Bad news

"Well we should shower, we stink. Do you know any other people around here that have a house we could wash off in?" I asked hopefully.

By this time, it is evening. Time just flew by today and we got no where close to our goal. If anything we got farther away from it.

"Ya, but I don't know his number. And we can't just show up at his house." Seth replied.

"Then we have no choice besides a motel."

"They have cheap hotels here. A much better choice than the motels. They won't be too bad."

"Okay then. Hotel it is."

~~~~~~~~

As we went through the small town me arrived at, I admired how similar it was to the town I grew up in. Except this town was a smaller, with only a population of 2,100 people.

Little kids were playing through the streets and a football was flying above me. With my a quick reflexes, I jumped up and caught it. The children awed at me and Seth glanced over and smiled. I threw it back at a little girl and the kids continued playing.

~~~~~~~

We walked to the hotel and Seth showered first. Once he was done I grabbed my backpack and walked into the bathroom. It felt like I haven't showered in ages. When the hot water hit my skin, I felt like melting into the water. I spent 10 minutes just standing under the water before I used the soaps they gave us to wash my hair and body.

I stepped out of the shower and wrapped myself in there soft white towels. I dried my hair and body before putting on the PJ's I packed. I brushed my hair out with a comb and tied it out of my face. I got out of the bathroom and face planted onto my bed.

I set my backpack beside me and pulled out our last water bottle and took the last sip of it. We recycled the other bottles already and we plan on getting more before going to New York.

I was really gratefully me got a room with 2 beds and not one.

Seth sat in his bed and turned on the T.V. He started to flip through the channels until he got to the news. "All across the West Coast, an ice age has been spreading. The temperatures here are well below freezing and it is hard for anyone to get around just to buy groceries." The news reporter started. I gave Seth a worried glance and looked back at the T.V. "This weather is spreading towards the middle of the U.S and in other states. It will later take over the East coast and soon the whole planet. And we thought that Global Warming was an issue!"

"Our camp has been affected." Seth said hanging his head.

"I thought it was just a dream." I mumbled.

"What was that?" Seth asked.

"Nothing. But we need to hurry. We thought that we had 2 weeks to do this but we only have 2 weeks to get back. We need to finish this quest as soon as possible. The others are paying the consequences for us messing up like what happened today." I replied.

"You said something under your breath, what was it?" Seth asked again.

"I had a dream. That's all."

"About what."

"About camp being covered in snow and ice. But I thought it was going to happen if the quest wasn't successful, not that it was happening now."

"Rital," Seth started. "You have to tell me when you have dreams like that." He stood up from his bed and walked over to mine. He sat on the edge of it and played with his ring.

"I like your ring. Who gave it to you?" I asked sitting next to him.

"Um..." he started and his voice began to break. I leaned my head and rested it on his shoulder. "You don't have to tell me, it is okay." I said soothingly.

He rested his head on mine and I saw a tear run down his cheek. I wiped it away and gave him a warm smile.

"My mom gave it to me before she passed away." Seth said turning away.

"It's okay." I said rubbing his arm. I realized how much muscle he had, it just didn't show because he wore loose long sleeves shirts.

Seth's story has made me realize so much about people. Even though people can seem super happy and seem like they have a perfect life, they can be going through a really tough time beneath their smile.

"Thanks Rital." He said facing me. For some reason, every time he said my name my heart skipped a beat. We sat in a calming silence for a while and just looked at each other's eyes. It wasn't awkward or anything, just relaxing.

Seth stood up breaking our eye contact and went to his bed wrapping himself up in his covers. "Goodnight." I said.

"Goodnight Rital."