Our Last Summer

Chapter 22: Nostalgia and Loneliness

(Noah's POV)

Watching Caroline come out of that room with tears streaming down her face had to be the most relieving sight I'd seen in a long time. It's been weeks since we escaped and she's been trying to kill us. Now, she looked, broken, yet at ease. It never felt more comforting until I felt her in my arms again, willingly hugging me. I don't know how Danielle did it, and I probably won't ever know, but I don't care. As long as she's here with us then that's all that matters.

We just finished dinner and Kristine finished catching Danielle and Caroline up to date about everything we've learned and what she's told us. At first, the girls were skeptical, like us, but once they listened, they accepted it. I think that is all we can do right now. We can't fight her because we barely know how to use our powers and she's much stronger than us, but she seems genuine and her story adds up, so I'm taking my chances if that means I can have food and shelter.

Now we're all sitting on the couch in the living room while a show plays in the background. Madelyn was sitting on the edge of the couch as she told a story. Caroline was a little standoffish. She was popping us some popcorn and finding us some candy that Kristine had offered to us. I think she's a little timid and feels guilty about what she did so she thinks we are going to be weird around her. It's taking everything in me not to scream that we love her and forgive her for what she did, but if I did that then she would just be even more insecure.

"Okay, here's the popcorn," Caroline said, coming over to us and plopping on the couch next to me. I smiled and took a giant handful as more people scooted closer and grabbed some too.

"Alright, everyone..." Kristine said, coming over to us. We all looked up at her and she smiled sweetly. "I'm going to go to bed. I just wanted to remind you all, especially Danielle and Caroline, to try not to use your powers much tonight. Your body needs to rest after how much power you both exerted today."

"Okay," Danielle said, smiling up at Kristine.

"And remember, tomorrow morning we have another training lesson." I glanced at Tyler and noticed he had a small frown on his lips and an annoyed glare. "Help yourselves to anything in the fridge. Goodnight."

"Goodnight!"
"Night!"
"See ya!"
"Goodnight, Kristine."
"Bye." We all said as she walked off to her bedroom. The door shut and we all went back to our murmurs.

"Do we ever get a day off?" Ethan asked, making us look over at him.

"Yeah, on Monday," Madelyn answered. Confusion immediately spread in my mind. I haven't been in touch with time in a while, other than this morning when I went on a run with Madelyn.

"Uh... what day..." Danielle started, sitting up from Ethan's arm. She was genuinely confused. "Is it?"

"It's Saturday," Jason answered, looking worried and confused. I looked around at everyone, seeing them trying to figure out how many days we'd missed. "Are you guys okay?"

"How long have we been on the island?" Tyler asked. I looked over at Jason and Madelyn, waiting for an answer that I know I don't want to hear.

"A month," Madelyn spoke up. I ran my fingers through my hair and raised my eyebrows, realizing how things have changed since we got on that plane a month ago.

"How long have we been... you know..." Danielle asked, not having to name what she and Caroline went through.

"A few weeks," Jason said again.

I looked over at Caroline and she looked like she was ready to burst into tears at any second. I hated this for her. She looked so embarrassed, and who could blame her? She threatened to kill all of her friends and she said hurtful things. She had a murderous heart and none of us could do anything about it until Danielle was okay. Thankfully Danielle was able to help.