Chapter Thirty-Eight
Together
THE OCEAN SUNSET was beautiful, but on this particular night, one of Sarah’s last nights home, she and Joel sat on an old couch upstairs in his game room. She sat on one side, dangling her feet precariously close to his nostrils. Underneath a warm blanket, they were pretty comfortable, and the steady thrum of a drama hummed in the background. It was something Sarah was dying to see, and something during which Joel was dying.
Eventually at the climax, Sarah studied the film with the intensity of a professional critic, and Joel intentionally threw a piece of popcorn in her hair. “Stop it!” she yelled.
Joel paused the movie, angering her even further, and he blinked back the sadness ready to overwhelm his soul. In one summer, he’d gained a half-sister, little Sofia, whom he’d seen only a handful of times in his life. He’d lost his best friend. He’d gained Sarah. He wondered if the world ever held any sort of balance, and assumed probably not.
“Why did you pause it?” Sarah screamed, reaching for the remote.
“Get your head out of fiction and remember reality.”
“We’re at the good part.”
“Stop whining and listen to me. I think we should go out for a walk.”
“Right now? Joel, seriously, I’m in the middle of my movie.”
“You’re about to leave me for Hollywood. I think you’ll have plenty of movies over there.”
“Come on. Let’s just finish it, and then we can go do whatever you’re wanting to do.”
“Where’s the spontaneity in that? Come on, you austere quahog!”
“What?”
“Never mind. Just come on.” He stood, stretched, and unplugged the TV. Sarah watched from her position in the blanket, skepticism a veneer over her irises. “I’m not kidding, Sarah Towson.”
“Obviously not.”
He helped her up and they headed to the garage, where a few old dusty bikes sat in the corner, a few rays of sunlight streaming through a grimy window. He blew some of the dust particles away, sending them into the light, where they scattered like Sarah’s thoughts.
The door opened, and Joel promised the tires had enough air. He hopped on one, and she hopped on the other, and then they were off into the approaching night past the subdivision locals called Elizabeth.
Joel biked quickly as Sarah tried to keep up. She pedaled hard and her muscles quavered, and then she was whistling as Joel tried to show off some clumsy wheelies on his set of wheels. The fading sunlight cast a halo over her boyfriend, so that Sarah had to accept even more that she was going to say good-bye to him soon.
She finally matched his speed and stuck out her tongue at him. A car bounded down the road beside them, but they ignored it and continued on the potholed concrete. A plane flew above them, ready to cross the Atlantic in search of far-off journeys. A few neighbors stood at their lawns, waving at the two kids on their bikes, two kids whom they whispered about nearby. “Is that Joel Sealet with Sarah Towson?”
“Oh, it can’t be!”
“Yeah, how did you not know? They’ve been together the whole summer.”
“No one tells me anything!”
“Well, get your eyes out of those books you read, and your ears into our gossip!”
“Gossips are sinners.”
“Everybody’s a sinner, and everyone’s entitled to forgiveness. Did you forget that part?”
At the end of the subdivision, where a small town road hit another small town road, Joel called out, “The eastern edge of Harrisville Lake is a mile away. Want to go?”
“We’ll be heading back in the pitch black.”
“Oh, ye of little faith. Just follow me, and live your life.”
Wise enough, Sarah supposed, as the wind tossed her hair. They passed an old truck, the driver tipping his hat in their direction. A lady jogged with her dog on the sidewalk, though Sarah had heard it was better for one’s leg muscles to run on the sidewalk.
A few minutes later, they appeared at the blue lake, where Sarah remembered Joel had been dumped by Brie Fraser. At the wide open space where verdant trees met blue water, Sarah and Joel tossed their bikes to stare at not only the beauty of the moment, but at the fact of their impending separation.
Joel wrapped an arm around Sarah’s shoulders, and she leaned into him. So much had changed over these past few months, and they would only continue to striate and form a myopia of vision. She wanted to cry, but instead of tears, she felt somewhat giddy. Joel leaned down and kissed her on the lips, quickly but rushing in intensity. She felt her body respond to him, and she wanted to fall over and allow nature to take its course. However, she was a bit of a control freak, and with the hint of bees and spiders nearby, she only allowed him to kiss her lips, nothing else.
“Sarah,” he said between ravaged breaths.
“What?” she asked as he ran a hand through her hair, pulling a little too tightly.
“How can you go?”
“I take an airplane.”
“No, why do you go?”
She paused for a moment as he left a trail of kisses at the base of her jaw. She stared up into the darkening sky, where the hint of stars twinkled above. “We’ll see the same stars here and there.”
“Sarah, why are you going?”
“If you look up, and you see that reddish star there, you can think of me…”
Joel tensed, breaking away from her a little, before he stared into the marvelous depths of her eyes. “I think I love you.”
“Comforting.”
“The selfish part of me begs you not to go.”
“And the selfish part of me begs me to go.”
“Sarah,” he said, pulling her into an embrace. “You’re going to make us all so proud out there. You already have.”
That was the end to their conversation. They broke apart, jumped on their bikes, and headed to his house in an eerie, eldritch silence. When they appeared in Elizabeth, and made it to the curb of his house, Joel dropped his bike to the ground and whispered, “I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”
“Absolutely.”
“Let’s not look at it as the last time we’ll see each other. It’s just a little separation. You’ll be home for Christmas.”
She was quiet.
“Hey, something’s on your door.”
He turned his head and hurried over to the little mat that said in burgundy lettering WELCOME HOME. A little package rested at the threshold, and confused, he said, “It’s from Graciela.”
“Who’s that?”
“Manny’s sister.” A tidal wave of regret flooded over him. He didn’t want to lose his cool in front of Sarah, but his best friend was gone. Time might heal the wound, but the wound would never leave.
Sarah’s presence beside him calmed his nerves. Eventually, he loosened the little yarn holding it together, and underneath silver tissue paper, Sarah’s necklace gleamed. She stared at it with shock. Beside it, a little photograph flashed in the faint glow of the streetlights.
“This is from Graciela?”
Joel pulled out a little note.
Joel, here are some things I think belong to you and your new girlfriend. As you know, Manny was on his way to your house when the accident happened, but here is an attached note from him. Thankfully, he left a note, or I would have had no clue what these objects were. I rang the doorbell, but I don’t think anyone’s home. See you later. -G
Their eyes both focused in on Manny’s paper. How weird it could be that a crash destroyed a human life but not a slip of paper.
Hi, Joel. You’re sick right now, and if you are asleep, I will just leave this note on your doorstep and visit you later. Anyway, I feel so old-fashioned, writing you a letter! Weird, huh? Anyway, that necklace is Sarah’s. She left it in the cemetery, but as a little gift, I thought she should keep it. Maybe you could give it back to her or something like that. That was my awful logic. I don’t know. It’s probably me just being my nosy self. Also, this photo wa
s taken back our junior year of high school. I printed it off from some random social media picture, and cut it out so it’s just you and Sarah. Weird, right? You and Sarah, your first picture together. Look at how adorable you two are. See, I can be a romantic when I want to be.
You may be wondering why I did all this. I did it because I felt bad for what happened in Myrtle Beach, but also because I know you’ve had a rough few weeks. You’re my best friend, and I honestly do like Sarah. I just wanted to show you I care, and that you might not think you deserve Sarah. That isn’t true. I wonder if she deserves you.
Sorry. This may be too sentimental, or ridiculous, or whatever. I may not even give you this note.
Love,
Manny