"This one will do here." I guide Elias into Pine's Market parking lot, which was empty and devoid of shoppers. He put the truck in Park, and gave me the saddest puppy eyes a teenager can give, as if though he wanted to cry. I ran my fingers through my hair, and took a deep breath.
"Thanks. I had fun. But my friends will get a bit jealous if they see me with you."
"I understand. They're like that with me as well."
"What?! Not even with Kira?"
"Oh, Kira's mad right now. He got jealous when he saw us. He's the jealous type. He wanted you all to himself."
"Wait until next year. Imagine who will get jealous with one another at that school." Elias laughed. The drama was already big in that school. I can't imagine how bad, or worse, it will become next year. I get out of Elias' truck for the last time.
"Well, thanks again. I had fun." I closed the door, and at the same time, he opened the passenger window.
"Thanks to you. I had the most fun." He smiled. I returned his smile. He got out of the truck from the driver's side, walked around the Yukon, and hugged me. The tightest hug he can give me, with his skinny arms. I returned his hug as equally, then he sniffed, clearly trying to hold back his tears.
"See you next year. But I'll miss you in the meantime, though. Keep in touch, and I'll do the same." He wiped his eyes, then got back in his truck, put it in reverse, and waved for the final time, before looking to reverse. Soon, he disappeared, still waving his hand, as he disappeared through the thick trees, and back to the city below. After a while, all I heard was a gentle breeze blowing through the forest, and the sun trying to heat the open spaces in Pine's Market parking lot and the Shell. I start to walk home when a silver car approaches me from the high school direction. I squint, trying to figure out the brand, until it came closer.
It was a Honda. Tristan's mom and my mom are the only ones with Japanese cars in this town. A Honda and a Toyota, respectively.
Immediately, I recognized it was Tristan's car. He stopped next to me.
"Hey, want a ride?" I carefully climbed in, navigating my tall, lean body into his car, and smiled at him as I took my seat.
"I missed you. Where were you? Are you having fun without me?" he asked, like a girlfriend scrutinizing her date and her whereabouts. I then heard a gasp, and the screeching of tires. My head jerked, and since I wasn't buckled in yet, I almost hit my head against the front windshield, and almost slid off the front seat to the dash. Luckily, he was only going somewhere in the ballpark of 15 MPH. He grabbed my face, squishing my cheeks between his hands in the process, and looked me over.
"You look so hot! What happened to my Elliot?" he asked, running his hands over my face, and my thick hair.
"Your face changed. And-and you're so skinny! A-and so tall! Look at that stomach! It's so flat! I haven't seen your hair like this since sophomore!" Tristan kept rambling on about how I looked. But I felt happy for him. And it did take a few seconds for him to recognize me. We hugged and kissed each other in the car, until we felt it move forward slightly.
"Whoop!" Tristan kept his foot on the brake pedal, and our heads jerked. He put the car in Park, in the middle of the road. Luckily, we were the only ones on the empty road.
"Wait until everyone gets a load of you when school starts back up." Tristan says, now all smiles. "At least we don't need to work on that stomach of yours. Tomorrow, we're going to hit the town."
Tristan turned his car around, and we went home instead.
"You're finally how I imagined you to turn out." Tristan says, still looking forward, and fully concentrated on his driving.
It was almost a close call seeing Ryo back at that bowling alley...
***********************************
"So, how was your new friend from the city?" my mom asked, as she served us stew for our evening dinner.
"He was great. Went bowling earlier today."
"That new one? The one that's across town? I heard it's so modern. Maybe we should check it out." My mom says to my father. He looked over the corner of his paper.
"But honey, we haven't bowled for years. I'm out of shape now."
"Now, now. The Beasleys' are in worse shape than us, and they still bowl, but they now go to that new alley every Sunday, after church. Come on. Let's all go bowling this weekend, before Elliot goes back to school."
"We haven't bowled since Clinton and Dole were running for office."
"Correction: We haven't bowled since I had Elliot." My mom says, placing her stew on the table, and joining in as we ate.
"I stand corrected." my dad says, then slurps his soup noisily, before drinking his coffee. "Well, it could be worse: roller skating at our age." He laughed.
"Please. I haven't skated since Reagan was in office. I was in high school then."
"And that's where I met you. I was from here, and you, from the city. Roller Town Rink?"
"And we skate to Pat Benatar - Love Is a Battlefield?"
"Class of 1989, I was. And we skated to Paula Abdul - Straight Up?"
"Last time we skated was when we were in college, when Ace of Base was big."
"'The Sign?'"
"'Don't Turn Around', 'Happy Nation', and 'Wheel Of Fortune'?" Soon, they kissed over their dinners. My parents are pretty old, but they don't show it, at all. Somehow, they still look the same when I was younger... They stopped kissing for a moment, and interlocked their hands together, while still staring each other in the eyes.
"Stacey Q - Two of Hearts?" They soon kissed some more. My appetite soon went south. Just like that.
"I'm done. I'll be excused now."
"Sure, sur-" my dad was interrupted, and waving his hand away.
"Shut up and kiss me, baby!" Eugh! Okay. Enough of that. I quickly left the kitchen table and headed straight for the TV. And there was nothing interesting to watch. Great. And it was only 8 pm.
I decided to turn in for the night.
I could still hear my parents, even though the cabin log walls of this house were pretty thick, and their room was pretty far from mine. I just put my hands under my head, and just let the darkness take over.
**********************************
Thursday
My parents slept in, making it an opportunity for Tristan to pick me up at my house.
"I can't believe it. School's almost back again, and I can't wait for Ash, Rae, and Ryo and the kids at school to see you. Look at you. You're so hot. You're just like the boy I imagine you to look." Tristan says, as we drive onto the freeway, to the turnoff to the city. I watched, as both sides of the road were packed with travelers, and for some strange reason I had imagined Ryo yesterday driving back amongst all those on the opposite side.
He says he can't get enough of those mountain views greeting him, and its far different than being in Tokyo, with Mount Fuji overlooking that city.
Ryo lives in a desirable part of Japan, and I'll admit I'm a bit jealous of where he lives...
The city overall is a little bit smaller than Denver, but has slightly more people. And unlike Denver, these mountains already greet you even before you leave town, as the mountains all surround the city.
Overall, the freeway does offer a great view of our mountains as sort of a reward for you making it up the steep and sometimes scary highway. Every time I come home, I get goose bumps just looking at those mountains greeting us in the far distance.
And that's where Sequoia lives close by, to those snow-capped mountains.
Don't let the land fool you; we're at about 9700 ft in elevation.
Tristan turned on the radio, as we descended the mountain, to Hot101. This song plays midway as we passed tall rocks overhead... While I enjoyed the views. And the various signs warning trucks to stay on the far right lane, with low gearing. And the deer crossing signs. And falling rock signs.
The song was somehow the perfect mood as we went down the mountain, and we passed by a Walmart truck going very slow on the far right lane.
Tristan hated that every time I get in his car to come to the city with him, as all I do is enjoy the mountainous scenery while he's driving...
The song finishes, and as if they knew we were coming down the mountain, we got this 'message'...
That was Billy Idol, Blue Highway. And for those of you coming down the mountain to visit our clean and beautiful city, or for those leaving to the mountains, here's a little song from John Denver, Rocky Mountain High. This is Hot101. Playing your favorite hits from 1970 to today.
We listened to the song as we snaked our way down the mountain, to the city below, as it got clearer.
The song finished, at the right moment when Tristan's favorite station was finally clear, Lobo 97.1, which I turned to, and that somehow Elias had on his Yukon radio. His favorite band was almost done as I let go of the button.
"I wish they made this station stronger. There's so many great songs..." At that moment the station's sweeper came on, and soon after the same song from yesterday played, this time in its entirety...
There's no DJ at this station. It's all automated.
Tristan's eyes began tearing at the first vocal, then he slowed down, until we came to a scenic view. I carefully guided him, since the exit was to our left, and it greeted us like a big screen. He began to cry a little as he parked the car, leaving the Honda's 3.0L V6 engine still running. Inside he turned the Accord's radio as loud as it can go, and got out, arms outstretched, to the surrounding mountains in the distance, and the city. While Tristan left his door open, I close mines, since we were close to the three-lane highway, and the other was below us, the one going up.
That one has four lanes.
I could see the packed highway below, as travelers and truckers make their way up, and disappeared as the road made a right, behind those thick trees and a hill. Behind that hill, the road turns left, and is separated from this lane by 1/2 a mile of trees and hills. They meet again before going to the top.
I began to imagine some of the people down below were listening to this song from the radio as they charged up the mountain, as I see a lot of semis and giant RV's hanging to the far right, and some passed on the second lane to the right. The last two lanes were mostly occupied with cars and trucks, and some box trucks as well. And also to the people passing by us as they went downhill.
The Walmart truck we passed earlier soon passed us by.
Tristan spun around, tears streaming down his cheeks, and his arms were outstretched, as he took in the air around him. He didn't care if people noticed us, and he reminded me of someone with a free spirit.
{Around the 2:41 mark} Tristan yelled as hard as he can, at the mountains, and the air, while he had his arms spread out. Soon, he collapsed, on the ground, on his knees. I also got down on my knees, in front of him. He held my face in his hands, tears were streaming down his face. He placed his forehead on mines as we leaned closer.
"I want us to recreate that scene, from the movie. To this song." He hugged me once more, and cried softly. I returned his hug.
The song is now over, and replaced with another indie song Tristan and I never heard of, which must be a new one.
"That's the first time I heard that on the radio. First time." He says, of the previous song that played earlier, as he turned the volume down. Soon, we continued down the mountain, to the city below.
********************************
I was shocked Tristan knew his way around this part of the city, the one Elias lived in, not the one where Rae, Dylan, Tristan and I ate in and hung out at the Home Depot a few weeks back, even though it's one whole city, separated by a lone hill, and there's two downtowns.
We stopped at the town's fanciest mall, and ate outside, as the sun was going down, and it was getting cold. We could eat inside, but the windows were tinted, and I could barely see those mountains.
This is now my second time here. And with Tristan.
"Ever wonder what it's like on the other side of that mountain?" He asked, biting into a hot day. I had no idea what was on the other side. Maybe more mountains, or plains, or even the ocean. But I did see the freeway go through that downtown, and maybe through those mountains again. And on top of those peaks were the towers, with their blinking red lights. And transmission towers.
My mind began to wander, as I knew Elias' house was nearby, since this is his neighborhood, and he lived closer to those buildings. The six-lane highway was behind this mall, and the residential houses all surround this fancy mall.
I also remember my dad saying my mom was from this part of town, so I might have some roots in this part of town as well. And she went to high school here.
Who knows?
"Who knows?" I say, echoing what was being said in my head. Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Albuquerque, Flagstaff, Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Denver were on the other side of the mountains. Places I had been to, and Albuquerque and Grand Canyon were recent trips. Soon I had a funny thought, of Bugs Bunny wishing he had taken that left turn through Albuquerque.
"What? What's funny?" Tristan asked, leaning forward, and smiled.
"Remember those Bugs Bunny cartoons we used to watch as kids? 'I knew I should've taken that left turn at Albuquerque?'" Tristan laughed hard at that one.
"That's right. You said you went there last summer. Home of 'Breaking Bad'."
"Yeah, that one."
"I heard there's a fancy new bowling alley here. Ryo and Shaun told me, and Ryo went there yesterday. Maybe we should check it out. I got directions." Tristan dugged in his pocket, and got out a crudely-drawn map. I knew whose writing it was. Ryo's. And he's written something on the map in Japanese characters that we couldn't understand. And it's confirmed even more Ryo might already know his way around this town, besides that bowling alley. We both knew Shaun lived here. And a few other kids who live here, but go to our school.
Even Jesse. And Kim.
And soon, Kira. And Elias. And McKenzie, this mysterious kid...
"I wonder what Ryo wrote here. I can read Korean, but this is Japanese, and it looks like Kanji." Tristan squinted at the paper. "Anyway, we're here, at the mall. We should go past those buildings," Tristan pointed to the buildings in the distance. I knew where it was at, maybe... But I knew the alley was across that city. All we had to do was stay on that six-lane road, (there's two here) and it was off a regular 4-lane street, after taking that weird intersection... But I wasn't going to tell Tristan that.
"Let's go play bowling. I haven't played in a long time. Since 7th grade." Tristan says, now wolfing down his hot dog, and throwing the paper in the trash. We soon drove down the street, as I looked at the intricate map drawing and the directions to the bowling alley.
"Now, how the heck do we go to the street? Oops. I missed the turn off."
"Let's take that one there." I pointed.
"Ooh. You're smart. That's also why you're my friend." I guided Tristan as I looked behind his car, to the left exit, to a smaller street.
"It's here. On the map." I pointed, and showed him. Eventually, we found the bowling place, and it was even more packed than before.
"Hm. Must be league night." Tristan says, trying to find a place to park his Accord.
"Let's play!"