The Quiet Ones (Ian Hecox)

Chapter 7 - Lanterns

*Ian's Point of View*

This has been the longest week of my life. I haven't seen Savannah, Sam or Dan a lot this week and I've already had to write two pop quizzes and it's only Wednesday. Ugh, I hate high school.

"Savannah!" I yelled as I saw her walking in the hallway. She turned around and smiled when she saw me running towards her.

"What's up?" She asked me while closing her book she had open.

"Not much really. How've you been? I haven't seen you in awhile." I asked her.

"Good. Just trying to survive high school. Did that guy you punched in the face at the party talk to you or see you at all this week?" She asked me with a slightly concerned look on her face.

"No. But I've seen him and he doesn't look too good. He has like a huge bruise right under his eye." I told her.

"That's awesome Ian!" She exclaimed and I laughed.

"Hey are you busy tonight? I'm going to try to get out of the house so we could do something." I asked.

"That sounds awesome! I won't plan anything. But try not to dig your grave any deeper." She laughed.

I nodded and said "Okay I'll see you tonight hopefully. Be prepared for anything."

She laughed and nodded then waved goodbye.

Now I have to think, what crazy thing are we going to do tonight?

*Savannah's Point of View*

"Hmmm." I said out loud while looking in my closet. "What should I bring? A swimsuit? No I doubt we'll go swimming. Maybe shorts and a tank top for spare clothes. Oh! And a sweater. Yeah that should be good." I shoved all the spare clothes into a separate bag and got dressed.

"Hey mom! I'm hanging out with Ian again! I don't know when we'll be back though!" I yelled at her.

"Try to be home by midnight! And don't do anything crazy." She yelled back at me.

"No promises." I whispered to myself.

Then, as if almost on cue, the doorbell rang.

"Ian!" I yelled after I opened the door.

"Hey! Ready to go?" He asked.

I nodded and closed the door behind me.

"So where are we going on this fine evening?" I asked him in a terrible British accent.

"I have a surprise for you, Madame." He said while playing along.

We drove forever and just talked about school and everything that was going on in our lives.

"Okay it shouldn't be that much farther." He said.

"Whoa! What's that?" I yelled while pointing at the sky that had some tiny floating lights in it.

"It's a tradition here that once a year, one day in October, the community here releases these lanterns into the sky. I thought it would be cool to do." He explained.

"That's so cool!" I was so excited. "Are we going to do it too?" I asked.

"Of course! I didn't bring you here just to look at the lanterns." He laughed.

After a few more minutes, Ian parked the car and we both got out. He went to the trunk and brought out two lanterns and a lighter.

"Ready?" He asked me while we walked further into the middle of the open field.

I nodded. "Wait! We should make our own tradition. We should write something on them. Like something we want, or a goal." I suggested.

"Let's do it! I'll run back to the car and grab some sharpies." He said. He returned a couple minutes later with two sharpies.

"So what are we going to write on them?" He asked.

"How about we write one goal that we want to get done before next October." I said.

He nodded and started to write.

I thought for awhile and looked over at Ian. He knew exactly what he wanted to write.

I thought about it for awhile and then started to write.

'Tell Ian how I feel'

"Ready?" Ian asked me after I finished writing.

I nodded and he lit my lantern. I turned it so he wouldn't see what I wrote. He lit his own lantern and started to count down.

"3.. 2.. 1." He whispered to me.

I watched our two beautiful lanterns fly off into the gorgeous night sky.

*Ian's Point of View*

After I drove Savannah home from our memorable night all I could think of is what she wrote on her lantern.

Did she write something crazy? Impractical? Or just something like "Get an A+ on a test"?

I had no idea and I really wanted to know. I was tempted to rent a spaceship and find that lantern.

All I can hope is she wrote something about me, like I did for her.

I remember thinking for brief second about what to write but the choice was easy.

'Tell Savannah how I feel'

I knew I needed to do it soon or else I might never gather the courage to do it.