Chapter Nineteen (Yes, I know it's late. But the novel is done!)

I woke up the next morning, my first thought being Damien. I thought about how happy he made me feel, and how in love with him I really was. But then I remembered the bad part of last night. The part where Aunt Clara screamed her lungs out at me. I was worried for what was to come next.
“GIRL, GET YOUR USELESS ASS DOWN HERE,” she screamed from her couch.
I quickly tip-toed towards her, as if that was going to make a difference. “Yes, Aunt Clara?”
“Pack your stuff, you’re leaving today.”
“Wait, what?”
“You’re going to go live with your uncle Stephan in Orlando.”
“Orlando?” I exclaimed. “Like, Florida?”
“No, Orlando, China,” she commented sarcastically.
I felt like crying on the inside. Orlando. No friends. No home. No Wal-mart. No Damien.
This morning I was supposed to go to work with Damien, but I called him and told him that I would walk to work today because I was going to be late. He asked why, but I just said that I’d explain when I see him.
Packing took longer than it usually took me. It still didn’t take me too long because I never really unpacked when I came to a new guardian, but it took me longer than packing used to take me. I was in a state of denial. I didn’t want to leave this place. This place had real friends, real love.
Slowly, I sauntered to work.
“Mornin’, Paige!” David greeted me at the door.
“Oh, hello,” I said quietly.
He frowned at me. “Everything all right?”
I gave him a sad smiled. I could have told him. I could have said that I was in love with his son, but I was going away. I could have said that this was the first place that I ever felt at home, and now I was just leaving it forever, never to look back.
“Eh. Could be better,” was all I said. “I guess I’ll be fine.”
“All right. Well, I’m putting you and Damien in charge of the same department today. That all right with you?”
I was a bit skeptical, but I thought this was a good opportunity. It would be best if I didn’t tell him yet so he wasn’t depressed the whole day. I decided to take this chance and spend the rest of the day with him and have a good time. I would tell him at the end of the day.
“Paige!” he greeted happily when he saw me.
“Hi, Damien,” I said, forcing myself to smile.
He put his arms around me, and I fit into his hug like a lock in a keyhole. I knew I was going to miss him more than anything.
“Hey, why were you late?”
“Oh, I, um, had some stuff I had to do this morning. You know my Aunt.”
“Yeah. So anyway, we got the whole day together. We could try to get some work done or we could slack off and spend our whole shift being with each other.”
I sighed. It was so hard pretending to be happy. “Whatever you’d like to do. Today just feels… different. So I’m good with anything.”
He gave me a genuine smile. I could tell by the way his face lit up that he was going to be enjoying this day with me.
“Let’s skip work,” he suggested.
I was going to tell him how wrong this was, but then again, I didn’t care if I got fired. I was never going to work here again. And he couldn’t get fired, he was David’s son. What was there to lose?
“Where do you want to go?”
“Nowhere,” he said. “Let’s get in my car and go nowhere.”
“Like how we did that night of the Prank?”
“Exactly,” he said, excitement making his voice shake. “You up for it?”
“Up for it? Damien, I’ve been up for it before I was born. Let’s do it!”
“Ha ha. Excellent.”
So we snuck out the back door and crept past the dumpster were Damien’s alcoholic beverage was still hiding.
We drove. That’s it. The second we got into his car, we did nothing but drive. Occasionally we looked at each other and laughed for no good reason, but it was mostly driving.
“Why?” Damien finally said.
“Huh?” I asked, confused. “Why what?”
He shrugged. “Just why? You could pretty much ask your question to anything, couldn’t you?”
“I guess… but why are you asking that?”
“See? Why?”
“Because.”
“Hm?”
“Because,” I repeated. “Could be the answer to ‘why?’ almost every time, couldn’t it?”
He laughed. “Clever.”
After that, it was mostly silent. I usually loved our seemingly intelligent conversations that usually truly meant nothing, but I couldn’t help but continue to think of this one.
Why was I treated like this? Why did I have to keep guardian jumping? Why is it that once I finally find happiness, I have to leave it?
Because.
Time passed by to quickly. It upset me because I wanted to spend more time with Damien. I wanted the last day to be something epic, not just us driving around.
“Hey, Damien,” I spoke up. “Do you want to do something amazing today?”
“Any day,” he answered. “Got any ideas?”
I smiled. I loved his attitude. He didn’t even question me, he was just ready to get up and go for it.
“Absolutely no ideas,” I told him. “You got any?”
“Yes,” he said. “Let’s drive up to the lake.”
“Lake?” I asked.
“Yeah. You know. Lake Michigan.”
He shocked me. “How long is that going to take?”
“Eh,” he said. “What is time, anyway?”
“Something we’re deprived of,” I muttered quietly.
“What did you say?”
“Oh, nothing,” I said, as if I didn’t know what he was talking about. “I guess we could go. But what would we do there?”
“It doesn’t matter what you do, it matters who you’re with.” He glanced at me and smiled. “And I’m with you, so it’ll be awesome.”
And before I could even answer back to him, he set his gear shift on drive, and sped off towards Lake Michigan.”
“Why?” I asked him.
“Depends,” he said.
“Damn!” I exclaimed.
“What?”
“I expected you to say ‘because,’” I laughed.
“There are multiple answers to every question.”
“What does it depend on?”
He shrugged. “Who knows?”
“That’s not an answer, that’s another question.”
“You could answer a question easily with another question.”
“Damn,” I said again.
He laughed. “What? Why do you keep saying that?”
“You are too damn smart for your own good.”
“Not really, I’m just making up some crap to sound smart.”
I laughed.
“There’s one thing I hate about that question, though,” he said. “You don’t know what it’s referring to. That’s why I answered ‘depends’ instead of ‘because.’”
I shook my head and laughed. “Too smart, Damien, too smart.”
He gave me his infamous Mona-Lisa-smile. “Depends on what you’re asking.”
I thought about it for a second. “Why does life have to be so unfair?” I asked.
“Because life can be too fair at times and it needs to balance out,” he answered.
“Why the hell are you so smart?”
“Depends. What do you define as smart?”
“Good question.”
“Good answer.”
“Was that a joke?” I asked, starting to get confused.
“What do you think?”
“Huh?”
“Hm?”
“Oh, never mind.”
He laughed. “The beauty of question and answer. It’s times like this where you truly understand that there is an answer to every question. It all depends on the question and what you expect the answer to be. You just need to be careful with your answers, or you’ll get lost.”
“Why?”
“Depends.”
“Just because?”
“Exactly.”
Silence filled the care for an even longer period of time. I was getting worried, because my flight to Orlando was tonight, and if I was late, Aunt Clara would be sure to murder me. I could tell she didn’t want to catch another glimpse of me ever again.
“Shit, I don’t think we’re going to make it to the lake,” I said, looking at the time. “I had to be home at a specific time.”
“Why?”
I was thinking of the best way to explain to him. I’m moving away, I could’ve said. You’re never going to see me again. But instead, I just said, “Because.”
He sighed. I could tell he was disappointed. “Oh well. Maybe next time.”
Damien was starting to turn around and drive away when I said to myself, “Yeah… next time…”
I didn’t speak to him for a very long time. I wanted to talk to Damien. Talking to Damien was one of the best things in the world. But I felt that if I were to open my mouth, I’d burst out into tears. So instead I just bit my lips, tried to keep tears from welling up in my eyes, and shut up the whole way.
“You want me to drop you at your Aunt’s house?”
I turned to the window so he couldn’t see my face in case I cried. “Sure,” I managed to say.
“Paige… are you okay?” he asked, still keeping his eyes on the road in front of him.
I didn’t answer, and just sighed.
Damien quickly glanced at me and then looked back at the road. He knew now that I was sad about something, but I’m glad he didn’t ask.
And then the tears started. They filled my eyes, and when I blinked they slowly ran down onto my cheek. I was still looking out the window, so Damien didn’t see.
Finally, we arrived back to the streets that I was just barely familiar with, and within a few short minutes, we stopped in front of my Aunt Clara’s house.
I didn’t look at Damien. I couldn’t bear to. I knew it would hurt too much.
“Paige, please tell me what’s wrong. You’re crying. I know you. What’s up?”
Still not answering, I opened the car door and stepped out. I was still facing away from him, but I spoke just loudly enough for him to hear. “Bye, Damien.”
He sighed. “Paige, you know how I feel about saying ‘bye.’ I think it’s so stupid because it’s not really ‘bye.’”
“No, Damien,” I told him. “This time it’s ‘bye’ for real.”
I didn’t see him, but I heard him get out of his car, and then I felt his arms on me.
“What are you talking about, Paige?”
I looked into his eyes. I was going to miss his eyes. “I’m moving away. Aunt Clara gave up on me just like everybody else. No one can ever stand me.” I sniffled, and Damien put his arms around me. I could tell by his reaction that the words I said were still trying to sink into his brain.
“But where are—”
“I’m going to Orlando, Florida,” I answered before he finished. “And it’s not just a ‘see you later’ it’s a ‘goodbye.’”
“Are you going… now?”
I sniffled again, and nodded. “Aunt Clara is going to call a cab to take me to the airport soon.”
“No need,” he said. “I’ll drive you there.”
Without looking at him I went into Aunt Clara’s house, quickly grabbed my stuff without her noticing, and went back outside.
I didn’t want Damien to drive me, but I didn’t want to argue with him. He set me back into his car, and before I knew it, the engine revved.
It was completely silent. Of course, I didn’t expect us to talk. The only thing I could hear was my constant sniveling and the car’s tires against the road.
Finally, we reached the airport. I got down, and so did Damien. I felt him next to me again.
He turned my head so our eyes met. He bent down and kissed me. It was the thing I would miss more than anything. His warmth, his arms around me, his love.
We pulled apart, and I looked into his eyes for the final time. “Goodbye, Damien.”
I started to walk away, pulling my suitcase with me.
“It’s never goodbye,” I barely heard him say. I didn’t turn around. “My love, it’s never goodbye. I’ll see you later.”