Bedroom Window View...

West, Approved By All

Naomi Carter

"Hi mom," I said as I was hugged and crushed. Dad stood behind her smiling at me like always. "Hey pumpkin," he grinned taking his turn to hug his daughter. Pumpkin was his nickname for me ever since I got my head stuck in a Halloween pumpkin when I was seven. "Hey dad," I said.

Stevie stood with his arms crossed, his back against the wall. He had a big smile on his face as I walked towards him to get my "welcome home" hug. He opened his arms for me and embraced me tightly, "We'll talk later," he whispered in my ear. I wasn't even surprised that he saw through my empty smile. "Okay," I said silently.

He released me and kissed my cheek like he always does and wrapped an arm around me while using his other one to carry my bags inside my home. The familiar scent of the house greeted me, somewhat lifting some of the heaviness weighing down my heart. I took in the slight changes that happen every year, the new curtains, carpet, and other decorations. My mom always replaces the things in our house that she gets tired of seeing. That brought a smile on my face. I remembered her changing a lot of things in the house except my room. She likes redecorating it when I'm around.

Behind me and Stevie, Auntie, Andrew, and my parents were chatting away about the wedding and the spilled secret proposal. But then the tones shifted and I think I heard my boyfriend's name. But it was west as in a direction along with north south and east…

I tripped and caused Stevie to lose his balance therefore dragging him down with me.

The adults started laughing.

"Ow..." I groaned. Stevie laughed and started getting back on his feet. "You're as clumsy as ever."

"No I'm not," I grumbled while accepting his helping hand.

"You remind of a cat," he laughed when I puffed at him.

"Cat?" I raised a brow.

"Yeah, but more like a kitten, all small, fluffy, and harmless," he teased.

Kitten...

Kitten...

"Naomi," Stevie said in alarm, "Hey, you hurt or something?"

Kitten

"Come here," he said, sweeping me off my feet and suddenly carrying me upstairs to where my room was, leaving the grown-ups and my luggage.

He dropped me on my bed and sat down next to me, wiping my tears.

"What is it?"

I shook my head vigorously.

"Don't you dare lie to me you squirt," he warned, "Now spit it out."

"West didn't say goodbye," I whispered.

"Oh, it's about him, huh," he said.

"I might not see him again..." I said, my lip trembling from the thought. "He knew I was leaving and yet..."

The tears stopped. I've already cried a lot. I just feel numb. I never knew it would hurt this much. It's as if something's constantly clawing at my heart. I know to others they'd say I'm being over-dramatic with how things ended, but I can't help it. I loved him for ten years. Ten years!

I guess it was too good to be true.

Stevie said nothing. Usually, he'd gag at my dreamy tales about West, how his eyes sparkle with mischief, how his sandy blonde hair seems flawlessly cute when it's messy, and his smile that's as bright as day. But Stevie’s strange silence was unusual. I looked at him, wondering what he thought. Did he think I was too much of a dreamer? Was I too naive?