Summer's Plea
Best Friends Forever.
I took a sip of the warm coffee in my hands. Smiling to myself as the warmth spread through me with each sip. I glanced out over the scene before me; a slight breeze was coming in over the ocean, the waves were crashing against the shore line and a few birds were already out flying, or rather simply enjoying the breeze. The far horizon was full of bright yellows and purples—dawn was fast approaching.
Today was the last day the four of us would be in this house; within the next few days we all left for college. I headed out to Berkley in California; mathematics. Jenn headed up to Chicago for astrophysics; she and I were the geeks amongst our small group. Crys headed out to Arizona for photography and studio engineering. Krys headed down to Florida for marine biology.
“You’re up rather early; did you even go to bed?”
I glanced over at Jenn; she was always the early riser of the four of us.
“I got a few hours, couldn’t sleep really…plus I figured I should get at least one sunrise in while I’m here.”
We smiled, letting silence settle over us as we watched the sun rise. We heard rustling in the house behind us, minutes later two sets of feet shuffled out to join us.
“It’s too early for this, why are we all awake, it’s the last day of—oh.”
We all smiled over at Crys, she was most definitely not a morning person. She plopped down next to me, her blanket still wrapped around her. Krys took the chair next to me, grabbing my half drained mug, finishing the rest of it in one swig.
“Ugh, how can you drink it black?”
She placed the mug on the table on her other side and silence engulfed us once again. There was a slight tension to it this time; I think we’re all realizing that this is the end. The silence lasted a long while; the sound of waves crashing, the occasional call of a gull and the odd car starting and fading off into the distance were all we heard.
The sun was a vibrant orange. The small sliver first appearing over the horizon, causing the sky and water reflecting to burst into an array of colors; I liked how it wasn’t as bright, light wise, when it was first rising. I could actually watch it rise, watch as it slowly took a crescent, to a half circle to a full orb, and my eyes wouldn’t hurt.
My attention was broken as Jenn stood up with a slight growl. I think it startled all of us because as I turned to look at her, I realized the others had too.
“I’m not going to let the fact that we all leave for college ruin my last full day with my best friends, if you’re willing to do that today, I’ll leave now.”
“Jenn!”
The three of us called out at the same time, Krys actually getting to her feet too.
“Look, we just, we’ve known this”—she gestured her hands towards all of us—“since we were five years old in Mrs. White’s kindergarten class; knowing that change is only twenty-four hours away, it’s not easy.”
I glanced up at Krys, she wanted to say more, but Crys cut her off.
“We know that it’s not going to be easy, but you’re right Jenn, we shouldn’t spend our last day together moping around.”
I could feel all their gazes land on me as I glanced up at each of them in turn. For once, I found myself at a loss for words by choice. There was nothing I could say that would magically be the right thing in this situation. They were so used to me being the one to say just the right thing, but there wasn’t anything I could say to make the situation right. Well there was one thing, the truth, but they didn’t want to hear that.
“Let’s just go make some breakfast and then we’ll figure out what it is we want to do; I wanted to hit up the wax museum of monsters, any takers?”
-x-
I stared down at the photo in my hand; memories coming and going about the four people in it. We had all changed that first year away at school...I never did get to see that wax museum that day.
Today was the last day the four of us would be in this house; within the next few days we all left for college. I headed out to Berkley in California; mathematics. Jenn headed up to Chicago for astrophysics; she and I were the geeks amongst our small group. Crys headed out to Arizona for photography and studio engineering. Krys headed down to Florida for marine biology.
“You’re up rather early; did you even go to bed?”
I glanced over at Jenn; she was always the early riser of the four of us.
“I got a few hours, couldn’t sleep really…plus I figured I should get at least one sunrise in while I’m here.”
We smiled, letting silence settle over us as we watched the sun rise. We heard rustling in the house behind us, minutes later two sets of feet shuffled out to join us.
“It’s too early for this, why are we all awake, it’s the last day of—oh.”
We all smiled over at Crys, she was most definitely not a morning person. She plopped down next to me, her blanket still wrapped around her. Krys took the chair next to me, grabbing my half drained mug, finishing the rest of it in one swig.
“Ugh, how can you drink it black?”
She placed the mug on the table on her other side and silence engulfed us once again. There was a slight tension to it this time; I think we’re all realizing that this is the end. The silence lasted a long while; the sound of waves crashing, the occasional call of a gull and the odd car starting and fading off into the distance were all we heard.
The sun was a vibrant orange. The small sliver first appearing over the horizon, causing the sky and water reflecting to burst into an array of colors; I liked how it wasn’t as bright, light wise, when it was first rising. I could actually watch it rise, watch as it slowly took a crescent, to a half circle to a full orb, and my eyes wouldn’t hurt.
My attention was broken as Jenn stood up with a slight growl. I think it startled all of us because as I turned to look at her, I realized the others had too.
“I’m not going to let the fact that we all leave for college ruin my last full day with my best friends, if you’re willing to do that today, I’ll leave now.”
“Jenn!”
The three of us called out at the same time, Krys actually getting to her feet too.
“Look, we just, we’ve known this”—she gestured her hands towards all of us—“since we were five years old in Mrs. White’s kindergarten class; knowing that change is only twenty-four hours away, it’s not easy.”
I glanced up at Krys, she wanted to say more, but Crys cut her off.
“We know that it’s not going to be easy, but you’re right Jenn, we shouldn’t spend our last day together moping around.”
I could feel all their gazes land on me as I glanced up at each of them in turn. For once, I found myself at a loss for words by choice. There was nothing I could say that would magically be the right thing in this situation. They were so used to me being the one to say just the right thing, but there wasn’t anything I could say to make the situation right. Well there was one thing, the truth, but they didn’t want to hear that.
“Let’s just go make some breakfast and then we’ll figure out what it is we want to do; I wanted to hit up the wax museum of monsters, any takers?”
-x-
I stared down at the photo in my hand; memories coming and going about the four people in it. We had all changed that first year away at school...I never did get to see that wax museum that day.