Inky Nebula

Chapter Three

The orange evening sky was shaded with beautiful colors of purple and lilac, and hints of crimson painted the dusk portrait into a beautiful and blurry scenery, and the house and traffic lights added bright yellow, red and green little dots in the becoming night sky's horizon. And of course, I was searching for the moon, and today it was crescent-shaped, meaning that I was going to have a good dream, well, since I was told by the Man in the Moss from The Pismis once when I spent my second night in the hollow of a willow tree.

I was walking down the road, my old and tangled earphones on, hands in my jean pockets, and eyes barely blinking because I'd been struck by the thought of how mystical things actually existed, or maybe how they weren't mystical at all, but were in a way human knowledge would never be able to understand...I passed by Travis's house near the fro-, "Sh**! I forgot about our 'outing' tomorrow, and I had told River I'd be home so that he'd come to help me find answers" I thought to myself "But the answers thing can wait, Travis asked me out on a date, YAY!" I screamed out a bit near a couple walking their cat (never thought anyone could actually lead such a b**chy but adorable animal).

Something about Travis asking me out felt a bit odd and unlike him at all; as far as I knew him, he was a serial lady killer, with his mouth-watering body and hungry eyes, his f**k off attitude along with his Bay Rum scent and almost 90s baggy-street steez gave me hellish goosebumps whenever I was around or thought of him, I got headaches and heartaches as I knew deep down I'd never even be his booty call, or even worse, his girlfriend.
That honestly depressed me because I had such a huge crush on him and it was difficult playing the 'cool and calm girl from the other block' when he kept on hypnotizing me with his man pheromones.

I mean, I wasn't even close to being his type; I had black with small navy detailing fluffy African braided hair, an average height, a slim waist with a bit of curves (from some crazy workout routine) sculpted my almost toned body shape, my apricot-colored big, but asian-like eyes, a small nose, plump glossy lips with a small Cupid's Bow on the upper lip all fitted into my bright face outlined by a cute jawline with a bit of cheekbones complementing the structure of it, and the tone of my skin, was a delicate mixture of clay and amber, from my perspective, I was just below average compared to the girls that were around town, and wherever he's probably been.

But anyways, I didn't think it was a 'date' to him, just an outing, like I said. "Hey Quillz" think of the devil and he shall appear, "Rav, you've been around today huh?" I froze but quickly gave myself a mental slap. "Nah, just got back from work, I dropped by during my break and my boss gave me a hard time but it was worth it because I finally knew you were okay after I had missed the opportunity to ask you out before you 'went away', didn't think I'd see you here though during this time, and your mom's gonna yell at ya for walking with a guy" he teased, "Oh shut up! She won't" I rolled my eyes.

"So..." he said, looking out into the now starry distance. "Yeah?" I looked down at my dusty Nikes, "Ok I really need to confess" he looked down "See, ever since I met you all those months ago, I've been wanting to spend more time with you, you're really cool but I was really hesitant to tell you because I just ain't really the kind of guy to pour myself out on a beautiful lady like you..." he paused, "O...kay" I was flattered honestly to hear him say that but the look on his face told me something else "But Quilla...there's also this...GIRL I'm currently with, so is it cool if she also tags along? I mean, I know I said I had bought two tickets but they were really only for her and I, and then I saw how lonely and depressed you were so I bought the third one after you said you'd go, that time you went to your cousin but... I, I just wanted to ask if you're cool with the three of us going together?".

Then my whole world, trying to piece itself back together again came crashing down into a billion more pieces again, and I felt my throat and heart wrapping themselves up into a tight, and painful knot "Uh..." I struggled for words, "I'm really sorry Quilla" he said. "No no, it's cool Rav. I'm just relieved because I was trying to tell you that I can't really make it tomorrow because my mom asked me to go to the Harbor with her, but I didn't know how to start...um thank you anyways for worrying about me, I would have still loved to come even when you'd have your girlfriend around...that's if she'd have been cool about it" I forced up a coarse laugh. "Oh...so is it cool if I just go with her?" he asked, "Oh yeah sure, go ahead" I smiled with a broken heart. "Well, great. I'm relieved we came up with a solution, I'm really sorry though" "Sure, it's fine". "Um, so the cr-" "Hey Rav, I think I better hurry home now, I forgot to close my bedroom window, there's just way too many crickets in our yard so I better..." I lied, feeling a storm of tears about to burst out of my eyes. "Oh, mind if I walk you home?" he asked, "No but I'll just run there, bye Travis" I uttered the words with a shaking voice, already making a great distance between us, "Okay bye, hey when will I see you aga-" and just like that I was on my way home.

I walked slowly after I turned a corner, my eyes already red and still flowing with salty tears. How could HE do that to me, the guy who filled my heart with so much love and hope for an idea that something was actually GOOD in my life now only showered it with so much hate and pain, and I was foolish enough to fall for him but at the same time, he was always so sweet and sensitive around me, and he was always showing signs of interest in me, but now I only realised that I was just his 'breather'. I obliviously walked for hours with my earphones on, and hands in my jean pockets again, looking down at the small stones, mud and grass that filled my path, it was really dark now. I was still crying and feeling so hurt, trying to kick Travis out of my mind and thinking of how everything in my life was so negative. What had I done to deserve all of this? And why was it so easy for everyone around me to seem so happy and moving forward for the better, and why was I feeling the opposite? All these thoughts collided in my mind until the strong wind made me observe my surroundings, and I realised I wasn't anywhere near home anymore.

The soil had turned black, there was fog everywhere, grey willow and oak trees covered the foul-smelling landscape, and four ravens circled around a dead carcass in the far distance, the moon was still crescent-shaped but this time, it was a bright red, and when I looked behind me, a field of rosemary started to disappear...and that's when it hit me, that I wasn't getting home anytime soon, because I was back here again...in The Pismis.