Angels Of Darkness

Beautiful Things

I had five friends: Grey, Thomas, Patrick, Jake, and Criss. They were all guys. They were all older. And they were all the nicest people I'd ever met. I was becoming increasingly comfortable with the idea of sharing my thoughts with other people--thoughts that had never before dared to slip out of my mouth in fear of judgement. I was safe alone. I was safe silent. But safe was boring sometimes. It was such a big risk, trusting people, but I wanted to this time.
I went over to that trailer every single day with Grey. It was like we had all been friends for longer than just a couple of weeks. We all talked about everything: music, secrets, feelings, and dumb stuff, like sports and politics, making fun of everything we could. I was happy. I never wanted to go home when I was around them. I wanted to stay for hours, and sometimes, I did.
On my seventeenth birthday, Grey came and picked me up from my house, as usual. I hopped in the car and smiled at him. Grey was my best friend. I knew it was fast to call him that; we'd only been hanging out for a couple of months, but that was what he was. He was my best friend.
"Happy birthday," He said. He smiled at me, then he laughed as I glared at him.
"I already told you not to talk about it. It's a secret."
"Wanna ditch school today? In honor of your special day?"
"It's not a 'special day'. But yes, I'm always up for skipping school." I peeked over at him, and I laughed as he rolled his eyes. It was his turn to have attitude, I guessed. "Where are we going?" I asked suspiciously.
"Just to hang out."
"Where? Do you have anywhere in mind?"
"Yes. Just hush." He smiled a little and turned up the radio as he pulled out of my driveway.
He drove me in silence, occasionally glancing over at me. I knew what he was doing. He was trying to catch me acting sad. He did it a lot. But he never caught me showing any feelings, minus the frequent smile or laugh around him and his friends.
"Whatcha thinking about?" He asked after a while.
"You."
"Would you like to share?"
"I was just thinking about how sneaky you think you are when you're trying to catch me showing any feelings in the car. You're not sneaky."
He looked playfully offended. "I don't do that!"
"Stop lying. Nobody likes a liar." I stuck my tongue out at him, then I looked out the windshield. I suddenly recognized the area.
He pulled into the same trailer park we went to every day, and he pulled up in front of the same, cute, blue trailer.
"Ready, Freddy?" He asked.
"Ready for what?" I narrowed my eyes at him.
"To skip school. Isn't that what we agreed on?"
"Yeah, I mean...yeah." I blushed and got out of the car.
Grey walked me up to the porch, and we went inside without tapping on the screen door this time.
"Hey, dudes," Grey said happily.
"Hi!" I greeted Patrick, as he was the first one to hug me hello. I hugged the rest of them, then Jake led me into the kitchen by my hand.
"Happy birthday," he said, proudly gesturing toward a beautiful Gibson acoustic guitar in brand new condition and brand new strings sitting on a chair with a bow on it. It was the most beautiful guitar I had ever laid eyes on, and it was an enormous improvement on my old, beaten up guitar at home.
Beside it, on the table, was a little case of fifteen Ed Hardy guitar picks. This was the biggest, most expensive gift I'd ever received. It was even more expensive than my motorcycle was, because my dad bought it old and used from a friend.
Tears welled up in my eyes, and I hugged all of them. I had to have been the happiest person alive in that moment.
"Why?" I asked, picking it up and touching the nylon strings.
"Because you're our little sister now. You're family. And we couldn't let you have a sucky birthday," Grey said. He seemed truly delighted at how happy I was.
I looked at the guitar picks, and I ran my hand over the smooth wood on the neck of my new guitar. I strummed it with my thumb, and I got a rush of pleasure at its flawless sound. It was beautiful.
"Do you like it?" Jake asked nervously.
"I love it!" I gushed. I hugged him. I hugged all of them, tight and around the neck. In that moment, I knew what happiness felt like, and I loved it. I swear, I thought it was a happy ending; I thought all of the sadness and fear was over. I was never more wrong in my life. But I just wanted to let the times I felt all that joy completely consume me just for the time I had it. Just until I had to go home.
"Can you play us something?" Criss asked hopefully.
I suddenly felt anxious. I'd never played for anyone. The very thought scared me to death.
"Please?" Patrick pleaded. "We all pitched in; we want to hear you play it. Pretty please?"
I blushed. "Okay."
We all sat down in the living room. I took a brand new guitar pick out of the box and made sure the guitar was perfectly in tune. After a moment of hesitation, I began to play. As my own voice filled the room and molded in with the music on my guitar, my racing heart had a different meaning than before. It wasn't because I was nervous; it was because I was happy. And excited. And so thrilled to have those guys there with me.
I put my heart out into that song. I held my diaphragm tight for the hard notes, and smiled for the soft ones. The guys swayed to the music, smiling at me, their eyes overflowing with love. What I had was so much more than anything Trixie would ever have. These unbreakable bonds and precious notes I shared so generously were beautiful things. Life was such a beautiful thing sometimes.