Sequel: Through Fire ›
From the Ashes
Farewell
A gloomy overcast of clouds cover the sky above us, but it's still hot as the 7th ring of hell because of the humidity. Kaitlin and I stroll down the sidewalks downtown, sipping at fruity, ice-cold shakes from one of the gas stations. My mango-flavored heaven provides a small escape from the heat as it quenches my parched throat.
"So... You'll be excited to hear that my summer won't be completely boring without you, after all," Kaitlin chimes furtively at me over her shake.
"What do you mean by that?" I narrow my eyes at her with a smile.
"I met someone," she says, clutching her pink drink while she contains her excitement. I raise my eyebrows, waiting for the story. "He's from another town, and I waitressed his table at King's."
"When did all of this happen?" I ask as we stop at an intersection to wait for the light to change.
“Last night during the dinner hour, I had a shift after I left your house.”
"What's his name? What's he like?"
"His name's Chance. He came over to have dinner at King's from Bellport with his friends last night when I was working, he seems like a really fun guy!" I listen to her as she launches into a play-by-play of her night, vibrantly recounting the story with excited gestures. She had won a coin toss with another waitress for dibs on the table with the group of guys from Bellport, where they had come to meet up with friends from our town. They were grabbing pizza there, and eventually they had dared Chance to hit on Kaitlin, and get her number. Being, and I quote, "the suave, sexy motherfucker," that she was, she gave their table some good laughs with the wordplay between her and Chance, and ended up giving him her number after all.
"And he's so cute," she breathes, flipping out her iPhone to show me a picture he had sent her. I nod my head in agreement, after peering down into the screen at a bleach-blonde, shaggy-haired, lean-jawed, hazel-eyed hottie.
"Grrrowl," I tease, "Caught yourself a good-looking one, you did."
"Finally," she teases right back. I had always made fun of her for crushing on/dating guys that I thought were kind of fugly. It was nice to finally agree on the level of attraction in her love interest for once.
"You guys gonna hang out sometime?" I ask. She smiles around her straw.
"Soon, probably. He wants to come over and eat at King's again, he made me promise him I'd waitress his table. Then he wants to hang out after I get off work," she explains, and I can relate to that dreamy look in her eyes. My chest swells as her hushed, excited voice makes me think of the way I often feel about Roman. Kaitlin taps the home button on her phone, and sucks in a quick breath as she looks at the time.
"Shit, that reminds me... I have to be at King's in like 15 minutes for the lunch hours. Oh, come here, Allie!" She throws her arms around me, squeezing me in a tight hug. "I'm gonna miss you sooooo much!" I return the embrace, clutching Kait in farewell.
"God, I'm gonna miss you too," I tell her, and she pulls away beaming at me.
"We're both going to have amazing summers! Text or call me if you ever get the chance, okay? And if you need any advice about that dark devil," she teases. I give a barking laugh.
"Yeah, yeah, you're the expert," I grin. She smiles even wider at me before giving a wave as she starts down the street back toward where we left her car.
"Bye, Allie! Love ya!"
"See you, Kait, loooove yooou!"
It starts to sprinkle by the time I reach my house, and I find my mother inside closing down all the open windows in the house.
"Hey baby, could you run to our end of the house and close it up?" she asks, busy in the kitchen with the windows. I trot down to the end of the house with our bedrooms, and close the windows against the increasing sprinkle of summer rain. I meet up with my mother again in the living room. We plop down onto the loveseat, and I cuddle up to her.
"I'm going to miss you so much," she says with her chin resting on the top of my head, her hand rubbing my shoulder. I nuzzle my face into her neck.
"I feel kinda bad for leaving you here to miss Dad all alone," I tell her. She gives a high chuckle.
"I'm used to coping on my own, baby doll. But I'll miss having you around." She plants a kiss on my forehead. "I'll be looking forward to having you back to go out to Connecticut with." A smile breaks out over my face as I sit up to look at her.
"I'm so excited to go visit Daddy," I tell her, and her smile matches mine.
"Me too, darlin'. Are you all packed up yet?"
"Not completely... I started this morning, I'll finish right now." Momma nods, and we both get up from the couch. She follows me to my bedroom, and keeps me company while I continue packing about 2 weeks’ worth of clothing into a few bags. We end up spending all day in there, she helping me and talking to me while I pack, then clean my room. We pause for an early dinner, and spend the rest of the night watching comedies in the living room together. Roman texts me through the movie, asking me if I have everything, reminding me of specific items like bathing suits and closed-toed shoes for hiking and stuff. I go to bed way too excited to sleep, and I end up watching the rain beat against my window half the night as my text conversation with Roman turns casual. Around 2:30, I think, I drift off.
"So... You'll be excited to hear that my summer won't be completely boring without you, after all," Kaitlin chimes furtively at me over her shake.
"What do you mean by that?" I narrow my eyes at her with a smile.
"I met someone," she says, clutching her pink drink while she contains her excitement. I raise my eyebrows, waiting for the story. "He's from another town, and I waitressed his table at King's."
"When did all of this happen?" I ask as we stop at an intersection to wait for the light to change.
“Last night during the dinner hour, I had a shift after I left your house.”
"What's his name? What's he like?"
"His name's Chance. He came over to have dinner at King's from Bellport with his friends last night when I was working, he seems like a really fun guy!" I listen to her as she launches into a play-by-play of her night, vibrantly recounting the story with excited gestures. She had won a coin toss with another waitress for dibs on the table with the group of guys from Bellport, where they had come to meet up with friends from our town. They were grabbing pizza there, and eventually they had dared Chance to hit on Kaitlin, and get her number. Being, and I quote, "the suave, sexy motherfucker," that she was, she gave their table some good laughs with the wordplay between her and Chance, and ended up giving him her number after all.
"And he's so cute," she breathes, flipping out her iPhone to show me a picture he had sent her. I nod my head in agreement, after peering down into the screen at a bleach-blonde, shaggy-haired, lean-jawed, hazel-eyed hottie.
"Grrrowl," I tease, "Caught yourself a good-looking one, you did."
"Finally," she teases right back. I had always made fun of her for crushing on/dating guys that I thought were kind of fugly. It was nice to finally agree on the level of attraction in her love interest for once.
"You guys gonna hang out sometime?" I ask. She smiles around her straw.
"Soon, probably. He wants to come over and eat at King's again, he made me promise him I'd waitress his table. Then he wants to hang out after I get off work," she explains, and I can relate to that dreamy look in her eyes. My chest swells as her hushed, excited voice makes me think of the way I often feel about Roman. Kaitlin taps the home button on her phone, and sucks in a quick breath as she looks at the time.
"Shit, that reminds me... I have to be at King's in like 15 minutes for the lunch hours. Oh, come here, Allie!" She throws her arms around me, squeezing me in a tight hug. "I'm gonna miss you sooooo much!" I return the embrace, clutching Kait in farewell.
"God, I'm gonna miss you too," I tell her, and she pulls away beaming at me.
"We're both going to have amazing summers! Text or call me if you ever get the chance, okay? And if you need any advice about that dark devil," she teases. I give a barking laugh.
"Yeah, yeah, you're the expert," I grin. She smiles even wider at me before giving a wave as she starts down the street back toward where we left her car.
"Bye, Allie! Love ya!"
"See you, Kait, loooove yooou!"
It starts to sprinkle by the time I reach my house, and I find my mother inside closing down all the open windows in the house.
"Hey baby, could you run to our end of the house and close it up?" she asks, busy in the kitchen with the windows. I trot down to the end of the house with our bedrooms, and close the windows against the increasing sprinkle of summer rain. I meet up with my mother again in the living room. We plop down onto the loveseat, and I cuddle up to her.
"I'm going to miss you so much," she says with her chin resting on the top of my head, her hand rubbing my shoulder. I nuzzle my face into her neck.
"I feel kinda bad for leaving you here to miss Dad all alone," I tell her. She gives a high chuckle.
"I'm used to coping on my own, baby doll. But I'll miss having you around." She plants a kiss on my forehead. "I'll be looking forward to having you back to go out to Connecticut with." A smile breaks out over my face as I sit up to look at her.
"I'm so excited to go visit Daddy," I tell her, and her smile matches mine.
"Me too, darlin'. Are you all packed up yet?"
"Not completely... I started this morning, I'll finish right now." Momma nods, and we both get up from the couch. She follows me to my bedroom, and keeps me company while I continue packing about 2 weeks’ worth of clothing into a few bags. We end up spending all day in there, she helping me and talking to me while I pack, then clean my room. We pause for an early dinner, and spend the rest of the night watching comedies in the living room together. Roman texts me through the movie, asking me if I have everything, reminding me of specific items like bathing suits and closed-toed shoes for hiking and stuff. I go to bed way too excited to sleep, and I end up watching the rain beat against my window half the night as my text conversation with Roman turns casual. Around 2:30, I think, I drift off.