You Keep Me Wide Awake

Three Months Later

“Maika, Maika,” I yell, running up to my boyfriend of three months.

“What Joey?” he laughs.

“I, um, you see…” I freeze up.

He places his hands on my cheeks and presses a lingering kiss to my lips making my legs wobble beneath me and my mind go blank.

“What is it Joey?” He asks after he pulls away.

I glare at him, “No fair. You know what your kisses do to me.”

He gives me a knowing look and nods. He laces our fingers together and pulls me to his car. There For Tomorrow has to go on tour and they’re leaving tonight. I still have school so I can’t go. Thankfully it’s a short tour but I still hate that he’s going to be gone from me.

“OH!” I scream out, causing him to jump. I laugh an apology and state my question from earlier, “Will you go to the prom with me? The tour ends about a week before so you’ll be back to go.”

“Anything for you,” he smiles but it turns into a frown, “but I really have to go.”

I sigh, “I know, I know.”

I wrap my arms around his neck and my fingers run through his hair. I can hear him sigh, leaning into my touch. I really don’t want him to go. I wish I didn’t have a reason to miss him. But he pulls away from me, gets in the car, and drives off.

They have an interview on TV tonight and you bet I’m watching it. So to pass the time I listen to music and draw. I love drawing. If there’s something I can’t say or it’s hard to explain it so people will understand, I draw. It’s my way of expressing everything I can’t get out through words. I look at the clock and notice that it says 8:50. The interview comes on at nine. I run downstairs, interrupt what my parents were watching, and find the right channel.

The host on this show is insane. I’ve never watched an interview with such crazy questions. I’m waiting for a certain question though and, as soon as that passes through my mind, the interviewer asks it.

“Maika, there are many fans out there wondering if you’re in a relationship.” He hints.

Maika’s cheeks tint, “Uh, yeah. There is someone very special I have in my life right now. I really miss him and can’t wait to get back to him.”

“There you have it. Spoken from the man himself. Sorry ladies.” The host laughs, “There For Tomorrow ladies and gentlemen. Be sure to buy their CD, A Little Faster. Goodnight and see you next time.”

The screen fades for a second and then the news comes on. He actually told people about me. I feel amazing right now and no one can do anything about it.

I wake up the next morning to my mom talking into the phone and shouting at me to get up simultaneously. I swat her hand away and ask who it is. She gives me a look and I snatch the phone away from her, wanting to hear his voice.

“I got some bad news Joey.”

“What do you mean bad news? I wake up to hear you tell me bad news.” I whine.

“They added spots to the tour. We’ll be on the road longer than we thought. I don’t think I’ll be back in time to go to your prom.”

“You mean you’re going to be away longer and you won’t be able to come to the most important dance in high school with me?” I don’t like this one bit.

“I’m really sorry. I tried to tell them but they wouldn’t listen,” He reasons.

I can hear someone yelling for him in the background but I don’t want to get off the phone. I have to though and eventually we say our goodbyes. This is really frustrating. I really want him to be there with me. I want to be able to tell people that he’s my date and show him off to every person in my school. I call Ash hoping that she’ll be able to get me to stop being sad.

She picks up at the third ring and I tell her what happened. She calmed me down, saying that I still have a couple of years left in high school so he’ll go to the next prom with me and that I’ll see him soon enough. She told me she’d hang out with me every day until he gets back so I won’t be bored. It did make me feel better and that’s what best friends are for. I’m glad I have her because if I didn’t I’d be in a bad mood until he got back. So I talk to her for a few hours and soon enough my mom is telling me to get off the phone. I hang up and search for a movie.

The Breakfast Club opening credits play and I sing along with Don’t You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds. The quote still amazes me by how true it is, even for teens these days:

“…And these children that you spit on as they try to change their worlds; are immune to your consultations. They’re quite aware of what they’re going through…”

This is probably my favorite movie. I’ve watched it so many times I know all the lines and my friends laugh at me but I don’t care. I really like a lot of older movies that I didn’t think I would. But I’ll end up catching them on TV when I’m bored and watch them. There’s Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Cry Baby, Dirty Dancing, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Grease, and the list goes on. I didn’t know how tired I was but I think I fell asleep around 45 minutes into the movie.

I’ve been counting days since he’s been gone and they seem to get longer and longer with each passing one. Ashley and my family have been doing everything they can to keep me from getting annoyed at how long he’s been gone but he was right, he wouldn’t be here for me on prom. It’s tonight and he’s not home. I’m was out looking for an outfit to wear yesterday and I finally found the perfect black skinny jeans, a dark gray dress shirt, and a sapphire blue vest.

The dress Ashley picked out is amazing. She looks gorgeous in it. I’m glad we picked sapphire. It’s a nice color blue and I think we both look hot tonight. It looks like she’s flowing down her stairs to get to me and her corsage. Her mom ushers us into the living room and takes the right amount of pictures, around twenty. We’ve taken pictures by ourselves, with each other, with her family, and finally they think we’ve endured enough torture and let us go. We rush to the limo and dance around to the music playing through the cars speakers. We’re having our own prom before we even get there.

The hall our school rented out looks awesome. The party is already in full swing with lights bouncing off every wall and teenager in the room. I can’t wait and pull Ashley to dance with me. People laugh at how crazy we’re being and some even come over and dance with us. I was happy about that. It’s almost like prom, or dances in general, give you a reason to dance obnoxiously and have random people you don’t know dance with you. It’s a fun way to meet new people.

The last song fades and the DJ speaks, “Alright, all you couples. Get out here; we’re slowing it down a bit.”

Iris by Goo Goo Dolls fills the room and we go out to dance. We may not be a couple but it’s better than sitting off to the side.

I feel a tap, “May I cut in?”

“Yeah, sure,” I say, turning around to see whoever it was.

I’m pulled into someone’s arms, “Maika?” I ask in disbelief.

“Hi, Joseph,” he replies.

“But how? When did you get back?”

“You really wanted me here and I didn’t want to let you down.” He answers.

“You know that interview you had when you first left?” he nods. “I didn’t think I was that important.”

“You are though, Joey, you are.”

I beam at him. “It’s just sometimes…sometimes,” I shake my head, not knowing how to finish.

He urges me to go on. I think about it and say, “Sometime I wonder is this real or just a fantasy? Because after all this time I still can't believe you're real and that I get to call you mine."

He kisses me so roughly and passionately that I have to grip onto his jacket because my knees gave out on me right away. He holds me tightly so I won’t fall and eventually breaks off for air.

He grips my face between his hands and looks me right in my eyes, “Believe it all Joseph. Believe that you, I, us are real. Believe that every time we kiss and hold each other is real. Believe that, after all this time, I am real and I am yours. And believe I will be yours for a very long time.”

I’m crying by now, smiling, and all I can do now is believe him. This isn’t just your regular high school romance. This is something that both of us feel so strongly about and I know it will last because the guy holding me close right now, dancing with me right now is the one that always keep me wide awake.