I lay awake in bed, staring at the ceiling. The iridescent moon cast shadows of the trees though my window. The black leaves danced at swayed with the gentle summer breeze.
Is Kale the Sunset Boy?? I wondered for the millionth time. The way Blair and Reina talked about him, he could be. But why did I get to weird over him and they didn’t? Well, no weirder then normal but still! I glanced over at my clock. The glowing numbers brightly informed me that it was 2:38 in the morning. I groaned and rolled over so I couldn’t see them anymore. I slowly drifted to sleep watching the trees dance and thinking about the Sunset Boy.
^^^
“CHICA!! GET YOUR BUTT DOWN HERE!!” Elise screamed. I jolted awake. A quick glance at the clock told me it was 10:24. Damn. I slept in again.
“I’M COMING!! KEEP YOUR PANTS ON!!” I yelled back groggily. I slowly made my way down the stairs to where Elise stood waiting. She was already dressed in grey jeans and a bright pink shirt that had “Free Hugs” printed across her chest. Hair, makeup, jewelry, the whole nine yards. Sometimes I wondered how we were twins.
“Avery, what part of ‘I want to get there early’ don’t you understand?” She said calmly, although I could tell it was taking every ounce of self control she had not to go ninja on my a**.
I groaned. Elise was getting her streaks touched up and, due to 3 failed drivers tests, couldn’t drive herself anywhere. This left Nick and I to chauffeur her around.
“Give me 5 minutes” I said over my shoulder and I scrambled back up stairs. I threw on a pair of shorts and a purple tank top that may or may not have been clean. My hair quickly got shoved into a beanie and I ran downstairs to where Elise sat in the passenger seat waiting for me. The engine of my old god-knows-what turned over and reluctantly started. I eased out of our driveway and own the narrow side streets toward the highway. Elise reached over and turned on the ancient radio. She began to channel surf looking for something good. I briefly heard the opening notes to One Year, Six Months by Yellowcard but Elise changed it right before the lyrics started. She finally stopped on a station blasting a Rihanna song.
I glared at her “That was a good song.”
She glared back. “So is this one.” Crossing her arms, she turned her head and glared out the window. I reached over and went back to the Yellowcard song. Elise rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath that I couldn’t hear. But out of the corner of my eye I saw her foot tapping. I smiled as I pulled into the gravel driveway in front of a bright pink cottage. A shingle hung from the porch that said “Hair by the Sea.” Elise climbed out.
“Thanks.” She muttered before slamming the door and marching up to the salon. I shrugged and pulled out of the parking lot, singing along under my breath.
“I can tell that you don't know me anymore, it’s easy to forget, sometimes we just forget, and being on this road is anything but sure.” I lose myself to the music, not even noticing that I’m driving to the dune. I pulled up and turn off the engine. I go to get out of the car when I notice someone on the top of the dune, heading toward the water. His silver hair glints in the morning sun. I jump out of the car and start walking towards him. I suddenly felt self conscious of my just rolled out of bed attire. I pray to the god of clean clothes that I washed this shirt and force my self to keep walking.
When I made it to the other side of the dune, Sunset Boy was down by the water. A rush of panic came of me. I had to save him from…. Something. I started walking faster towards him. The sand was warm under my feet, but not unbearably hot. When I was about 50 feet away, he turned and his eyes widened in shock.
“You….” He breathed. His eyes, pitch black, showed a hint of fear in them.
“What about me?” I asked nervously. It was taken all my self control at this point not to throw him over my shoulder and carry him far away from here. He shouldn’t be here. It’s too dangerous.
“Please don’t try to stop me. It might hurt you, actually it will hurt. A lot. But you need to let me do this. I need to see her again.” Sunset Boy pleaded like I knew what was going on. His eyes added their own silent plea.
“I’m sorry….I don’t know what your talking about. Who’s her??” I stuttered.
His features softened into a look of almost... pity? “You don’t remember? The boat? Lilith? Azrael? Me?” The names were familiar but I couldn’t place where I had heard them before.
“No… I’m… I’m sorry but you need to get away from here. Like, now. I have no idea why but I can’t let you stay here.” I stumbled over the first bit but getting him away from this place is more important than the fact that I can’t talk to guys. To my surprise, he nodded.
“Can we go grab breakfast or something? I’ll explain everything then.” He said, like he was talking to someone who had just been in an accident. It was a mixture of pity, remorse and shock. I nodded, as long as Sunset Boy got out of here.
“I’ll drive.” I offered. He smiled and we started up towards the dune.
“I’m not sure if you remember, but I’m Kokabiel. You used to call me Koka.”
Twenty minutes later found us sitting in the booth of Mom and Pop kind of diner. The waitress was in her late 50’s early 60’s. She passed us each a coffee stained menu.
“You kids just holler when yous are ready.” She told us. I smiled and looked down. I double checked that they had waffles then put my menu down. Koka was studying the menu. I knew him, I could swear it. I knew he had no family but a handful of close friends that he considered close enough. He wore boxers, loved Batman, Avenged Sevenfold and was an amazing drummer. He had never dyed his hair although mortals constantly asked him what dye he used. He had loved someone but she was lost forever. Someone loved him but he would never figure out. How did I know Koka but not remember him?
“You know what your getting?” He asked, setting his menu down.
I grinned. “Waffles. You?”
Koka laughed. “Of course. What else? I’m getting the ham omelet.” It caught me off guard. How did he know I loved waffles? Then I realized it was probably the same way I knew he loved Batman. Whatever that was. Koka noticed my momentary bewilderment and laughed.
“Sorry. I forgot you don’t remember. You used to eat them all the time.” He apologized.
“What do you mean, ‘used to’? I still eat them all the time.” I asked.
Koka sighed. “I’m not sure how strong the block is, but eventually it will come back. I can tell you what happened, but it won’t be the same was remembering. It might help you get around the block though.” I didn’t understand the bit about the block but I nodded anyway.
“Azza, or I guess you go by Avery now, we’re not human. We were angels.”
