ANCHOR

Chapter 16

first of all- please check out the music 'cause I worked hard to get songs that fit with the story&& I think you'll enjoy them:)

oh and I put up a picture of Sam:)

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  SAM

  I watched Hope walk into her house, her dark hair swaying back and forth in the autumn breeze. I couldn't wipe the stupid smile that was set on my face. She was going to break up with Jared, whom I'd assumed was the tall blonde from our English Class, for me. For the hopeless, pathetic boy next door. She opened her door wide, and for a second I could vaguely see inside her house. She turned around to me, waved and smiled, which I returned. I shifted gears and drove the small distance over to my house.

 Walking into my own door, it was still there, set on my face. I tried to compose myself. Tried to shake off the feeling of my body tingling head to toe. I did my best. After a minute or so I gave up, smile still firm in place, the feeling still intact. How is it possible to feel this many things at once? She couldn't have described it any better.

   "What the hell is wrong with you?" my dad growled, from the same chair he always sits in. His eyes were on me rather than the TV, so I figured it was a commercial break. "Nothing." I said, erasing my smile, then feeling it come up again, as big as ever. Dammit. "Is it a girl?" He asked, and I was taken aback. "Why don't you sit down." He motioned me to the couch next to him, and I sat down, speechless.

  "Now let me tell you a story." He slurred, eyes bloodshot. "Girls will pretend they love you, take everything you have, and then get rid of you. So if I were you, I'd wipe that damn smile off my pretty face and go do something useful." I should've known. I got up and walked away quickly, worried that this strange sensation of wanting to laugh would get me in more trouble than I wanted to be in.

  I closed the door to my bedroom, and then felt the smile creep back onto my face, I looked at myself stupidly in the mirror. God I looked dumb. I wondered what Hope had seen in me, in my muddy brown eyes and tangled dark hair. In my wrinkled t-shirt and my crooked smile.

  I took out my guitar, strumming the chords and allowing myself to express everything, needing some kind of release.

  You open my eyes

To something that I can't fear

Perfect blue sky

And im sorry if i stare

I feel so alive

So stripped and so bear

wrapped up in you

I'm wrapped up in you.

  I hadn't heard the door open, but when I opened my eyes Derek was standing before me. He had a slight smile on his lips as he said, "You sound great, Sam. Have you ever thought of playing in front of a crowd?" The sadness in his eyes told me what he was thinking. He knew me inside and out, and was aware something must've happened with me and Hope.

  Something that wouldn't happen to him, with whatever girl he liked. But he was trying to make me feel good, smiling with a topic he knew he could bear. My heart sank with sympathy, and I took the guitar off my lap, placing it beside me on my bed. I motioned for him to sit down. He did, and looked at me, waiting for my answer.

  "Uh no. Not really." I lied, then changed the subject. "What's her name?"

"Andrea." he replied, sadly.

"Listen, Derek. I could easily say there are plenty of other girls, because there are. But I know it's not that easy. What I will tell you though, is that the harder it is to get the prize, the more it is worth in the end. She's probably not the girl you'll fall in love with, and probably not you're next crush either. But once you find the one, you'll realize the heartbreak was worth it." I told him, desperate to wash his sorrows away. He was so young, so broken.

   He was quiet for a while, thinking, I assumed. He looked at me, trying to express his gratitude with a halfhearted smile. "Thanks Sam."

  My brother retreated back to his room, closing the door behind him. I held my guitar tight to my stomach, and lay back onto my bed, staring at the ceiling. I wondered if Hope was thinking about me.

  Or if she was breaking up with Jared. My stomach rolled with greed and pleasure, so I tried to dismiss the thought. How long had they been going out? Should I be guilty?

  I wasn't.