Tragic the Way People Pass Her By

“Shhhh, it’s okay,” he kept repeating. His voice was soothing. Slowly, I felt myself calming down. I quit crying and shaking. My vision started returning to normal. I felt safe in his arms. I could feel him breathing, which helped calm my own breath.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

A few moments passed.

“Of course,” he replied. “Well, should we go in?” he offered, jumping to his feet. I nodded, and wiped my face one last time before standing up. I followed Zach into the diner and back to booth. When we arrived, the boys grew silent. Zach and I sat down on opposite sides of the booth: me next to Cameron while Zach next to Michael and Nathan.

We sat there in silence for a little bit before Cameron spoke up. “So, uh, is everything okay?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. I’m starving,” I answered, with a smile.

“Okay…” Cameron said slowly. “Well, we already ordered our food because we had no idea where you two were.” He gave me a concerned look, but I shook it off.

The waitress walked over to take Zach’s and my order. About twenty minutes later, she returned carrying a large tray full of our food. Michael got chicken fingers as usual, while Zach, Cameron and Nathan got a burger. I, on the other hand, ordered a big bowl of spaghetti.

Immediately, everyone dug in. No one really spoke while they were stuffing their faces. Occasionally, an awkward moan came out of someone. Usually, it was Cameron. I guess the food was good.

After dessert was consumed, we all piled back into my teeny car and started back to my house. Cameron hooked his phone up to the speakers, and started blasting music. We all sang along at the top of our lungs until I realized I had no idea where I was.

“Uh, guys, I think we’re lost,” I admitted sheepishly. A collective groan collected as I pulled over. “Let me call my mom.”

I pulled my phone out of my pocket, and hit speed dial number 1. It rung a few times before she picked up.

“Hello?”

“Hi mom. So, I’m lost right now.”

“HI MRS. CLARK!” Nathan screamed from the backseat.

“Who was that? Where are you? Are you safe? What are you doing? Sarah, answer me!”

“Mom, calm down. I’m fine. I’m with Cameron, Michael, Nathan and Zach. They dragged me to go bowling. I think I’m somewhere in North Hills.” After calming her down, I described the approximant location, and she gave me directions back to our house.

After an hour of driving, we finally made it back to my house. By then, it was one in the morning, and I was beyond exhausted. I parked my car in the garage, and slammed my door shut. I realized that I was the only one who got out. Cameron was passed out in the passenger seat while Nathan and Michael were sleeping on Zach who was fully awake. I started laughing, as I turned and walked inside, leaving them there. When I walked inside, my mom greeted me in the kitchen.

“Did you have fun?” she asked, with questioning eyes.

“More than I expected to,” I replied with a shrug.

She analyzed my behavior for a moment. “Where did they go?”

“They’re, uh, all sleeping in the car. I didn’t want to wake them up.” She stared blankly at me for a moment before moving. In a swift motion, she walked around me, and into the garage. I could hear my car door open, before her voice became audible, muffled by the garage door.

“Hey guys! So, it’s late. I just wanted to let you know that you all are more than welcome to stay here for the night if you don’t feel like going back to your bus. I can make you a nice breakfast in the morning too,” she offered generously.

I heard a few grumbles, and a few seconds later, they all came shuffling into the kitchen, yawning and rubbing their eyes.

“Ohhithereyouare,” Cameron grumbled sleepily to me, before turning down the stairs to the basement. The rest of them followed suit.

I walked up to my bedroom and took a long hot shower before going to bed.

That night was the first night in three years where I slept soundly with the exception of a few sweet dreams.

…

I was sitting in a park, watching butterflies whirl around my head. They were beautiful beings. Their wings brightly colored. The air had a faint scent of freshly bloomed flowers.

I looked down to discover that I was sitting upon a bright red checked blanket. A brown woven picnic basket was at my feet. A slight breeze passed through, blowing my hair behind me.

Suddenly, someone grabbed my shoulders from behind. I heard a familiar laughing after I jumped from shock. I looked up.

There was Zach, smiling down at me. His brown hair was getting long and he had black sunglasses on. He was wearing a white tank top and skinny jeans, allowing the world to see his hairy arms and pits.
He flopped down beside me.

“Hey beautiful,” he grinned. He grabbed my hand and gave it a quick squeeze. “You hungry?” Before I could answer, he grabbed the basket, and set it next to him. I watched him curiously. From the basket, he started pulling out food. First, a bag of grapes.

“10 bucks says you can’t catch one with your mouth,” he joked.

I smiled. “Hit me.”

He winked at me, before grabbing a handful of grapes. One by one, he threw them into my mouth. I caught everyone.

“Well, it turns out you’re better than I expected,” he admitted sheepishly. Then, he got the biggest evil grin on his face. He threw a few more my way. Then, suddenly, he grabbed another handful and pelted all of them at my face. I shrieked, and covered my head.

“You’re dead,” I giggled. I grabbed the bag away from Zach, and started throwing them back at him. “Not so tough now, are ya?”

He leaned over, and tried to wrestle the bag away from me. Before long, he was on top of me, straddling my body. I was suddenly aware of just how close he was. I feel like he was too. I let the bag go, as he leaned down. He gave me a passionate kiss as I ran my fingers through his long hair. I opened my eyes, to see his bold blue eyes watching me. I broke out of the kiss, and smiled.

“I love you.”

The scene turned into us at the movies. I was sitting in the theatre with my best friend, Cole. We were eating popcorn, waiting for the movie to start. It was a small theatre, with only one entrance to each row. We were in the middle of the theatre, directly in the middle of our row. I heard someone bustling past in the row behind me.

“’Scuse me, sorry, scuse me. Oh shit.” Suddenly, this figure came tumbling over my seat and landed in my lap. I looked in shock at him.

“Oh hey Sarah,” he looked up at me with a grin. “Fancy meeting you here.” He scooted himself right side up, and took the seat next to me.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“Well, I was supposed to come here with a couple girls,” he motioned to a herd of teenage girls sitting in the front corner. They looked around, talking. I guess they were looking for Zach. Then, one of them spotted him, and started spastically waving. He gave a single wave with a flick of his wrist and turned his attention back to me. “I’d much rather sit here though. The view is better.” He winked.

Next to me, I heard Cole clear his throat.
“Oh, sorry, Cole. Cole, this is Zach. Zach, this is Cole.” The two shook hands.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you,” Zach said with fake sadness. He leaned in for a hug. Reluctantly, I gave in. After a few seconds, I pulled away, and sat normally in my seat. However, Zach’s arm remained around me.

“You sly dog,” I said jokingly.

He laughed. “Then, I guess you won’t mind if I do this.” He pushed up the arm rest separating our seats, and scooted closer. I rolled my eyes.

The movies started, so we had to shut up. Throughout the movie, my body eventually melted into his. His arm stayed around me the whole time, pressing my body into his. My head rested on his chest. I could smell his cologne.

Halfway through, he leaned down and gave me a kiss on the top of my head.

“I love you.”

…

“Sarah.”

I groaned.

“Sarah.” They urged.

I groaned again.

“Sarah, wake up!”

“No,” I moaned.

“SARAH!”

Instead of replying this time, I threw my arms about. I felt one make contact with something.

“OW,” the mystery person screamed. I woke up with a start and looked about. On the ground next to my bed was Zach crutching his nose.

“Oh my goodness, I am so sorry,” I apologized as I jumped out of bed. I crouched down next to him. “Can I see it?”

He gave me a weird look before removing his hands. I took his face in my hand, and looked at the damage. There was blood dripping out of his nose.

“Oh shit,” I groaned. “Come on.” I pulled him to his feet and downstairs. My mom would know what to do.

I found her in the kitchen, cooking banana pancakes. “Uh, mom, we’ve got a bit of a problem.”

She wiped her hands on her apron and turned around. “Oh!” she said with a shock. “What in the world happened?” She walked hurriedly over to Zach whose nose resembled an all out faucet.

“I tried to wake her up, and then she punched me,” he stated. His words with muffled through the blood. My mom started laughing and then scurried throughout the kitchen. She grabbed a towel and threw it at him. Then, she went to the freezer and got a package of frozen peas. Zach was pinching his nose, which in turn slowed the gush of blood. He wet the towel, and started cleaning up his face.

I felt so bad. “Here, let me do it,” I offered. After a moment, he complied and handed me the towel. Slowly, I started wiping the blood from his face.

“Ow,” he winced.

“I’m sorry.”

Eventually, I got the majority of the blood off. He grabbed the peas and put them on his face.

“I’m going to go sit down. I feel a little dizzy,” he said as he wobbled around. I helped him to the table, and into a chair.

“I am so sorry,” I apologized again.

My mom continued to make pancakes until Cameron, Michael and Nathan came running up the stairs.

“We smell food,” Nathan said as soon as he walked into the kitchen. My mom laughed, and handed each of them a plate full of pancakes. They walked over to the table and sat down at one end.

The three of them were halfway through their first pancake before they realized Zach was sitting there.

“Whoa, what happened to you?” Cameron asked. Zach removed the bag of peas so he could answer.

“OH MY DEAR LORD THAT’S DISGUSTING!” Nathan screamed. I turned around. Zach’s nose was black now.

“She punched me,” Zach explained. They howled with laughter.

“Well, you should know I’m not a morning person,” I explained.

…

After the remainder of the food was consumed, we all went downstairs to the basement. Nathan put on some music and started dancing around the large room. Zach went immediately to the couch and laid down. Cameron disappeared somewhere on the phone. Michael was laying on the ground somewhere.

I sat down in the corner on a bean bag chair, and watched them. They were so weird.
After a while, Cameron returned. He first went over to Michael and whispered something to him.

“YES!” Michael screamed enthusiastically. Cameron laughed and went to Nathan. He had the same reaction. Finally, he made his way over to Zach. They argued for a little bit, before I saw Zach nodding his head.

Cameron strolled over to me with a grin. He flopped on the bean bag chair next to me, and put his arm around me.

“So, Sarah. I have some bad news for you. We’re staying for a while.”