Crooked Hearts

12. The Lighthouse

We take a walk along the beach. The sound of the waves on the shore has a calming sensation to it. I've always loved the beach and the sun. One of the reasons I spend a lot of time in LA. But even at night the beach it beautiful. I can see the lights of yachts and ships floating on the sea. We're walking towards a far end of the beach, which is completely lonely and abandoned. Aria seems to like these lonely and abandoned places. But then, Aria always loved to live in solitude. I'm beginning to wonder if Aria spent time in any lonely places back at home in Holmes Chapel.

Holmes Chapel is still home to me, even though I live on London now, and I'm on the road for long periods of time, Holmes Chapel is home, because home is where the family is. I sometimes forget that Holmes Chapel is also home to Aria, she lived one street away from my house. And now that I think of it, Aria's father still lives there. When Aria left, he didn't. I've always wondered why Aria never went back home. Not even for Christmas or New Year, or summer, or any holidays. But her father never left Holmes Chapel. In fact, he still lives there right now. I never saw her mother, rumors say she died in some freak car accident or whatever. Aria never speaks of her, and I've never asked. It seemed like such a touchy subject for her.

I hear Aria's footsteps beside me, and I bury my hands deep in the pocket of my jeans. I'm thinking of home at the moment. I kind of miss it right now. It's hard to miss home when you're having the time of your life touring, creating albums, and doing all these crazy stuff. But when everything gets quiet, like right now, all you can seem to think of is home. I miss my mum, my sister Gemma, and even the cat.

I look at Aria beside me, and she seems to be lost in thought herself. She's walking and staring straight ahead with a thoughtful expression on her face.

"What are you thinking of?" I ask.

"Home." Aria says simply.

I don't even know where 'home' is to Aria. She said she's been traveling and moving around constantly. She said that right now she lived in London. But she's been South America for two months. I wonder if she's thinking about Holmes Chapel.

I'm about to ask her, but she says, "Look." I look ahead and see a tall dark structure. It's a lighthouse. A lighthouse? This girl does have some crazy destinations.

"C'mon!" Aria says. We run down to the lighthouse and she takes the pin out from her pocket. She's so good at cracking locks, I'm wondering where she even learned.

Aria unlocks the lighthouse door, and steps inside. Honestly, I don't want to step inside. It looks like the kind of lighthouse that would contain demons and evil spirits. But Aria doesn't seem to be the least bit bothered by all of it. "C'mon Curly." She says.

"Are you sure the devil doesn't live in there?"

"Just get in here, you pussy." She says pulling me in by the shirt. The inside is dark and smells like a combination of dust, sea salt, and old people. In other words, in smells terrible. There are plies of junk scattered everywhere, from boxes of fishing nets, to old life boats and fishing rods. I don't know what Aria even does in this filthy place.

"Aria what-"

"Shhh, follow me." She leads me to a flight of stairs, and maybe it's because I don't want to be left alone down here by myself, or that I'm just really curious to see what's upstairs, I follow her up without hesitation. We get to top level of the lighthouse and I gawk at what I see. I can see the entire ocean from up here. The sky is lighting up with the first glimpse of dawn and I can see all kinds of birds flying in the horizon.

Aria loves beautiful places, I suddenly realize.

"Wow." I breath.

"Uh-huh. I did a bit of cleanup when I first got here." She explains.