Riley
We started the journey around mid morning. We packed up the supplies in our backpacks and rode the bikes through the rest of San Marcos. Biking through the city was a lot easier since we could easily maneuver through streets better than with a car.
My only concern was Ethan. I did my best to keep his ankle from getting injured any further. Before we left, I checked it and was concerned that it was still swollen and bruised. It took quite a bit of effort to put the brace on it.
"Does it hurt?" I asked him.
"Yeah," he answered, "Not as much as last night though."
"That's good." I said as I secured the brace on his ankle. As I was finishing up, I looked him in the eye and said, "I want to thank you about last night. My head wasn't in a good place."
"Don't worry about it. Let's just focus on getting to San Antonio." He packed his backpack and I helped him onto the bike seat. He held on to me tight as we rode towards San Antonio.
The only thing that made the journey unbearable was the Texas heat. This summer was unbearably hot and as we biked towards our destination we were soaked in sweat within an hour. We would take breaks every fifteen or twenty minutes so we could rehydrate.
During these breaks, I would have Ethan stretch his legs and take some meds. "You know," I said to him, "I wonder where we would've gone if my dad didn't ruin everything."
"I do too." Ethan said as he hobbled to the restroom of a rest area.
I suddenly found myself wishing that the meteor wouldn't hit. I wanted to continue living, with Ethan by my side. Having the life we should've had. I dragged him into this whole predicament, it was my fault he got hurt. It was my fault that he gave up on his dream and his life. I wanted to make it all up to him. I wanted to become the man he fell in love with, the man he made me into during our time together. The man I should've become.
"Please God," I said to myself as I held Ethan's fob watch necklace in my hand, hoping that if there was a higher power or some deity out there to make this happen, "Or whoever is listening, give us some more time together. There is so much left for us to do."
Jonathan
"God, this heat is killing me," I said as we took a break at the rest stop. I reached for my bag to pull out my water bottle but Aaron held out a water bottle from his pack. "Oh, thanks Aaron."
"My pleasure," he said, flashing that cute smile of his. "We're close to your home. Are you excited? Nervous?"
Honestly, I was more afraid to go home than anything else. My parents don't know this side of me. Not to mention that I still haven't revealed myself to Aaron. There have been times when I wanted to tell him who I really am, but I couldn't muster the courage to follow through. I have seen many cases where someone like me tells the other person and it ends in disaster. I don't know how Aaron would act if I told him I'm a guy, not a girl. Would he hate me? I wouldn't blame him if he did.
"Natalie?" he called out to me.
"Sorry," I replied, "I was just thinking. I'll be coming home and I'll get to see my parents. But not my sister. I won't have a chance to say goodbye to her."
Aaron put his arm around me and pulled me close. "I didn't mean to…"
"It's ok," I cut him off. "I am a bit nervous. They'll be happy I got home, but they will definitely have questions."
"Like how a girl like you is coming home with three guys?"
More like why their son is dressed up like a girl who resembles their dead daughter. I chugged half of the water in the bottle and readied myself to tell him the truth.
"Aaron," I started. "There's something you should know about me."
"Hey kids," Riley shouted. "We need to get going."
"I'll tell you later." I said.
As we made our way towards home, I dreaded to think how Aaron would see me, the real me. I know I'm probably deluding myself believing that Aaron would like me back. But the question lingered in my mind as we peddled forward. And if he didn't hate me after I told him, would he like Jonathan or Natalie?
Ethan
This trip was taking a toll on Riley. He didn't have to tell me anything, I just knew that the heat was affecting him more than the rest of us. As for Jonathan and Aaron, they were carrying backpacks filled with supplies, but for Riley, he had me and our pack so my added weight made his part of the trip that much harder.
"Here," I said as I handed him a water bottle. "You need to keep hydrated."
"You don't need to worry so much about me."
"Like Hell I do." I replied. "You're sweating bullets out here. We can't have you passing out here."
He smiled and took the water bottle and began drinking it. With the heat hitting us hard, we were drinking more water than expected. That worried me since we had a long way to go still. After a couple hours, we made it to New Braunfels and we came across what I had feared. I gave Riley the last water bottle in our pack.
"Here," I said as I handed it to him. " It's the last one."
Riley saw how worried I was and he called out to the others. "Hey, you two. How are we on water?"
Jonathan and Aaron checked their packs. Aaron shook his head indicating he didn't have any more water. Jonathan pulled out one bottle.
"This is bad," I said, "We need to find some water or we're screwed."
Given that we were somewhat halfway through our journey, one bottle of water would not last long among four people in this unbearable heat. One thing New Braunfels is famous for was the river. We needed to get to the river and hope the water was drinkable. It would be our only hope.