Night Sky (Harry Styles)

20. run away

CHAPTER 20: RUN AWAY

                         Thursday, June, 1st 2017 - Morro Bay, California

                    The few hours of our morning we got to spend in Carmel-By-the-Sea weren't exciting. Beth, Jess and I went shopping for a little bit and returned to the beach for a little bit. But to be honest, I wanted to leave Carmel as soon as possible. I didn't really get to like this city even though it is extremely beautiful here and very serene in the little shopping district close to the beach. The experience I made last night, however, sadly ruined the picture.

 After the girls and I returned, we packed all our stuff and stuffed it into the cars. The mood between us all is frisky and it made me realize why I was so fond of this idea of going on a road trip with a few of my best friends.

 It was the notion of spending time with my friends, sitting at the beach, talking and laughing, eating good food. Or being in the car as we sing loudly along to the songs on the radio. Seeing new cities every couple days, going shopping, watching the stars, meeting new people, making memories with my friends. That's what I was really looking forward to. And we have made memories. They were just very different from what I was expecting because now I won't ever be able to think back to this trip without thinking of the tension between Sam and I, the secrets between Harry and I and the fact that I'm awful friend to Jess.

The car rides are mostly awkward when we are paired up wrongly due to previous fights. We get drunk and stoned. We seem to party every night and complain about a headache the next day. Relationships are threatening to end. I have barely had fun so far. Most of the time it was pressure I felt and fury, or the fun came from being drunk.

 Sam and I still don't talk to each other. Beth and Dylan do talk normally with each other but they aren't as comfortable with each other as they used to be. And Jess is still herself, head over heels in love with Harry, not suspecting anything as it seems. She is so naïve. Harry is a bit more quiet than he usually is. Sometimes he mutters something under his breath and the rest of the time Jess is around him, kissing his cheek and holding his hand.

 After we left Carmel, we drove down Highway 1, passing Big Sur, where we stopped at Pfeiffer Beach for an hour and then kept driving to Morro Bay. We went for a swim before we drove back to our Airbnb. After checking in, we started getting ready for a beach party that we have been invited to. Beth had been approached by a group of guys who still needed some more people for their party so she agreed for us.

 So, here we are, at yet another party that is similar to every other party I've been to. Loud and shitty music with drunken people dancing and walking. Then there is the group of stoned one's who you can hear laughing from a 100 hundred miles away. And then there are the sober one's who stand at the edge of the dance floor with a beer bottle in their hand, pretending to drink it, only so they won't be bothered by drunk people asking them if they want another drink. What a waste. The beer should be held by people who would really drink it.

  "Can we talk?" I hear Sam's voice close to my ear, "Please, Stella, your birthday is in a few days and I hate fighting with you."

 I ignore him. There is nothing to talk about. For Sam the who-is-guilty case is closed. That I took drugs is the perfect loophole for him to blame all this one and to divert attention from himself. 

  "Estelle," Sam begs, "I'm really sorry. I just want it to be like it used to between us."

  "You broke up with me last night." I say and lean forward to fill my white cup with more red wine.

 "No, I didn't."

 "You said you were done with me." I tell him, both my eyebrows raised.

 "I didn't mean it."