True Confessions

He wrapped his hands around mine as I stood and stared up into the bright blue sky. It looked clear and meanacing, quite like our life ahead.

"Why are we so reckless?" I asked, squinting into the sun.

"Because we can be."

We traded in the car for some cash, but it wasn't like we needed it. He had plenty. We were sitting on a train, staring out through expensive window seats. I felt like I was on the Hogwarts Express.

"Brendon..."

"What?"

I sighed. "I don't know."

I continued to squint until a few wispy clouds puffed by in short little bursts to block the pigment in the rushing frames in front of us. It was then that he handed me a little box.

"I want you to open it."

"You got me a present?! Why?" I asked as I carefully ripped apart the paper.

"Because I love you."

I grinned at him and opened up the box. It was a brand new camera and I adored it. It was a Nikon D-60, the one I had been hoping to get some day.

"OH BREN! I LOVE IT! SO MUCH! THANK YOU!!" I kissed him furiously and then started taking pictures of him and the sky. He laughed and tried to hide his face whenever I would aim the camera in his direction, but he always eventually let me take a picture of his amazing smile.

He attempted to get me to stop, but I wouldn't listen. I was forever in his debt and I couldn't help but feel like I owed him more than life itself. I loved my camera.

"Do you have a book I can read?"

"Just my dad's. He always said I should read it, but I never have. He's so good at writing, I love my dad. I miss him."

He fished it out of my bag , but by the time I finished telling him about my dad, I wanted to read it myself. My camera hung loosely from my neck and I stared off into space. I wondered how Jake was. I missed my dad. I ... well I didn't really miss my mom, but I missed her voice. I missed her face and the way she smiled. She had wrinkles that touched her eyes in the gentlest way.

She was beautiful, and I missed my mother's beauty.

He started reading the first chapter and I silently watched him as the night fell over the train.

"I want to change our destination. I want to go to Italy," I said with a little bit of a grin and a little bit of a frown.

"Italy?"

"Italy."

"Sure. Once the train stops, we'll find an airport and take off."

"Are you being serious or is this a way to make me feel stupid?"

"This is serious."

"Okay."

"Are you sure about Italy though?"

"Why not?"

"In Rome they stab people for parking."

"We don't have a car."

"True."

We smiled then and he buried himself in the book again. I read a line over his shoulder, "I am not your toy, I will not be bossed around. I am an adult who has a life and is perfectly capable of living without you. I am leaving."

It sounded like something my mother would say.