Prism - By Rachel Moschell Page 0,26

Wara in the mirror. “Imagine seeing you here.” His gaze flitted to Noah, and then to Noah’s arm behind Wara on the truck bed wall. Lázaro’s face blanched, and then, after a long pause, Noah heard him say, “Well, dude, I’m not sure if I should congratulate you on your choice in women. I didn’t know you two were together or I could have warned you about her. Fun for one night, you know. Not quite the good little missionary girl you might expect. ”

Noah felt his neck begin to burn, shocked by the words coming from Lázaro’s mouth. He whipped around towards Wara and saw her cheeks painted scarlet. “Why are you doing this?” she squeaked.

Lázaro ignored her. “She’s pretty though, isn’t she, Noah?” He winked into the mirror and then slid his dark glasses back on. “Enjoy.”

“Stop the truck!” Wara’s hoarse voice broke into Noah’s pounding head, just in time to see that they were about to pass the Hotel Bella Vista, where the girls were staying. “I’m getting out!”

The brakes slammed to a halt in a billow of dust and Lázaro muttered, “Fine.” Wara was out of the back of the truck before Noah could even process what had just happened. She jogged into the hotel without even looking back.

“Wara!” Noah called after her, absolutely furious, shivering with anger. Lázaro had already hit the gas, but Noah stood up just as the truck jerked into action and he vaulted over the side onto the gravel. The momentum threw him down onto one knee with a skid, and he leaped up and raced after Wara into the hotel.

How could he…what is Lázaro’s problem?

“Wara! Wait!” Noah saw her disappearing down a hallway at the back of the hotel, and he slid on the tile past a fountain and managed to stop just outside the door to her room, which slammed shut in his face. Muffled, gasping sobs came from inside the door, and Noah froze. He was angry. Really angry. Trying to compose himself, he knocked loudly on the door.

“Wara…please. I can’t believe he would say that. Do you want me to go beat the jerk up? We actually…he was our tour guide. I know where he lives. I’ll go…”

“Noah, just go away!” Wara wailed from inside, voice muffled through the thick wooden door. “I’m going home, to Cochabamba! Right now!”

“I’ll…”

“I’m sorry…I can’t. Go away!”

She’s really serious.

But I’m not letting her get on some bus or taxi alone, like this.

Noah glanced around the empty hallway, dripping all over the hotel’s wooden parquet floor and staring at the turquoise grout in between the red tiles on the wall.

I’ll go back with her. I don’t need to go to Cotapata with the guys.

Wara wasn’t going to be in the mood to discuss this at the moment; in fact, Noah could imagine her inside the hotel room, angrily throwing clothes into her purple backpack, ready to leave this place forever.

Breaking into a run, Noah bounded down the hotel’s steps three at a time and spun out onto the street. He sprinted across the plaza towards his hostel to get his stuff, face still burning, images of his fist connecting with Lázaro’s jawbone flashing through his mind.

He had better be done dropping the guys off by the time I get to the hostel, or I may have to do time in a Bolivian jail for assault, Noah raged. What happened? I thought Lázaro was a nice guy, and suddenly he turned into a lying idiot.

Bolivian jail wasn’t on the menu today; the white pickup truck was nowhere in sight when Noah burst through the door of his hostel, panting like some rabid tourist from the wild. He jammed the key into the lock of his room and stuffed his few clothes, in various states of muddiness, into his backpack. Pulling on his last pair of dry pants, Noah slammed the door of their room shut and half-ran down the hall again, while dialing Eduardo’s number on his cell.

Eduardo, and the Australians in the background, protested from the Mexican restaurant where they had been dropped off that Noah shouldn’t miss out on their trip to Cotapata just because Lázaro had suddenly become a moron.

“Thanks guys, but I’ve got to go with her, ok? Sorry. I’ll catch you later.”

“Alright, sure. We’ll miss you, man. It won’t be the same without you.”

Noah flipped the phone shut just as he rounded the corner into the plaza, right on the street where all the buses parked before they