Strands of Blue

Chapter 3: Euphoria

We walked to Beau's house and he grabbed a few things, including car keys and his wallet. I was nervous and I wanted to tell him I didn't want this to be anything bad. I didn't want it to be 'like old times'.

"Beau..." I said, opening his car door. "I don't want to do anything bad ok? That was the past and I'd like to keep it that way." He looked at me like I said something completely stupid. Like I was the kid in school who said the wrong answer with confidence.

"Al, it's ok. We won't do that again," he said, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Now let's get your mind off of your can of worms and have fun, shall we?" I giggled and turned on the radio. We drove all the way to the city and stopped at a few of our favorite places. We ate at an old restaurant we always used to eat at on Friday nights. We even stopped by the brick building where we graffitied our names in huge bubble letters.

"Oh hey, check this out!" Beau said, pointing at an old crate. "It's still got our bag in it." We had a bag where we had kept the spray cans and stencils. Beau picked up a can of blue paint and shook it up.

"For old times?" He said, handing me the can. I looked at it and smoothed the label down with my thumb. Holding the can in my hands was nostalgic and I never wanted to let go of that feeling. I looked at Beau and smiled.

"I'm a little rusty." I said.

"Like the spray can?" He asked jokingly. We both laughed while I sprayed the brick wall with a light blue line.

"What are you writing, Al?" Beau asked.

"You'll see." I responded. I continued to paint my new piece of crappy art on the brick wall. The sound of the paint shooting out of the spray can reminded me of all of the fun Beau and I used to have together. I couldn't stop smiling.

"E-euphoria?" Beau stuttered.

"Yes, euphoria - a state of intense happiness and self-confidence." I said, taking a step back to look at my ugly yet beautiful art piece. I looked at Beau to see his big, goofy smile. I ran up to him and jumped into his arms. A few tears strolled down my face.

"Thank you." I whispered. He patted my back and held me tighter.

"No problem, Al." He said back. I missed Beau and everything we did together. He was never a love interest in my eyes, though sometimes I felt it.

"Al?"

"Yeah, Beau?"

"I promise I won't do anything to hurt you the way I did ever again." Beau said crying. "I've been six months clean so far." He smiled and wiped a tear away.

"I'm proud of you. Let's try to keep it that way, ok?" I said, grabbing his hand. "Let's go home now, ok?" He nodded and we headed back to his car. We sat there and take in everything that had just happened. I looked at him for a second, but he didn't look back. He stared straight ahead and just took in the atmosphere. He took a deep breath and then looked at me with glassy eyes.

"I am currently six months clean. I missed you and I stopped because hurting you hurt me." He put his hand on my shoulder. I started to cry even more. Then I started to laugh.

"I missed you, Beau!" I said, wiping a tear away. "I'm proud of you. Thank you for doing that, it means a lot." He started the car and we headed back to my house. It was dark and rainy outside. Beau turned up the radio in his car and I sat back and looked out of the window. The lights outside hitting the raindrops on the window gave me a warm feeling. The heat from the ventilation system in the car hit my eyes and made me relaxed. I fell asleep and before I knew it, we were back at my house.

"What time is it?" I asked. I sat up and gather.

"It's almost 9 o'clock." Beau said, handing me my jacket. He helped me out of the car and followed me to my front porch.

"I hope you had fun, Al," Beau said, "I know I did. It was nice visiting our old, passed times." I tried to think about all of the good memories, but there were too many to take it all in.

"Do you still have the same number?" I asked. I wanted to build our friendship up again.

"Yeah it's the same." He said smiling, "Are you hitting on me, Al-pal?" he said jokingly. I gently punch his shoulder and laughed. I give him one last hug and head inside. Everybody was asleep so I had to be quiet. I took off my boots before walking on the hardwood floors in the hall. I went into my room to see Ella asleep. I took off my jacket, slipped into some comfortable pajamas, laid down, and stared at the ceiling. I couldn't stop smiling at this point. The amount of euphoria was overwhelming yet satisfying. I hadn't felt this in a long time.