I stopped in a parking lot not far from town. The night was pleasant, the air a bit cold but not disturbingly so. The parking area was separated from the main road by a line of trees and bushes, where rare trucks were now passing by, and their lights scattered between the bushes briefly illuminated parts of the parking lot. A couple of truckers had chosen the parking area to take a nap, but I hadn't seen them moving around. There was no parking lot lighting, only the light coming from the cars and the faint stars above. At least the toilet did have some light, but it worked only if somebody was moving inside. Of course, it turned off while I was using it; it had a very short timing, and I had to wave my hand to activate it again. Well, at least it was not very dirty.

As I washed my hands at the fountain outside the toilet, a trucker passed by and nodded. I answered and went back to my bike. There was a wooden table and a bench there, and I made myself comfortable. I placed a table lamp on the table. Of course, there was no electrical power, but a simple spell lit the bulb. I added a plate, some crackers, butter, and some jam. Now I was starting to feel comfortable. Gosh, this inventory is such a boon to a traveling soul!

I took my mobile in my hand and pulled down the map. Let me see if I could find a new place where I should start my new life.

There were so many options!

Browsing through the map, I felt how my heartbeats normalized themselves, and my breathing calmed. One life ends here, another one starts. Life goes on.

Maybe I should go to the seaside? Or up in the mountains? I don't need to stay in one place; I could go roaming through the land. There were ways how I could come to some money to sustain my life. What should I do?

Nobody came to disturb my peaceful browsing.

Thinking about my options started to calm my overheated brain, but when I thought back at my phone conversation with Ma, there was another burst of tears coming out of my eyes. Oh, well, it would take some time until I really digest this. However, it did not take long until I calmed myself enough to retake the mobile and restart my planning.

A coffee now would be ideal! I searched for some coffee in my inventory. I did find coffee beans, but I had no coffee machine. Even if I had one, there was no power here. I sighed. I will have to do without coffee for now, but I'll have to think of a way in the future. I'm a coffee addict, and I don't want to give up on it yet.

Hold on a sec, making coffee isn't rocket science. First things first, gotta grind those beans. That's easy. I grabbed an empty plate, took a handful of beans, and just rubbed them between my hands, giving them a little magical boost. Lo and behold, the plate started filling up with freshly ground coffee. I plopped that into a cup, poured some boiling water, and the final touch was a quick filter. Ta-da, a cup of piping hot, freshly brewed coffee!

That raised my spirits.

I sipped from the coffee and thought back to my parents. I could not be angry with them. I had a happy childhood; they did take care of me and did their best in all those years. How could I ever forget that? No way.

But my ma is such a religious hothead! Somehow it did not influence her behavior towards me until now, but I guess that was what pushed her to be so absurdly severe now. Or was there something else that had changed her now? Was this linked to the fact that I insisted on moving away from home? But why would that make her angry with me?

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

I shrugged. Whatever made her make her choices, I cannot understand, but it is what and how she decided. I think that I would have never done something like this to my child, but who knows what other mistakes I'd make?

Sooner or later, I would have to stand on my feet. I did not expect any more help from them; actually, I was thinking about how to help them. They'll have it only harder without my help, but even so, I'll try to help when I am able to.

I yawned and stretched my hands, and sipped some more coffee.

A car came into the parking. There had been another couple of trucks that had briefly stopped for the drivers to use the toilet, so I did not pay it too much attention. I raised my eyes when I saw it did not stop near the toilet but came straight towards me. It parked just beside my bike, as if the parking would not be big enough!

I braced myself to defend my turf and tell them to fuck off when a yell stopped me.

“Lores!” - somebody yelled, and three guys came out of the car.

Then I recognized the car: it was Hew's jeep. I was completely shocked to see all three coming out of the jeep. It was late at night; what the hell?

“Hew? Mike? Tom? What are you guys doing here?!”

Tom shot me a sidelong glance. "Take three guesses!" he quipped, winking as Hew joined in with a greeting.

"Hey!"

"What's up with you?" Mike inquired, moving closer to me on the left side of the table. "Where are you headed? Why aren't you answering our calls?"

Tom approached from the right, leaned over me, and pulled me into a hug. I was so taken aback that I didn't know how to respond.

"Uh..." I stammered.

"You were trying to make a getaway!" Hew exclaimed, reproach evident in his strained voice.

I sighed. Yeah, guilty as charged. So what?

"Guys, I'm a certified prostitute. What more do you want?"

Tom shot me another sidelong look and began to speak, but this time, Mike cut him off with a shout.

"Tom, this is no time for your dumb jokes!"

"My dumb jokes? I was just asking if she's alone here," he grumbled, hugging me again.

"Tooooom!!" both Hew and Mike yelled in unison.

"Now, seriously, boys," I muttered from under his arms, "the intel about my unique profession might not do wonders for Fata Morgana's reputation, to put it mildly."

Hew shrugged, and Tom let out an exasperated huff.

"Who cares!" Mike chimed in. "All we wanted was to make some great music, and it's finally happening since you joined us. Your personal choices are your business; we just want you to stick around. We're your friends, so please stay with us!"

I let out a sigh. "Well, not that I'm doing any of the things you're hinting at, but that stuff is going to follow me everywhere."

"I'm not hinting at anything!" Mike protested.

I lifted my head and glanced at Hew. "How did you find me here?" I wondered.

Hew shrugged with a guilty look. "We went to your apartment, and a very irate girl informed us that you had left, taking everything, even her chairs! So I used the 'Find My Phone' app. You know?"

I chuckled at his description of Clara as a very irate girl.

“Did you really go there now in the night? Well, those are my chairs, not hers!” I protested, then turned to Hew and asked accusingly, “So you were tracking all my movements?”

“No, no!” Hew jumped to protest. “It is only after you did not answer my call and closed your phone. We feared that you were going to leave, to run away... which you did.”

“Then, when we saw the phone appearing in this location, we decided to speed up as fast as we could,” Tom continued, finally releasing me from his hug. "Hew's going to pay some bills for speeding..."

Mike sat on the bench on my left side while Tom sat on my right side. Hew stood in front.

I sighed. “Oh, well, my best friend was the one who distributed the picture of that license. My parents have practically thrown me away from home as a consequence, and I'll be thrown away from school on Monday." I shrugged. "I have nothing left here.”

“Nothing left?” Hew questioned, surprised, with a pained expression.

“I... I thought that... due to what has come out at Sunny's party, seeing how my best friend and family reacted...”

“But are you really...?” Mike questioned.

I sighed. “Yes, I am!” I said. Anyhow, I couldn't explain the whole story to them.

To my surprise, Mike shrugged. “Okay...” he said with a sigh. “But, nevertheless, we can continue to be friends, isn't it?”

I took a deep breath, looking at them surprised.