Lakehouse

Chapter Fourteen

Theo and I sit at the lake for half of an hour. The air is sweet and the sky is a light hue of blue, with white clouds spotted around it. We lounge on one of the huge, gray rocks with strained throats and open eyes, watching the beauty of the water. It amazes me how warm the lake is, despite the cold weather. Phenomenons like that have always intrigued me- the world itself is such a beautiful place; if we, the people, didn't act and treat it as ugly as we do, I am sure that the beauty would be eternal.

It's moments like these when everything is quiet that my thoughts truly start to take over, like when I was lying in the snow in Theo's front yard. What else will take up the silence? My mind is the only thing that qualifies, so it runs its transparent hands over the pages of thoughts and reads them aloud, varying from what Jake could possibly be doing in this moment or how long it will take until my sore throat will go away after all this screaming. Of course, the majority of the time is thinking and wondering about Levi and all the unanswered questions that have been reoccurring over and over and over, but that's no surprise.

When I look over at Theo, who is sitting next to me and laying back against his palms, his eyebrows are furrowed and his teeth are biting into his lower lip. I don't say anything, just watch, because he seems to be swimming deep in his thoughts as well. About Cara, most likely. I think back to when I first came over to his house and he showed me the picture of he and Cara, about how emotional and frustrated he got over her disappearance. He loves her more than anything or anyone, just like how I feel about Levi.

I look back over the water, observing the waves and the rock cove that surrounds it. Everything seems just how it was a half hour ago, unaffected by anything a human could do, until I turn my head to the left. There, among the rocks and the trees beyond, is a thin stream of smoke. It's a dark shade of gray, almost black, weaving its way through the branches of the trees. It wouldn't have been such a big deal if we were closer to the city center- air pollution like that is extremely common. But, out here, there is only one way that this smoke is rising. Something is burning.

I knit my eyebrows, making my way onto my feet.

"What are you doing?" Theo asks, looking up at me.

I don't mutter a word, merely pointing my finger towards the fumes, which seems to be getting thicker. His eyes drag up to where I'm pointing, flicking between the smoke and me, then back to the rising pollution. "Is that normal?" he asks.

"Uh, no," I say, like its obvious. "We should go check it out."

He stares at me, his lips pressed together. "What if it's like, a wildfire? Dude, we need to get out of here."

My conscience tells me otherwise.

Shaking my head, I say, "No one is ever out here."

He brings his palm to his forehead. "Exactly! Common sense says that it's something natural. Meaning, we need to go."

Theo reaches out to grab my hand, but I pull my fingers away. I keep staring out into the gas, inhaling the fiery scent, my gut twisting. I'm not going to be leaving here in oblivion.

I turn back to Theo and cross my arms over my chest. "You made me jump off a roof. The least you can do is come with me and at least see what it is."

He stares at me for a few seconds, his glance flicking between my eyes and the smoke, mentally debating if it's worth it. I know he's just trying to keep both of us save, but he cannot turn back now. I'm holding a grudge, so if he leaves, I'll be alone. I won't care because all everyone does is leave me, but I know for a fact that he won't abandon me. Especially when he's convinced there's some sort of danger. So, instead of shaking his head and continuing to pull me away, he sighs and starts towards the smoke, his hands shoved into his jacket pockets.