Ben

After a day and almost a half hour later, Ellie finally met her destination. And there was Ben. But he wasn't in high school. He looked college age now.

He had the sign. She had to find him, because he couldn't tell who she was.

"I think we use to call you Blondie for a reason," he nodded with a smart smile. "Ellie, right?"

She nodded not sure what to make of him. She still hadn't a clue who he was.

"But uh, hey, I hadn't seen you since you were probably three so I know a lot can change," he then told her as they got her luggage and headed out to his pickup truck. "I guess I could call you Blackie now."

"That's all right, Ellie's fine." She knew he meant it as a joke, but really he wasn't that funny, yet she didn't want to get off to a wrong start.

"Well, Ellie, are you hungry?" He offered then. Actually, she was just tired. He suggested the grocery store then because where they were going, there wasn't one.

She felt a little shy finding what she needed when it came to hygiene stuff, but he was studying to be a veterinarian so she supposed it wouldn't be a surprise what she might need a supply of.

"Honestly, I thought your Mom was going to stay for good this time," he told her. "And now you. Kind of surprised."

Of course, Ellie was thinking all sorts of scandalous ordeals. Maybe her Mom had a thing for him. Maybe thats why she'd stayed so long before. Had it all been about helping someone in need? She got a blue Slurpee frozen drink just before leaving. Maybe it would settle her stomach. But the closer they got out on the winding roads, dust and other stuff that were foreign to her, her head began to ache more.

Then came the miles of dirt roads, or so it felt, out in the rocky terrain of a mesquite infested landscape. It felt untamed out here. A strange wilderness far from the city. She tried her cell once but didn't get any reception. She was almost in tears. This really was going to be bad. What if she couldn't call Eric at all the whole time she was here?

She knew she was ill then. By the time she got to Aunt Maggie's farm house, she couldn't wait to get out of the dusty pickup that had jumped over rocks and potholes. She couldn't even get in the house. She threw up as soon as she opened the pickup door.