"Elizabeth?" I heard a voice behind me.
"Marina?" I ran to hug her. Her appearance was terrible, her bun had come undone, and her clothes were dirty with grease, or something like that. But hugging her was the best feeling I've ever had in my life. I was so afraid something had happened to her. To them. Wait... "Where's Heitor?"
"I'm here," his voice sounded farther away, and we ran over there. "I was trying to get a signal to contact you. We were so worried."
Heitor hugged me, and it was the first time we hugged. It's strange how I didn't know this boy a short time ago, and now he was already so important to us.
"Is this the handsome guy?" Mari pointed to Paul. I blushed instantly, and he started laughing.
"I'm glad that's how you described me to your friend."
"Paul, I need to tell you what you're getting yourself into," I changed the subject, knowing this topic would be three times worse.
It was already nighttime, so we pulled Paul's car off the road and made a fire to warm ourselves. We had supplies in the car, so we managed to make a meal.
"Where do I start?" I try, unintentionally giving away too much of the game. "We ended up getting involved with some big shots, unintentionally. A friend of ours disappeared, and now it seems like they're trying to make us disappear."
Paul opens his mouth to speak but then closes it. We were silent for a bit, and I'm grateful that Paul doesn't want to ask any questions. I wouldn't want to answer them. I think my summary was great.
"Look, Paul, if you want to leave..." I start.
"I think it's better. But I can still take you to your destination. I won't leave you in the middle of nowhere."
We all turned to the rented car. My heart warmed, Paul was a gentleman, and he didn't have much sense of danger, luckily for us.
"Thank you," I thanked, poking the ground next to my foot, without looking at him.
"Later, I think we should split up."
"Of course," I nodded.
Heitor and Mari set up the tents on the ground and put more wood on the fire. Heitor had been a scout as a kid, and Mari had always been good at organizing trips. I was happy to be with them. There were two tents, and until then, it was understood that I would sleep with Mari in one and Heitor in the other, but for some reason, they both went to the same tent. Mari looked at Paul before leaving and winked at me.
I couldn't help but laugh. That was so Marina.
"I think we're sleeping together tonight," I commented as I watched them both with my eyes.
Paul turned red and got up to get more marshmallows so I wouldn't notice.
"I can sleep in the car. It's no problem."
I laughed; shy Paul was a surprise to me.
"No need for that. The tent will be more comfortable."
He brought the marshmallows, and we roasted them in silence. Despite the circumstances, this was one of the most fun moments of the past few days. I was in France roasting marshmallows over an improvised campfire with a cute and sweet guy who would never talk to me again.
"You didn't tell me much about yourself," Paul bit into the marshmallow. "What do you do?"
I looked at the fire and shrugged. I was actually quite lost. Everyone finishes high school and goes to college, or starts a job. But I didn't know what to do, I had no plans for the future. I was living off Cassandra's rent and the money I had saved from when I worked part-time at a florist in high school. And my savings were running out; I needed to decide what to do.
"I feel like I'm behind. Soon, my friends will graduate from college, and I still don't have a job."
"But you're still young, Liz. What do you like to do?"
"I have no idea. How can a person not know what they like to do?"
It was Paul's turn to laugh. He handed me his already roasted marshmallow and took my stick.
"It's more normal than you think."
"I'm already 20 years old; I should be heading somewhere. I think I've lived more in the past few days than my whole life."
Paul continued to look at me, waiting for me to continue the rant. But I just shrugged and bit into my marshmallow.
"You still have a lot to live, and you'll have the opportunity to come back to France. Don't be so hard on yourself." Paul put his arm around my shoulder and kissed the top of my head.
"Yeah, I hope so."
We spent a few more hours around the campfire, talking and reminiscing about the past. My eyes started to feel heavy, and we decided to rest. Tomorrow we would have a few more hours of travel. Paul put out the fire, and we headed to the tent that was set up. It was smaller than I expected, but luckily it was very cold, so sleeping so close to Paul was a plus.
"Paul."
"Hmm?" His eyes were already closed.
"You're not some psychopath who's going to kill me, right?"
He chuckled softly, turned to my side, and opened his eyes.
"You pose more of a risk to me than I do to you."
"Don't you get scared?" I joked.
"I find it sexy, Liz." His eyes closed again, but the smile remained.
"Thank you," I whispered softly and closed my eyes.