I was leaning up against the side of a cotton candy stand called Fluffy Joe's when I saw her. She was wearing a yellow sundress, a light blue jean jacket over it and her hair was tied up in a lose pony-tail. She was standing approximately a hundred feet in front of me, sipping out of what looked to be a large blue cup. It was probably an ICEE. Macy loved blue ICEEs. Slushy drinks had always been her poison of choice. Even though I was standing a significant distance away, I knew that the girl standing next to the Tilt-O-Whirl, drinking a blue ICEE was Macy. I could tell just by the way she was standing, the way she cradled her cup in her hand. I had found her. There she was.
I took off toward her like lightening, never averting my eyes. The last thing I wanted to do was lose her in the crowd. The closer I got, the more I knew. It's her, it's definitely her. Macy. As I was weaving and swerving my way in and around the crowd of people, every step bringing me closer and closer to my reason for existing, a teenage boy with dark brown hair and glasses banged into my arm, causing me to drop my cell phone to the ground.
"Oh hey, sorry," he said, as he bent down to pick my phone up out of the dirt. "Didn't mean to run into you like that," he said, smiling apologetically. I turned quickly toward him, smiling back even though all I wanted to do was ignore the bastard and keep running. "It's okay. Don't sweat it," I said, as I took off running again. Except that when I looked back to the spot where Macy had been standing only a few seconds before, she was gone.
Had I imagined it? Was she really even there? Had my lack of sleep the night before finally begun to mess with my head? No! She was there! You saw her, Max! My subconscious was yelling back at me. You're not crazy! You know what you saw. It was Macy. You know Macy. She's your best friend! You know it was her. It was definitely her!
I ran after her, toward the spot where she had just been, by the Tilt-O-Whirl. I stopped for a moment, standing in the very spot I thought she had stood. No, the spot I know she had stood. I looked to my left, then to my right, looking for the sun. Looking for anything yellow that caught my eye. She was just here, she couldn't have gotten very far. Before my brain could even send the signal to my feet, my feet were moving. I was running, running faster than I had even ran in my entire life. Macy, where are you? Where did you go? Didn't you see me running toward you?
Ugh, this sucks! She was right there! I was so close! If only four-eyes had been paying more attention to where he was walking, I would not have looked away. I would not have lost my focus.
After running around the entire park once again, with no sign of Macy, I had no choice but to stop. My legs were on fire, my throat dry. I bent forward and rested the palms of my hands on my knees, trying to steady my breathing. I couldn't believe it. It had taken over three hours of searching to get here, just to get a glimpse of her, and I has lost her.
Again.
When my heart-rate finally slowed, I stood back up, shaking my head. I had never been more angry with myself than I was in that moment. I could not believe I had been so stupid. I shouldn't have even looked down. So what if my phone fell? I could always buy another phone! There will never be another Macy if I were to lose her today. I let out an angry sigh and sent out a group message.
Max: She's here. I saw her. She was standing next to the Tilt-O-Whirl.
Kelly: WHAT? Where is she now????
Sam: Did you go after her?
Max: Yes, but some four-eyed freak banged into me and I lost her. I tried to follow her but she was gone.
Sam: Did you see what she was wearing?
Max: She was wearing a yellow sundress, a light blue jean jacket and her hair was up in a pony tail.
Kelly: YOU LOST HER?! Nice going moron.
Sam: Are you sure it was her?
Max: Positive.
Sam: I believe you. Keep looking. At least now we know she's here somewhere.
Max: Thanks, Sam.
Kelly: Moron.
Shoving my phone violently back into my pocket, I took a good look around me. Directly in front of me was the Tilt-O-Whirl, behind me stood the Fluffy Joe's stand I had been leaning against when I had first seen Macy, to my left was one of the three Elephant Ears stands that occupied the grounds and to my right, there was a large wooden stage accompanied by at least ten rows of white folding chairs. Last year when we had come, there was a band playing covers of old country songs. Macy had commented that the best song they had played all evening was Run by George Straight.
How accurate, I thought, as I tried to regain control of my thoughts. I walked over to one of the white plastic folding chairs and sat down, breathing deep, my emotions were having there way with me. I remember it, Mace. I thought to myself. I remember being here with you. I remember almost kissing you on that Ferris Wheel. How could I forget? And also I remember that right here, in this very spot, was the last place we danced.
The audience gave a round of applause to the band. They had just finished playing a song I had never heard before. The song was about a man leaving all the lights in the house on, just in case his love ever wanted to come back home. The song was sad, but still good. The audience had loved it and so had Macy.
My Mom had gone to get us some drinks, after instructing us to stay there, by the stage, until she returned. I guess she was afraid we were going to take off and cause mischief.
Oh Mom, I wish, I thought.
"Woooooooo!" Macy whistled, at the top of her lungs, as the applause died down. She loved this sort of thing. Outdoor concerts on a cool summer afternoon. What could be better than that? It was so peaceful here. So calming, yet there was electricity in the air. This had truly been a perfect day, and it wasn't even over yet.
The band began to play another song, this one was slower, acoustic. I vaguely remembered hearing it before.
"If there's a plane or a bus leavin' Dallas, I hope you're on it," the lead vocalist began to sing. Macy grabbed my hand and squeezed it hard. "Oh my God, Max! It's Run by George Straight! Oh, I love this song! Dance with me?" She turned her gaze from the stage and onto me, a wide smile spread across her cheeks. As usual, I just couldn't say no to her.
We made our way through the aisles of chairs, over to the patch of grass everyone was using as a dance floor. Macy wrapped her arms around my neck, resting her elbows on my shoulders just as the band reached the chorus. So Baby, run. Cut a path across the blue sky. Straight in a straight line, you can't get here fast enough. Find a truck and fire it up, lean on the gas and off the clutch. Leave Dallas in the dust. I need you in a rush. So Baby, run. The music continued on, strong and beautiful, as we danced. I put my hands on Macy's waist, just like she had taught me how at our first homecoming dance. I pulled her in close to me, resting my head gently on hers. Her hair was soft and tickled my nose, but that was fine by me.
As the second verse began, Macy lifted her head up off of my chest and looked up at me, smiling. "Well, well, Maxwell Brennan. Who taught you how to dance so fine?" She tilted her head to one side as she spoke, causing a small chunk of her hair to get caught on her eyelashes. Hesitantly, I reached up and slid it off to the side of her face, behind her ear, my finger-tips gently brushing her cheek as I did so. Maybe I had imagine it, but I could have sworn I felt her shiver under my touch. "I believe you did, Ma'am," I said, in the same tone she had, unable to contain the flush I felt on my cheeks.
Macy's eyes widened slightly before they returned back to normal, my touch had caught her off guard. But not in a bad way, I think. Just unexpected. "Well now, I suppose you're right," she said, as she tightened her arms around me, closing the small space between us.
When the chorus came around again, Macy leaned back into my chest, her soft hair once again tickling my nose. As I rested my head back onto hers, I could vaguely hear her singing along with the band, so softly you were almost unsure you heard her at all. As I swayed back and forth, Macy in my arms, listening to the sweet sound of her voice, I couldn't help but smile and think that this, right here, was the happiest I had ever been in my entire life. And if I had it my way, I would gladly have stayed right here forever."So Baby, Run," Macy sang, as the final chords were strung and the song came to an unfortunate end.
Macy lifted her head up off of my chest once more, though I wasn't ready to let her go just yet, and smiled at me, her eyes a clear sparkling blue. "Thank you for the dance, Maxy," she said, as she leaned forward slowly and placed a soft kiss on my cheek before walking away, leaving my breath caught somewhere inside my chest.
"Anytime," I answered back, wishing that I really could have stayed there, dancing with her, forever.