Responsibility

I had already spent three days at Sawyer's home, and I was already feeling really bored. I probably gained ten pounds from the amount of food that Maria was cooking, which included a range of fatty Mexican foods too her own version of American foods. On the first day, I got immensely sick because of the amount of spices she put in it. Sawyer and Maria stayed in the bathroom with me for a couple of hours, helping me get up and putting cold towel on my forehead. I was extremely mortified.

On the second day, I had somehow received my homework through e-mail. I thought that since I wasn't in school, I wouldn't have to do anything but I was so wrong. Not only that, I had a special e-mail from Sawyer's dad- no, let me correct that- Headmaster Hathaway telling me that he had arranged my homework through e-mail and that I would be getting them daily. He also gave his well- wishes and told me to watch out for Maria's crazy cooking. I wish I had gotten that sooner.

All the alone time wasn't very healthy for me because my thoughts would always go back to Josh. Had he broken up with Ivy yet? Or was he still trying to figure things out? The last question made me a little mad; I mean, how hard could it be to choose? But then, we did break up, didn't we? So he had every right to move on…A lump began to form in my throat, so I pushed those thoughts away.

So, I was stuck in this very gorgeous house, in a very gorgeous room, doing my homework and feeling so fucking bored. Sawyer barely came to talk to me, probably because I was always cooped up in my room. Finally on my third day, I decided to go to Sawyer's room, invitation be damned. I was so bored and I really needed help on my Calc homework; being the genius he was, I knew he would be able to help me.

I walked across the hallway and lightly knocked on Sawyer's door. I was actually nervous; what if he didn't want me there? I was about to knock again when the door was open. Sawyer seemed a little surprised at me being there. "Hey, Reed." I smiled. He looked at me for a couple of seconds and said "Come in." I was getting the feeling that he didn't want me there.

I stood by the door. "I have some Calc homework, and I needed some help. If it's ok with you…" I left the option completely to him.

"No, no it's not a problem." He gestured for me to come inside.

His room was even bigger than mine. It was all white, with rows and rows of book cases and record holders. His bed was on the far left and there was a black leather couch. His window covered the whole wall; you could see the whole forest from there and the pool. "It's nice" I commented. He gave me a "Hmm" and went to the couch. There was a book laying there; I felt kind of bad that I interrupted his reading time. Which was pretty much all the time.

As I looked at the book shelves, I saw tons and ton of records and CDs. The CDs ranged from The Smiths to White Lies (all the bands I had never heard of). It kind of reminded me of Noelle's room and how she had tons of records in her room. "You could have a record shop here" I commented. He looked at me and gave me a forced smile. Must be a bad day for him, I thought.

"Uh…we can do your homework here" he said gesturing towards the couch. I nodded; as I got closer, I saw a bunch of pictures. Not home pictures, but real photography ones. They were beautiful. Some of them were ones from the island and other places. Others were of people and I saw some of New York City. As he was moving them away, I saw one that really caught my eye. It was an oasis, with a small water fall and a small lake around it. It was all green, and there where huge rocks surrounding the lake. Some of the trees made beautiful canopies. But it wasn't that- maybe it was the way the light hit the oasis or maybe Sawyer's favorite photographer was pretty damn good, because it was just gorgeous.

As I sat down I pointed at the picture. "It's…amazing. Did you take all of these?" I asked. Sawyer sat down too. "Yeah, I do that in my spare time. I used to put my photos in a gallery in NYC, but I haven't done that in a while." Wow. He had his own gallery.

We started doing my homework; actually, it was Sawyer doing most of it. It was quiet most of the time, except that fact that he would ask me questions and vice versa. Suddenly, Sawyer dropped his pencil and the notebook he was doing my work on.

He swallowed and looked at me. "Reed, I'm sorry for being so boring. It's just I've been around all these people who… would rather talk about the opposite sex than talk about something…better, in my case. So all these years, I've pretty much kept to myself. My sister…" Here, he took a deep breath. "She was the one who really understood me. She was kind of like my protector. She knew how I felt about being with…idiots." He smiled, forcefully. "So again, I'm sorry. If you ever want to do anything, just tell me. I'm somewhat responsible for your well-being here; I'm not that boring after all" he added with another smile, this time not as forced.

I was touched. "Sawyer, you don't have to apologize. I understand how you feel. About your friends and…your sister." I took a small intake of air. He was staring at me carefully. "You don't have to explain yourself. Just…go with the flow." Go with the flow? What the hell did I just say? "I…I mean… take your time was what I meant." I blushed, feeling extremely stupid.

Sawyer looked at me for a couple of seconds and asked "Did you like that picture?" he said pointing to the oasis one. I glanced down at it and smiled. "Yeah, it's beautiful. It... I mean… I'm speechless" I said.

Suddenly, he got up. He deliberated for a minute before he said:

"Come on, get your shoes." He was already heading towards the door.

"Wait…what? What do you mean?" I was still sitting down, and staring at Sawyer questionably.

He smiled. "I am going to show you the place where I took the picture of the oasis."

Ah, so that's where we were going. Almost instantly, I felt hopeful and somewhat excited. A trip with Sawyer. Maybe my stay at the Hathaway's residence wasn't going to be so bad after all.

ok guys good news...i'm so going to keep on writing :) thanks guys for the reviews! again, really made my day. school has already gotten to me but i think im going at a fairly good pace

sorry guys about everything slowing down in the story. i'm getting some stuff ready but its gonna be a couple or so chapters so bear with me!

what do you guys think? it's gonna take a while to get some more info on sawyer cuz he's a quiet dude, but he's getting there. any ideas you have for me? not just about sawyer, but the whole story. they would be greatly appreciated :)

reviews please! and thanks again for those who have reviewed!