Sunshine, Starlight | Aryan Simhadri

Part 27

I woke up at 5AM the next day, i didn't need to be up till 9AM but i couldn't sleep, i tossed and turned for a while until i just got up and went to the bathroom

My eyes were puffy and red from crying myself to sleep last night so i definitely had to fix that before the interview later

I spent a few minutes just looking at the mirror until i couldn't stand it anymore, standing in the public eye highlights so many different insecurities that you couldn't even think about on your own

I put on a pair of jeans and a brown sweater on top of it and grabbed my bag and phone before leaving the hotel room, i put my earphones in and played music loud enough to shut out my thoughts but so i could still hear the traffic around me

I just went on a walk around a park close to the hotel hoping that i wouldn't be caught by paparazzi since it was really early in the morning still

I sat on a bench by a lake and watched the peaceful water, it was dark out and the only people outside were a few joggers and people who went to work

I pulled my phone out and started going trough my pictures, I wanted to delete pictures with Jason and Val but instead of that i ended up crying over the memories and the fact that i had lost my best friend and boyfriend on the same day, I sat there for a long time looking through pictures until i put my phone down and just cried with songs blasting in my ears that didn't make it any better

I pulled an earphone out when i felt someone tap my arm slightly, it was an elderly woman who looked at me with a concerned look

"Are you alright darling ?" She asked, leaving her hand on my shoulder

"Oh, yes dont worry ma'm" i wiped my tears away again and smiled slightly at her

"Are you sure ? You seem sad"

"It's fine really, thank you for asking though"

"Are you here on our own ? It can be quite dangerous in New York when its dark"

"I just wanted to take my mind off things on my own" she sits down next to me on the bench

"Is it okay if I sit with you ?" I nodded

"Of course, are you here on your own ?" I ask taking my other earphone out too and putting them into their box

"I'm meeting my niece and nephew here, I'm just a little early" she said with a slight laugh "oh the sunrise is so pretty isn't it" she said looking over the lake to where the sun was starting to rise

"Yeah it is" I looked over too smiling a little to myself, the sun had found a way of reminding me of Aryan

"Do you want to talk about what makes you sad my dear ?"

"I would rather not" I sighed truthfully, I couldn't stand those pitiful eyes anymore

"That's alright, are you from New York ?"

"No im from Pennsylvania"

"What drives you here then ?"

"Uh, just from work"

"Work ? You seem so young, how old are you  if I may ask?"

"I'm 14, it's just a small something I do next to school"

"Oh that sounds interesting" she smiled, she had the same kind eyes that my grandma always has "oh, there they are, Connie, Taylor" she stood up from the bench rather quick, I jumped up too to hold her arm when I saw her falling over slightly "oh thank you dear" she put her hand on mine smiling at me

"Hey gramgram" the boy who walked over to us smiled holding his arms open for a hug, I let go of her arm and took a step back to let the three of the greet each other in peace

I sat back down on the bench and grabbed my phone again to see the time 7:58AM, I had been out for over 3 hours

I turned my head once to see if they were still there and noticed the boy talking to the girl who was holding his arm and nodding towards me, I pretended not to notice and turned back to my phone

"Hello, excuse me" I looked up at the boy who was talking to me, I figured he might around Charlie's age and the girl who stood a bit behind him might be around my age "my sister wanted to ask you something if that's alright"

"Yeah of course" I put my phone into my purse and turned to look at the girl, she had a light blush on her cheeks

"Are, are you Claribel Scobell ?" She asked a little shy

"Yeah, that would be me" I smiled back

"Can I maybe get a picture with you ? I saw the trailer of Percy Jackson and I am a huge fan already" her shyness gave a little in as she kept talking

"Of course" I got up and hugged her first before keeping one arm around her as her brother made the pictures

"I loved the dress you wore at the premier the other day, you looked like a princess"

"Thank you so much, you are so kind"

"We wanted to grab a coffee, would you care to join us ?" The elderly woman asked with a smile, I debated it at first not wanting to go into much more public but looking at the girl whose eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head I couldn't not agree

"Of course, I'd love to join if that's okay with you" the three of them all nodded so we made our way over to the small café just holding a little small talk

"I'm so excited for the first two episodes to come out I can't wait" the girl, who introduced herself to be Taylor told me excitedly

"I'm glad to hear that, I've seen it at the premier and I have to say I thought it was really good"

"I bet it was"

We talked for a while and drank our coffee (hot chocolate) , when the time hit 8:30 I decided it was time to leave since we had to be ready for the interview at 11

I went to the front and ordered 3 hot chocolates and 2 coffees and bought 5 of the delicious cookies for the others

I took the bag and the drink holder, said goodbye to the three of them and went back to the hotel

Authors note:
Elderly people are always either the kindest or the meanest souls around fr