Lela! I'm telling you whose POV it is so no one gets confused, even though it's obvious after a sentence or two...
The days dragged. It seemed that the closer it got to my birthday, the slower time went. I often glanced at Nathanael when it was like this, just to see if I could tell if he was doing anything.
One of the things I kept thinking about was my mom. Who was going to tell her where I was? How I was doing? I talked to Alex about it, and he thought I should call. We found a payphone outside of a gas station. The smell of gasoline was hardly bearable, but I endured it for a conversation with my mother.
"Hello?" came my mom's voice on the other end.
"Hey, mom," I started, uncertain of what to say.
"L-Lela?" she stammered. "Where are you? Where've you been? Why haven't you come home?"
"Mom, I'm fine," I said. "Long story short, I ended up in New York City with no memories of how I got here."
"You're still there?" she asked, now sounding more than worried. Hysterical, even.
"Mom, calm down. I'm fine. I stayed at a homeless shelter for a while, and then this nice old couple took me in. I could try to earn some money, but I don't know if it'd buy me a plane ticket home."
"No, no, no," she said hurriedly, "I'd rather you stay there than come home a prostitute."
I was stricken dumb. When I could finally speak, the stupid phone asked for another quarter, which I fed it. "Mom, I am not stupid. But if you don't want me home, then fine. I might call again later. I might not. Bye."
"Lela—" I hung up and let the tears flow.
When Alex asked what was wrong, I told him. He held me close, running his fingers up and down my back. After a moment, a warm, tingly sensation spread from where his hands touched me.
"I always forget you guys can do that," I said, trying to hide my surprise.
"You do that a lot," he replied with a grin. Something told me my shock was apparent.
I punched him in the shoulder, which only made him laugh, before starting back down the sidewalk to where I lived. He fell into step beside me, grasping my hand in his.
Don't you just love these guys? If I didn't, I wouldn't be writing their story. ^^