I woke up a little groggy from my short sleep. I looked at Marc-Andre who didn't look like he had a good night either. He had the imprint of the window on his face, which cause me to laugh a little. He seemed too tired to care. "I wonder if Mary-Kate is still mad at Brett?" I asked Marc-Andre. He shrugged when he didn't know the answer. I looked behind me and saw her looking the other way with her arms crossed. I'm going to have a talk with that girl later. We exited the bus and I got my first look at what would be my home for who knows how long. And believe me. They weren't kidding when they said small town. A guy pointed out a registration table where we were to give our info and they would find board for us and tell us if our relatives had come or not. "I hope Mum and Dad are ok" I told Marc-Andre. "I'm sure they are" He said with a smile to inspire hope. We started to walk towards the registration table, as we got closer, I started to get nervous about asking about my parents. I was about half way to the table when someone called my name from behind me. I turned around and yelled out "MATT!" Letting go of Marc-Andre's hand I ran over to him and threw my arms around my boyfriends neck. "I'm so glad you're ok" He said squeezing me so tight I could barely breath. ***Matt*** I couldn't describe how happy I was to see that Ashley made it out ok. I saw Mary-Kate not far behind. "Hey Mary-Kate! Good to see you!" I said to her with a hug. "Did Brett make it out okay?" I asked her. Her face frowned. "Yes." I was kind of confused by that. I thought she'd be happy! I shrugged it off though and went to say hi to Brett who'd just climbed off the bus. I thought of something "Are you guys enlisting to fight?" They both nodded. "I already did" I said. I saw Ashley's face fall "Oh, Baby I'm sorry" I said hugging her again. "I'm ok" she said trying to be brave. ***Ashley*** I don't know if I can handle this. First, my best friend will go off fighting with Brett and now my boyfriend, who I just found was alive. I'm not going to be mad like Mary-Kate is with Brett. I have to make the best of the time I have while he's still with me. Brett and Marc-Andre went to sign up for the army and Matt and I waited for them with Mary-Kate. When she found out the news that Matt was going too, she got mad at him. ***Mary-Kate*** Why do all the boys have to go and fight and get themselves killed. Don't they know it's stupid? Don't they know what they put us through as we worry about them all the time? Boys are so confusing. I wish mom and dad were here. I almost forgot to go check at the table to see if they were alive or not. I took Ashley's hand and we walked to the table. "Mr and Mrs Olsen?" I asked the lady. She checked through a list "Sorry they haven't checked in here." I felt like crying but didn't. "Do you need somewhere to stay?" Ashley took over since I couldn't talk "Yes. But we don't have any money" "We have free board until you can afford to pay. And we have jobs to offer too" The lady informed us "Thank you." Ashley said to the woman. I nodded politely as a thank you. She hugged me and said "It doesn't mean they are dead. It just means they haven't been found yet. Don't assume the worst and just pray" She said. I was very thankful for having such an understanding sister like Ashley. By this time Brett and Marc-Andre came back from the enlistment table. I told them that our parents were not found. They went to the registration table to find out about their families. Marc-Andre's family hadn't registered yet either, but Brett's family was killed in the attack. He disappeared into the crowd.
|
