Dark Storms - sequel to Silver Linings

Chapter 7

7

S h a w n

That's it. She's gone. I can't get her back. I grabbed a cab home, trying to hold myself together until I got to my room. When I got home I ran up the stairs stopping when I saw what was left of Erika's room. I took a step forward entering the room. Memories started flushing my head.

"Shawn, truth or dare." "Dare." "I dare you to..." I watched as she sat on the carpet letting her eyes wander around the room as she thought. I smiled at the way her eyes lit up when she thought of an idea. "I dare you to make a vine singing that your fans are stinky." "Stinky? Really? Is that the best you can come up with?" "I'm not going to be mean, they got you this far." "Okay okay." She laughed and grabbed my phone from me. "I can't believe I'm actually doing this." "You have to!" I sighed as she started recording. "I have the stickiest fans on the planet. This is true, talkin' 'bout you. Stinkers. Swag." She ended up laughing her ass off as she posted it.

"Shawn, what's one thing you hope never happens?" "Besides us breaking up? I hope that I never be the reason you're hurting. That's my worst fear." "Really?" She asked looking up at me from my chest. "Absolutely." She smiled at me and then looked back up at the stars. "You wanna try counting them?" "Shawn we'll be here for hours." "Someone's gotta do it." So we sat and we have each star a name, a joke and a personality. "Ellie. 'What's a banana that loves garbage?'" "I have the slightest clue Mendes." "A rotten one." She'd giggle and shake her head. "You're adorable. You know that?" "If you were to describe me in one word I honestly doubt you'd use adorable." "Oh but I would." "No you wouldn't." "I totally would!" "No you'd use hot, sexy, irresistible, god damn gorgeous,-" "Okay, okay that's enough mister." "I wasn't done though!" "Yes you were." "By what means?" "Mine."

"Hey guys should we make my girlfriend Erika come on? I'm pretty sure she's here.." "Shawn no please don't." "Babe it's just a YouNow, come on." She groaned and sat down on the bed and waved. "Hi guys. I'm supposed to be getting ready for volleyball but nope." "Since when do you do volleyball?" "Since you haven't been at school." "That would explain the tight fitting spandex." I looked at the screen and chuckled at a comment, 'Shawn ain't complaining. He likes a girl in spandex.' "You guys are hilarious." "Why what did they say?" Erika started looking for the comment. "Nothing Eriphant." 'You call Erika 'Eriphant?' THATS SO FUCKING CUTE.' "Yeah, I do. She doesn't really like it though." "Eriphant? Yeah no not my favorite name." She stood up and started walking out the door. "Erika noooooooo" "Shawn yessssssss I have to get ready." "But Erikupcake." "Oh my god Shawn." She giggled and walked out of the room. "Well my girlfriend just left. Thanks guys." "That wasn't their fault. It was yours." "They don't have to know that!"

God. There were so many times I'd just thought everything was perfect. Because it was. I shook my head turning around and heading to my room letting the memories evaporate back into Erika's room. I grabbed my song book and flipped through to a new page. I titled it, 'Sorry'.

It got hard to handle everything
And I didn't see
What I was losing
Everytime you looked at me

With pleading eyes
Trying to speak,
To tell me it hurt
To beg, to plead

I should've seen the way
Your eyes shut tight
I should've known
That something wasn't right

How could I have been so blind
And been the reason you were hurting
I'm sorry.
But that won't do anything to say
Sorry.

E r i k a

I climbed into my bed with my room a mess. I didn't know what to do anymore. I was just done. I looked out the window and looked at the stars.

"I sat down and started naming everything about you that I loved. I gave each thing a star that night. I was doing great until something happened." "You ran out of things to love about me." "No, I ran out of stars."

I got up and went to my dad's office. "Hey dad, do you have any paint?" "Yeah why?" "I wanna just paint my walls. Ya know like in Tangled." "In the garage." I was glad my dad didn't care.

I grabbed a navy blue and a light yellow and white. I grabbed three different brushes and headed to my room. The walls were white and full of potential. I took some navy and smeared it on the wall leaving a brush like outline. I let that dry before continuing. I then painted little dots like stars with the white overlapping the yellow. When that was done drying I painted Shawn and I's conversation in nice, neat, white letters. I then ran to the garage with the paint to make another.

I had made a cupcake with 'Erikupcake' over it in cursive, an elephant with 'Eriphant' under it in black. I made Ariel with black hair instead of red and wrote 'The Little Merika' in brown letters like rocks. I made another conversation piece, a sun with a small face with black cursive letters,

"You're my little sun." "Not a sunshine?" "Sunshine refers to a small sliver, something minimal that only slightly effects my life. A sun refers to an actual huge burning star that is essential to life. You're essential to my life."

It took my mind off of things, painting. It really did. So I made another. I started making an ocean like background and then a little black fish to represent my freakishly dark hair and brown spots to represent my eyes. I made it's eyes grey. Grey to represent how I felt at this moment in time. I made another fish. A brown one with yellow spots, and blue eyes. Brown being Shawn, yellow representing my happy place being with Shawn, and blue to represent how I felt when I was with him. Free. But I made a little spec of black in them. Representing the dark times. I made little hearts in between the two and made them be holding a hook. "There's plenty of fish in the sea but I'm hooked on you." I painted in white beneath it. I snapped a picture and put it on twitter, "Becoming Rapunzel. Haha x" God I loved painting. But maybe it wasn't painting. Maybe it was just being in love.