Chapter
15
Have you ever loved somebody so much
it makes you cry,
Have you ever needed something so bad you can't sleep at night,
Have you ever tried to find the words, but they don't come out right,
Have you ever,
Have you ever,
Mariah
sang along with the song. This song had so much meaning to it. She had an
answer to the question. She did love someone so much that it made her cry, that
she couldn't sleep at night, and she's wanted him to be near her, to hold her,
but didn't know what to say to get him there. She knew there were no words to
get him there. Oh, how she missed her father.
She
walked along the beach thinking about the past few days that she'd spent with
her mother. They had been closer than they had ever been, reminiscing about all
the memories. Her mother left that afternoon and after saying a heart-wrenching
good bye to her mother, Mariah headed straight for the beach.
She
stopped walking and breathed in the salty air. She had missed the smell and
feeling she got when she breathed it in: comfort. She walked farther into the
water just so it reached up to her ankles. The cold water washed around her
ankles, soothing them. She took off her headphones and listened to the waves
crashing. The sun was beginning to set. The beautiful colors of blue, purple,
orange, and red was spread across the sky, as if a painter had spilled his can
of paint. The sun was beating red, half hidden by the horizon. Mariah stood
there with the wind blowing in her hair, the water splashing around her ankles,
and the beautiful sunset before her. She didn't want to move, afraid that if
she did, this breath-taking scene would disappear and never return again.
Mariah
enjoyed these peaceful, quiet moments, but her peacefulness was interrupted
when she heard shouts coming from across the beach. Mariah walked closer to
take a look.
* * *
"Rok!"
shouted Nick. "Earth to Brian!"
"Huh?
Oh, sorry Nick."
"Well,
glad to have you back to the land of the living," said Nick. "Where
were you anyways?"
"Oh,
no where. Just trying to get an inspiration for a song." replied Brian.
"You're
always trying to get inspirations for songs," complained Nick. "Why
don't you just play some football like normal people?"
"Ha
ha Nick, very funny," replied Brian in a sarcastic tone. "It's just
such a beautiful sunset, I thought maybe that it would give me some inspiration
for a song."
"Look
Brian, it seems to me that you look for inspiration in the wrong places."
"What
do you mean?"
"Look
around you, what's closest to you. Why do you need to think about the sunset to
give you inspiration? There's so many other things that you could write about,
but here you are sitting and staring at the sun looking for inspiration."
Brian
sat there quite shocked. "Wow Nick, that was actually...decent."
Nick
looked back at Brian with a goofy grin. "I know...cool huh?" Brian
smiled. Nick turned serious. "I've had a lot to think about since my mom
got sick, and I've written some stuff too."
"Really?"
asked Brian. "I'd like to hear it."
"Maybe
some other time Brian. It's just dumb stuff, I'm just fooling around."
"Okay,
well, if you need any help you can always count on me."
"Thank
B-Rok, that means a lot."
"No
problem, Nicky."
"Don't
call me Nicky!" cried Nick.
Their
usual bantering began until Kevin, AJ, and Howie arrived to play football. They
split into teams and began their fun. They were having so much fun that they
didn't notice that someone was watching them.
AJ
nudged Howie and said, "Looks like we've got a spectator. A pretty one
too."
Howie
nodded. They were busy talking and looking at the stranger that they didn't
notice the football flying through the air. It hit AJ on his forehead.
"AJ!
I'm so sorry!" cried Kevin. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah,
I'm fine," said AJ. He took his hand off his forehead and there was a big
red mark in the middle of it. The guys took one look at it and cracked up
laughing.
"What?"
asked AJ rubbing his forehead. None of the guys gave an answer, they couldn't
stop laughing.
"WHAT?"
yelled AJ.
"They're
referring to that red splotch that you have on your forehead." said a
female voice, silencing the guys.
"Mariah!"
cried Brian.
"Hey,
Brian! How's it going?"
"G-great!"
blubbered Brian with surprise.
Mariah
turned to AJ, "If you want, I've got a first aid kit in the car."
AJ
looked up at Mariah, who was the beautiful stranger he had pointed out, and
said yes.
Brian
introduced the guys to Mariah.
"Finally,
it's nice to meet all of you. Brian's told me a lot about you guys."
"Oh
really?" said Nick and the group looked at Brian.
"What?"
cried Brian. "I didn't say anything to her! I just mention you guys in
conversations."
Mariah laughed and led AJ to her car, the other guys followed.
After AJ was patched up and well, he offered to take Mariah out to dinner. Mariah
turned him down, but with the persistence of the rest of the guys, she gave in.
The six of them piled into the cars and left to eat, none other than,
McDonald's.
***
