“No problem sweetheart. I know you’re having a hard time making this decision. If you need to talk, don’t be afraid to ask your old man.” He patted my head, then started the car.

After lunch, I had called dad and asked him to come and pick me up. I needed to go home and sit in my room, and be somewhere where I could think.

“How about some tunes?” He asked, then turned on the radio without a response from me.

That was one thing I loved about dad, he never made me feel like I had to talk if I didn’t want to.

-----------------------------

When I got home, I took some Advil to try to get rid of my headache. It seemed like I always had one these days. Sometimes it felt like someone was hitting my head with a hammer, other times it felt like someone was lightly patting it with their hand. But it was always there. Never ceasing.

I fell asleep for a few hours. It felt good to catch up on my rest. I hadn’t been sleeping well for the past few days. Well, actually, I hadn’t slept well since leaving Max at the cave back in May. I had decided after that to go stay with Aunt Mary and Uncle Jack in Florida, and that had somewhat helped me clear my head. I came back with a plan, which of course immediately dissolved when I saw Max.

“What time is it?” I asked myself.

I glanced at the clock and it read 2:19p.m. I’d been asleep for a few hours. I got up and made my bed. Whenever I had a problem, it always helped me to re-organize my room. After the bed, I started on my desk. As I was opening one of the drawers, something fell to the ground. I bended down and picked it up.

“Oh God.” I gasped.

It was the pictures of Max and I when we went to the mall. We had went into one of those photo booths just for fun. That was such a great day. No worries about alien hunters, no Tess, and no mention of pre-determined destinies. He was so handsome. My heart felt like it was breaking all over again. I love him so much.

I love everything about him. His laugh. His smile. His eyes. His hands. His lips. The way he made me feel like I was the only person in the world. The way he could melt my heart by just looking at me. The way just one touch of his hand could make me go weak inside.

It was at this instant that I realized what my decision was. It was like I had been wearing a pair of sunglasses, and they had just been taken off and I could see everything so clearly now. My headache suddenly went away. I set down the pictures and went toward the phone.

I picked it up and dialed Aunt Sandra’s number. It rang a few times. I let it ring, it often took her a while to answer because she was usually in her darkroom developing a roll of film.

“Hello?” She answered, breathlessly.

I could tell that she had ran to catch the phone.

“Aunt Sandra, it’s Liz. I’ve made my decision.” I said, getting right to the point.

She didn’t say anything, but I knew that she was waiting for my decision. I could hear her breathing heavily.