A Whole New World | Octavia Blake [1]

Chapter 2

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All Addison and her mother talked about was Earth and what it would be like to live there. No rules to follow, have as many children and as big of a family as you wanted. No limits.

  Addison never thought she'd live to be on the ground, but now that she's actually here, guilt and sadness drowned her happiness. Guilt that she's on Earth without her mother, like she promised. Sad that her mother's not experiencing this moment alongside her and that she unwillingly left behind her father; one  of the two most important people in her life that she cherished more than anything since her mother's passing.

  Addison bowed her head in shame and found the dark soil that surrounded her dark brown boots more interesting. Her hair fell around her face, creating a curtain of brown that hid her face from everyone and every beautiful thing Earth had to offer.

  The delinquent's happy cheers fell deaf to Addison's ears. All she could hear was the voice of her mother, saying those same words that have been haunting her for a year.

  "When I die, please don't cry for me because I'm gone. Cry because this chapter has ended and your story is beginning. Think of this chapter as a prologue to a wonderful story. Find someone to love and settle down with for the rest of your life, someone you love wholeheartedly that you wouldn't be able to live without, whether it be on Earth or in the stars —but I do hope it is on Earth."

  Those are the last words Addison remembered her mother saying. It's like she knew she was dying.

  A tear slipped from Addison's eyes, down her cheek and dropped onto her boot with a soft drip. She sniffled and wiped the tear trail. Tilting her up, she rocked her shoulder backs and recomposed herself. Addison scanned her surroundings to get her mind off her mother and found Clarke.

  Hunched over the dropship ramp, she stared intently at something between her hands. Addison stuck her hands in the jacket pockets of the jacket the guardsman gave her, and walked over, but still kept her eye out for Liam.

  On the trek to Clarke, Addison tied her hair up in a loose ponytail, leaving the few stubborn strands hanging that won't simply stayed tied. She stopped next to Clarke and peered over her arm on her toes to see a map. Clarke drew lines all over it with a small chunk of charcoal from the crash, and a thin straight piece of metal from the dropship.

  Addison kept her gaze on the map, "What are you doing?"

  Clarke spared Addison a glance before she turned back to the map. "See this here?" she pointed to a spot in the map, and Addison nodded while mumbling a quiet 'yeah'. "That's where we are . . ." Clarke then trailed her index along the faint line she had drawn to another spot that read 'Mount Weather' in red letters, " . . . and this is Mount Weather."

  Addison folded her arms across her chest and shifted her weight to one leg, "The Ark screwed us again." She sighed and met Clarke's gaze, "How far do you think Mount Weather is?"