~ Enic POV ~

My head was buzzing. No. Wait. My whole body was. I was moving. And I could hear music. It was an irritating way to me, so I knew it was coming from a head set. I groaned as I turned my head, pried my eyes open and looked around a car. It was dark, but I could tell from the blonde hair and the scent of the car that the person driving was Isaiah’s mother, Alice. If she’s here then so is- I turned my head more and saw Isaiah asleep with his music blasting from his headphones. I remembered everything that had happened but I didn’t want to think about it. I couldn’t. Instead I sat up, catching Alice’s attention. “Hey girlie. How you doing? You hungry? I’m about to make a stop for gas.” She said in a sweet voice. I shook my head then parted my lips, realizing how dry my mouth was. “Just some water?” I croaked. She smiled and nodded. “One water. You got it.” She said looking at the road and pulling into a gas station. She got out of the car and set up the gas. When it was done, she closed the car door and locked it before walking into the station.

There was a rustling sound behind me while I looked out the window. I turned and looked at Isaiah as he woke up and looked at me. He sat up quickly and grabbed something from his pocket. It was my phone. There was a message on it. It was from my mom. A hard lump started to form in my throat and my eyes started to hurt as my breath caught. I turned the screen off and nodded. “Thanks.” I said, not making eye contact with him. “I talked to my mom. If you want, you’ll be able to live with us. We’ll arrange things.” I gave him a weird look of confusion. “You guys live in a two bedroom apartment.” I said. “And my moms room is twice the size of mine. She said for now, her and I will switch rooms since my bed is smaller. I’ll use an air mattress for now, and we’ll share a room. In a couple months or so, once my mom finds a place, we’ll move to a bigger place.” He explained, but I only caught bits and pieces of it. I nodded figuring it would be okay if he’s somewhat relaxed. I moved around uncomfortable till Alice came back, opening my car door and holding out a bottle of water. “Here you go sweetie.” She said in a sweet tone. I grabbed the bottle from her and murmured a quiet “Thanks.” before making an effort to open the bottle. Once I got the cap off, I took a large drink from it, the cold contents flowing down my throat and into my stomach. A feeling of relief came to my body but my mind was still… numb. Yeah, that’s what is was. Numbness. Numbness to sadness, and movement, and thoughts. Numbness to feeling in any way.

The car vibrated to life as Alice started the car. The rest of the ride was silent. Isaiah didn’t say anything more, and Alice didn’t ask any more questions. When we got to their small apartment and entered the door, Alice finally spoke. “I’m taking the day off tomorrow. We’re going to go shopping for things you’ll need. I’ll let you sleep in while I go deal with papers and then I’ll pick you up to go. Okay?” She said and all I could say in response was, “What..?” In a small voice, cracking in the beginning and breaking off completely midway. She smiled sadly and shook her head. “I’ll explain tomorrow.” She said before turning around and walking upstairs. Isaiah followed but I walked over to the couch and sat down.

Even though I’d been here multiple times for celebrations, hanging out, and even just to say hello, I felt uneasy being here. When Alice came back down with a small dress, she handed it to me. “Here, try this on. If it fits you can wear it to sleep in for now.” She said. That’s when Isaiah came downstairs with a t-shirt. I nodded and went to the bathroom to change. I looked in the mirror and the sight made my heart drop. My once smooth and full lips were now dry, and cracking. My eyes looked dull and my hair was slightly messy. My cheeks- even though my skin is brown- looked drained. I had a grayish brown look to me, and it kinda reminded me of green and red gum mixed together. I think I just wanted gum though. My small body looked weird in the over sized pink nightgown. It had thin straps and the width was nowhere near right for me. It hanged off me, and the straps were so long, my bra was peeking out. I cracked open the door and called out quietly, “It doesn’t fit.” Almost on cue, a hand came into view with a shirt. I took it and closed the door. I threw it over my head and slipped the nightgown off underneath before putting my arms through the arm holes. The neck hole was rounded to be close around the neck, but it was a little more loose on me. The end of the shirt went down to my mid-thigh. It obviously didn’t fit, but it covered everything. That’s what was important.

I walked out holding the nightgown and saw Isaiah. “My mom went to her room. I’ll take that.” He said taking the nightgown. “Come on. You can sleep in my room. I’m sleeping downstairs.” He said and I nodded following him up the stairs. He went to his mom’s room after pointing to his bedroom door. I went inside the room and laid on the bed lazily before laying my head down and closing my eyes. I was asleep almost instantly.