The bus is incredibly quiet now. It's so weird. But three people are gone. Alicia had to go home, and Gee and Mikey are in New York for Mikey's eye surgery. Patrick and I have been hanging out a bit. We've done so many things. We went to a museum and we did all the typical touristy things. We went to a bookstore and he bought me three books. Frank and I have been spending a lot of time together too. We've learned how to play tons of card games and we read to eachother and write poems together. Frank and I spend more time together than Patrick and I do, but Patrick has a girlfriend.
"Frank!" I yell from my bunk.
"What?" He yells back.
"I'm boooooooooored!" he pushes the curtain back.
"What do you expect me to do about that?"
"Lets do something."
"Like what?"
"Lets go for a walk."
"Where to?"
"Wherever the sidewalk takes us." I smile and slide off my bed.
"Why not?" Frank gives me a crooked grin. One I've grown to love. I find my sneakers and put them on and then find my coat. Frank does the same. We step outside and I take a deep breath.
"Smells like rain." I say. Frank sniffs.
"Smells like air to me." I roll my eyes.
"I'm telling you it's going to rain."
"Tell you what. If it rains I'll give you ten bucks. And if it doesn't you give me ten bucks."
"Deal." We walk for awhile until I spot a park. I grab Frank's hand and drag him to the park. I sit down on one of the swings.
"Push me?" I ask.
"Sure." he stands behind me and gives me a push. He pushes me a couple more times before sitting on the swing next to me. I let my hands fall at my sides and I kick the ground lightly to keep myself moving. Frank reaches over and grabs my hand, intertwining our fingers. We swing, hand in hand, not saying anything just enjoying each others company. Suddenly Frank groans.
"What's wrong?"
"I think I felt a raindrop." I smile and look up. Rain starts falling on my face. I look back at Frank and smirk.
"I believe you owe me ten bucks."
"I'll give it to you back at the bus." The rain comes down at a steady pace making my hair cling to my face. Frank stops swinging which makes me stop too. He stands up and tugs me after him. We face each other and then look up.
"I told you it smelled like rain."
"Yeah yeah." Frank wraps his arms around my waist and spins me around. I giggle.
"What?" Frank asks.
"This is so cliché."
"Who cares?" Franks stops spinning and lets go off me.
"What now?" I ask.
"I don't know." Suddenly I get an idea. I reach out and slap Frank's arm.
"You're it." I yell and start running. Frank laughs and starts chasing me. I run down the sidewalk splashing in the slowly forming puddles. I feel Frank slap my arm.
"You're it!" he turns and hightails it back to the park. I run after him. We enter the park and as we do I slip. As I start to fall I grab onto Frank and pull him down with me. Frank falls on his stomach and I land on his back.
"Sorry." I say and get off him, "Are you ok?"
"I'm fine." he says and stands up.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I'll survive."
"Good. I'd be sad if you didn't." Frank smiles and grabs my hand.
"So would I."
"We should probably head back now."
"Probably." Hand in hand we walk back to the bus. When we get back we get changed into dry clothes and have some lunch and then I crawl into my bunk and grab my notebook and pen.
If I met my seven year old self today
What would I tell her
What would I say?
Would I warn her off the future,
Of the bad things yet to come?
Or would I let her be naïve
To keep on having fun?
Because my seven year old self
Believed the world a perfect place
Would she recognize herself
When she looked into my face?
Even though I've learnt so much more
And ten years have passed since then
I wonder, would I give up everything
To view life from her eyes again.
~S. C. W.
"Shallan?" Frank asks. I push the curtain back.
"Yeah?"
"I just wanted to let you know I'm going out for bit and Ray is out right now too. So it'll just be you and Bob."
"Ok. Where are you going?"
"You'll find out in an hour. Maybe less."
"Oh. Alright. See you in an hour."
"See you." he kisses my cheek and heads toward the front of the bus. I blush like crazy. I try to keep writing, but I can't focus. I groan and throw my notebook to the end of my bunk.
"What's wrong?" Bob asks, walking past me, eating a sandwich.
"I can't focus." he takes another bite and nods.
"Wanna play cards?"
"Sure." I follow him to the back lounge and find my deck of cards. "What should we play?"
"Rummy?" he suggests.
"Ok. I'll deal." I shuffle and deal us seven cards each. Bob stuffs the rest of his sandwich into his mouth. We play for awhile and then decide to call it quits. Bob goes to his bunk and I sit on the couch and watch the rain beat down mercilessly.
"Life can be sunshine,
On peaceful days with bright blue skies,
Or life can be the raindrops,
That fall like tears squeezed from your eyes,
Life can be the heaven,
That you'll only reach through hell
Since you won't know that your happy,
If you've not been sad as well,
Life can teach hard lessons,
But you'll be wiser once you know,
That even roses need both sunshine,
And a touch of rain to grow." I recite a poem I wrote years ago.
"Rain is raining all around,
Puddles forming on the ground,
Drip, drop, drip drop,
Only the sun can make it stop.
Wind whistles through the windows,
Trees sway as the wind blows,
Rain is falling fast and hard,
But as night falls you'll see the stars.
Drip, dripping down the windows,
Slip, slipping through the key holes.
Pitter patter goes the rain,
Waiting for the sun again." I hear from behind me. I turn and see Frank smiling at me.
"You're back!" I immediately notice his hair is significantly shorter now.
"I am." I stand and give him a hug.
"You got your hair cut." I point out.
"I did. I liked the poem. Did you write it?"
"Yeah. Did you write the one you recited?"
"No. I found it in a poetry book."
"Oh. Well it's still a nice poem."
"It is." We stand there for probably close to five minutes before Ray comes in and we break apart. Frank kisses my cheek again and walks toward the back lounge. I smile and my cheeks tinge pink. Ray chuckles and pats my shoulder as he walks past me. For the first time in a long while I feel really, truly happy.
++++
GUYS!!! We're reaching the end of the story! I've only got three more chapters and the epilogue. What am I going to do when I finish it? I want to thank you guys so much for reading, voting and for all your wonderful comments.
Savannah:-)
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Feel Alive(Adopted By Mikey Way)
FanfictionFirst: this starts during the end of the revenge era Second: Title credit: Feel by Sleeping With Sirens Third: Warning: There will be a lot of triggering things in this story. Have you ever felt like you're nothing more than an empty shell? Have you...
