When in Sochi

Life in Technicolor ♡

JR's POV still... ♡

It's been about a while since I saw her. I tried finding funeral records of Kira Young in the Alaskan area, but there were none on file. It was as if she just disappeared into thin air.

I even tried visiting all the graveyards in the area to scan for her name in a headstone or something. Just some sign to indicate that she was real.

Eventually I gave up. Alaska's too big a frontier to try and hunt for her. She's dead and gone anyway.

It started to snow, so I needed to get anti-freeze for my car. I drove all the way from Federal Way, Washington to Alaska just to try and find her. Her grave, at least.

There was an AM-PM pit stop on the way to the interstate highway, so I decided to fill up there and buy the anti-freeze. But when I was in line, I noticed something. Or someone...

The girl in front of me... She was about 5'2, with long wavy/frizzy brownish dark hair, tan skin, and a skinny, fragile little body. Her eyes were smudged with kohl crushed eye liner, and she had a soft grunge vibe to her, with her garbage green parka, gold Juicy Couture heart chain pendant, a vintage Depeche Mode crop top, a black skater skirt, and black combat boots. Her face was eerily familiar, haunting resembling.... Kira...

She didn't seem to see me. Or know who I was. It was her turn to pay now.

She placed a pack of Marlboro cigarettes on the counter and a lighter. I can't believe the cashier didn't question her age or anything. When she walked out the door, I left my anti-freeze on the counter and followed her. She walked around the corner and appeared to be talking to someone.

"Here, sir," she said, giving the pack of cigarettes to an old hobo. "If you're dying, you might as well be happy while in the process." Her deep husky voice.....

The hobo looked at her cautiously for a long time then said, "God bless you."

The girl said, "God bless you too" and turned around, so I got to see her full appearance. IT WAS KIRA YOUNG!!!!!!!!! Except... She was a teenager.... WTF...

She finally saw me and her eyes flew wide. She recognized me. My eyes flew wide too. We didn't say anything. We just stared at each other for a long time. I took a step forward. But I didn't know what to say.

"It's cold," I feebly stammered, gesturing above at the snow.

"It really is," the girl said in a whisper. She pulled down her skirt and smirked. "Too bad I gotta walk home."

"I'll give you a ride," I said quickly. "You'll be warmer in there."

We both took a deep breath for a moment, staring at each other. Then I looked down and so did she. "Well," I said nervously. "Come on, I'll show you to my car."

She got in the shotgun seat and rubbed her hands together. Then she started puffing at her palms to generate heat. They were the same skinny dainty hands I used to hold on to.

"So....." I said awkwardly. I honestly didn't know what to say. It's hard to believe that this teenager is Kira Young, but it could easily be her as well...

Suddenly her phone started to ring. "Sorry, it's just my parents," she said. "They're always worried sick now, since I was a missing person a few weeks ago. They call like every 5 minutes."

I nodded and turned on the radio. The signal sucked in Alaska. But I found "Life in Technicolor" by Coldplay playing in one station. From the dashboard, we saw a gorgeous array of Northern Lights.

"Aren't they beautiful?" the girl asked.

"Yeah," I answered quite awkwardly. I didn't want to ask her name... if it's Kira, I don't know if I would believe it, but if it's another name like Regina or Marie, I don't think I can handle the disappointment of it not really being her. We continued driving up the road. I realized that she never told me her address and I was just driving around with no direction and purpose. I looked at the girl again. She was starting to fall asleep, her head leaning against the window. I wanted to reach out and touch her, to see if she wasn't a phantom or a figment of my imagination. So I did. I gently ran my fingers through her wavy dark hair streaked with brown from what seemed to be chlorine exposure. I remember when Kira told she swam and played water polo.

The girl stirred and looked over at me.

"Sorry," I said immediately, my face getting red. "I just... I... There was some snow in your hair."

The girl smiled. We were silent again for another 10 minutes, aimlessly driving up a mountain. The song "Life in Technicolor" seemed to be in repeat.

"2018," the girl said suddenly.

I looked at her. "What?"

"2018, South Korea," she said slowly and looked up at me with painfully familiar eyes. "We'll be finally legal to date, JR."

I stopped the car immediately and looked over at her, my heart beating like the tempo of a snare drum.

"KIRA?"

The teenage girl smiled and shrugged. "Told you we'll see each other again."