California Dreaming // keaton stromberg

Chapter 20

Keaton's POV

"Green! That's favorite movies." Gabby reminded me as I drew a green skittle from the bag. I gave her a small smile and closed my eyes. Favorite movie... favorite movie... Aha! Got one.

"Okay, I'm not going to tell you how many words, because that would give it away." I laughed. "But it has Will Ferrell in it."

"What do you mean it would give it-- I'ts "Step Brothers" isn't it?" She sent a knowing smile in my direction. Damn it, she got me again. I nodded and sent the bag of candy her way. For the past hour or so, Gabby and I were playing one of those 'get-to-know-you' games. Since we kissed, I just wanted to know everything about her; and this game was the perfect way to do it. Each color skittle corresponds to a different category: green, favorite movies; red, favorite bands; orange, favorite foods; yellow, favorite memory; and so on.

"Alright, favorite memory..." Gabby said, drawing a yellow from the giant bag. She tapped her chin as if she were thinking deeply about it. I didn't have to guess on this one, she just had to share. "Oooh! Okay, one of my favorite memories was from that one time when you guys were 'The American Scholars'--" She took a second to poke fun at our old band name and I blushed. That was back in the fetus days... "Anyway, you guys had your first show so you and me ran around town handing fliers out to everyone, and sticking stickers all over the place." I instantly grinned at the memory; I had completely forgotten about that!

"And we stuck one on the back of that stop sign on Oak Street! I had to hold you up on my shoulders because both of us were too short to reach." I laughed. "I wonder if it's still there..."

"It is." Gabby offered me a small smile. I was confused as how she were to know that, but then it occurred to me that she still lived in Washington up until a few months ago. Thinking about that fact was incredible. A few months. Probably three moths at most. Three months. That was all it took for me to come running back to Gabby Mullens.

"Get out, there's no way." I said, snapping out of my thoughts. She nodded again and whipped out her cellphone.

"You remember Sammi Carter, right?" She asked me, typing something rapidly. Sammi Carter... the name did ring a bell.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Well she made this her profile picture about a year ago, back when I still lived in Sequim." She said, handing me her phone. She had Facebook open, and while I was holding it, she found the correct photo. When I finally saw it, my eyes widened. Sammi was standing in the street wearing a flannel shirt and some boots, clutching on to the stop sign. There was some scribbling done in black sharpie, and next to it, was the weathered sticker that Gabby and I had stuck there probably seven years ago. I couldn't believe my eyes. Gabby and I were just kids when we stuck that there. Who knew that it would stay there all this time and represent something so permanent and long lasting.

"Wow." I said breathlessly. Just seeing that reminded me of how things used to be. How it was before I moved here and my entire life changed. How did I let myself to get so caught up in the hype? When did I become so focused on all these material things and forget about the things that truly matter?

Friends. Family. Loyalty. Respect. Equality. All of the stuff Drew has been preaching about all this time, all that shit about wanting to make a difference; it was finally making sense. Drew didn't lose himself when he came here, moving here just seemed to make him stronger. It augmented his beliefs and made him a better person.

And that's what I needed to do.

"What's wrong?" Gabby frowned, taking in my expression.

"Come on." I grabbed her hand and pulled her into the hallway.

"What are we doing?" She laughed as we reached the closet at the end. I didn't reply until I opened one of the cardboard boxes and found what I was looking for. Finally, I pulled out one of our old American Scholars stickers. "Oh my god." She laughed as she saw what I was holding.

"Let's go." I grinned. The two of us left the house, walking down the road hand in hand. As soon as we got into town, we hung a left so we were walking on one of the more resedential looking streets. We were less likely to get caught this way.

"Where are we-- Oak Street?" She grinned wildly. Something in my brain told me she knew exactly what was going on. We walked over to the stop sign and I slapped the sticker on.

"To finding myself again." I told her. "And to new beginnings with old friends." I took her hand in mine.

"To new beginnings." She agreed.