Zoey and the Note
I did not want to tell the girls this, but the only reason I wanted to go to the room was to talk to Steve Ra, I promised her an explanation, and she is getting one. But then I thought, if she was in the room, she'd think that I was doing this so she would offer to join in, and then go with me even if I try to stop her, and even if she does not want to come. So as I entered the girl's dorm, I hoped that she was still with Erin and the others in the wreck room.
The moment of truth. I opened the door to the room and it was still empty, excellent! I opened the drawer next to my bed and took out a pen and a paper to write a note.
"Coward!" Aphrodite said as I started with the note.
"What are you talking about?" I asked
"So you choose to abandon your friend in need here" she replied, "and instead of a real answer, you leave her a note…"
"No I'm not abandoning her, I am giving her the break she deserved." I paused for a few seconds then said, "you don't know how it feels to be me, everyone just drops whatever they were doing to help me, and some lose more than they bargained for."
"How so?" she asked calmly.
"Jack and Damien barely have time for each other, Shawnee and Erin are doing all they can to help until they started hating each other, Steve Rae is working so hard that her social and love life don't exist. And then there is you…"
"What about me?"
"You seriously asking that question?" I said, "Look at you, you are dead because of me…"
"No," she replied, "I am dead because I chose to, not because of you. I am dead because it was the only thing I can do to save my friends…"
"Well then," I said, "it is my choice to leave my friends behind, protect them from the stress that is bound to come, and go after Kalona alone, instead of him finding us here and bringing the fight to us…"
She just stood there for few minutes as I finished writing the note. When I was done I stood up and went to Steve Rae's bed, and left the note on her pillow.
"I am ready to go," I said, "stay here if you want, Nyx brought you back because you had unfinished business, maybe you will be able to figure it out and deal with it here, among friends, teachers, and people who love you, I think I can use my affinities to release you…"
"you are not getting rid of me that easily," she said angrily, "sure you want to keep Steve Rae here to protect her, I don't need protecting, you do..."
"You sure you want to come, we might not return. I might end up dead, and who knows what will happen to you when that happens…"
"I don't care, you need me, and I'm gonna be there for you, no matter what"
Just then I felt my face heat up the same way my skin heats up when I get a new tattoo. But I already have tattoos on my face. I looked up at Aphrodite confused to see the tattoos forming on her face.
We looked at each other for a few minutes before she said, "so, you think this means you are making the right choice by going after Kalona?"
"I don't know," I felt the words coming from a higher power as I said them, "but I know it means you are making the right choice by staying with me"
Both of us smiled at each other before we headed out of the dorms to meet our new friends and head out for the quest that will keep us busy for years...