For Crying Out Loud

26: Remember

Jake's P.O.V.

     I've never known what it is about sunsets that makes me feel safe. Maybe it could be the way the different colors join together. The way the blue, the orange, and the red all conjoin even though they are so opposed. Maybe it's the way it's still beautiful even after you've watched it so many times before. Or maybe it's because all those colors have been part of Sia's hair. I can't help but chuckle at the thought.

     I lay on the back of my shitty Kia somewhere in southern Arizona. Cold sweat trickles down my forehead from the heat, but I ignore it. The sunset is where my focus lies. I've been driving for a couple days now. I watched the sunset in New Orleans and watched the Sunrise in Las Vegas but I thought I would end my adventure somewhere quiet. Oh, there has never been anywhere more quiet.

     The sun bleeds through the sky, slowly revealing the darkness. The colors swim over me like fresh paint, leaking and mixing into each other. It's all so beautiful. I want to capture it. I never want to forget this. In this moment I'm Somewhere Else. I'm not living in my head. I'm not walking mindlessly through empty streets. I'm right here beneath a scene almost as gorgeous as Sia's smile.

     I've decided to no longer deny myself the pleasure of thinking about her because she is somebody worth thinking about. She is somebody worth loving. She is somebody who makes me want to be somebody all on my own. Oh and in this moment I feel like somebody. Coming here was worth doing. Now I must do something else worth doing, I must do the one thing I thought I would never do again.

     As the darkness consumes the sky, I finally head back home. Home is where my heart is, and right now Sierra is still there, only days away from finding a new home. Once she leaves I will have to find a new home as well, but I need to get back there and do one more thing worth doing before we all graduate. I must paint.

     I drive all night, picking up multiple colors of paint that remind me of the sunset. I have a canvas. My canvas is left because left is right. In just a few hours I will stand before the barn that reminded me of myself, but as I paint and find who I really am or who I was, I will pull that old barn to it's true potential because that is something worth doing.

Sierra's P.O.V.

     When she drives me home, I invite her to stay the night. She accepts and pulls her car around to the back of the house. Hayden hasn't stayed over in a long time. I think the last time was Valentine's Day a couple years ago, but I could use some girl time with someone who doesn't obsess over me and Jake getting back together, plus, after today, I kind of want to rekindled our broken strings. I really don't want to lose her again.

     She comes in and I can't help but laugh when I see a gummy bear tangled up in her brown locks. I step to her and remove it before throwing it into her mouth. She laughs that beautiful laugh of hers as we walk to my room.

     She looks around at my walls, reading over my blue post it's and playing with her fingers. "So this girl. What's she like?" She asks. I shrug as I go through my draws for some pajamas for us both. I toss her some shorts and a T-shirt that is to small for me.

     "She's sweet and understanding. A bit of a hopeless romantic despite her denile. She's really pretty, I'm not sure where it's heading though." Hayden just nods as she removes a note from my closet door.

     "I can't love completely when my heart remains in pieces." She reads before looking over at me, her green orbs beckoning an explanation. Stubborn.

     "Just something I wrote a couple weeks ago. You know me, putting it on paper helps me make sense of it." I explain. She smiles a little as the finds herself to my bed.

     "So you're still writing then? Good. When you're that good at something, you should never give up on it." She says. I smile and start changing into my pajamas as she surfs through channels on my T.V. When she gasps and selects a movie instantly know what movie it is: Kingsmen.

     We watched that movie on out first movie date. Well, we didn't exactly watch it, but that's what we went to see. It was rated R, so we couldn't get in without an adult. An old couple invited us to see it with them so that's how we got in. We sat in the back row and made-out pretty much the entire three hours. It's a good memory, almost all of my good memories are either with Hayden or Jake. My two loves. My two firsts.

     I smile as I settle next to her in the bed, not touching, but just watching the movie for once. Eventually I grab her hand and look at her, her green eyes sparked with confusion. "Thank you for today. Thank you for reminding me how good life can be. Maybe we all have changed, but the memories haven't, and I'm so glad I got to relive one with you." I say. She smiles and kisses my cheek, making my heart flutter with familiar safety.

     "You know I'll always be here when you need me most." I smile and relax as the movie rolls through our gazes. The light goes out as I flip the switch next to my bed, and I take a deep breath as I finally remember everything.

_______~|~
When you forget the memories; you forget who you are. So always remember. Never forget. And vote! Tell me what you think. I love you my DARKLINGS.