Connections

Chapter 2 - Confusion

I woke gently. My arms slight outstretched across the blanket beside me; like I was embracing air. The young lady that I had fallen asleep beside was still occupying every part of my mind. Her smile still smiling against my eyelids as I slept.

I opened my eyes, hoping to see the real-life smile instead of just a memory.

I woke alone. The tent tightly zipped up, everything the same as it had been the night before. The natural silence surrounded Lukas as I sat up, confused. Disappointed. I crawled out of the tent, into the crisp morning air. There was no sign anyone but him has been there; I watched as the latern I'd left on all night slowly flickered off.

"Lukas?" I snapped my head up, and immediately scanned my surroundings.

"Elin?" I called and waited.

"Lukas!"

"I'm here." I called back, as I crossed the clearing quickly to respond to the voice. Darting between the trees, stumbling over the roots in the floor and into the open field, lighting up as dawn broke on the horizon. The field was empty.

"Lukas, hallo?" I turned around to a tall blonde.

"Oh it's you, Jess," She shifted her weight, placing one perfectly manicured hand on her raised hip; and arching one perfectly shaped dark eyebrow. The straps of her brand new Black heels were hooked on the fingers of her other hand.

"Well, who else?" She replied, stumbling backwards as she attempted to move from her position. We looked very much alike, blonde hair, blue eyes and sharp facial features; all the makings of models including the required height as we both towered at the top end of five foot, myself teetering on six foot; my younger sister Jessika boosting her height by wearing heels.

Jessika had taken advantage of her looks from a young age and had been modeling since she was eleven, globally since she was fourteen, the glamorous world influencing her party habits. "Why are you out here?" I asked in German. "Oh jeez, Jessika, you've just come home haven't you?" Jessika's lack of response answered my question. "Mama's gonna kill you." I smirked, walking up to my sister, now draping herself against a tree.

"This headache might first." She replied. I stood beside her. Jessika held out her arms. "Protect me big brother, from the big bad mummy!" She giggled with a hiccup.

"Oh god, are you still drunk?" I laughed in disbelief. She stared me straight in the eye; her piercing blue eyes could burn a hole in anyone's soul, but me, having collected many over the years. Getting nowhere she relented, and her shoulders slumped.

"Just a little." Hiccup.

"Ugh, come on, mama might have already left." I pulled my sister onto my back and began to walk across the field back towards our house. In the field beside our house, I pulled out my phone to call my neighbor and partner in crime.

"Hallo." A voice answered, loudly chomping on breakfast.

"Dominik?" I questioned.

"Ah! Lukas! How are you?" He asked in German.

"I'm good," Emphasising the fact somebody else wasn't. My sister smacked my chest, weakly. "have my parents left the house?" I asked, bumping Jessika up to stop her from falling to far down. "My mother specifically."

"Jess with you?" 

"How'd you guess?" I laughed in response. 

He copied. "Your mum left a while ago, the coast is clear." 

"Thanks, Dom," 

He took another loud mouthful and shouted through the food. "Not a problem, see you in ten?" 

"Sure." I slipped my phone back into my pocket. As the distance between us and our house shortened, I contemplated the various option of getting past the paddock style fence separating our garden from the field. I wasn't going to jump it but if I let go with one hand Jess would probably topple sideways, taking me with her. I didn't want to risk injury or getting dirty. "Jess, you're going to have to walk now,"

"What?" She asked, deliriously. 

"You going to have to walk," With a heavy sigh, Jess dropped down from my back, and proceeded on foot through the gate. Dad walked into the conservatory, and stood with his arms folded, flanked by the open french doors. Our house was wide, the conservatory covering half of the bottom floor, the floor to ceiling windows of the lounge occupied the rest. Upstairs, my room looked out over the conservatory and onto the field, the forest were I'd left all my camping equipment behind that. Jess's room was next to mine and had the same view, our parents had the largest room at the front of the house, often used to spy on the uptight women who lived opposite and whoever dropped off Jess in the middle of the night. 

Dad eyed Jess, giving her the once over. Running mascara, crumpled dress, shoes in hand resulting in muddy feet. Dad's gaze flicked to me and then back to Jess. "Jessika, where have you been?" He asked before she'd even gotten to the door. 

"Out," She replied. 

"Where?" 

"Town."

"With who?" 

"Santa Claus," 

"Hi Mr Friedrich!" Dom called from our garden gate, quickly overtaking Jess and reaching the house before she did, remarking how she looked as he passed. She swore at him. I stood just inside the conservatory, taking care to take off my shoes before I stepped onto the rugs. 

"Hi Dom," Dad chuckled. "Jess go get in a shower, I will bring you some soup your mum made for you this morning," 

She smiled thankfully at him. "Thanks, dad," 

"Try not to get dirt on the carpets either," Our house was furnished with white this and beige that, apart from the kitchen counter tops and the TV. Mum took pride in displaying our pristine house every time we had guests. Any stain on the carpet resulted in a telling off - even if you are the neighbour, Dom - and a while on your hands and knees cleaning it till it went back to its original colour. Dom followed me into the house. The bottom floor was mainly open plan, the dining room at the front of the house on the left, connected too the lounge that had the entire back half of the house, that connected to the kitchen and hallway and back round to the dinning room. The stairs were in the middle of the house. 

"Man, I'm starving," Dom complained as we passed through the kitchen. 

"You just ate," I pointed out. 

"Yea but still, aren't you?" MY stomach grumbled. 

"A little." 

Dom and I made a mess of the kitchen frying eggs, hash browns and bacon before heading up to my room and spending the rest of the day on the xbox. Elin occupied my mind for a large proportion of the day, just thoughts as her smile flashed in my mind again and again. I wished for her to be real, but how could a girl fit me so well. Like a jigsaw. When evening finally came round again, I walked Dom out, leaving him at my garden gate he went home and I went back across the fields to the forest. 

I stopped at the edge. My lantern was alight. A dot in the dark. I don't remember leaving it on. "Surprised it lasted this long, if I am honest," I shrugged and walked towards it. I came to the clearing, walked round the back of my tent and stopped. "This is where she stood." I looked down at my feet, seeing a snapped twig. Elin had snapped a twig. A twang of guilt hit me, she had been so frightened by me, I shouldn't have scared her. But how else was I supposed to approach her? I continued round to the front of my tent. The lantern was still beaming bright. "This thing has more charge than normal," I chuckled. 

"Lukas?" A sleepy voice called. A sleepy voice I recognized. A sleepy voice coming from inside the tent...? I hurried to unzip it. And fell to my knees in the entrance-way. Pushed up on her arms, awakening from sleep, was Elin. My beautiful dream. 

"Elin,"