Cassie
The next morning I woke up to a bright sunny day. My dream must have been good, too good to even remember. But it left me with a tingling sensation that I usually carry throughout the day.
Mel was still sleeping on the top bunk of our shared room. That slowpoke. I'll bet she'll snooze her alarm for another hour before turning the house upside down to get to work on time.
I went ahead and got dressed but Mel was still dead asleep when I came back to check on her. It won't be of any use trying to wake her up. You could abduct her to another planet and she wouldn't feel a thing.
I left a sticky note on her forehead and made sure to lock the door when I left. The studio was quite a ways from our apartment, so I had to walk towards the bus stop to get there. It was still pretty early and the warm summer breeze was blowing. I was wearing my rubber shoes since I intended to have a little jog, I was lacking exercise these past few days and my body was craving the constant pumping of blood and the sudden surge of adrenaline from my notorious crazy acts.
A car honked from behind me and I saw the familiar white sports car following me. I instantly moved over to the side but instead of driving over, it stopped in front of me. The driver pulled the top down and Toru leaned over to my side.
"Care to join me?" he asked, smiling. I was taken aback by his sudden kindness but he never bullied me even when we weren't practically on good terms so I guess it would be rude of me to decline the offer.
"Sure. But I have one condition," I said, grinning.
Toru shrugged.
"I'll drive," I said. He raised an eyebrow at me, probably debating whether to lend his precious baby to me.
"Sure," he finally said. He moved over towards the passenger seat as I hopped on the driver's seat. I had to sit on the edge of the seat and Toru chuckled.
"Seatbelt, please," I said as I put on my own. Toru did the same.
"Wait," he said suddenly remembering something. "Do you have a license?"
I smiled at him but didn't answer. Then slowly shook my head. I saw alarm forming in his eyes before I stepped on the gas. He didn't say anything, probably due to shock, since I was gradually increasing our speed as we got out of the main roads and up the hill.
Since there were barely any cars in this part of the city, I turned to see how Toru was doing beside me. He was clutching the door and the seatbelt so tightly and his face was ashen pale. I let out a hearty laugh. Who's laughing now?
"Slow down," he managed to say.
But that just encouraged me to drive faster and he fell silent, I'll bet praying to the gods that no misfortune shall befell amongst us. I have to admit, his car is sick. If I had a car like this, I'll take it out for a ride every frigging chance I get. I stopped the car when we reached the top of the hill. I went out of the car and inhaled the sweet scent of grass still wet from the morning dew.
"Ahhh!!!" Then I screamed. I yelled from the top of my lungs. I shouted with every ounce of energy I've got in my system.
Toru got out of the car, too. But unluckily fell on his knees, his arms supporting his weight. I went closer to take a better look at him and he looked like he was about to gag but nothing was coming out so I patted his back instead. I think he got just a tiny little bit of carsick.
"Are you okay?" I asked, just in case he felt worse than he look. Which isn't good. It's such a shame that a guy with good looks has a bad stomach.
He grabbed my hand and I guess it was gravity because even when he felt so weak, he easily dragged me down like a rag doll and I fell on my knees beside him. I can see droplets of sweat forming on his forehead and his breath came in small raspy gasps.
"Are you crazy?" he weakly muttered. "What if you were caught for over speeding? And you don't have a license, too."
So he was worrying about that, I thought. His strength of mind was commendable considering his current state. I wonder how he could think of the consequences of my actions when I could have caused him his sudden death. This guy surely is something.
"I never went over the speed limit. And I had a student license," I said innocently and showed him the card in my wallet.
He breathed a sigh of relief and slumped over the side of the car. I laid on my back, like a starfish. We just stayed there quietly like that when I heard the familiar classical music that signifies an incoming call from my phone. I took it out from my pocket and saw that it was Mel. I tossed it on the ground and closed my eyes. She must be in the studio by now.
"We should go," Toru said, realizing what the phone call meant. The phone rang for the second time but I ignored it. I played an invisible piano with my hands, instead.
"We're already late, anyway," I said, not opening my eyes. I could feel him lying down beside me. Picking on the blades of grass ruthlessly. I could feel his warmth radiating through the space between us. It feels like yesterday that we don't even look each other in the eye.
I guess Ryota was right.
"Who taught you how to drive?" he asked.
"My dad," I opened my eyes and almost got blinded by the sunlight. I raised my hand as if to hold the sun inside the palm of my hand. It will probably feel suffocated. And slowly, bit by bit, die away.
Just like...
I shook my head. I shouldn't be thinking such thoughts on a perfectly good day.
"It's the same," Toru said, lying on his back and staring at the sky. It was an azure blue. It was so bright that it almost hurts the eye. So beautiful that I can't take my eyes off it.
"What is?" I asked. Toru looked deep in thought. As if he was remembering a memory from somewhere far away, from a very long time ago, from deep within his heart.
"The sky," he answered, looking at me, then back at the heavens above. His voice was deep, as if emanating from the bottom of his soul.
"I used to stare at the sky. Before," he paused, but decided to continue. "When HEADS was disbanding and I didn't know what to do. I was lost."
"You're still here," I said quietly, shifting towards my side to look at him properly. I think I had a vague idea of he's saying.
"You're right," he scoffed. "No matter how far we go, we're still under the same sky."
The sky never changes, I thought. People do.
People come and go. The sky never moves.
It stands there, waiting.
Still waiting.
