Waiting For Summers

CHAPTER 6

Revenge is like a dish, best served cold. And indeed, we serve it right.

We laugh out loud all throughout the drive, telling how awesome the comeback we just did and how we could have made it better. "If you told me earlier, I would've planned it instead of talking to people," I say regretfully.
"You don't need to. It's better to live in the spur of the moment," she smiles as she look back outside, "you always have been supportive of me, Red." There it is again. Red. She never calls me Red. Never called me any other name but Jar or Jared. feel like we're entering a new level of relatio— I mean friendship. Maybe we really are.
"That's not true, that's not true," I say with emphasis, "Paco and I were just talking about how you encouraged me to climb that rope in the middle of the gym."
"Oh, so you're talking about me then?" she teases, "what were you talking about me, huh? Huh?" She starts poking me.
I look at her with my eyebrows meeting, lips pouting, "Would you stop? I am drunk and I am driving." We both laugh. "This is a first, Laura."
She just smiles and leans on me. I look ahead, not knowing how to feel at the moment.

We arrive at a hill just at the edge of the city. I turn off the engine, "This is it, this is what you asked me, L." L? Wow. You're giving new names now? What is that for? Sounds like a codename for a mystery killer, pssh. She opens the car and looks at me. She does not budge about the name I call her.
"Let's go, Red!" she jumps out of my car. She goes to my trunk and to my surprise, I hear bottles clanking.
I go down to check. "Are those bottles of beer?!" I ask in surprise, "Where did you get them? At the party?"
She smirks, "At the grocery store?" I facepalm myself and she laughs even more.
"I am joking, Red. Of course from Paco's," she starts taking the all the five bottles out my car, "Asked Monica if I can have some in case of emergency."
I lean my head to the side as if to say "what is the emergency?".
"This is the emergency. I wanted to have my best friend all by myself," she lifts her eyebrows jokingly, "seriously, Red, it has been a long time since we last talked," making air finger quotes. We don't actually talk when we are together. Well, we talk but we enjoy just having each other beside. I'm okay with that. We look for bench to chill down.

The city skyline looks awesome. In the morning, it looks busy but at night, it looks enjoyable and mesmerizing. Lights blink from the tallest buildings. There are red and yellow lights from the skyscrapers. My favourites are those blue lights that blink together like they are dancing. I think they are from hotel buildings having a party. They look like stars shining brightly, except they are man-made.

The thing I love about skylines is that you have to patiently wait for its time to actually see it and appreciate its beauty. I believe that in people too. You have to patiently wait for them, be there for them through thick and thin, until you see how their lights will shine bright through the darkness around them. Here in this overlooking view, you can either enjoy the view of the skyline or if you go further up, you just enjoy the stars and the night sky.

We sit in the bench fit only for three people. Laura pops the first bottle of Corona. I am not surprised she has a bottle opener in her pocket. I shake my head laughing. "Why? What's wrong?" she childishly asks. "Nothing," I answer. We are silent for a moment.

"You really love him, don't you?" I ask, breaking the tension.
"Not really," she sighs, "I was learning to trust him already and put all my heart into him.." She started sobbing.
I come close to hug her, "Just because Nixon is a tall, handsome black guy who is the captain of the football team, doesn't mean you'll let him break your heart. You are a strong woman. You inspire people more than you ever know."
She pouts, "Yep, You' right," as she wipes her tears, "He's not gonna tear me down. How about Kyla?"
"Well, you forget about her. You don't need friends who will stab you in the back. You cannot waste your time stressing about toxic people. We let go and we live free," I advise.
"You are actually right. When people stab you in the back, you get the knife and cut them loose," she  straightens up.
I smile, "That's the spirit!"
We become silent again.
"You know, Red, the moment I saw you when we moved in, I knew you don't wanna be friends with me," she says in a very monotonous tone as if picturing out the moment.

I do not know what to say. It is amazingly terrifying how memories can either give you the feeling of nostalgia or dread or both of them the same time. I feel the cold brushing against me. She's actually right, I did not want to be friends with her at first. "Well, it's okay. I knew. It took me us a year before we started talking to each other. Do you remember that?" she questions.

I absolutely do.