No more wishes

Was it so terrible to want to be with Alo, a little longer?

Vada didn't really know if she could go back, and if she did...

She squinted hard thinking the worst while in bed next to Alo's hot body, turned away from her asleep.

 Oh, she was the worst as she set up and put her fingers to her eyes. They weren't even puffy. Why wasn't she crying? Maybe she was the ice queen, after all.

"What is it?" Alo jerked up. There went that bewildered look of Alo's.

Sometimes, he could be so smart and so grownup. Like he belonged here in Paris. As if he could run a business of gallivanting around with teenage girls. But now he looked so young. And rather goofy.

Vada felt so old and not a bit wiser, even if she was sitting on the edge his bed, making the room just as much hers as it was his.

Maybe, being together was not a good idea.

But it felt so right last night. As if she couldn't get in any worse trouble than she was already in. After all, Alo was the best part of this trip.

She gave in. It was that simple. Oh, her principles and goals of being all on her own were falling apart. First Dean. Now this.

Somehow, she felt stronger then. Not so much now. No, she'd done a very bad thing, that felt as if it was someone else who had done it. Not her. Not with Dean.

But this with Alo... was like the future. He was exactly where she wanted to be.

"Do you really have to know?" She squinted harder this time. She felt his weight  next to hers. She felt his arms come around her shoulders, and it was simply electric.

Vada wanted to feel numb, but she couldn't. No, he did make her happy. Happy in a way, she never completely felt with Joel. Maybe that was why she'd cheated on him. And now, he was off with..oh..did it really even matter?

"We're gonna get you home." Alo promised as he kissed the back of her shoulder. His voice was quiet as he told her his brother lived in New York City.

Didn't he see? She didn't want to go home.

About now

Why couldn't they let them be together?

Caitlin wrote letters to Roman all summer. It was just not right. They were married, after all. No way, would she ever believe the marriage was annulled. Of course, according to her parents and Roman's parents it wasn't even real.

Yet, Caitlin still held on to the hope that it was true. And she wanted her Roman back.

"He's like my Jack Frost, you know." She told Jen who looked at her as if she was one crazy cheerleader.

One more thing she had to explain to Jen.

Caitlin gave up her pom poms.

"Don't you see, it doesn't mean a thing to me." She was ever so grim. Things were changing. She couldn't spend her life in a uniform at school. What was she to do when it was time to move on? To grow-up?

Her brother had.

Hadn't they followed in each other's footsteps. He was married too. Weren't his parents worried about that?

They didn't make a big deal about him going into the Navy. No, they were all worried about her. Even sent her to counseling. What a rip-off.

She was so much better than any of those girls there. She wasn't a psycho.

No, Caitlin got what she wanted. Her Roman. He was her Roman now. He would never be with another. Never.

"You, are going to file charges?" Sky looked at Mitch's battered face. Mitch was still in the hospital recovering. "Aren't you?"

There was a warrant out for Derrick's arrest. As of yet, he hadn't been found. It was baffling to Sky as he studied a grim Mitch. Sky couldn't tell if  Mitch could open his swollen purple eye-lids. Maybe Mitch was still too out of it to be listening.

Sky felt so bitter and blue, himself. He felt as if he should have stayed home that night. Instead of being out with Josie.

Still, he hadn't had a laugh like that in a long time. Oh, it was nothing specific. Still, he did enjoy her company even if he was only keeping an eye on her for Dean. Or was he? He hadn't heard a word from Dean. Josie never spoke of him.

Sky felt as if he was on the edge of something with Josie, but what?

Naturally, his grandfather thought he should move. Still, a faint smile came to him when he remembered his grandfather asking him if Mitch was his boyfriend. Sky held in a laugh, even now. It was still surprising how little his grandfather really knew of him. Of course, he had to wonder if his grandfather knew his own son, Nico, was gay.

Sky pressed his lips tight. Some things he knew he couldn't do a thing about. Even for Mitch.

Maybe he couldn't get himself out of this, what he was feeling for Josie. Maybe, he didn't want too.

misplaced

Rossie, didn't know what to do.

She never really wanted to be Jen's best friend, but it was easy to see who was on Jen's mind, and it wasn't her.

Rossie stole a look on Jen's phone not so long ago when Jen was helping Rossie out, with the girls down at the dance studio.

Jen didn't delete any of those photos of Caitlin. Of course, Rossie wouldn't dare ask if Jen was still into Caitlin.

Actually, there was no IN or OUT.

Jen needed a friend right now, and Rossie was doing her best to be THAT FRIEND.

Jen could call her anytime. After all, Rossie had her own place. She'd had it for sometime now. All on her own, even if she was a high school dropout. She had her G.E.D. and two jobs.

While her roomie, Nic, was seeing the pink haired girl. He was out with her, every night and sometimes, never came home.

Summer could really be a place of solitude. She should have expected it. Yet, when she was alone, the past was more than just a ghost. It was full of demons that made her feel so sad and lonely. And sometimes, she felt quite like the old blind woman who would find her way to the laundromat.  She was alone too. No one to take care of her, even if she had the roommate from hell. Would Rossie have that life? Some day?

Rossie hated to get this way. And then Van died in the random shooting.

It broke her heart that she would never did quite know him. No reason too. Sure, she knew who he was. How they looked up to him at school.

He'd always been a dumb jock, as she recalled. Now, she felt somehow connected to him, even if she didn't see him that night at the party.

No, she'd been with Derrick. And now, she felt there was a reason he was here at the diner. What could that possibly mean?

Roman's time was almost up, and it was just getting good. Or the fact he was used to all the group sessions and people he'd met during his stay.

OK, there was this one girl that took his breath away. Jade. Naturally, she wasn't very receptive. In fact, she said nothing to him, weeks on end. Funny, how he wanted this to work with a strange girl, who wouldn't speak to him. Maybe he needed a challenge. That's all this was.

Something to look forward to when he got up. He was satisfied with the slightest thing. Like when they made eye-contact. Maybe he was beginning to be a stalker. Somehow, that made him smile more. But then again, maybe he was worse, instead of better.

He never thought of Caitlin. Actually, she never crossed his mind.

Even if it had been a miserable summer, there was one thing on Roman's mind. The hope he'd know Jade by the time he got out of here.

fading to gray

When Derrick woke up, he shook the dust off his work boots and wondered when the last time he went to his job. Come to think of it, did he have a job?

He was alone and it might have been morning or late afternoon. And his left hand hurt. In fact, his knuckles raw, perhaps a little bloody. He shivered ever so slightly. But he couldn't remember. He must have blacked out.

Still, he was in no hurry to get home, nor to see Mitch, either. He would ask questions. Derrick didn't have any answers.

Soon enough, he found the old diner where he remembered being with Dorian, all so long ago after hitting Henry down at the river on the 4th. But the place was under new ownership. He didn't think the service was nearly as good as he remembered. Still, he was poured coffee under the numb circumstances, and when he looked up to see the waitress..he knew he remembered her face. But from where?

"What do you want, Derrick?" She didn't look happy.

"What did I ever do you to you?" He squinted hard. It seemed to him. Everyone hated him, lately.

"Not a thing." She said barely above her breath. Maybe she had something else on her mind too.

"Oh.." He barely said back as he bit his lip. Finally, he realized she only wanted his order as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He asked for a fried egg on a burger and hash browns. She scratched down the order on the pad, holding in a very small frown.

"You, had this job long?" He asked since he was the only one at the diner.

"Long enough." She looked soured with the world. He wondered what he could do to change that.

He poured the cream in his coffee. He liked it sweet too. For a moment, he thought of his Mom, how she let him drink it, in the mornings before school when he was in grade school. For a while there, they thought caffeine was the only thing he needed to keep his day balanced.

His First grade teacher said he was A.D.D., but he mom never did anything about it.

Derrick scratched the back of his head while he stared at his raw left hand. He couldn't think what could have happened. It was like a blank space in time. Perhaps, it didn't matter.

"I guess you got in a fight, again." She came back to warm his cup with more steaming coffee.

"Now? Why would you say that?" He squinted.

"That's what you do." She was straight lipped. Her eyes looked so sad. "I went to Van's funeral."

"Van?" Suddenly, it came tumbling back to him. "Oh, the party, you were there." He cracked a smile as if he'd forgotten her so easily.

"You, should have come."

He shook his head, no. They did get out alive. Sure, he felt kind of bad for the football player he knew in high school. He just sighed. She walked away.

"Who are you, again?" Derrick asked as she looked back at him. Why did she have to be such a mystery?