20 ○ shawn

16

New York, 6:00 pm

March 6, 2015

reason #12: to see the sun go down 

Layla obliged with telling Shawn the requirements of what to wear for the activity they were going to do. In the middle of their all-nighter FaceTime call yesterday, Layla interrupted their conversation about their birthdays to tell Shawn to wear something comfy.  

Their daily FaceTime calls consisted of many things: They slept with their laptops on and the chargers plugged in. The calls started around four during weekdays, after the both of them got home from school - the regular schedule in which either Shawn called Layla on FaceTime or vice versa. They talked while they did homework, talked when getting ready for bed, talked when they were about to fall asleep. 

And in the morning, they'd wake up seeing each other through a screen, laughing at the morning state they were in. They'd continue to talk while they got ready for school. 

Shawn arrived a few minutes Layla did, meeting her near the edge of the abandoned building - the edge in which Shawn had hesitation to finish what he started December 31st, 2014, 11:59 PM. He wore his Vans, grey sweatpants, a black t-shirt, and a navy blue jacket on top. 

"Good choice of clothing." Layla commented and smiled up at Shawn, who sat down right beside her. She wore black and white Nike shoes, Adidas sweatpants, and a white shirt with the Adidas logo bold and black in the centre.

"What's today going to be?" Shawn asked, looking up at the sky; he noticed that it was only going to be a couple minutes until the sun decides to set. It kind of bummed him out; whatever they were going to be doing, it wasn't going to last long because of the night that was soon going to attack. 

"Reason number twelve: to see the sun go down." She announced and Shawn looked forward, kind of in awe. He remembered the first reason: to see the sun rise. He remembered how unhappy he felt, how un-amused and uninterested, but now he felt...neutral. 

They watched the sun go down, in silence and nothing bothering them except for the occasional honks coming from the streets. Layla scooted closer to Shawn, leaning her head on his shoulder tiredly, and he tensed up for a second before he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. 

"To see the sun go down," Layla continued. "It represents that you have made it through another day - whether harsh or lucky. It's kind of like the end of a race, and you're a champion." She lifted her head and looked at Shawn and he looked down at her. "You're not a champion when you take your own life; you're only a champion when life does that for you. Because life is a game, and death is the prize...but death that isn't handled by your own decision, because that's cheating. Not a champion, a cheater." 

They finally looked away from each other, looking back up at the sky. "So, school sucked today. I accidentally spilt my drink on the principal..." She began. 

---