My Life as June

Chapter 11: Just Friends

"every sunset
brings the promise
of a new dawn."
-ralph waldo emerson

     "This really isn't what I had planned for us today," Noah says with a guilty smile.

     I turn to him, "You mean you didn't plant on being stranded on the side of the road in this scorching heat?" I ask him playfully and surprisingly, he doesn't give me a witty remark.

"I'm sorry, Junebug. I wanted to take you on a hot air balloon and show you the view from up there, ya' know? I just really wanted to make it up to you for getting all angry."

"It's okay Noah, really. I'm afraid of heights anyway," I smile, "And besides, this view is pretty darn amazing as is."

     Despite the aesthetic view from this hill, I am practically rendering under the conflagrant sun. The only thing cooling me off is a bottle of water which is only half full now.  Boy, how I'd love to dump this water all over me.

     We are all sitting on a small, grassy hill that has little patches of sand on it, making it very uncomfortable to sprawl your body upon. Noah's car is far too hot, thanks to its black exterior and interior. The only thing that is seperating us from the ocean is the asphalt road that stretches out for miles and miles.

"When is the tow truck going to get here, Noahbear?" Millie whines, "We've been out here for seventy-seven billion years!"

"We've only been out here for about an hour, actually. But it sure feels like seventy-seven years," Nathan articulates as a matter of fact.

"The tow truck should be here soon!" I sing, trying to sound cheerful while I am actually dying.

I should've known better than to say that because it has been six hours now. Six hours. The sun is about to set and I still haven't gone to the bathroom.  I've held it in for six hours.  I'm no doctor, but I know that, that isn't healthy.

     I take a seat next to Noah who is sitting on the opposite side of the hill, probably watching the sunset.  He has this disappointed look on his face that is glowing with the last orange and pink rays of the sunset before twilight brings about the stars and the moon.

     "It's breathtaking, isn't it?" I say quietly, admiring the beautiful view in front of me.  This is something I've never seen back in my small town.  I watch the sea, listening to the calming rhythm of the waves crashing onto the sand.

     "Yeah. . . you know, I used to watch sunsets all the time, especially after my mom died," he whispers.  I turn my head and bring my attention unto him.  I'm surprised by the sudden candor of his words.  Maybe it's because of the sunset.  Maybe it's the way the sun seems to glow, or the way the sky is streaked with different colours, but sunsets seem to have a way to get people to talk.  I mean, in every movie, people always have those moments where they talk about their feelings or do something dumb like kiss while watching the sunset.  Maybe it's because sunsets make people think that everything is coming to an end, I don't know.

     "They always reminded me that no matter how shitty your day went, it can still end beautifully.  My mom used to tell me that each colour showed all the good tomorrow could bring," he says.

     "That's beautiful.  Your mom sounds like a wonderful person."

     "She was.  She was wonderful, lovely, understanding, caring, generous, humble, and almost every good adjective you can name.  She was the one that taught me how to play the piano actually.  She played beautifully-God, you should've heard her, Junebug."  He closes his eyes with a smile plastered on his face, as if he was picturing his mother.