sunsets with jude

chapter twenty- yolo

Jude Merryweather

When I get home from my date, the day seems to drag from there. I'm going through the motions: a quick summary for my curious family members, showering the chlorine away and sitting in my room with no one but Lucy, and scrolling through some pictures I took since I have nothing better to do. 

Lately, the sunset is my favorite thing to capture. No matter how monotonous each day is, the sky still performs for anyone interested in looking up. Watercolors: hot pink, yellow, orange, and sometimes red create something more stunning than the night before. 

Somehow, the plethora of warm colors doesn't keep me occupied. Instead, Emilia takes over my thoughts. Emilia always makes me smile just thinking about her. Since freshman year, I admired her beauty from afar, but I learned there's more to her than being a looker. She's confident as hell and makes friends faster than I ever could. Hell, befriending the girl with the belly button ring took her seconds while I didn't get close with her for a good week. 

I miss Emilia. I wish I could feel the warmth from her body and hear her voice. Like the sunsets I have the pleasure of photographing, she's radiant and memorable, yet she's in denial about how many people marvel and rave about her. I know she has a friend group to go back to that is more interesting than some boy who loves sunsets.

Soon enough, I'm turning off my camera and shooting her a picture of the ceiling. Anything to talk to her. 

In return, I receive a shot featuring her beautiful eyes, light brown like a cold, sweet glass of iced tea. Even without mascara coating them, her eyelashes are thick and dark. I decide to save it even though I'll be able to get lost in those iced tea irises whenever I want. 

Nothing I can send Emilia can reciprocate her beauty. I'm mistaken when the first sign of sunset arrives. Pink mixes itself with the clouds and it will soon overtake the clouds. 

No matter how frequently I'm bullied or how stressful my homework is, sunsets remind me that in the grand scheme of things, there's nothing I can do to eradicate the inevitable. Making a lower grade than I expect or the negative thoughts that I let run free in my head will never change the way the sun rises and sets every day. 

I'm so enthralled that I forget to reply to her for a split second. She opens the photo of the sky almost as soon as it gets to her. Her reply is enough to make the blood rush to my cheeks. 

Emilia is a beautiful person on the inside, but her zest for life and confidence complement her good looks and her curves that never fail to get my attention. The picture I'm looking at is enough to make me hard.

She's wearing hot pink athletic shorts that show a lot of legs and a tight black tank top. A pair of my favorite thick thighs fill out the shorts beautifully. It's a little cropped, showing off a little sliver of her tummy. Between this afternoon and now, she put her hair in a slick ponytail and took off her makeup. Once again, I save the gorgeous picture that better be in the next Vogue issue. 

In my sixteen years of being alive, I don't remember a time I wanted a pretty girl in my arms. That Snapchat marks the first time I thought about how much I want to touch her and make her mine. 

We send each other snaps for a little while. Emilia's feature her gorgeous face while mine are of the setting sun. Once the show is over and the sky is totally dark, we start texting.

my gorgeous girl: i had a lot of fun today 

my gorgeous girl: when can we do it again?

Jude: i'm not sure

my gorgeous girl: are you free tomorrow?