Lying alone in my room, with my guitar on my chest, no one in the house but myself; I felt completely empty, drained, nonexistent. I couldn't be more relieved that they stayed at his parents yesterday so they couldn't see how lifeless I felt.

I haven't picked up this stupid thing in a while, and I was hoping that if I did, I'd subside the disturbing thoughts running through my mind. Alas, it has done nothing for me.

I strummed gently at all the strings on my guitar, not paying attention to any specific cords or any pattern. Just simple strumming to give my room a bit of noise so I could drown out the voices in my head.

Feeling a random vibration in my pocket, I reached out and picked up my phone. Odd, seeing as I couldn't sworn I put the thing on the do not disturb option.

Without looking, I answered the call.

An angelic voice danced in my ears. "Eli?"

I didn't answer, but mimicked the beautiful sound on my guitar.

"Eli?" The sweet like sugar voice asked again. "Are you there?" I felt in a trance.

"Hm, yeah." I mumbled, fiddling with the strings.

"Are you okay?" She asked, hesitant.

I looked down at the caller ID and widened my eyes.

"Aria? Why are you calling?" I asked, voice low and smooth to hide the rasp.

"Are you busy?"

I glanced down to my chest, where my guitar was resting before raking my fingers through my hair. "Not particularly."

"I require your services," She gave a chuckle. "Um... If I had access to anyone else, I wouldn't have bothered you, but my options are kind of... limited."

I said nothing in response, but instead contemplated hanging up.

"So, anyways." She said over the silence. "My car broke down on the side of the road and I-"

"Where are you?" I asked, my attention focused.

"I'm about an hour and a half from your house, in Port Alberni."

I sigh, frustrated. "And I'm guessing you're only calling me because I'm able to tell you what's wrong with it?"

Her laughter filled the receiving end of the phone. "Well, yeah. But don't worry, I actually want you to come."

"Okay," I said, attempting to hide the distrust I felt. Already walking towards the door with my truck keys in my hand, I replied swiftly, "Stay by your car. I'm on my way," and I hung up before she got a chance to waste my time with further conversation.

I glanced at the time and see it was only eight in the morning. I looked up at the roof of my car, disappointed by how early it was.

When I arrived to her destination after driving around looking for her, I drove slowly down the deserted road where her shitty car was pulled off to the side, and parked behind her. I hopped out of my truck quickly with my cigarette still in my mouth, puffing on the brand new stick.

"What happened to stay by your car?" I muttered after taking my cigarette out.

She skipped up to me from the field beside us, happy despite her situation. "I got bored and it's beautiful here, I wanted to go exploring," She smiled innocently.

I rolled my eyes are her and tossed my smoke on the ground, putting it out with my boot before coming close to her. I blew the remaining cloud from my lips before approaching.

"What the hell are you even doing way out here anyways?" I brushed off her comment and walked up to her beat up grey Toyota car to inspect what's wrong with it.

"I wanted to check out an art store," She replied, almost ashamed. "I never made it to the shop though."

"Pass me your keys," I demanded.

I attempted to turn on her car with no luck. After looking further into the reasons why her car stopped working, I could already gather a lot of conclusions. Her driver door was sticky to open and her suspension was complete shit which I found out by prying the stupid door open. Her exhaust was falling off and her muffler had a hole in it, the list went on. "I'm shocked you made it this far in this thing," I said under my breath. "You have a death wish." I turned around to see her standing behind me, a hopeful look on her face. "Your alternator is dead."

"I have no idea what that means," She blinked at me.

"It means you're out of a car until you replace it," I watched her face drop and I felt a ping of guilt from telling her the news.

"Oh," She mumbled.

"Let me make a phone call real quick to see what I can do," I walked back to my truck and leaned against the door frame, reaching in my pocket to dial the first person that came to mind.

"Boyo!" Tony picked up from the other side.

"Hey, Tony, I need a favor."

"Anything, whatcha need?" He replied with excitement. No matter how shitty I treated him, he always came through as if I've never done wrong.

"I'm out in Port Alberni, I need you to bring the work truck to tow a car for me." I glanced over at Aria who's sulking beside her piece of junk car.

"What's the magic word?" Tony taunted.

"Now."

His laugh ruptured over the phone. "That works too. I can do that no problemo, but I won't be there for another few hours or so, I'd say."

"That's fine. I'll text you my exact location, thanks." I hung up.

I walked over to Aria and she looked up with her big blue eyes, burning a hole in my face. Her tiny freckles were starting to fade which wasn't surprising since it was close to the end of summer, hitting September. Her hair seemed to have grown longer than before, if that was even possible, hanging just above her hips. Her outfit, a light grey tank top shirt with buttons that were open, exposing her breasts just slightly.

She had to be careful, with looks like that.

When I walked close to her, I almost towered over her.

"My fr-er- co worker, will be here in a few hours." I talked quietly, as if there wass other people around us on this deserted roadside.

"Okay, thank you," She smiled. "I really appreciate you coming. Um... this wasn't the outcome I was hoping for. You don't have to stay and wait, I'll manage here."

"I'm not going to just leave you out here." My face hardened and my lips flattened. I didn't blame her for doubting my character.

Bright eyes peered into mine. "Well, then what do you want to do?" She piped up, ignoring my attitude.

I walked back to my truck and motioned her to follow suit. I reached in the backseat of my vehicle and grabbed two bottles of water, and my pack of smokes, then I reached over to the stereo and turned the music on, loud enough to hear, but quiet enough to hear myself think without distractions. I climbed on the back of my truck, on the pick up, and made myself comfortable.

Aria followed and climbed on to the truck with me, sitting a little over an arms length away from me.

"I hope I wasn't interrupting any plans you had."

"This is a lot better than what I was doing."

Aria squinted her eyes at me, wonder written all over her face. A few moments of silence went by, so I leaned back on the edge of the truck and closed my eyes.

As if I was here right now, in the middle of nowhere, beside a girl I've tried so hard to keep away since I've met her. The universe had a hex on me, I swear it.

The poor girl, she was stuck with probably the last person she'd want to be with.

"So," She broke the silence; I kept my eyes closed. "Does it feel good to be home?"

I didn't respond because I didn't know what to really say. Perhaps if I was quiet enough, she'd quiet herself too.

"Well, I've been wondering... How did you meet Tyler? And Lacey?"

I finally opened my eyes and frowned. "Did they not tell you?"

She shook her head. "No."

The blabber mouth Lacey spilled little details on my life but didn't tell her how we even knew each other. Lacey loved to gossip, it was surprising that she hasn't mentioned anything as simple as that.

"You'd be surprised on how little they tell me about you. They tend to explain the shortened version of things, which I respect and all, but it doesn't make me any less interested." She babbled on, and crossed her legs, now sitting across from me.

"We met about a week after I ran... Moved here."

"You're such a closed book." She laughed and shook her head. "How did you meet? It's just that, you're not like them at all, and I want to know how you all became what you are today."

I smiled. Of course I'm nothing like them. "And you are like them?" I countered. "I fixed his car and in return he got me a job."

"How does that work?"

"Are you interviewing me?" I accused, the two of us still staring at each other. Fuck that.

"Maybe," She smiled. She was always smiling - She had a beautiful smile. "I figure we can get to know each other since we might be here for a while..." She kept her gaze on me for a moment before finally looking away.

I sighed. Fine, I'll bite. "A week after I moved here," I started, causing her to look back at me. "I was looking for a job at the mechanic shop-"

"-The one that you work at now."

"Yes." I nodded. "I was in the middle of trying to convince Shawn, now my boss, that I knew what I was doing when Tyler showed up. Shawn was about to take Ty as a customer but I pretty much pushed him aside and introduced myself and explained everything that his car needed within a few minutes of looking at it.

"Shawn still wasn't sure on his decision on hiring me, and I guess Tyler saw my struggles and that I was about to be turned away." I laughed as an attempt to hide my nerves. "I didn't look all that great, y'know? I didn't have a lot..." I frowned. That point in my life was hard to think about. "Anyways, he jumped in and said he'd only spend money there if it was me that was working on the car for him." I sat back and reflected on our past meeting. "He must've seen something in me, I guess."

"He gave you a win," she pointed out. "Tyler talks very highly of you," She defended him. "So then what happened?"

Aria leaned forward towards me while I told her my story. I almost needed to hold my breath to keep any remaining distance from each other. "He hung around the shop while I fixed up his car and we got to know each other a bit, you know, little things. We got along fairly well. After I fixed his car, he asked me to go out for a couple drinks with him. I let it slip that I was living in a motel and didn't have a place around here yet. He casually mentioned that him and his girlfriend just moved in together-"

"Lacey?"

"Yeah, don't worry," I assured. "They've been together for a very long time."

"So then what?" Aria rested her chin in her hands.

"Then nothing, really. I left the bar back to my hotel, and he went home."

Aria frowned at my answer, clearly not liking it. "But you live together." She informed me as if I had no idea.

"We do," I agreed.

Her frown deepened.

"He let me crash on the couch for a couple days, which turned into a couple weeks, which turned into giving me a room, to having it a permanent arrangement." She smiled at that. "It was surprising since I wasn't the best guest, coming in and out of the house at all times of the night, but we became really close - Lacey too." I smiled, thinking back to my first encounters with my best friends. "They're the most genuine person I've met."

Giving the shortened version to Aria seemed reasonable enough for now. Considering Tyler and I actually met because he wanted to buy drugs, didn't seem like an appealing conversation.

Aria heard the truth, Tyler really helped me get a job in the exact way I told her, and he really did let me crash at his house despite knowing what type of person I was. When Tyler and I got to the bar after getting to know each other a bit, I assumed he just had an inkling that I may or may not be the type of person who knew how to get things. That's when he finally opened up - after a couple beers - that he needed to prove to his father that he was responsible and dedicated enough to run his business. Tyler was so tired. He was having a hard time adjusting to his new job at the law firm.

He asked me if I knew anyone who'd be able to sell him speed or any pills that can keep him awake for a long period of time. It just so happened that I had Adderall on me. I warned him that they were addictive if they were being used to stay awake.

He was desperate.

I knew after the first thirty seconds of meeting Tyler, what type of person he was. He didn't need those, he didn't need to stoop down, and he definitely didn't need to get into the same habits as I got into - even if it was just a bit of Addies.

Aria didn't need to know that him and I partied all night. He even dipped into my blow at one point. I showed him a taste of that lifestyle - my lifestyle, and I taught him that it was something he should never want to fall into. He'd lose everything, just like I did.

He was lucky. He actually listened to me, and never touched hard shit again. The longer we knew each other, the more he realized how smart of a decision he made. We will always have our party bonding night though; A secret that not even Lacey knew of.

"I probably wouldn't have lasted this long out here if it weren't for them, that's for sure." She told me, which I remained silent in return. "Do you think you'd still be here if they weren't around? Living here, that is."

"No," I answered, locking my jaw down.

I'd be dead.

"Your turn." She flashed her teeth, causing me to raise an eyebrow. "To ask me a question."

"I don't want to play," I mumbled. The last thing I needed was for her to know too much and for me to ask too much.

She continued to investigate my face, making me feel nothing but annoyed and uncomfortable. It almost made me fear that she'll find the answers to something, just by looking at me. But I mastered my poker face many years ago.

Elias! Stop acting scared, stop acting fucking scared, you pathetic fuck. Be ruthless! Next time I see that scrunched expression I'll smack it right the fuck off. Go again!

Sometimes you have no choice. Where I grew up, if I gave any form of emotion or information away, I'd be screwed.

"I wasn't technically asking, I was telling," She gave a devious smirk.

"Fuck it," I finally said and stood up on the pick up to grabbed my smokes out of my back pocket. I pulled out one of the rolled joints that are resting inside and sat back down. "I'm getting high."

If I was going to last this day, I needed to at least do it stoned.

Aria looked at me with raised eyebrows, almost stunned by my decision. She was a good girl.

"Does that bother you?" I asked, a pinch of harsh in my voice.

"I'm just wondering if it's a good idea." She tilted her head to the side.

"You have never done this before, have you?" I put the joint in my mouth and reached for my lighter.

"Sure I have," She detested.

"Yeah, sure." I tantalized. "Did you want to try it then?" I took an inhale of the joint before passing it to her, wavering it in front of her face just to be an ass.

After contemplating, to my surprise, she took it out of my hands and put it between her lips. Her face showed nervousness but her eyes showed determination to prove herself. Aria took a big inhale and immediately started coughing her lungs out.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed her the water bottle. She sipped in between coughing and awkwardly gave me the joint back. "So smooth." I said under my breath.

"Shut up," She scolded as tears gloss over her eyes.

"Are you sure you've done this before?" I pressed my lips together to hold back a laugh while inhaling.

"Never," She coughed admit. "I've always wanted to but I was too scared." She giggled, wiping away more tears. "Jeez."

"I'm a bad influence on you, then."

"No, no. I'm happy that it's you that I'm doing this with, rather than anyone else," She smiled reassuringly.

I took the joint back and inhaled it a little more before tossing it back to her. "Is that because you're embarrassed to show relevant people this side of you?"

"No." She frowned and gave me a weird look. "It's because I know that you'll help me out if I start freaking out."

"I don't know about that. Take a smaller hit," I demanded before releasing the joint into her small fingers.

She nodded and smoked further with me, coughing a little each time. "My parents would kill me if they knew I was doing this," Aria admitted before chuckling.

"I'm sure they'd love to see you around someone like me." I muttered which made her laugh. "Are you guys close?" I remembered a while ago that we had a brief conversation about her family life.

"No. Sometimes I can't even be in the same room as them," She looked down, angry. "Don't get me wrong, I love them. They're my parents. But I can't bring myself to feel any happy emotions towards them."

"Yeah, I get that."

"We just don't see eye to eye. If you ever met them, you'd know why." She shivered and looked at me with a soft smile. "I'm happy to be out here." She took the joint out of my hand and inhaled confidently.

She looked down at her phone for a moment. "Phones dead."

"Was that your brother on your lock screen?" I was bothered with my need to know why it made me so curious to know who that was. It was secretly eating away at me since I discovered it on the counter.

"Yeah, I miss him," She looked away. "I feel bad that he's stuck with them, but he has too big of a heart to leave." She sighed. "He is older than me, he's about twenty-two. He's really cool, I think you'd get along with him really well actually. He loves music, all types of music, and he has a very welcoming personality, unlike my parents. He was the popular kid at school, everyone loves him."

"He seems great, Aria." I pushed my hair back and rested back into the ledge of my truck. "I didn't know that."

Hey laugh sounded like a song for the birds. "Yeah because you never gave me a chance to tell you!" She stuck her tongue out at me.

"How do you feel?"

She started to laugh then covered her mouth with her hands. "I feel floaty."

Giving her very strong weed, it was no surprise that she was feeling this way. I felt content with spending time with her. My nerves were fading, as was my bitter attitude."

Aria stood up and started walking along the pickup of my truck. I watched her, still in my sitting position, one leg crossed over another.

"What are you doing?"

She bent down in front of my face and looked into my eyes, so close that I can feel her breath on my skin. I stiffened with her being so near me but I fought my body from moving away from her.

"You have nice eyes," She observed. I bored my eyes into hers, finally having a chance to get the details of her face.

"Yeah?" I asked, almost questioning her compliment. Vibrating tongue.

"One's an emerald green, the other is blue... Like a turquoise almost with green hues colliding near the pupil. They are quite lovely." She nodded, approving her statement. "They're also very red."

"Your eyes are gorgeous, Aria." I slipped. Just being honest. "Quite possibly the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen." I whispered.