"Hey Cloud?" He slows his pace slightly and looks at me. "I want to do something for Adrian."
"Something for Adrian?" He stops and turns to me. "Like a closure gift of some sort? If so, I'm all in for it, no worries. I'd love to do something for him, what is it you want to do for him?"
"I want to go around to all the places we've been together and take pictures, then put the pictures into a box and leave it at his grave with flowers." I nervously look at him as he studies every word that comes leaking from my mouth, then he nods.
"That'll be awesome! Let's grab your camera and get going!" He grabs my hand and starts running to my house.
With a flash we reach it in no time and I grab my camera after telling my mom I'll be out with Cloud all night. I hop onto the back of his motorcycle he has, a simple red and black paint to add some flare.
"Where to first? God we've been to so many places, maybe the arcade, or my house, or maybe even the water park!" He waits excitedly for my answer.
"To our elementary school, the first place me and you meet him. It's was third grade, if I'm not mistaken, when I met you both. He had just moved here and was adjusting to everything, then we came along and made his life awesome. Then to middle school where we first meet Roy and Tamara, and then a picture of out highschool. And so on from there, is that okay?" I wrap my hands around his waist and wait.
"Sounds great." He slumps the helmet onto me and puts his on starting the motorcycle and booming off to our old elementary school.
The cool wind and light sky almost looks magical in way. Before I knew it we had reached the school in no time, some kids were playing at the playground, it looked like a club of kids doing a party. Nearby is set up with a giant white banner with the projection of a dance game on, some kids are playing that too.
"Okay, so just a picture of the school?" Cloud parks the motorcycle and takes his helmet off to start fixing his hair.
"Yeah...and maybe we can stay for a bit." I pull the camera from my bag and look at him to see he's confused. "I just want to watch the kids play, they remind me of us back then. It's nice to remember the good times, but the bad times also make us stronger. Remember?"
He gets off and I follow looking at the playground. I point over to the highest slide.
"That's where I got dared to go face first down, but then you came up and went down with me cause I was so scared. You were always there for me." I glance over and see him smiling. "Come on, let's get that picture and hang for a few seconds."
He nods and stands back as I readjust my position and aim the camera. With a few snaps we're already heading for the playground. We take a seat in two empty swings and watch kids run around. I start to hear Cloud laugh next to me, I look over to see him looking at me slightly.
"What's so funny?" He straightens himself and kicks one foot into the ground.
"I was just thinking about that slide, that was the first day we met. And after that you wouldn't leave my side, you were so attached to me....it was almost...cute. Heh, the good old days." He kicks his foot again but it slips this time and he falls backwards.
I burst out laughing before helping him up and brushing off the wood chips. He just smiles. Some kids rush over and pull us over to the dance game while laughing.
"Oh, kids no! I'm so sorry about them." A young lady, probably an assistant, walks over and waves the kids away.
"It's fine ma'am." A kid walks over and pulls on my arm slightly to get my attention.
She raises the game controller to me and smiles with a begging eye. I sigh and take the controller walking with her over to the game. Cloud follows and sits with the other watching kids. But someone pushes Cloud up and hands him a controller. Four of us are playing, Cloud, two girls, and me. The game starts and we dance, I dance awkwardly and nervously, I've never danced in front of anyone except my friends. Cloud on the other hand is smashing it, every move clear and swift with his smile. He doesn't focus, he just does it. I take a deep breath and try to focus on the screen, I end up tripping.
"Sorry..." We're back on the motorcycle again.
"No need to apologize, it was awkward dancing in front of kids. But at least it was fun." He smiles and I just follow with him.
By the next two or so hours we've done pretty much every place we've been with Adrian. We head into Cloud's house and I pull out my laptop downloading the pictures onto it and printing them at home with a note for my mom to know where I am and what the pictures are for. I shove my laptop into my bag with my camera and flop down into a beanbag chair in front of Cloud's huge TV. He hands me a controller and starts shifting through his game drawers.
"Cloud?" He stops and looks at me. "Do you think I'm going insane?"
"Why would you assume that?" He leans backwards and sits with his legs crossed turned to me.
"It's just.....I've been having hallucinations....of Adrian...and I keep hearing his voice from time to time. Like in dodge ball, I heard someone tell me that ball was flying to me. I thought it was you but it wasn't." I look down holding my head trying to collect my thoughts.
YOU ARE READING
Player 1 Player 2
Teen FictionAlex Crystal has never been a popular in the school, never noticed and sometimes oblivious. He's a gamer and usually surrounded by death, what a sight. His friend, Cloud Woods, is a guy of tricks and laughter. His other pals, Adrian Dean, Tamara Fai...
