Roots - h.s

39.

Never quite on time
Running late, running wild.
Looking up star signs.

~Cellophane (Brain) by middle kids~

STERLING'S POV:

Spring. Spring last year was so different from spring this year. Of course the sun is showing itself more now, but the rain seems to never ever stop. Never. Last year I looked at the rain and I thought it fit my mood. I thought it fit my person. Sad, and horribly wrecked from the tragedies that had occured only months before. It's not been over a year without my best friend. It's been over a year of not having to watch him, or play with him, or go to his basketball games, or eat dinner with him. It's been a year of learning and developing.. Learning what life is like without someone you never wanted to leave.

    Last year I looked at the rain as a depressor, something that fit me because of how horribly sad I had been. How alone I had felt. It was a part of who I was, but now I sit in the treehouse alone, the rain pattering and pelting the roof in a harsh manor, practically begging to be let in. I listen to it, my back pressed against the wall, my school work spread around me. I feel closer to Lee right here in the midst of the rain under the protection of the treehouse. I feel close to him because of the rain. Because the rain isn't sad, or harmful or depressing. The rain signifies growth.. Without rain things don't grow. Without rain things aren't washed clean and new. That's what the rain was trying to do last year... It wanted to wash my clean, and make me new but I hadn't been ready for that..

*PLAY CELLOPHANE (BRAIN) BY MIDDLE KIDS*

    This time around I don't think I could be more ready for something new, something clean. Something completely unique to the times. Something like today and everyday until I die. New, and fresh, and unexpected. We've only got around two months left in the semester. Soon I'll hopefully hear back from Stanford, and NYU. I applied to some smaller colleges in New York as well, some outside the city, and some in Connecticut too. I even applied to a few universities in Arizona. I think the stars in Arizona would be spectacular. As hard as it is to be excited about that, knowing Harry has already committed to Yale, he won't let me forget how exciting it is. He's excited so it's really easy to believe honestly. He told me to be ready when he came over today, ready to go somewhere. He told my dad too. He never gave us any inkling as to when he'd be stopping by but I got ready right when I woke up this morning.

    Jalyn, and Andrea have both committed to schools now too. Jalyn will be in New Jersey. She found a ballet school she wanted to attend and she hasn't really shut up about it since we started high school, and Andrea is going to NYU. She's been twice now just to visit, and check it all out. She's in love.. I just hope I can fall in love with a school instead of thinking about the people going there, and letting that sway my judgment. It's not about the people, it's about the place.. My education, and my future. This past year has changed my perspective though because it is about the people. Who cares about the places I'll go if I'm not surrounded by the people who love me the most?

    "STERLING SILVERRRR!" I hear his voice from below, and I know he's standing in the rain right now. Why wouldn't he come up here instead of standing out there? I move quickly, pushing my school work to the side. I look out of the window, and he's not in the rain. He stands under an umbrella, and he wears his normal black jeans as well as a normal flannel left open, and a white tshirt under it. He looks up at me smiling and gives me a wave which makes my smile spread across my entire face.

    "Hi." I lean on my hand, propping my head up as I look down at him.

    "I came out to get you... That way you didn't get wet." He smiles, motioning to the umbrella.