Loveless Ages

Chapter Three

Saige wakes me up at six in the morning because the car is coming to pick us up at eight. I get myself as well as my things together and go downstairs. I have the most insane headache and I feel like I want to crawl into a corner and die. Josh is sitting at the kitchen table with his face pressed to it, half asleep and Xander is nowhere to be found.

“Where is he?” I ask Saige.

“Who Xander?”

“Yes,” I nod.

“I don’t know. He wasn’t in his room when I went to check,” she tells me. I sigh.

“Do you want breakfast?” She asks. The thought of eating anything right now is nauseating.

“No,” I shake my head, “Thank you, but I’m not hungry.”

“You kids had a quite the night,” she says with a glance over at Josh, “Was it fun?”

“Um… Josh had fun,” I tell her, “But I guess he’s paying for it now.” She laughs and looks at Josh again.

“Can I make you a cup of tea?” Saige asks. Tea sounds good.

“Yeah,” I say with a nod, “Thank you.” She goes over to the stove and begins to heat a kettle.

“Do you ever miss it?” I ask her.

“Miss what?”

“Schlutonia.”

“All the time,” she admits. “It’s where I grew up. It’s where my family was…” She crosses her arms over her chest and looks down.

“It must have been hard for you…” I say quietly. A sorrowful smile stretches across her face.

“I haven’t heard from my father since I left,” she says. We are quiet for a while and the piercing scream of the kettle cuts through the air. She turns the fire off and pours some hot water into a cup.

“Josh is doing this for you…right?” Saige asks. “Looking too get cured I mean.”

“Yes,” I answer. She retrieves a tea bad for her cupboard.

“Be careful…” She says.

“Why?” I ask.

“Because love isn’t as simple as you want it to be… and also it would be a shame for him to have come all this way and gotten cured just for you to fall for someone else,” Saige says warningly. She sets the tea on the counter in front of me. I shake my head.

“I’m not falling for anyone else…” I argue.

“So you don’t feel anything for Xander?” She asks. I am shocked by her question and slightly outraged.

“No!” I exclaim. But as soon as it comes out of my mouth, I know it is a lie. Feelings for Xander? No. I can’t have feelings for him. I’m in love with Josh. Saige is looking at me sympathetically.

“Have you ever had feelings for two people at once?” I ask her. Saige gets this nervous look on her face and begins to play with her fingers.

“…I have actually,” she says quietly.

“What did you do?” I ask her.

“I made a decision… and I ended up with Joseph,” Saige tells me. I bite down on my bottom lip.

“Do you ever regret your decision?” I ask her. She pauses and seems to be thinking for a moment.

“No,” she says quietly, “I have two daughters, a loving husband, and a comfortable life.” I nod but I don’t one hundred percent believe her. Saige looks at one of the front windows.