Twilight Java

Chapter 6

"You can say that I'm hoping on moving on to bigger and better things, a cliche should help your story," He said, and I laughed loudly at that. I quickly clasped my mouth after that outburst. Attempting to compose myself, I straightened out my clothes and cleared my throat.

"Well then, if that's all then I need to get going. Thank you for everything I really appreciate it," I said, truly meaning it. I flashed him a smile as he stood up, and realized that he wasn't as tall as I thought he was. Being on stage above others made you look taller, but it wasn't as big of a difference as I had thought. My eyes were roughly at his neck where I could see a single vein run through it. He smiled back at me and stuck his hand out for me to shake. I looked at it for a second, before clasping it and giving him a firm shake.

"No problem," He responded calmly. Our shaking came to a halt, but he kept his hand grasped around mine. "I guess I'll see you around?"

"Possibly," I said with a coy smile. "Bye, Ellis." I then slid out of his hand before heading towards the door, pushing it open forcefully. I felt strangely bare and naked, as though missing something important. It didn't take long to realize I left everything that was important to me behind in that cafe, where I reluctantly went back inside as I noticed Jasper grinning while all my items were in their exact same spot. I snatched them and with a final smile I left the cafe.

But before I did, Ellis called out to me. "Goodbye, Callisto," he said.

On my way back to campus, I listened to the recording of our interview and was thoroughly satisfied. He provided me with thoughtful but seemingly honest answers, ones that will be very beneficial to my article. He said some things that I didn't even notice, like his old band name was called The Indigo Monarchs. I wondered when they split and if they still made music together because he said they were 'still around'. Whatever it was, I didn't think that would be the last I saw of him.

When I arrived back to my dorm, Veronica wasn't there (as usual) and I immediately uploaded the interview onto my laptop. I was then able to make a transcript of the interview by using voice recognition on my phone, so that made the process much easier for when I would quote Ellis in the article. My mind was already swirling with ideas on how to make this article as intriguing as possible, but then I also remembered I needed more pictures.

I knew I would take more of other singers at the cafe, but who else could I snap on school grounds?

Like a lightbulb in an old cartoon, that's how the idea came to me. I had already made two friends who were both skilled in two very different fields- Veronica with her passion in soccer, and Charlie with his sculpting hands. I smiled to myself once I realized how quickly I could get these pictures done.

Speaking of Veronica, I thought about our encounter when I saw her before heading to the cafe. Hopefully it was maybe just a bad day or a case of being sleepy. I didn't know what I'd do if I saw her, because it'd be a little strange to pry in on her life like that, especially after it happened.

~•~•~

The rest of the weekend was spent on writing my article and taking pictures of everyone that I had planned on getting, both on and off campus. Both Charlie and Veronica were more than happy to be a part of it, but Veronica's only condition was that she had to look good and approve of the picture. Those weren't hard rules to follow, and the project was more fun than feeling like an assignment.

Veronica had taken me out to the soccer field during practice, and I made sure to capture the determination in her eyes or the joy she expressed when she or a teammate scored a goal during a mock game. It was amusing to watch, and I think both of us were happy with the results of the pictures.

Charlie on the other hand took me somewhere much more private. He led me to the Fine Arts building where we went into one of the painting and sculpting rooms. Luckily for our school, we had smaller rooms in the building for people to come and work on their art outside of class so it felt more private. I told him to simply look as he does normally when sculpting, so he proceeded to cover himself in paint and wet clay.

I burst out in laughter and he joined, but said that truly is what he looks like. While he continued on a vase he'd been working on, we engaged in conversation. I made sure to have my camera on, so I could snap him at any moment when I thought it would be right.

"So how do you like it here so far?" He asked after a few moments of silence.

"Actually, I love it," I replied honestly. "So far everyone here has been amazing and the energy of the city is great."

"Well I'm glad you feel welcome," He said slowly, exerting great focus into detail on painting his vase. So much focus actually, that his eyebrows furrowed deeply looking almost angry. I quickly took a picture of that moment, but immediately after he gave me a look and shook his head before both of us laughed.

"What about you? Do you like it here?" I asked.

Charlie swirled some colors around on his palette. "I do, but I don't exactly have that feeling of freshness," I cocked my head to the side and he continued. "I lived in Boston my whole life, and I still see people from my high school here. Although it's kinda like unwritten conduct where we don't exactly talk anymore simply because it's college and we want to start out fresh despite living in the same city."

I hummed in response. "Do you see a lot of them?"

"Occasionally on campus, or out in town," He said, then his eyes flickered with recognition. "Or the other day at Woodwork Cafe, the singer that came up while we were taking notes. We graduated together." He said, his mouth forming a tight line with creased eyebrows as he continued painting patterns on the vase.

He was talking about Ellis, but I pretended not to know him. Funny how in a city as big as Boston they happened to go to the same high school and the same university. "Were the two of you friends?"

He sighed, "Yes and no, our school was sort of divided up in terms of your abilities. You know, the intellectual kids, the athletes, the artsy kids, et cetera. Since music and art classes were in the same area of the school, we all knew each other just from that association."

"I see," I said slowly, not really knowing where to take this conversation so I asked more about Ellis. "Do you think he's changed after high school?"

"I hope so,"

"Why do you say that?" I was intrigued. However with the continuing conversation of Ellis, Charlie seemed to grow slightly irritated. Like he was someone that he wanted to forget but was forced to remember.

Charlie took a long exhale before speaking. "Ellis was just not someone with a conscience," He said his name, but didn't clarify it. "He just did what he wanted to do, said what he wanted to say, and fucked who he wanted to fuck," His tone got loud and accusing by the end of his sentence, and his relaxed face turned into a grimace. I blinked when he glanced at me, feeling sorry for asking about Ellis, then his eyes flickered back to his vase.

"Sorry, I guess you can say that I just don't like him very much."