clover are my other sisters that live with my mom. Gage, Declan, Merrick, and Dawson live here and Rollin lives with my mom."

"You all have really cool names." Eden stated.

"I know." Echo said.

"A normal person would say thanks." Eden said.

"Do I look normal to you?" He asked, gesturing to himself.

"Yeah." Eden shrugged.

"Is this normal?" He asked, gesturing to his room.

"No, it's really not." Eden admitted.

The room was painted blue, but it's not like you could see the walls because they were plastered in posters, torn pages from magazines, hand written notes, and photographs. An acoustic guitar rested lazily against the wall and several skateboards were leaned against the wall besides it. His closet didn't have any doors so his neatly lined clothes sat on display and his shoes were lined neatly at the bottom. A flat screen TV sat at the end of his bed, propped up by a little table. Eden loved the room though. It was fun and wild.

"What do you wanna do?" Eden asked.

"Make out?" Echo offered.

"Uhhh. . ." Eden averted her eyes and blushed. That wasn't at all what she had expected him to say.

"It's something to do." Echo shrugged.

"Not something I could do sober." Eden joked. "Speaking of. . ."

Eden pulled the bottle of vodka she stole from the cabinet earlier and presented it Echo. His face lit up and he grinned.

"Now that's what I'm talking about."