Telegraph Ave: Final Chapter

Chapter 7: Tenderness

The evening skies are saturated with clouds, blending with golden glow of the sun.

The hues in the atmosphere seem warm, but the chilly air outside keeps serving as a reminder that summer is long gone. Although I adore the autumn, there is nothing else that compares to California's cozy heat.

The cities are aesthetic and if you live in the Bay Area like me, the ocean winds regulate the scorching heat. Can't say the same for Pheonix, but I can't believe it's been 6 months since we've moved from home.

My used to be home...

It feels like I've been gone for years already, from how much has happened—from how much has changed. Yet, I'm still in my first year and it's been bittersweet.

As I drive on the interstate and harvest my mental landscape, Stacy naps besides me—with the passenger seat let all the way back. The heater has been on constantly, and she still wears her hoodie. I don't know how she's going to survive the winter, if she gets this cold so easily.

Ultimately, I shouldn't be talking.

I'm looking forward to the playoffs this season, and I keep forgetting the deeper we go, the colder it's going to get. Our coaches already preordered some winter football gear, yet I still pity for those who won't be playing on the field. I say that because the more you move around, the warmer you'll be. And I can honestly say in the past, I fell victim to the blistering sidelines. At least this time I won't have to worry about being too cold on the field.

The clock strikes 5, and the closer we approach Oakland the darker it becomes. If I'm being honest, I like this time more than daylight saving. It's something about day ending earlier than usual. It's anomalous almost but I enjoy it. However, it does have it's cons and if it wasn't for the cold temperatures, the crew and I would still be on that porch until morning.

School is also here, and that's another reason why we don't stay up late, as often as we would in the summer. I usually hate school, but I'm loving Oakland High. Not for the school work, but for everything else it has to offer. It truly makes me feel like a teenager straight out of a movie, or a good book.

My heart is submerged in elation, as I'm still in awe about being happy as a teenager. I thought I'd be depressed forever, from how things were going in Pheonix, Arizona, and from the amount of people who tried to tear me down this past summer in Oakland. Yet, I survived it all and now I'm in a state of peace.

I get off on Exit 44, and make route back to Claremont Hills—our neighborhood. It was dark outside now, not a silhouette of clouds to be seen, but the moon shines its dim light on the darkest streets of Oakland. I didn't think about this until now, but all of our friends and the school we go too is all the way across town.

I can see how it's worth it though.

There aren't many people that live in our neighborhood, as friendly and as commune as we are. We have some neighbors here and there, but our real people reside on the south side of Oakland. I wouldn't change a thing, and I know it seems like I'm reflecting.

It's because I am.

The year is close to an end and all I can do is thank God for this season. The season that I thought only existed in a fictional world. I make a right turn into the neighborhood, and up the hill we go to our block. The autumn leaves were beginning to fall from the trees, and the grass is becoming browner by the day. The street lights brighten our roads and shed there night light amongst the neighborhood.