Georgia's Last Words

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Are you crazy?” He looks at me with wide eyes, then shifts his gaze towards the fountain.

“No, well a little. I said I wanted to do something crazy, so can we?”

“You sure about this?” Cooper rests his hand on my cheek. 

I nod. “Please?”

He smiles. “Okay, c’mon.”

Cooper takes my hand as we step up on the edge. We look around for someone, waiting for them to stop us. There’s no one. So I kick off my shoes onto the ground behind me and Cooper does the same. We take one more look around then look at each other. 

“Ready?” Cooper asks.

I nod. “1...”

“2...”

“3!” We shout at the same time. 

Hand-in-hand we jump into the fountain. It’s only a foot or two deep, but the splash is big enough. I start laughing, my wet hair sticks to cheek. Cooper starts to splash me with more and more water. I try to splash back, but water hitting my face stops me. 

Under the fountain lights I can see the money glittering underneath the water. They’re like stars in the night sky, reflecting brighter with a light source. It’s so pretty, though completely artificial. Like everything else in this city. We can’t even see a real star. 

I sit down on the edge of the fountain, my feet fling water across the small pool. Cooper looks over at me and suddenly puts on a concerned face. He sits down next to me and pushes my head down on his shoulder. I sigh. 

“What’s wrong?”

“I miss the stars.”

He frowns. “Do you miss the stars or do you miss Georgia?”

I think about it for a moment. “I miss the stars. Georgia is great and all, but I love it here. Nothing can beat New York, or Columbia for that matter. It’s just everything here seems so fake. Nothing is real, everything is a façade and sometimes I just can’t bring myself to love it. Yeah, I miss the stars.”

Cooper rubs my arms. We both sit, splashing water across the fountain. The ripples spread and become interrupted moments later. It’s a continuous cycle, over and over. I watch as our feet fall into the same pattern, in the same timing. It’s a quiet moment, but sincere. There’s no one around and we’re alone in this world. 

He kisses my forehead. “Sky, what’s holding you back?”

I look in his eyes, confused. “From what?”

“From taking that job at the magazine.” 

“I don’t know.” He stares. I give in. “I’m just not sure if it’s what I want.”

Cooper sighs, “You want to be a designer. That’s what you are majoring in right now, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well then how is working in the fashion industry with actual professionals not what you want?”

I think about it for a moment. “I don’t know.”

“Then take the job.”

“Maybe,” I say, splashing some water across the fountain.

Cooper shakes his head with a bit of confusion or maybe disappointment. I try to distract myself from it all by staring out into the blackness of the park. You can’t see the green trees or the park animals. You can’t hear voices, or smell food cooking on the carts. All you can sense is the homeless people trudging through drinking beer and whatever else they do late at night.