An Oasis of Love

"She's got my back."

"What?" William asked, looking away from Bella who was staring out the front window of their bus as it rumbled through the desert. The bus had picked them up a few hours ago in Alexandria and taken them to the oasis—their destination. They had been planning on getting dropped off at the city outside of the oasis, but instead they were dropped off right in the middle of a desert.

"My mom," Bella replied, "She's got my back."

William smiled, "You think she'll go to the cops or something if you die?" He laughed, thinking about his mother and how she would never be brave enough to do anything like that. He knew she'd be devastated if he died, but for once he hoped that her passivity would be helpful.

"I don't know," Bella said with a chuckle, "but even if she doesn't calling her might help." She dug into her purse and pulled out her phone, quickly typing in her mother's number before handing it to him.

"All this planning is exciting," William said as he took the phone from her hand. He quickly dialed and put the phone to his ear, putting it on speaker so that Bella could hear as well. It rang for a few minutes, until finally someone answered: "Hello?"

"Uh—mom?" William asked tentatively. He looked over at Bella whose face was full of both excitement and fear, but she tried to hold herself together.

"William?" Her voice came out small and quiet but then brightened up. "How are you? Are you on your way back home? How is school going?" Her questions came out like machine gun fire, one after another as William smiled at Bella while shaking his head slightly. The smile on Bella's face was growing larger by the second. "I miss you!" She added with a laugh before stopping short when she realized what she just said. William felt his stomach knot up at hearing her say that; he hadn't heard her say anything like that since he left for college three months ago.

"Mom," William cut in knowing that if he let her continue on like this he wouldn't be able to get anything done and besides, he wanted to tell her about Bella before it was too late. "I want you to meet someone very important." William turned towards Bella who had tears in her eyes and an expression of pure joy on her face as she glanced back and forth between him and his mother who was still chattering on the other end of the line. Reaching out with his hand he gently grabbed hers which made Bella jump slightly before turning towards him and squeezing his hand tightly while nodding vigorously at him to continue speaking.