"In California with my toes in the sand," he hummed, his body slowly swaying. I emerged from the corner I was hiding behind and smiled.
"Use the sleeves of my sweater," I sung. He turned around, a smirk playing on his lips. He approached me, intertw...
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Jackson Campbell
I frowned in the thought of me snapping at Sierra. She was only trying to help, but I couldn't bring myself to open up to someone again. I don't know who I can trust and who I can't.
And to be safe, I make sure not to trust anyone.
Ryan is probably the closest person I have to me right now, besides Faith. Faith is trying to be understanding about the whole Sierra thing, but I can really see that she would rather side with her best friend.
I don't blame her to be honest. If I was in her situation, I'd favor Sierra aswell.
The real reason I was up that night is way more complicated than my lack of sleep. Going from the perfect beach-side family that our community practically worshiped to being the family who went M.I.A because of a messy divorce.
Divorce - I cringed at the word.
A man, who I used to admire and even wanted to mirror when I'm older, cheated on my mother. My mom was a woman of compassion, a woman made of pieces of nature, a woman who should've been cherished - not cheated on.
She was fragile and everyone knew it. They 'took care' of her when they saw her face-to-face. If anybody hurt her, they knew they'd be picking away at someone so magical. She trusted my father with her life - quite literally.
He took this trust and threw it at her and she couldn't catch it. It shattered at her feet and she couldn't do a damn thing about it. This devastated her, pushing her to the edge.
She didn't die, I continue to tell myself. As cliche as it sounds, she lives on in my heart. I carry her presence with me because someone so gracious deserves to feel the good of life.
It makes me wonder. Have I found the good of life? Will someone show me the good of life? The closest I've got to finding the treasure-equivalent of a person is my mom.
I know she's still here, hiding somewhere. But she isn't here to give me advice, bake me my favorite chocolate chip cookies, to hug me when I'm having a panic attack - she can't assist me anymore.
"Dude," Ryan snapped me out of my thoughts. "You good?"
I didn't realize how obvious my trances must be. I laughed it off and nodded. So much in my mind was going on, I regret inviting the guys over even if Aunt Erica allowed me to. She said it's good for me to 'have some bro-time'.
She's the closest person I have to my mom, so I do try to make life easier for her.
"Is Sierra home?" my best friend asked. I raised an eyebrow at him. I've always speculated something was going on between them, by the times he's mentioned her at camp.
"Yeah, probably in her room," almost instantly, he was dashing up the stairs. I felt a pang of annoyance of how easy it was for Ryan to talk to the girl. I brushed it off by gobbling down another slice of pizza.
