Summer on the West Coast (Derek Sanders one shot)
Summer on the West Coast
The funeral home was another 40 minutes away and I was stuck in traffic in the pouring rain.
My hands gripped the steering wheel tighter as beads of sweat began to form on my forehead. I turned on the air-conditioning and the radio, I needed a distraction. I began to get nervous as the traffic slowed to a complete standstill.
Through the loud beating of my heart in my ears I could hear a song playing faintly on the stereo. I reached for the knob to turn up the volume. Oh no.
“And please don't tell me that I'm dreaming,
When all I ever wanted was to dream another sunset with you.”
Not now. Please. My breath caught in my throat and tears threatened to spill over.
“If I roll over when it's over
I'll take this Cali sunrise with me
And wake up with the fondest memories.”
My mind began to wander.
-Flashback-
California. The best place to spend the summer with my best friend, Jamie. We’d been best friends for almost 13 years. We met in first grade and had been inseparable ever since.
The truth is Jamie was sick. I never liked to think about it and I never wanted to admit that I could lose my best friend at any moment to an incurable heart condition, but that was the truth and I had to accept it at some point.
Her mum had asked me to take her to California for the summer. Jamie loved the California beaches. It would be just the two of us all summer. This was a big leap for her parents because they never let her go very far from home because of her heart and every where they went they carried a bag with her medication in it.
“Jamie!” Her mum called.
“Coming!” She called. I could hear her footsteps on the floor above.
I was sitting with her mum on her couch waiting to tell her where we were going for the summer. I was excited.
She came down the stairs and joined us on the couch.
“What’s up?”
“I’ve just been talking to Derek and we both agreed that it was time for you to get out of the house. So, I’ve paid for airfares and a beach house in California. Also, your father and I put $1,000 in your bank to spend on anything you want.”
“Oh. My. God!” She squealed. “Really? Just Derek and I?”
“Mhm.” Her mum nodded.
“I love you so much! Thank you, thank you, thank you.” She beamed wrapping her arms around her mum.
She was so excited she almost had an episode. Her episodes usually involved her getting really dizzy and faint then her heart would start going crazy until she couldn’t breathe. It would pass eventually but they always left her feeling weak and each time they seemed to get worse.
This holiday would be easy for her. Each day we could just do whatever she wanted. Lie on the beach, eat ice cream or go shopping. Every afternoon without fail we would sit on the porch of our beach house and watch the sunset and in the mornings we would sit out the front and watch the sun rise over the city.
The way the orange light of the sun danced on the ocean always held Jamie’s attention. I loved watching her, she was so beautiful. The friendship that we shared would never be broken.
I promised her that I would never forget her. She was my best friend and my life.
-End Flashback-
About 6 months after that summer Jamie got sick, so sick that she was in hospital permanently. There was nothing I could do to help her. I just had to sit and watch as my best friend slipped away from me, from her family, from life.
A tear slid down my cheek as I repeated those lines in the song.
“Please don’t tell me that I’m dreaming, when all I ever wanted was to dream another sunset with you.”
That was our song. Every time I heard it, it took me back. I remembered all the good times Jamie and I shared. I cried for her.
Our past I would forever treasure.
My hands gripped the steering wheel tighter as beads of sweat began to form on my forehead. I turned on the air-conditioning and the radio, I needed a distraction. I began to get nervous as the traffic slowed to a complete standstill.
Through the loud beating of my heart in my ears I could hear a song playing faintly on the stereo. I reached for the knob to turn up the volume. Oh no.
“And please don't tell me that I'm dreaming,
When all I ever wanted was to dream another sunset with you.”
Not now. Please. My breath caught in my throat and tears threatened to spill over.
“If I roll over when it's over
I'll take this Cali sunrise with me
And wake up with the fondest memories.”
My mind began to wander.
-Flashback-
California. The best place to spend the summer with my best friend, Jamie. We’d been best friends for almost 13 years. We met in first grade and had been inseparable ever since.
The truth is Jamie was sick. I never liked to think about it and I never wanted to admit that I could lose my best friend at any moment to an incurable heart condition, but that was the truth and I had to accept it at some point.
Her mum had asked me to take her to California for the summer. Jamie loved the California beaches. It would be just the two of us all summer. This was a big leap for her parents because they never let her go very far from home because of her heart and every where they went they carried a bag with her medication in it.
“Jamie!” Her mum called.
“Coming!” She called. I could hear her footsteps on the floor above.
I was sitting with her mum on her couch waiting to tell her where we were going for the summer. I was excited.
She came down the stairs and joined us on the couch.
“What’s up?”
“I’ve just been talking to Derek and we both agreed that it was time for you to get out of the house. So, I’ve paid for airfares and a beach house in California. Also, your father and I put $1,000 in your bank to spend on anything you want.”
“Oh. My. God!” She squealed. “Really? Just Derek and I?”
“Mhm.” Her mum nodded.
“I love you so much! Thank you, thank you, thank you.” She beamed wrapping her arms around her mum.
She was so excited she almost had an episode. Her episodes usually involved her getting really dizzy and faint then her heart would start going crazy until she couldn’t breathe. It would pass eventually but they always left her feeling weak and each time they seemed to get worse.
This holiday would be easy for her. Each day we could just do whatever she wanted. Lie on the beach, eat ice cream or go shopping. Every afternoon without fail we would sit on the porch of our beach house and watch the sunset and in the mornings we would sit out the front and watch the sun rise over the city.
The way the orange light of the sun danced on the ocean always held Jamie’s attention. I loved watching her, she was so beautiful. The friendship that we shared would never be broken.
I promised her that I would never forget her. She was my best friend and my life.
-End Flashback-
About 6 months after that summer Jamie got sick, so sick that she was in hospital permanently. There was nothing I could do to help her. I just had to sit and watch as my best friend slipped away from me, from her family, from life.
A tear slid down my cheek as I repeated those lines in the song.
“Please don’t tell me that I’m dreaming, when all I ever wanted was to dream another sunset with you.”
That was our song. Every time I heard it, it took me back. I remembered all the good times Jamie and I shared. I cried for her.
Our past I would forever treasure.
♠ ♠ ♠
Another one shot, this time Mayday Parade, kind of :)