The New American Dream

Part Four: Amsterdam | Chapter Thirty-Five

When I woke up again, it was from the beeping of our door. The beeping wasn't very loud but I had a rather light sleep so it made me wake up. Cassie entered the room, no one else with her. I didn't hate it.

"Oh, did I wake you up?"

Carefully I rubbed my eyes, trying not to smear my makeup. "Yeah, but don't worry. How late is it?"

"About six-thirty."

With a groan I sat up. "Alright, I needed that nap."

"How long have you been sleeping?"

"I think we came back around three? Maybe three-fifteen."

"Did you have a nice day then?" Cassie asked with that certain tone in her voice. The I know you spend your day wit a boy, did anything scandalous happen? tone. She sat down right next to me on the bed.

"I loved it. I could have spend hours in the museum and a fortune in the souvenir shop alone. Then we ate and after that looked at the Maritime museum from afar so I could draw it. It was a good model," I concluded.

"And then?"

"What and then? We went back and I took a nap."

"That's all?" Cassie asked, with a mixture of outrage and disappointment.

"What else would there be?"

Cassie laughed. "Well, I don't know," she said in a tone that suggested she knew exactly. "Did you eat enough then? Because if not then I'm going to have to have a strongly worded conversation with someone."

I rolled my eyes but grinned at her. "Don't you even worry. We ate pasta for lunch and he even had the audacity to interrupt me drawing to make me drink and eat."

Cassie pulled an approving face. "Well done, he's a keeper."

"Shut up," I laughed.

Cassie told me about her day while we watched Rick & Morty , she had also brought the both of us a salad so we could eat something healthy for dinner. Slowly the sun was setting and Cassie dozed off by the time it was completely dark outside. I didn't feel like sleeping, I was still energized and awake enough from my nap, so I came up with another plan.

"Meet me outside of your room?" I texted Dan, took my drawing supplies and made my way over. I could have just knocked but I didn't want to disturb anyone in case they were already sleeping. If they weren't sleeping I didn't want to look for a reason as to why I would want to be in their room, either. Dan could come up with something, I was sure.

It didn't take long, then the door opened and Dan stepped outside and closed the door quietly behind him. I saw that the other were in fact not sleeping and I got my first glimpse at their room.

"Hey, what is it?" Dan asked with his usual smile.

"Want to come outside with me?" I proposed.

"For what?"

"I want to paint the stars," I referred to the bracelet and my lips curled into a smile. "Well not really paint, I don't have any painting supplies with me, but I can still draw them," I added.

It got me a broad smile from Dan, one that lit up his eyes. "Alright, I'll come with you."

We made our way downstairs and passed the teachers in the lobby.

"Going out again?" Mr Jackson asked.

I held up my sketchpad. "Just outside the door, there's enough for me to draw there." I explained and he allowed us to leave.

We walked around the hotel and sat down near the train station. It was dark enough to see the stars at least slightly - you know, light pollution and all - but there was just enough light from the train station for me to be able to see what I was drawing.

"You know," Dan started "even if you don't have paining supplies with you, you still have color pencils. You bought them just today."

"That is correct, however I mostly draw in black and white. I mean you looked at my drawings, you saw them."

Dan nodded and I got to work, sketching what I saw in front of me, starting with Dan himself, sitting cross-legged in front of me, then the train station to my left and the broad areal for the busses that also held here to turn around in, the low concrete wall that separated the bus station from the pavement below and the passing cars on the street. Then the buildings on the other side of the road and lastly the sky in which I added dozens and dozens of stars and strange looking planets to add another abstract element. The tentacle trees also made a comeback once again, I liked them. I also erased part of the house and put a flying car over the ones that were driving on the road. This new reality that I was crating started to get better and better.

After a while I stopped my work and leaned my back onto the concrete wall behind me, just looking up to the infinite sky, feeling small once again.

"Enjoying yourself?" Dan asked quietly and shifted his position.

"Yeah, a lot. The stars are so peaceful."

Dan didn't answer, he only looked at me with a hint of a smile.

The moment was a bit unreal. It was so peaceful and quiet out here, even though the cars were whizzing past not far from us. That current moment seemed very much separated from reality, fitting for what I had just drawn. The stars were looking down on us and no one else, we were completely alone in this little bubble of ours.

I looked at Dan and studied him closely, taking everything in. His messy brown hair all around his head, his blue sweater with the sleeves pushed up so his bracelets and one of this tattoos were visible, the necklaces around his neck, his black jeans and his black converse. His posture in general, his legs bend and his arms resting on top of his knees, fingers touching.

In that moment I almost had hope that maybe he could be feeling the same way about me that I did about him. We looked at each other and I didn't feel the need to look away like I usually would have.

My mouth opened to say something but we were once again disrupted.

"There you are! What the hell are you doing out here?" I heard Jace ask, he was accompanied by Nate and Cassie.

I wanted to scream and yell at them to leave us alone. But I didn't.

"I wanted to draw out here and asked Dan to come with me. He doesn't get bored easily." I tried for a light tone, containing myself. "What are you doing here?"

"We wondered where you were. We thought you would have gone to your room as Dan was very vague about where he was only that you asked him too me you," Jace told us.

"Yeah, but at your room we only found a rather confused, half-asleep and very disgruntled Cassie," Nate added.

Cassie wrapped her arms around herself and seemed very much not awake enough to walk around. "Yeah, thanks for waking me up guys."

I know the complaint wasn't directed at me but I still felt the need to apologize to her. "Sorry, let's get back inside, okay?"

That seemed to be something everyone could agree on, even though personally it was the last thing I wanted to do.

"By the way," Cassie informed me, "I told them not to go looking for you."

Inwardly I cursed them, I just wanted to spend some time with Dan and the moment had been so perfect but they had to go and ruin it. Back upstairs I couldn't stop myself, I invited them all in our room to watch Rick & Morty with us.

Cassie groaned tiredly but they agreed, promising to be quiet so she could go back to sleep.

"Yeah, like that's gonna happen. Can't you just watch it in your room?"

"Come one Cassie, it's more fun to watch it with friends. You go sleep, we'll be quiet," I told her.

Jace and Cassie laid down on her bed, Cassie snuggled up to her brother and was soon gone. Nate laid down next to me and Dan was lying across the end of the bed. We watched about three episodes, the dim light of the TV was the only thing that illuminated the room. Then I felt myself drift off into sleep as well.