I could hardly sleep all night… I wanted to know who Elaine of Astolat was. If there really was one somewhere here now. I couldn't imagine killing myself for someone…especially not for Lance. I hoped there wasn't someone who would…I hoped there was no Lady of Shallot here, in this generation. But I had a bad feeling there would be…because if all of us were here, why wouldn't she be? And what if it was someone I knew? One of my friends? No, I couldn't sleep with this on my mind. So I laid in bed, awake all night, thinking about it and thinking about how life would continue in high school next year without Will.
I sat up when it was late enough in the morning, and I climbed out of bed. I whipped my messy hair into a ponytail and walked out of the room. I walked to Will's door and looked down at my white t-shirt and pajama pants before tapping on the door to see if he was awake. He probably wasn't. He was a typical teenage guy… You can't expect them to get up too early. I guess I woke him up, because after a minute, I heard some noise – drawers opening and closing – and then the door opened, a tired-eyes Will standing in the doorway. He yawned and rubbed his eyes. He had thrown on a gray V-neck and pajama pants over his boxers.
"Good morning," I smiled, trying not to laugh. He scratched his neck.
"…It's only ten…" he said. I grinned and reached out a hand to try and fix his messy hair. He yawned one more time and smiled, pulling me into a hug. "I guess I'm awake, so good morning, Elle." He released me and stumbled back over to his bed, sitting down on the edge. I came over and sat next to him, leaning on his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around me and smiled. I couldn't believe Will was actually sitting here with me, in my house, living here. And that he was actually mine. Not Jennifer's. Not anyone else's.
"Want to go eat?" I asked, trying not to drift off into daydreams of him. He nodded and said he would get dressed first. I gave him a hug and left the room, my smile shining. I walked to my room and pulled on some clothes. I sat on my bed and felt like lying down to fall asleep…I was so tired from my thoughts keeping me awake all night. I fell back onto my bed, wishing I could crawl under the covers and sleep, but I needed to get up and go eat with Will. And I knew I couldn't sleep…I would only think more about Elaine of Astolat. And everything else.
Trying to keep my mind off of that subject, I glanced around the room. I saw Will's letter jacket at the edge of the bed...he had gotten it from Varity football as a sophomore. It even smelled like him. I reached down and pulled it up over me and curled up in a ball.I tried not to fall asleep, though, so I continued to look. I smiled when I saw Will's rose on my nightstand. The rose from what seemed like so long ago…the rose he had given to me at the lemonade stand. It was dying a little, but I would keep it as long as the water in the vase could keep at least some pink in the flower…hopefully I would keep it forever. I reached into the right pocket of his Avalon High letter jacket for his iPod. I turned it on and scrolled to the song I remembered from when I first visited him in the ravine, Courtiers, Kings, and Troubadours. I still found it weird that he listened to medieval love ballads, but sometimes when we visited the ravine we would listen to them and I would go back in time to that day at the ravine. So, I pushed in the headphones, took one last look at the rose, and smiled as I closed my eyes so that I could revisit the past; the memories of William A. Wagner that were so vivid in my memory.
"Um…Ellie?" a voice said curiously. I woke with a start. I sat up and waited for my eyes to focus in on Will's face. I threw the jacket aside and pulled out the earphones.
"Oh…hey," I laughed, "Sorry, I fell asleep."
"I noticed," he smiled and sat down next to me. "Ready to go eat?"
I laughed again. "Sure. You're always hungry." I shoved him playfully and he fell back on the bed. He pulled me down with him so that I lay next to him.
"So?" he grinned, "I'm a guy. I'm supposed to be hungry! And you look really tired. You don't have to come; you can stay and sleep."
"No way," I laughed, sitting up, "I'm up, I'm up."
He stood up and I held out a hand. He smiled and tugged me up onto my feet. We walked downstairs to find something to eat for breakfast. I grabbed a box of cereal, and Will dug around in my fridge for eggs and bacon. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving. Want eggs?" I shook my head and waved the cereal box at him, too tired to say no. "Fine," he said, "You win." He put the eggs and bacon back into the fridge and got two bowls and spoons.
We sat down and ate, and then I asked if he wanted to go to the pool. He grinned – he was used to our (almost) daily routine. He knew I loved the pool. So, he nodded, and we ran upstairs to get ready.
In my room, I got undressed and tied on my bikini. I pulled my hair into a ponytail, grabbed a pair of sun glasses, and looked into my mirror. I smiled, and then went out to meet Will. He was standing at my door way so I practically ran into him. He was in his blue swim trunks and Ray Bans. Outside, I gawked at his tan body in the sunlight. Good thing I had sunglasses on. Because every girl wants a guy to know that they are staring at their tan, muscular body. And that wouldn't be strange at all.
Not.
I pulled out my raft and set it in the pool, watching it drift against the water. I grabbed it and pulled myself on. I smiled and closed my eyes, feeling the warmth from the sun. Will went to the poolside and took off his sunglasses, and I looked up just in time to see him take a running start and dive into the pool. The splash was big, spraying all over me. He popped up by my raft with a huge smile.
"Will!" I yelled, laughing and trying to be angry.
"Yes?" he grinned.
"…I'm wet!" I laughed, not knowing what else to say.
"Isn't that kinda what a pool is for?" he smiled and disappeared under water. I pulled off my sunglasses and looked desperately into the clear water. Where was he? I knew he was going to do something to me. And then, my raft tipped over, and I fell into the freezing water. I sprang up and wiped my eyes. I looked around and spotted Will, now laying on my raft and holding my sunglasses. He smiled down at me.
"You're wet," he laughed. I glared at him and reached for my sunglasses. "If you want them, go and get them," he teased and tossed them into the water. I sighed and held my breath, ducking under the water to find my sunglasses. I resurfaced and tossed them over by his on the poolside. I reached out for the raft, but he wouldn't let me on.
"Come on," I laughed, "It's freezing. Let me on." He smiled and slid off of the raft and into the pool next to me. He wrapped his arms around me.
"Now we're both wet. So, let's swim!" he said. I smiled and nodded.
"Fine, but I want my raft back soon." We swam and played water volleyball with an old beach ball, and soon I climbed back onto my raft. I floated to the side to grab my sunglasses and he swam next to me. He put on his Ray Bans and kicked the water so that he wouldn't go under.
"Will?" I asked.
"Yeah?"
"I hardly slept last night. I really want to know who Elaine of Astolat is. I mean, who would kill themselves for somebody? Around here, and in this century? It just sounds crazy…especially over Lance.," I said. The fact that there probably was an Elaine of Astolat – since we were all here, why wouldn't she be? - really bothered me. It didn't make any sense, and I didn't want somebody to kill themselves. Not over Lance. Not over anybody.
"I know, I want to know too. But maybe there isn't one. And there's not much we can do right now, anyway. We don't have anyone who might be her or anything," he sighed.
"Yeah, but I don't just want to sit here waiting. Waiting for what? What if that person killed themselves today, and what if we could have stopped her? We have to do something…"
"But what can we do?" he raised an eyebrow.
"Well…I know where Mr. Morton lives. And he knows where I live. And I'd feel better at least talking to him about it, I mean he knows a lot of stuff about this, right?" I asked.
"I guess," Will said, "You're right. We should do something…"