WiTHER | ellie tlou

iii. leaving in two

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  TWO HOURS PASSED SINCE, AND RUE continued her stay with her back pressed against the wall and her forearms on her bent knees. Her tired eyes looked up to acknowledge the knock on the slightly ajar door.

  That smell entered her nostrils, and she knew exactly who it was.

  She wearily called for Rue's name before the door responded to her knock by opening it even more. She stepped in and saw her surrounded by used tissues. Her eyes were puffy and tired, her nose looked irritated from all of the blowing.

  "Girl, what happened? Did someone die?" Elah joked, trying to lighten the mood.

She spotted a half-eaten sandwich on the coffee table that looked like it was out overnight. As she walked to Rue, she noticed how quiet the shelter was, and it felt uncanny.

"Where's Ellie?" she asked as she took a seat next to her, only having her long legs outstretched. Her hazel eyes glossed over Rue's tender and reddened knuckles that she would rub against her other palm.

  Rue blew her nose into the tissue that was scrunched up in her hand, trying not to cry at the mention. "She's gone."

  Elah's facial expression softened as she looked at Rue's. She wanted to know what happened, but she figured it wasn't a good idea to pry. "Oh, I'm sorry."

  "It's okay," Rue said, nasally, trying to convince herself more than Elah. "I'll be fine," she paused, "I'm a mess right now."

  "Maybe just a little," Elah joked again, causing Rue to finally crack a smile.

"Not worse than you, though."

"You wish."

Small laughter erupted from the duo as they did in sync. Elah patted Rue's bent knee while holding her stomach. It was silent after a while as Elah thought to herself, leaning the back of her head against the wall.

"Screw this place," she chanted, but it wasn't in her usual sarcastic tone, "Let's leave."

Rue tittered and lowered her head whilst shaking it. She brought the same used tissue to wipe her nose before tossing it with the others. When she realized silence filled the home, she turned to the woman beside her, slightly shocked at her seriousness.

"Wait, are you serious?"

"Yeah," she shrugged nonchalantly, "We can start over somewhere else and be happy together."

  Rue looked at her skeptically. "Where would we even go?"

"I don't know, anywhere but here," Elah said, her eyes lighting up. "It'll be therapeutic." It wasn't like she had family in Jackson - other than her ex-boyfriend, Marcus. She was always ready to leave but never had any excuse to do so.

"What do you say?"

  Rue sniffled as she thought, looking around the home that was made for two - maybe even three. The more she thought, the more she realized how suffocating living within walls these past months have been.

She sucked her bottom lip in between her teeth before nodding her head. "Okay."

"Yes! That's my girl!" Elah clapped her hands together, "Pack whatever you can and meet me at the main gate," she squeezed Rue's shoulder gently before standing up and walking out the door, closing it gently.

  Rue silently watched her leave and wiped her moist eyes with her bruised hand. She sat in her own solitude for a good while as she played with her clothes, contemplating if she genuinely wanted to do this.