A Thousand Miles and A Million Years

Chapter Two

The pinks and oranges from the setting sun reflected through the glass of the restaurant's windows and onto my face. I gripped my coffee in the disposable cup it had been given to me in as I watched the sun creep behind the city skyline. I sighed, looking at the empty seat across from me before watching the sunset again. After a second my view was blocked by someone standing behind the chair opposite to me.

"Hey, Miss Brooks." He said after I removed my earbuds, silencing my favourite band. It was one of the students I taught. I smiled up at his familiar freckled face, motioning for him to sit down.

"Hey, Jacob, what are you up to?" I asked, shifting up in my seat so my back was straighter. I took another sit from my coffee.

"I was just coming for a coffee when I spotted the best teacher in school." He smiled. I laughed at the compliment quietly.

"Well, thank you." I smiled back to him.

"What are you doing here, Miss Brooks?" He asked after the lady dropped off the coffee he must have ordered before sitting at my table with me.

"I always come to this place to watch the sunset before bed. It calms me down or inspires me for my work later." I said, taking another sip of my coffee.

"What were you listening to? I mean, before I walked over." He asked after a second.

"I believe it was Early Sunsets Over Monroeville by My Chemical Romance." I told him, laughing at the irony of the song. "Kind of fitting, eh?"

He laughed at me for a second, tilting his head slightly. "Eh?" he asked.

"Sorry," I laughed. "Sometimes I just can't help it." I looked out the window again, sighing in disbelief at the beauty outside.

"Hmm?" Jacob turned around to see what I was looking at.

"I'm amazed by the beauty of the sunset. I mean look at the way the light shines off the buildings as the sun hides behind them." I explained, smiling at the view. He turned and watched my face for a minute before I caught his gaze and he averted his eyes away from me, a light pink crawling his cheeks before disappearing again.

"What's wrong?" I asked him after a second of silence.

"Oh, nothing." he said quickly, but nervously.

"Okay." I settled for his answer, taking another sip from my coffee. After the light had disappeared behind the buildings again, I stood from my seat, seeing my students saddened face.

"Sorry, but I'll have to get going now. I have to get to bed so I'm not late for my first class tomorrow." I told Jacob as I held my coffee in my hand and began towards the door.

"Okay, but Miss Brooks?" He asked just before I passed him.

"Mhm?" I hummed, waiting for his reply.

"I like your shirt." He smiled. I looked down to see it was my favourite System of a Down band shirt.

"I like you." I laughed, smiling thankfully at him. "See you in class tomorrow."

"See you." he laughed.

I walked past him and out the door, bracing myself for the long walk home in the cold New Jersey autumn air. I pulled my jacket tighter around myself with my free hand and putting my music back on. I walked along the street, my music now drowning the noise of traffic rushing by. I missed the best down of fall, the leaves crunching under my combat boots, but I couldn't take the loud machines around me so I kept my earbuds in.

Thankfully, I made it to my small neighbourhood and I was able to keep one headphone out so I could enjoy the crunch of freshly fallen leaves mixed with the stray leaves that had fallen over the past few days that have staled more than others. I smiled, remembering my childhood in bits from the smells of autumn around me. The darkness around me became increasingly worrying in the more dangerous streets of Jersey.

My house came up into view and I jogged up to it, my finished coffee gripped in my right hand as I pulled my keys out with my left. I approached my front door, unlocking and opening my front door, and stepping into the well appreciated heat. The smell of acrylic paints and clay hit my face, welcoming me home. I sighed and shut and locked my door again, throwing my coffee cup in the trash can in the kitchen from my front door and making it. I celebrate my shot for a second before pulling off my jacket and hanging it up again, unlacing my Doc Martins and throwing them beside the door.

I crashed on my couch, pulling off my skinny jeans and socks before pulling a blanket over myself and turning on the news. I watched the first few depressing stories before my phone started ringing. I paused my music and answered my phone.

"Hello?" I asked into the phone, sitting myself up on the couch a bit.

"Mae!" My mother cried into the phone. I put the remote on the couch beside me, becoming more alert at the sound of her distress.

"What?! What's wrong?! What happened?!" I asked in a hurry, becoming more concerned.

"I-It's your father." she sniffled into the phone. "He's extremely sick. You need to get here as soon as possible."

"I'll be there in a couple hours." I said after a few minutes of silence. I jumped up, pulling on my pants hurriedly and hanging up. I got completely dressed again, jumping into my car and driving off in a rush.