I walked past the red and blue lights as the man in the wheelchair were getting dropped off at the entrance to the movie theater. Two more blocks and I will be at the bus stop.
My feet hurt from the miles and miles of uphill walking I just did, but it will be worth it once I am in bed. The soft lush sheets are calling my name.
A woman in a yellow sundress is whistling to the young man on the bench next to the stop. She is trying to get his attention.
I ignore the feeling to talk to him as soon as I pass them. The exhaustion is really kicking me in the ass.
My money is on the dude in the red baseball cap to walk on the bus first, then the young man, and then me. I slowly make a stop and rest my hands on the side railing off of the sidewalk.
Eyes gaze at me, "excuse me, did you say something?"
The young man stares at my ragged breathing chest before I shake my head no. He turns back around and looks at his phone for entertainment.
I didn't want to tell him it was his dead wife.
The bus is spotted a quarter mile down and is certainly taking its sweet time getting here. I had just made it.
Just as predicted, the man in the red cap stepped up to the curb, bus doors open, and he is on. Next, the young man motions for me to get on, but I shake my head no. He steps up, using his hand to give him a boost, while I take a long stride up the bus stairs.
Walking all the way into the back of the bus, I sit my ass on the last brown seat. Sighing once I am on, the woman in the yellow sundress whistles.
The headlights of the small town bus reflect off the sign in front of us and blind me. Roaring to life, the bus moves into town.
I get off of the bus on the corner street near the school and take out my phone. Two hours and twenty minutes walk back to my house.
I shrug my phone in my pocket and play some music. I attach the headphones to my phone ans plop them on the side of my head.
Help, I lost myself again...
But I remember you...
With the warmer spring days coming in, I didn't see the need to wear a sweater. I take it off, careful not to ruin the song, and put it in my bag.
April showers bring May flowers, is a stupid, but accurate saying. The smell of rain hits my nostrils as I peer up to the sky.
Even though it is not Summer yet, I can see the sun slowly rising. The stars are going away and the moon is slightly over the tree line.
Don't come back...
It won't end well...
I gave myself some time to think by walking home. Brushing off the nagging feeling to call someone to give me a ride, I kept trucking down the road.
Yesterday, my dad told me James was going home from the hospital. I am happy for him, really.
It is going to be a long recovery for him, for sure. However, there is still an elephant in the room that needs to be cleared.
James still has no idea what happened, his parents told my parents he had no memory of that happening. When Carter and I spoke to him in the hospital he remembered what had happened, sort of.
But I wish you tell me to...
Carter, his lips like cotton candy. Soft, smooth, and delicious. I can still feel where he had last touched me.
Tucking my hands in his sweatpants that I begged him to let me wear, the road started to thin out. Husky rain clouded my vision with ecstasy.
A small stray cat pronounced its way onto the road next to me. I could tell it was not a kitten, but it looked scrawny and injured from where I stood.
"Here, kitty," I squatted on the side of the road and placed my hand out for it to smell.
How could it have survived the winter?
Carter loves cats. He says cats are for girls, but I know different. His screen saver on his phone is a cat.
The kitty looked certain that it was coming to me, but the loud wind scared it off. I can't hear the wind because of the music, but I am assuming that it is what it was.
Keeping my pace, I found the path that goes back to my house. I take the path along the road and simply go into the woods.
Into the woods, I follow the beat of the song. The song starts slow, but I realize that it is the best song.
Fire resonates along my chest and I feel the ache of loneliness. Soran hasn't been around.
As of late, I am used to it, but ever since I put the pieces together that he may have an attachment I feel the need to protect him.
He and I both know what it is like for an entity to ruin everything, and take control of your life.
Why didn't he see the signs?
Why didn't he come to me?
Ivory eyes prompted themselves on the shadows of the forest floor. I stop in my tracts, a little bunny perches on its hind legs sniffing the air.
I know I shouldn't follow it, but I feel a wave of relief once looks at me. It is about 5:30 in the morning, my parents are going to wake up soon.
No, I wait for the bunny to skip away from the trail to move forward.
*In Coming Call*
*In Coming Call*
The robotic voice startles me from my trance, I take out my phone and check who is calling. My mom's profile picture pops up.
"Hi mom," I breathe into the phone.
She states, "where are you?"
I feel the worry in her voice as he whispers, "I woke up this morning to see if you wanted to see the sunrise, but you weren't in your bed."
"I'm sorry, I went for a walk earlier because I couldn't fall asleep," I inform her.
Whispers on the other end can be heard, "where are you now? I will come to pick you up?"
"I am on the walking trail, I should be home soon," I shake my head.
Our love is six feet under
"Mom, I have to go, the reception is bad out here," static comes through and the phone hangs up itself.
Shit...No service out here means no music.
I pull the headphones around my neck and keep walking following the trails. I should be home in one hour, but if I run I will be home sooner I thought to myself.
"Okay, here we go." I prance off farther into the forest forgetting about the bunny.
I come up to the fork in the path. Left or right?
Left is the correct answer if you have been paying attention. I make a sharp turn to the left and see the end of the path in sight.
The sun has officially come up. Through the top of the trees, rays of sunlight reach the bootme of the forest floor.
The smell of fresh sprung moss around the base of threes give me hope, spring will come fast. You might be thinking, it is April, of course spring is here.
No, not in the northern states. It won't be until the end of beginning or middle of June we will see spring life.
Birds chirping sounds as I get closer to the end. The dirty snow shows through the outer field toward the back of the house.
Melted frozen foot prints lead a walking path to the back deck. I am carful not to step out of the prints. I am not wearing snow boots, only tennis shoes.
I make it to the stairs barely with any snow in my shoes. The crisp prints are shelied and shiimered by the sun.
My mom is waiting for me at the kitchen table when I walk in. She doesn't say a word to me as I place my belongings in the mud room.
"Good morning," I throw my shoes off feet.
I grab a mug from the cabinet and pour myself some coffee from the brewer pot. My parents never liked kerigs, so we get coffee the old fashioned way.
I sit down at the table and pour some cream into the coffee. French vanilia warms my senses.
"Mmm," I take a sip from the dark blue mug.
The newspaper my mom is illing reading is set down infornt of her. She takes a moment staring at me before moving her gaze.
"So, you went for a walk?" I nod, "yeah, just around town."
She hums in response, "why? It is cold outside and it was dark."
"I couldn't sleep and wanted fresh air," why is she drilling me?
I put the mug in the sink and walk out of the kitchen. The chair scraps against the wooden floors as my mom walks over to the fridge.
My room is warmly lit with the sun casting light through the drawn curtains. I flop on my bed ready for some sleep.
That walk really did get me tired, especially because of the cold. I take off fmy pants, open the covers, and snuggle in.
***
A slight buzzing comes from under my pillow waking me from my nap.
"Hello," I groan into the phone.
A man asks me, "is this Sarah?"
"Yes, who is this?" I sit up in bed rubbing the sleep away from my eyes.
"This is the manager at the coffee shop, I know you are not supposed to start working until next week, but I barista called in," he explained.
I clear my throat, "oh, okay."
"I would like fo ryou to come in today and help out, I know you don't have any training," I switch the phone to my other ear, "but I can have you do stocking or even cleaning up dishes."
"Um-what time?" I jump out of bed and run to my closet.
"I would say as soon as possible." I look at thime, "would one pm work?"
Shouting from the other side of the phone came through, "yeah, that's fine." He hangs up before I can ask him what I should wear.
I think about what Becky would wear to work. I normally see her in a solid color shirt and Jeans with closed toed shoes.
Fumbling through my closet, I spot a long sleeve grey top. I pick out a pair of black jeans to go with it.
I throw on some perfume, pull my hair back in a high pony, and grab my phone. I bounce to the mud room and grab my shoes.
"Hey mom, dad?" I look in the garage and see my mom's car gone.
"Dad, can you give me a ride somewhere?" No answer from him either, "anyone here?"
Foot steps appear from the living the basement, the door opens and I see Soran emerge. His eyes have dark circles around them and he has scratch marks down his shoulders.
His lack of a shirt tells me he has been sleeping, "why are you yelling?"
He comes forth into the kitchen grabbing a glass and pouring himself some water from the kitchen sink. His back is turned to me and I can see evitable deep scratch all alos his shoulder blades.
"What happened to you?" He puts the glass back in the cabinet, "none of your fucking buisness."
He never puts stuff back in the cabinet, we were raised to put it in the sink or dish washer. He turns around with an annoyed look on his face, "quit staring at me."
Soran brushes back the way he came, "wait, can you drive me to work?"
He takes his phone out of his pocket and looks at the time, "I guess.
Perfect, I go into the garage and open the door to the driveway. Soran follows behind and unlocks his truck doors.
I know there is a 99 percent chance the entity is with him right now or could be listening in. I am certainly surprised he said he would take me to work. Knowing the entity, either it would want to disoctiae its self or try to blend in.
So far, it has gone lengths to not blend in. I am hoping it is gone or asleep somehow.
"Where are we going?" He pulls out of the driveway, "to the coffee shop."
Afraid to ask him or say anything to him, I stare out the window. Clouds are beginning to roll east, where we are.
A couple of rain drops hit the windows. I watch as each one slide down and leave water marks all the way down.
"Since when did you get a job at the coffee shop?" Soran comes up to a stop sign, "Um- a couple weeks ago, Becky got me the job."
He tenses up at the mension of her name. His knuckles turn whote from how hard he was clenching the steering wheel.
A quick snap from his neck and he was pressing the gas with so much for the truck julted forward.
I slammed into the dashboard, but the seatbelt caught me, "shit."
"What the fuck, dude?" I rub my shoulder where the seatbelt lunged itself.
Thunder rumbles from the sky and shakes the trees around us, "Soran slow down."
"Why are you speeding?" The little sprinkles of rain is now pouring cats and dogs along the glass.
Soran comes to a slow and predicates the speed limit.
"Sorry," he mutters.
I quickly glance over his direction and his eyes I set on the road infornt of him. Not blinking once we arrive at the coffee shop.
He locks the doors, "I want to apologize for the other day at school."
"I didn't mean to be rude to you or cause any drama with Carter," he says.
I was not expecting that. His tone sounds sincere enough for me to almost believe him.
"Why did you punch him?" Afraid of his answer he says, "I don't remember."
Fuck, the attachemnt was there. Good news, it is most liley gone now if Soran doesn't remember.
"All I know is that I did some serious damage, not only to Carter," he looks away out to the storm.
"I don't exactly remeber why I did it, I was just so angry." Scared to move, I shift in the seat.
"It will be okay," with that he unlocks the doors.
I open the door and run to the coffee shop door, "do you need a ride home?"
"No, I will have Carter bring me home on his way home from practie." He nods, "alright."
I open the doors to the shop and see an angry looking manager.
Becky was the one who called in, she texted the manger this morning and told him she wouldnt be coming on because she wasn't feeling well. The strange thing is she hasn't texted me or returned my calls.
I texted her again, but still noting, just delivered. Soran didn't say anythig to me about it either.
They might have broken up, it seems kind of reasonable after the way he treated me and Carter. He was looking kind of sad and depressed earlier and he got mad when I mentioned her name.
I will have to ask him when I get home. For now, I am just gonna soak in the alone time I have
with Carter.
Carter has been busy with football and works for the past week. He started his off-season work out practices as he calls them.
He also got a job at the theatre last month. He did some shifts already, but now since his schedule opened up he as been working more.
That is where I was this morning. With Carter, we hung out all early morning and then had to go to work.
Sad, I know...
"Do you think if we kissed right now the whole world would stop?" I scoff, "mmm, not at all."
He chuckles, "wanna try?"
I bite my lip in anticipation and leaned in. His lips rested on mine as I giggled.
Smooth round lips pecked mine and hands gripped the side of my face. The speed of his actions increases when I pull him towards me by his shirt.
Sat in the back, his legs plop over mine giving him more room. Once he is over top of me, I gasp in surprise at how quick he is.
His tongue plunges into my mouth tasting and savoring the feeling of my open mouth. Glad he can't see my face right now, it is as red as a tomato.
We have been doing this often, sitting in the back seats of his truck talking, taking little naps, and most deftly making out. It was the only time we get to hang out anymore.
His bruises finally have faded a little on his face, they weren't too bad to begin with. Soran has a light punch- even for the entity's power.
On the other hand, his ribs are looking better too. I have only seen them one other time and that was because I spilled water all over my shirt, so he gave me his to wear.
I don't really know what we are. I mean we spend time together, kiss, and talk non stop to each other, but we still havent made anything official.
Carter's hand roams all over my torso giving me goosebumps. Tingles spring from my left hip all the way across my stomach to right below my right boob.
His thumb trickles over the nub of my nipple and he leaves him and on the side of my chest. He removes his lips from mine and kisses my jaw down my neck.
"Shit," I moan. "Carter, I-oh"
He presses his left hand over one of my breasts and gently squeezes, "fuck."
He kisses back up my neck, "is this okay?"
I nod in response as I can not form audible words at the moment. This is the farthest we have ever gone.
Well, this is the only thing I have ever done with anyone. Carter places his lips back on mine and I run my hands threw his hair.
I tangle my fingers in his curls, "shit."
He moans in pleasure and that encourages me to do it again, "Okay, I think we should stop."
Oh, did I do something wrong?
He leans back away from me, his head hitting the roof of the car. He wipes my hair out of my face and sits back down next to me.
I try not to let my panting be heard as Carter fixes his shirt. I pull my sleeves down a bit distracting me from his eyes.
"I'm sorry, did I do something wrong?" Tears sting my eyes, not wanting to be emotionally in front of him. He has seen too much of that already.
He grabs my arms and pulls me on top of him so my legs straddle his waist. Looking out at the fogged-up windows, I quickly wipe a tear from my face.
"No, of course not," his hand comes up and wipes the remaining tears that beg to fall.
"I just think we need to slow down," he says as he rubs my back. "I-I don't have protection, you know."
His eyes search my face for any reaction to his words. I didn't think about that. I didn't really think about that until he said.
"I don't mean to rush you or want you to feel you have to do anything unless you want to," my hand comes down my face and rests in my lap.
"Plus, I want to ask you something," he reaches over the seats and takes out a small box.
He hands it to me, "I was going to give this to you later when I dropped you off, but now seems like a perfect time.
The small box is decorated with a little bow with the words 'happy birthday.' "Carter, you didn't have to get me anything."
"I wanted to," he smiles. "Open it."
I reluctantly unravel the bow and open the box. Oh my god, "it is beautiful."
A small jewel pendant in the color of my birth month is hung on a gold chain. I take it out of the box and stare at it.
"Here let me help you put it on," I pull back my hair and he clasps it around my neck.
It rests just below my collar bone, "do you like it?"
"I love it, thank you," nothing can keep the grin off my face.
"Good, it cost a pretty penny," I slap his chest.
"Ill pay you back," he shakes his head, "no, it is a gift."
"A gift for my girlfriend, if you would be?" he asks.
"Mm,- let me think," I crank my neck placing my hand under my chin.
His eyes sink, "you can say no, I totally understand. We obviously have only known each other a few months and-"
I slam my lips on his, "yes, I'll be your girlfriend."
"Promise me that you will be my girlfriend," I smile, "until we are six feet under."