Marco vs the forces of Life

15. Soulrise

"I am?" She unfurls her ponytail and turns around.

"Go on in."

"In there?"

"Yeah.

"In your hair?"

"Get in "hair"! Get it? Get in hair?" I open the hair a bit and start going through, I guess. Wow. A lot more bigger than I thought. A delivery guy passes me? I keep walking and find Tad....Sulking behind a pizza box.

"Um, hey, Tad."

"Oh, hey, bestie. Kelly dumped me again."

"Yeah, that's why I'm here. She asked me to come talk to you.

"Are we getting back together?" He said happy.

"No. She needs you to move out, bud."

"She keeps saying that, but I've been looking."

"Oh! That's great. Where?" I say giving a smile.

"Mmm, like... on the back of these pizza boxes? Uh, inside these chip bags? At the bottom of these soda pops?" He drinks the soda pop.

"Look, dude, I felt the same way when Jackie and I split."

"That's your "B", man. Kelly and I break up and make up constantly. We'll get back together in no time, so why even bother getting out of this chair?"

"Tad, it's for real this time." I said serious.

"You're harshing my groove, Marco." I was getting a bit mad.

"Dude, Kelly wants to move on. You should give her that chance." I go for the box and try to take it but Tad tried grabbing it back.

"Come on, man!"

"No! Nooo!"

"You're just making yourself miserable hanging around her." He sighs and finally lets it go.

"You're right. You're the expert."

"Well, yeah, I'm an expert in many things— Wait, what? What are you talking about?" Now I'm offended and confused.

"How you're making yourself miserable hanging around Star."

"What?!" I scoff. "What does Star have to do with it? If anything, I'm miserable because..." Because... Of Jackie. "..because Jackie dumped me.

"Marco, you didn't come here for the Soulrise."

"Yes, I did," I counter. He places his hands on my face.

"Oh, Marco. Marco, Marco, Marco, Marco...Marco. Shhh. I've been watching you all night. You have feelings for your best friend, dude."

"What?! No! No. ...No.." I started to realize it a bit but no. It can't be true.

"Dude, you have! You could be knocking back soda pops and crushing pizzas in any dimension! And you're choosing to live with your unavailable crush? When it comes to making yourself miserable, you are the master, bro."

"No, no." I start backing away. "No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no." That's not true.

"Hey, Marco, are you okay? Buddy"?

"No... Noooo..." I get out of Kelly's hair.

"Hey, did you talk to him?" I run away. It's not true it's not! I kept running. As I ran, I kept passing by couples. Couple after couple. They were saying things that's sweet! I covered my ears but when I see Tom and Star..... They were kissing... I frowned... I close my eyes to look away. I can't see anymore. I turn and walk to find a spot on the beach away from demons and skeletons. I did find a spot and sat. I sulked... Going up and down on my zipper hoodie.

"Oh, there you are. Whatever you said to Tad worked. He moved out. I feel lighter already. Also, I think the zipper works, so... Yeah, you don't need to..."

"I'm glad that that worked out for you," I said turning to her but couldn't give her a smile.

"I know that face. Come on, Kelly's driving." She hops over the sand hill next to me. She puts her arms under mine and start pulling. But struggling. Can't do this.

"I'll walk!" I get up and she leads the way. I look down most of the time, with my hands in my hoodie. We started walking.

"You know, Tad and I? We used to come to every Soulrise."

"So why come here now?"

"I love the Soulrise. I don't want it to be a place that makes me sad. The only thing I could think to do was face it. Rewrite it so it was mine again." I finally look up and notice the beach looked a bit different. There was a lifeguard tower.

"Where... are we? Should we even be here?"

"It's the best view of the Soulrise!" She takes one of the skulls and tosses it into the tower. I hear it go through the tower then a ladder pops up.

"Ladder!" She climbs up and I follow. We make it to the top. When I get out it was amazing.

"Wow. You can see everything."

"Told ya!"

"I guess we should go find Star and Tom, huh?" I said sadly.

"They don't need this. They haven't earned it." I notice the lava doing something, but I saw Kelly shake a bit. I take my hoodie off and place it over her.

"Uh, what are you doing?"

"Oh, I was just... trying to... warm then... you... You know... You looked cold." I groan knowing I didn't say it right. She places the hoodie over us, getting closer.

"Thanks. I... I was cold." I smiled. The lava continues to ripple as black clouds gather in the sky. My mouth opened watching the dark clouds formed. A giant eyeball rises out of the lava and emits a beam of bright light. Souls start to swim up the beam and release into the sky. Screeching skeleton demons fly overhead. I notice one coming to us.

"Is... Is that thing...?" It flies past my face and I crouched down. "Aah! Oh! Ha-ha! Sorry." We continue watching the Soulrise. My first Soulrise. I smiled. Then I realize it may be time now.

"Is it past midnight?" Kelly looks at her watch.

"Yeah."

"Then it's my birthday."

"Happy birthday, Marco Diaz."