Four People. Three Clay Figures. I Stopped Being The One Left Out Chapter 04

Four People. Three Clay Figures. I Stopped Being The One Left Out Chapter 04

Next morning, adrian knocked twice outside my door.

“Blair. Time to go.”

I answered through the door.

“My foot hurts. Not going.”

Damon’s voice came fast.

“Didn’t it get better yesterday?”

“It split open again.”

Quiet outside.

When he spoke again, the patience was gone.

“Then stay at the inn.”

“The pottery shop will deliver the three figures this morning. Sign for them.”

“Don’t skip even that just to throw a fit.”

Downstairs, vivian urged, soft.

“Damon. The photographer said if we’re any later, the morning mist will be gone.”

Damon answered her.

Adrian laughed as they left.

“Ignore her.”

“Every time she throws a fit, she waits for us to coax her.”

“The more you coddle her, the worse she gets.”

Vivian asked, quiet.

“What if blair goes out on her own?”

“Where would she go?”

Adrian was certain.

“Her foot’s still hurt. You think she’d really leave the three of us?”

A pause. Then damon, flat.

“Leave her.”

“She’ll come out when she’s thought it through.”

They were sure i couldn’t leave.

Just like they were sure, no matter how many times they left me behind, i’d catch up.

The yard gate closed. The car pulled away.

I dragged my suitcase downstairs. Put the key card on the front desk.

The clerk saw my luggage. Blinked.

“Blair. You’re checking out?”

“Mm.”

“But your friends said you’d wait here for them.”

I didn’t explain. Pushed the key card over.

“When the pottery shop delivers, please sign for them.”

“Where’s your figure?”

I paused.

“There isn’t one for me.”

Leaving the inn, vivian posted.

In the photo, she stood in the mountain mist. Damon and adrian on either side.

One line.

[our ten years. Not one important person missing.]

Damon liked it.

Then adrian’s voice message in the group.

“Blair. That’s enough.”

“We’re here to have fun. Not to spend the whole trip coaxing you.”

Damon didn’t ask about my foot.

Just one line.

[leave her. Take the photos.]

—

The taxi left the town. The pottery shop called.

“Blair. The three figures are fired. Can you sign for them now?”

I looked at the streets sliding past.

“No.”

“When will your friends be back?”

“Tonight.”

The clerk answered.

“Okay. The figures are intact. Not one missing.”

Not one missing.

I held the phone. Didn’t speak for a long time.

Until the clerk asked again, i answered, soft.

“Mm. Give them to them.”

The train started boarding.

I left the group. Turned off my phone. Pulled my suitcase through the gate.

Wind on the platform.

I thought of ten years ago. Damon and adrian on either side of me.

They said no matter how far, the three of us would walk together.

But later, they walked faster and faster.

I stayed behind. Chasing, year after year.

Until three figures sat on the table. Then i understood.

It wasn’t that i walked too slow.

It’s that in their future, there’d been no me for a long time.

The train doors closed behind me.

And i wasn’t going to stand there waiting either.