May 3rd
Kenosha, WI
Present Day
“Promise me one thing,” I say.
He combs through my brown hair, I can taste the strands as they move across my mouth and onto his lap. “What's that?” He asks.
“We will remain friends, no matter what.” I say.
“Sure,” his eyes move to the side, as if he is unhappy with what I said to him.
“What's wrong now?” I sit up, my eyes glazing over and my eyebrows crossing.
He sits up, his hand balancing himself so he wouldn't fall.
“I—you know,” he gestures for me to comprehend what he is implying.
I wink and smile, I do both just to make him think I understand what he is saying.
“So you do?” He asks.
“No,” I reply back, my shoulders hunched over, and my lips meeting my skinned-up knee.
He gets up, wobbles slightly, and continues walking. His legs move inward, as if he is drunk. He, of course, was not. He stops for only a brief minute, and turns towards me. His eyes are a crystallized blue; they hum like the deep blue sky on a clear day. “I'm sorry, but you have got it wrong.” He turns and continues walking until he is no longer in sight.
~|~
I could feel his breath still on me, and his grasp as it would run through my hair like a wild stallion runs through a field. The forest was only a few miles from where we both lived. He walked on the gravel path, the place where we were talking about life, friends, and what would be happening tomorrow morning.
“Corina!” I heard a voice call from the small staircase that led up to my bedroom.
The pounding of the footsteps that climbed the stairs began to hurt my head, but luckily the familiar angel-like face appeared before me. Her hair is braided into a fishtail; her blonde hair is unmistakeably perfect for the type of braid. This was all before our country had gone to ruins.
“Are you ready for the President's Day ball?” She asked.
“Ah,” I say, “I am sorry, I completely forgot about it.”
I whisk around the room, memorizing the wall like an idiot, and trying to avoid anything else she was going to say to me.
“I knew you would forget,” she sighs. “Like always, Cori.”
She stepped out for just a moment, and then returned with something that seemed like a dress. Something that I was strongly against wearing, even if I was a girl.
The beading was gorgeous, however. I glanced at the dress for a long while. The maroon collided with the bright satin poof at the bottom, which would caress my hips carefully. It would include a bright green satin sash that will envelope around me. A sash my mom wore once, when she attended her first President's Day ball.
“McKenna,” I look up at her.
“Yes?” She asks, with a hopeful grin on her face.
I glance both at her and the dress. “It's perfect, but why me, why should I wear it?”
“Mamm promised it for you, before she passed on.” she say, and motions her arms out for me to take the dress.
I reach out, grab it, and race into the bathroom to try it on.
