Countdown (on hold)

Two years, twelve months, three weeks, fourteen hours before

Mom had let I stay home from school so that I could spend some time with Theo before he left with James. Dad left for work early, saying that his boss needed him to work overtime. He didn’t say anything to Theo as he left, but Theo bowed his head down slightly when Dad walked past him.

            As soon as Dad had left, James and Caleb swooped into our kitchen from the back door. James was carrying his suitcase and I started crying. Theo looked down at his feet, James rushed to go put his suitcase in the family room next to Theo’s, Mom was bent over the oven taking something out, and Caleb came over to me. He pulled an extra chair over to where I was sitting.

            “Shay,” he said, tilting my head up so that I could see his face. “I know you’re worried something will happen to Theo, and I’m not going to say that I promise that he will be safe because I can’t make sure nothing will happen to him, but I can promise that I’ll be here for you while he’s gone.”

            I started crying again, realizing how much Caleb cared for me and how much Theo meant to me. Theo and James came over to me, and I saw that they were both crying themselves. They squatted on either side of my chair. James leaned his head onto my arm and Theo took my hand. Caleb joined us and took my other hand. None of us said anything, we were too choked up to say anything, but it meant something that we were all together.

            Mom came over with a tray of cinnamon rolls. “Here,” she said, “eat up before you have to go.” She left us with the tray and hurried back to the kitchen. I starred at the steamy cinnamon rolls in front of me, watching them blur as more tears came to my eyes. James saw that I wasn’t eating and I was going to tell him that I couldn’t eat because I felt nausea, but he shoved a small bit of food into my mouth as soon as I opened my mouth.

            “Eat Shay.” He said as he handed me the rest of the cinnamon roll. I nodded, and ripped off another small piece. It was warmer on the inside and it felt comforting. I quickly devoured the warm pastry in two more bites and saw that there was only one more left. Theo and I both went for it at the same time. He started to pull back his hand, but I shook my head and ripped it in half the best I could. One half was bigger than the other and I started to give the bigger half to Theo, but he grabbed the smaller half.

            Mom came in then, “It’s time for you two to go to the train station.” She started crying and Theo jumped up and ran over to her. He gave her a hug and tried to comfort her.

            “I won’t get into any trouble, and I’ll stay safe. I promise. I’ll write you as soon as I get there, or I’ll make a special long distance call from the city’s city hall. Whichever one you want me to do.” Mom kept crying and nodding at Theo.

            James came back from the family room carrying both his and Theo’s suitcases. “You're both coming with us to the train station, right?”

 Caleb looked at me, and I nodded. “Yeah we’re both going.” James put both suitcases down next to Caleb. I looked at him and more tears came to my eyes. Soon, my cheeks were tear-stained and more damp than dry.

“Shay, please don’t cry anymore. It isn’t goodbye.” I felt someone’s arms wrap around me from behind. I looked back; expecting it to be Caleb hugging me, but it was James.  “We’re going to see each other again. I promise.”

I wanted to tell James to stop thinking I was crying about him. I was crying because Theo was leaving. Yes, James and I were best friends when we were younger and I would miss him some, but Theo was my brother and that was the first time he was leaving the city without us.

Mom had let Theo go, and he walked over to where Caleb, James and I were sitting. “Shay, come here,” I looked up and saw him standing in front of me with his arms open for a hug. I ran into Theo’s open arms and started crying on his shoulder.

“Please be safe.” I told him.

Theo pushed me back by my shoulders. “Am I really that vulnerable for you two to keep reminding me to be safe?” I laughed, knowing that he was talking about Mom and I. “But yes, I will try to be as safe as I can possibly be.”

James butted in then, “We live in the safest neighborhood in our city.” But nobody was listening to him. Mom was trying to usher everyone out of the house now, because she didn’t want to risk missing their train. She pushed Theo and James out of the door first, saying that it was most important that they at least arrived to the train station on time. Mom hurried out after them, leaving Caleb and I alone.   

            “They left their suitcases.” I noticed.

            “We better take them then.” Caleb said, picking up both suitcases.  He handed me James’s, which was noticeably lighter than Theo’s.

            The train station, which wasn’t far from our house, was the only way to get to the other cities unless you had a car. Only people who worked in high places in the government had their own cars. Dad had a car, but it was strictly for his commute to and from work. I only rode the train once; when Aunt May was getting married.

*Author's Note*

Okay thank you thank you THANK YOU for 1k reads. It meand so much to me! A long author's note will be coming soon about why I havent updated in forever. Thank you lovelys! I love you all so much!