His Match

I Miss Him, I Always Miss Him

ETHAN

"Awww, I missed you too Jennings!" I tease her while I sink into the spot next to her. The sand is cold and I can feel the shells digging into my ass. I shuffle round to let them disappear into the grains.

She swigs the bottle and generously and allows the clear liquid to drizzle into her mouth. Watching her with not a care in the world.

"Mind telling me why you're out here drinking alone Chloe?" Silence is what I get for a reply. She sways, even sitting down. I can only imagine what she's like standing up. Legs crossed and so closed off. She reaches down between her legs and plays with the sand allowing it to fall through the gaps in her fingers.

"Do you ever miss being a kid?" She asks randomly. Her head lifts up to stare with her blue eyes twinkling in the moonlight out on the sea. "Like, do you miss not knowing what was going on around you? Your innocence? The only worry you had was what you were going to eat for breakfast?" Where is this coming from? Her tone is so strong and cold. Separated from what she used to be like and harder than what she is like. "I miss that" she adjusts her gentle gaze to the open water where the water is lapping and the waves are crashing ever so slightly. It's soothing, but a paradox.

"Yeah, I do miss that" I nod truthfully. Her head not moving an inch for minutes and minutes. Ticking by slowly and I feel the need to reach out and touch her hand, that has a death grip on the bottle. She could smash it in her hand if she applies anymore pressure. "But, we've all grown up now. We're all still friends... well some of us, and we're all still close. I like to think of it as seeing it all from a new perspective? Through a different set of eyes, you know?" She laughs a little running her finger around the neck of the vodka bottle. She takes a deep breath and slowly releases it to the warm air blanketing us.

"You must be seeing through a different set of eyes then me Miller" there she goes again with my last name. I hate when she does that. It irks me more than ever now. I like when she says my name, my real name. "You get everything in life, while I work for it. You get appreciated, while I get stepped on. You get noticed, and I fade into the background of nothing. You don't see what I see, and I don't see what you see" She shrugs slurring a little. She's going to be paying for it tomorrow.

"Tell me what you see" I ask her to paint me a picture. She shakes her head no while abruptly stopping to take another drink of the bottle in hand. "Come on, tell me what is it that you see that's so different to what I see?" I push for an answer. I'm not letting her make that statement and then shut me out. What's so different between us?

"It doesn't matter"

"It does! What do you see Chloe?" I sit up ducking my head down so she looks at me. But she's refusing to.

"I see people who have it all. The looks, the charm, the charisma, and ability to make people enjoy their company. I see teenagers who are enjoying life until it hits them hard when they grow up. Rich kids that don't appreciate a damn thing they're given while there are people in this world that fight to get a meal everyday. I see people who complain about what they don't have instead of appreciating what they do. Especially a loving family who doesn't step all over them and talk down to them like they're shit on the end of the shoe. I see people who aren't grateful that there's a roof over their damn heads every night while kids are sleeping on the streets around the world in fear. I see the condescending nature of some people while others just sit back and watch the show. That what I see Ethan. All what you don't" She brings the bottle up to her lips once more and takes more down her oesophagus to allow her get shamelessly drunk. "What you see is very different to what I see Miller" she points at me with a locked jaw that is shut for business. Her random points made sense but no link was made.