Bits and Pieces

Goodbye Ocean

Not Just Another Rainy Day contest, hosted by WPAfterDark

The concert ended, the round of applause deafening. I grinned at my friends, breathing hard as the steel drummers took their bow. Steel drum concerts were usually outside in the park, but due to the plethora of rain that was covering our small town, the band had been forced to compensate and play inside the gym of our local middle school. It was better than no steel drum concert at all, which was the biggest social event of the week, and no one was willing to miss it.

I headed to the door of the gym, my Crocs squeaking on the shiny, linoleum floor as I walked.

"I'll see you tomorrow at writing club, right?" my friend Hattie asked me, tucking a strand of green hair behind her ear. I didn't miss the scrunch of concern in her forehead as she asked, and I didn't blame her. Ever since I had told her and her sister, Mabel, I was moving back to my hometown, they hardly let me out of there sight.

"Don't worry," I laughed, smoothing my own sweaty hair back from where it stuck to the sides of my face. "I wouldn't miss it if the world was ending."

I turned away from the door, glancing around for the one person I needed to see before I left. As if summoned by my thoughts, Jed Sawyer popped up beside me, holding my left Croc in his hand.

"Here," he said, laughing. "I thought you might need this."

He shook his blond curls off his forehead, doing terrible things to my heart.

"Thanks," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes. I bent over and slipped the Croc back onto my foot from where he'd stolen it at the beginning of the dance. Anyone who really knew Jed had to know that Crocs were his all-time favorite shoe. He was just a tad obsessed.

"Are you walking home?" Jed asked me, fixing me under his gaze. I straightened and locked my eyes with his blue ones.

"Yeah," I said lamely, feeling stupid for the way he was making me feel.

"Do you want to walk together?"

"Sure," I said casually, which was far from how I was feeling. Jed Sawyer and I had been best friends for a year, now, but I had fallen for him only a few months ago, and it was making me weak.

The two of us pushed outside of the gym, embracing the cool, night air. The rain had slowed down to a mist that settled on my hair and settled over the top of my shirt like little morning dew drops. The butterfly eggs inside my stomach had hatched and were now fluttering madly inside my stomach since Jed and I were alone. The moon was begging to be seen up in the night sky, trying to push its way through the blanket of clouds that were covering the sparkling stars.

"So, how's it going?" Jed asked me. I felt my lips curve into a smile as I lifted my face to the rain. "How was summer camp?"

"I'm good. Summer camp was great! It was so much fun. The water in the pond we stayed on was so warm and my friends and I would go swimming every day..." I shook myself out of my reverie and turned my attention back to him. "How are you?"

"I'm good. My relatives are in town so my parents are out partying on Cranberry Island. And, you know, I'm just getting ready for the school year to start. Are you excited for junior year at GSA?"

I felt my stomach twist into a knot at the mention of GSA, our local high school. Yes, I was excited for my junior year, except for the fact that I wasn't going to GSA. Because in a few short months, my family and I would be leaving, back to Oregon, back to our hometown, away, after one, short year of living in Blue Hill, Maine. I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat as I gazed up into the rain. It was falling steadily, now, soaking through the thin fabric of my leggings and making small puddles in the cracks on the sidewalk. A year ago, I would have been thrilled to leave Maine, but now leaving meant saying goodbye to Hattie and Mabel and our writing group and the ocean and Jed Sawyer, who was there for me when no one else was, who pulled from where I had sunk to rock bottom and who had helped me swim up to the surface. Leaving meant saying goodbye to the boy I had come to fall in love with.

"Jed...I'm moving back to Oregon," I said, biting my lip. I felt sadness wash over us at my words, but some sort of weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I had been putting off telling Jed for the longest time but I knew I needed to.

"Oh," he said. "Like...in a year?"

"No, like...at the end of the summer."

"Why?"

"My dad got offered a job he couldn't refuse."

I risked a cautious glance to him, where he was staring at his own Crocs, face contorted with sadness.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. The sky opened up, shedding as many of its tears as I wanted to. The rain pounded the sidewalk hitting a heavy rhythm as our feet sloshed through the thick layer of water covering the ground.

"Shit," Jed muttered, pulling the hood of his sweatshirt over his hair and bending his head against the pouring rain.

"Do you not like rain?" I asked, pulling off my flannel so the rain could slip down my bare arms.

"I actually really hate the rain."

"I love the rain."

Almost as much as I love you.

I let the rain soak my hair, let the drops fall onto my shoulders, let it mix with the tears that had started to fall down my cheeks.

"Whoa, Eliza, are you okay?"

His hand caught my wrist and pulled me around to face him. I blinked up at him, feeling the heat radiating off his body through the cold drops of rain.

"I'm just sad," I choked. "I'm really going to miss you."

"I'm really going to miss you, too," he said, pulling me into a hug. I had started to live for Jed's hugs. He was just the right height and his hair gel smelled so good and hugging him felt right. I thought back to how many times I had wanted to tell him about how I felt, how much I wanted to be with him, how long I had liked him. As I stood there, in his arms, watching the time we had slipping by faster than I could think, I realized that I had to tell him because if I didn't, I might melt in the rain.

"I realize now should have told you a long time ago," I said, pulling away but leaving my hands on his arms. "And I'm sorry I haven't. I think maybe it was never the right time, or I was scared because you might not --"

"Hold on, hold on," he said, bending his head so his eyes could be level with mine. He touched my shoulder, sending bolts of electricity all the way through my fingertips. "Slow down. What are you saying?"

"I think I'm falling in love with you," I said, locking my eyes with his. He didn't let me down slowly or step away from me. He didn't do any of the things I always thought he'd do when I would finally tell him how I felt. He kept his eyes locked with mine and pressed his fingertips to my face.

"That's definitely a problem," he said, "because I think I'm falling in love with you, too."

A small breath of relief escaped my parted lips. Time seemed to stand still, enveloping just us, the pounding rain, the dark night, his hand on my face, and him, gazing down at me and looking at me like I had always hoped he'd look at me. I stood up on my tip toes because Jed was so tall, and threw my arms around his neck, pulling me to him and pressing my lips to his. He didn't object and instead, kissed me back. It was something I had imagined doing a million times, but nothing came close to the real thing. He moved his mouth against mine, head tipping lightly to one side, his hands caressing my hair. He smelled so nice but tasted even better. Kissing him was so sweet -- no tongue, no teeth, just his lips soft on mine. I pulled his hood off his head and ran my hands through his hair, pulling the rain through his curls. He pulled away and rested his forehead against mine and he was smiling -- we both were -- because I was so happy to be here with him, just us. And I had waited so long for this and finally it had come, this perfect, timely, long-overdue moment. I closed my eyes as we stood there, breathing together, our chests rising and falling. His hands were still in my hair and my arms were still wrapped around his waist, and everything was perfect.

"Eliza," he said, and I opened my eyes. He grinned at me and pulled away slightly so he could gaze down at me.

"What?"

"I think I like the rain," he said.

(To WPAfterDark: my word count might be slightly off in my entry form because I added a sentence after I submitted my entry. It is still under 2,000 words).