The Life & Times of Sara Sidle
- Thread starter quoth_the_raven
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Guest
Guest
I love this story so much..the beginning was really sad though..and Josh is my new hero xD
quoth_the_raven
Corpse
Ha, I'm going to make you wait to find out!
Thanks for the reviews everyone, I will update soon!
Mini_Catherine
CSI Level One
darn! I WAS JUST GETTING EXCITED!
quoth_the_raven
Corpse
Here it is, guys:
November 4, 1984- 3:45 pm
Sara had made it through the school day almost completely unharmed. She was achy from falling almost 10 feet from the floor, but other than that she was in good shape. She was however worried about Josh. What would happen to him? If anything happened, she would undoubtedly feel responsible, as he did this whole thing for her.
She continued walking and kicked a small stone in front of her. It eventually fell into a manhole in the road, so she had nothing else to do to entertain herself. She sighed, wishing that she would hear the sound of skateboard wheels coming up behind her and Josh’s familiar voice.
She gasped when she heard something coming up behind her, but then smiled when she saw a panting Josh running toward her with his skateboard in hand.
“Aw, I wanted to surprise you,” he said with a smile.
She grinned. “Well, I was just thinking of you. So…” her tone changed. “How did it go in the principal’s office?”
He shrugged. “Eh…I’m probably going to get detention, but that’s the worst of it.”
She sighed. “I’m sorry…”
“Hey, it wasn’t your fault, you weren’t the one who practically tried to kill someone.”
“Yeah, but…I’m the reason you socked her…”
“No you’re not, I’ve wanted to do that for a long time. If I hadn’t had a reason for doing it today I was still going to get her eventually, she’s an evil little devil spawn.”
She smiled. “Yeah.”
“So…” He began walking by her side down the street. “Want to do something?”
“What do you mean?” she asked with a tilt of her head.
“Oh, you know…go to a movie or the park or something.”
“Um…okay.”
“Great.”
He smiled at her and put a friendly hand on her shoulder.
“Let me go ask Nancy. I’ll be right back.”
He nodded and stood outside her house as she ran inside and asked if she could go.
“Nancy!” she called running inside quickly.
Nancy looked up at her, her hair tied in a tight bun and a smear of oil across her face. “What is it?”
“Can I go out with Josh for a while?”
“Uh, yeah, sure, just come home before your father and I start calling the police wondering what happened to our daughter.” She grunted and stood up pulling a red toolbox out of a cupboard. “I’m going to go tackle some broken appliances. Have fun.”
She walked off and Sara ran outside excitedly.
”Okay! We can go,” she said with a smile.
“You look excited,” he said with a grin.
“Well I am,” she added as they walked onto the sidewalk.
He smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “So…are you feeling achy?”
“From the fall?”
“Yeah.”
“Um…not too bad.”
“That’s good…does your head still hurt?”
“A little, but not much.”
“Good.”
They continued walking for a bit, but Sara was getting a bit confused as to where exactly they were going. “Hey Josh? Where are we going?”
He smiled. “You’ll see.”
She continued walking alongside him. They turned the corner passing an old building that used to hold office supplies, and he led her past that street around another corner.
She kept looking back at his face to see if his expression would hint at all to where he was taking her, but he just kept a large grin on his face the whole time, looking straight ahead of him at the road.
Soon, restaurants were in sight and tiny shops. He led her past the buildings and her face lightened up.
“Oh wow…”
She looked to see where they were. He had taken her to the beach. She hadn’t been to the beach for at least 9 years, and she had always wanted to go back. When she looked at the ocean the sight she saw was breath-taking.
“How did you know?” she asked looking at him.
He smiled. “I just assumed you might like to come here.”
He walked off to the side and Sara stared at the ocean. The sunlight was reflecting off of the blue waves as they came closer to the shore. She saw the seagulls flying around the ocean in perfect circles, looking for tiny scraps of food. The smell of the water and its inhabitants filled the air and she took a deep breath of the ocean air.
“Hey, you just gonna stare or are you coming?” came Josh’s voice.
Sara looked at him. He was sitting on an old bench rolling up his pant legs and taking off his shoes. He pulled a sock off before untying the other shoe and pulling that sock off.
“Well?” he asked smiling.
“I’m coming!” she said quickly and took a seat next to him and began pulling her pant legs up and taking off her socks and shoes. He laughed as she fumbled clumsily with her shoelaces as he waited for her. He smiled and grabbed her foot, untying the laces.
“I can do it myself!” she said.
He laughed. “Obviously you need some help; it’s taking you forever to get one shoe off!”
She smiled as he slid her shoe off her foot and she pulled the sock off. He grabbed her arm and quickly led her over to the shore where he stopped just as the water was coming in.
“You going in?” he asked.
Sara shrugged. “Only if you do.”
“Alright, then!”
He jumped in as soon as he finished talking just in time to catch a big wave. When the water subsided and moved away from the shore, he sat in the damp sand with a crab crawling on his head.
Sara giggled as he pulled the crab off of his head and gave it a look before setting it down on the sand and standing up, brushing the sand off of him.
“Don’t just stand there! Come in!” he prompted.
Sara’s laughing stopped as she slowly made her way into the water. She stuck a foot in and quickly retreated. “It’s freezing!”
He smiled. “Come on, don’t chicken out!”
“I’m not!”
“Alright then, prove me wrong, Ms. Sidle.”
She smiled and backed up. He frowned thinking she was giving up, but his eyes widened as he saw her running towards him.
“Ah!”
She jumped at him knocking them both into the water. A wave crashed down on them and as the water once again retreated from the shore, they both laughed looking at each other.
“I wasn’t expecting that!” he said with a grin.
“I didn’t think you were,” she added.
They both sat on the damp patch of sand as another wave came up to shore.
“You should wait until sunset,” Josh said. “It’s the most beautiful thing you’ll ever see.”
She smiled looking up at the sun in the sky.
“Well…almost the most beautiful thing you’ll ever see.”
She smiled as he shot her a grin. He got up leaving her to stare at the ocean and all its glory. She didn’t hear him walk behind her until the cold ocean water came pouring down on her head.
“Hey!” she said shooting him a look. “That was uncalled for!”
He just laughed as he held up the plastic yellow bucket he used. “Hey, don’t blame me, that kid let me borrow this,” he said pointing to a small kid who just pouted.
“Hey mister, I didn’t know you were going to do that!” he said crossing his arms.
Both Sara and Josh laughed as the kid stomped off after snatching the bucket back from Josh’s hand.
“Well, I think that-“ Josh couldn’t finish his sentence as a gallon of water splashed him right in the face knocking him down. As he spit the water out of his mouth, he could hear Sara giggling. He shot her a look.
“Don’t look at me, Mr. Deckard, the kid over there did it,” she said pointing to the tiny kid from before who was now building a sand castle.
He grinned as he got up brushing the sand off of him and running after her. She laughed as she started running away from him and the entire beach stared at them running after each other.
When they finally stopped, it was the late evening and they both collapsed on the shore panting with exhaustion. The cold water of the ocean felt refreshing as it brushed against their bodies as it neared the shore.
“The sun will set in a few minutes,” Josh said sitting up.
Sara sat up and hugged her knees.
“I’ve always wanted to show someone the sunset,” he said. “My father showed it to me when I was little…that was before he wanted me to be ‘Mr. Huge Sports Star’. He had just told me the greatest things in life were free…” he smiled turning to look at her. “I didn’t believe him, so he showed me the sunset.”
She looked up at him as he continued.
“Afterwards, I ruined the moment.”
“How?” she asked tilting her head.
“I asked him if the best things in life were free, how come TV wasn’t.”
She laughed. “I suppose that sort of does ruin the moment.”
He laughed. “I suppose it does.”
As the sun began to set, the sky took on different shades of red, orange, and a beautiful purple. The ocean breeze was now growing colder as they sat down on the shore watching the sun fall under the horizon.
“Sara?”
She turned to look at Josh who was now looking at her with a rather sad expression on his face. “What is it, Josh?”
He sighed, moving closer to her. “I…I need to tell you something.”
“Anything, Josh. I’m all-ears.”
He closed his eyes lowering his head. “I’m moving.”
Her eyes widened and she choked on her words. “I…I…what?”
“I’m moving,” he said again, his head still lowered.
She smiled- this had to be a joke. He couldn’t be leaving. “No, no, this is a joke, isn’t it? It has to be, right? I mean…”
He looked up at her with sad eyes and a frown.
“No…no, you can’t be leaving…you can’t be,” she said, her eyes now glistening with tears. “Why?”
“My parents…don’t want me staying.”
“Why?”
“They…they think you’re a bad influence.”
“What?” she whispered.
He laughed a little. “Heh, yeah, I know…I laughed when they said it…I told them they were wrong and that I punched Melissa because I wanted to.”
She shot him a look, but her eyes were still moist with tears.
“Yeah, I know, bad defense but it was the truth.”
“…They think you punched her because of me?” she asked.
He nodded. “But I’m not angry with you, it’s not your fault. It’s Melissa and her friend’s damn fault.”
A tear ran down her face as she panicked. “You can’t leave, what will I do without you? You’re…” she swallowed hard and choked down more tears. “You’re the only friend I’ve ever had!”
“I know…I…I’m sorry, Sara,” he said looking at her sad face.
“No, this can’t be happening,” she said hugging her knees. “This can’t be happening, it can’t be happening, it can’t be happening,” she said over and over again. “It’s not fair!” she cried, the tears running down her face more quickly now. She didn’t try to hold them back anymore.
“Sara…I’m really sorry…I don’t want to leave you,” Josh said putting a hand on her shoulder and giving it a tight but friendly squeeze.
“No, no, no, no, no, no…” she got up from the damp sand, not bothering to wipe the amount that was over her clothes and she ran to the wooden bench. She grabbed her shoes and slid them on quickly.
“Sara, wait!” Josh said getting up and running over to her. “Please, wait!”
She wrapped her arms around herself as she ran off. She didn’t know where she was going, only that she needed to get away- somewhere away from everyone else.
Somewhere away from reality.
November 4, 1984- 3:45 pm
Sara had made it through the school day almost completely unharmed. She was achy from falling almost 10 feet from the floor, but other than that she was in good shape. She was however worried about Josh. What would happen to him? If anything happened, she would undoubtedly feel responsible, as he did this whole thing for her.
She continued walking and kicked a small stone in front of her. It eventually fell into a manhole in the road, so she had nothing else to do to entertain herself. She sighed, wishing that she would hear the sound of skateboard wheels coming up behind her and Josh’s familiar voice.
She gasped when she heard something coming up behind her, but then smiled when she saw a panting Josh running toward her with his skateboard in hand.
“Aw, I wanted to surprise you,” he said with a smile.
She grinned. “Well, I was just thinking of you. So…” her tone changed. “How did it go in the principal’s office?”
He shrugged. “Eh…I’m probably going to get detention, but that’s the worst of it.”
She sighed. “I’m sorry…”
“Hey, it wasn’t your fault, you weren’t the one who practically tried to kill someone.”
“Yeah, but…I’m the reason you socked her…”
“No you’re not, I’ve wanted to do that for a long time. If I hadn’t had a reason for doing it today I was still going to get her eventually, she’s an evil little devil spawn.”
She smiled. “Yeah.”
“So…” He began walking by her side down the street. “Want to do something?”
“What do you mean?” she asked with a tilt of her head.
“Oh, you know…go to a movie or the park or something.”
“Um…okay.”
“Great.”
He smiled at her and put a friendly hand on her shoulder.
“Let me go ask Nancy. I’ll be right back.”
He nodded and stood outside her house as she ran inside and asked if she could go.
“Nancy!” she called running inside quickly.
Nancy looked up at her, her hair tied in a tight bun and a smear of oil across her face. “What is it?”
“Can I go out with Josh for a while?”
“Uh, yeah, sure, just come home before your father and I start calling the police wondering what happened to our daughter.” She grunted and stood up pulling a red toolbox out of a cupboard. “I’m going to go tackle some broken appliances. Have fun.”
She walked off and Sara ran outside excitedly.
”Okay! We can go,” she said with a smile.
“You look excited,” he said with a grin.
“Well I am,” she added as they walked onto the sidewalk.
He smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “So…are you feeling achy?”
“From the fall?”
“Yeah.”
“Um…not too bad.”
“That’s good…does your head still hurt?”
“A little, but not much.”
“Good.”
They continued walking for a bit, but Sara was getting a bit confused as to where exactly they were going. “Hey Josh? Where are we going?”
He smiled. “You’ll see.”
She continued walking alongside him. They turned the corner passing an old building that used to hold office supplies, and he led her past that street around another corner.
She kept looking back at his face to see if his expression would hint at all to where he was taking her, but he just kept a large grin on his face the whole time, looking straight ahead of him at the road.
Soon, restaurants were in sight and tiny shops. He led her past the buildings and her face lightened up.
“Oh wow…”
She looked to see where they were. He had taken her to the beach. She hadn’t been to the beach for at least 9 years, and she had always wanted to go back. When she looked at the ocean the sight she saw was breath-taking.
“How did you know?” she asked looking at him.
He smiled. “I just assumed you might like to come here.”
He walked off to the side and Sara stared at the ocean. The sunlight was reflecting off of the blue waves as they came closer to the shore. She saw the seagulls flying around the ocean in perfect circles, looking for tiny scraps of food. The smell of the water and its inhabitants filled the air and she took a deep breath of the ocean air.
“Hey, you just gonna stare or are you coming?” came Josh’s voice.
Sara looked at him. He was sitting on an old bench rolling up his pant legs and taking off his shoes. He pulled a sock off before untying the other shoe and pulling that sock off.
“Well?” he asked smiling.
“I’m coming!” she said quickly and took a seat next to him and began pulling her pant legs up and taking off her socks and shoes. He laughed as she fumbled clumsily with her shoelaces as he waited for her. He smiled and grabbed her foot, untying the laces.
“I can do it myself!” she said.
He laughed. “Obviously you need some help; it’s taking you forever to get one shoe off!”
She smiled as he slid her shoe off her foot and she pulled the sock off. He grabbed her arm and quickly led her over to the shore where he stopped just as the water was coming in.
“You going in?” he asked.
Sara shrugged. “Only if you do.”
“Alright, then!”
He jumped in as soon as he finished talking just in time to catch a big wave. When the water subsided and moved away from the shore, he sat in the damp sand with a crab crawling on his head.
Sara giggled as he pulled the crab off of his head and gave it a look before setting it down on the sand and standing up, brushing the sand off of him.
“Don’t just stand there! Come in!” he prompted.
Sara’s laughing stopped as she slowly made her way into the water. She stuck a foot in and quickly retreated. “It’s freezing!”
He smiled. “Come on, don’t chicken out!”
“I’m not!”
“Alright then, prove me wrong, Ms. Sidle.”
She smiled and backed up. He frowned thinking she was giving up, but his eyes widened as he saw her running towards him.
“Ah!”
She jumped at him knocking them both into the water. A wave crashed down on them and as the water once again retreated from the shore, they both laughed looking at each other.
“I wasn’t expecting that!” he said with a grin.
“I didn’t think you were,” she added.
They both sat on the damp patch of sand as another wave came up to shore.
“You should wait until sunset,” Josh said. “It’s the most beautiful thing you’ll ever see.”
She smiled looking up at the sun in the sky.
“Well…almost the most beautiful thing you’ll ever see.”
She smiled as he shot her a grin. He got up leaving her to stare at the ocean and all its glory. She didn’t hear him walk behind her until the cold ocean water came pouring down on her head.
“Hey!” she said shooting him a look. “That was uncalled for!”
He just laughed as he held up the plastic yellow bucket he used. “Hey, don’t blame me, that kid let me borrow this,” he said pointing to a small kid who just pouted.
“Hey mister, I didn’t know you were going to do that!” he said crossing his arms.
Both Sara and Josh laughed as the kid stomped off after snatching the bucket back from Josh’s hand.
“Well, I think that-“ Josh couldn’t finish his sentence as a gallon of water splashed him right in the face knocking him down. As he spit the water out of his mouth, he could hear Sara giggling. He shot her a look.
“Don’t look at me, Mr. Deckard, the kid over there did it,” she said pointing to the tiny kid from before who was now building a sand castle.
He grinned as he got up brushing the sand off of him and running after her. She laughed as she started running away from him and the entire beach stared at them running after each other.
When they finally stopped, it was the late evening and they both collapsed on the shore panting with exhaustion. The cold water of the ocean felt refreshing as it brushed against their bodies as it neared the shore.
“The sun will set in a few minutes,” Josh said sitting up.
Sara sat up and hugged her knees.
“I’ve always wanted to show someone the sunset,” he said. “My father showed it to me when I was little…that was before he wanted me to be ‘Mr. Huge Sports Star’. He had just told me the greatest things in life were free…” he smiled turning to look at her. “I didn’t believe him, so he showed me the sunset.”
She looked up at him as he continued.
“Afterwards, I ruined the moment.”
“How?” she asked tilting her head.
“I asked him if the best things in life were free, how come TV wasn’t.”
She laughed. “I suppose that sort of does ruin the moment.”
He laughed. “I suppose it does.”
As the sun began to set, the sky took on different shades of red, orange, and a beautiful purple. The ocean breeze was now growing colder as they sat down on the shore watching the sun fall under the horizon.
“Sara?”
She turned to look at Josh who was now looking at her with a rather sad expression on his face. “What is it, Josh?”
He sighed, moving closer to her. “I…I need to tell you something.”
“Anything, Josh. I’m all-ears.”
He closed his eyes lowering his head. “I’m moving.”
Her eyes widened and she choked on her words. “I…I…what?”
“I’m moving,” he said again, his head still lowered.
She smiled- this had to be a joke. He couldn’t be leaving. “No, no, this is a joke, isn’t it? It has to be, right? I mean…”
He looked up at her with sad eyes and a frown.
“No…no, you can’t be leaving…you can’t be,” she said, her eyes now glistening with tears. “Why?”
“My parents…don’t want me staying.”
“Why?”
“They…they think you’re a bad influence.”
“What?” she whispered.
He laughed a little. “Heh, yeah, I know…I laughed when they said it…I told them they were wrong and that I punched Melissa because I wanted to.”
She shot him a look, but her eyes were still moist with tears.
“Yeah, I know, bad defense but it was the truth.”
“…They think you punched her because of me?” she asked.
He nodded. “But I’m not angry with you, it’s not your fault. It’s Melissa and her friend’s damn fault.”
A tear ran down her face as she panicked. “You can’t leave, what will I do without you? You’re…” she swallowed hard and choked down more tears. “You’re the only friend I’ve ever had!”
“I know…I…I’m sorry, Sara,” he said looking at her sad face.
“No, this can’t be happening,” she said hugging her knees. “This can’t be happening, it can’t be happening, it can’t be happening,” she said over and over again. “It’s not fair!” she cried, the tears running down her face more quickly now. She didn’t try to hold them back anymore.
“Sara…I’m really sorry…I don’t want to leave you,” Josh said putting a hand on her shoulder and giving it a tight but friendly squeeze.
“No, no, no, no, no, no…” she got up from the damp sand, not bothering to wipe the amount that was over her clothes and she ran to the wooden bench. She grabbed her shoes and slid them on quickly.
“Sara, wait!” Josh said getting up and running over to her. “Please, wait!”
She wrapped her arms around herself as she ran off. She didn’t know where she was going, only that she needed to get away- somewhere away from everyone else.
Somewhere away from reality.
G
Guest
Guest
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Josh cant move this is WRONG thats right W-R-O-N-G!!!!! how could this be happening to her!!??? Other then that great writing!!!UPDATE UPDATE!!!
quoth_the_raven
Corpse
I have a little surprise coming up, guys! I'll update soon!
G
Guest
Guest
Awwwwwww! Well i was half right, its not sara moving! that sucks!!!! well you better make it better with the next chapter or the one after!!! and please make it snappy! lol
quoth_the_raven
Corpse
Here it is, I would like to call this chapter not only 'November 4, 1984- 5:59 pm', but also, 'Quite frankly dear, I don't give a damn'.
November 4, 1984- 5:59 pm
Sara kept running, trying desperately to get the scene out of her mind. Josh couldn’t be leaving- he just couldn’t be leaving her. It was too much; she couldn’t handle it. She didn’t know what she would do if he left her.
She kept running, shoes flapping around on the road and bits of damp sand falling out of them. She could hear Josh’s voice behind her, pleading for her to come back.
That wasn’t going to happen.
She kept running, she had no idea for how long or how far she got, but she finally stopped when she could no longer move her legs and collapsed, leaning against a brick wall in the middle of an alley. Sobbing, she hugged her knees and buried her face in them; not ready to face people, not ready to face the world.
After the sobs stopped racking her body and her breathing slowed, she stared at the ground in front of her. The thoughts and images came flooding back.
No…this can’t be happening, it just can’t be…things were finally starting to look up…
She dried a streak of tears from her face away with her shirtsleeve.
And…I…I can’t…
She buried her head again.
I can’t deal with it!
She started crying again. She felt so small, so vulnerable. Someone could’ve come up and robbed her and she wouldn’t have done anything to stop it. She felt so pathetic, so insignificant.
She wrapped her arms around herself. Before, having been running on adrenaline, she had failed to realize how cold she was. But now that she had calmed down somewhat, she noticed that she was shaking mostly from the cold. Her hair and clothes were still damp, and the stinging chill of the night air was not helping the situation.
Maybe this is time for me to reconsider my rebel street gang idea. I’m all alone now…I truly am. Mom’s a murderer, dad’s truly gone forever, Daniel’s probably in rehab, and Josh is leaving.
She shook the thoughts out of her mind. If she was going to get through this, she needed to stop thinking like that. She stood up and took a deep breath before turning the corner of the alley and walking onto the sidewalk…
WHAM!
She fell to the ground rubbing her head. “Oww…”
“Sara!”
She blinked when she heard his voice. She looked up to see a worried Josh kneeling down beside her.
“Sara, I’m sorry, are you okay?”
She just nodded slowly as she got to her feet with the help of Josh and he rubbed the skin on her head he had rammed in to.
“Listen…Sara, I’m really sorry about all of this, and…I don’t want to leave you.”
She wiped another streak of tears away from her face. “Then don’t.”
He sighed. “I just wish it was that simple, Sara.”
“Why can’t you just talk to your parents?”
He sighed and leaned against the wall. “I…they won’t listen to me.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know.”
He looked at her. “I really want to stay. I’d give anything to stay here with you.”
“I know.”
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he paced back-and-forth. “My older brother’s living around here…maybe I can stay at his house with him and his wife…”
Sara face lightened up. “Really?”
He nodded slowly. “My parents shouldn’t care…they’d probably be glad to be rid of me. I mean, they wanted me to leave because they didn’t want me to be around you, so I guess they care a little bit, but uh…I don’t care what they think anymore. Sara, I’m staying here with you.”
He never saw it coming.
“WHOA!”
She had jumped at him in a tight hug, knocking him to the ground. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and squeezed him.
“Sara…can’t…breathe…”
She quickly let go and stood up. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” he said with a grin.
A small sedan rode up to the side of the street, the headlights blinding both Sara and Josh and making them squint.
“Who’s that?” Sara asked shielding her eyes from the harsh light.
“Oh great…my parents.”
The headlights dimmed and the car didn’t even come to a stop as both parents jumped out of the car.
“Josh! You’re coming with us right now!” her mother yelled in an angry tone.
“No I’m not,” he said simply.
“Yes you are, young man!” his father yelled, throwing in his two cents.
“I’m staying with Frankie and George.”
“WHAT?”
Both parent’s tones had changed. “You’re staying with those low-lives?” yelled his mom.
“Hey, don’t you talk about George like that!” Josh yelled. “You’re just angry because he followed his dreams and became a lawyer!”
“Yeah, and he passed on that crap to you!” his father yelled.
“I don’t care what you say; I’m calling George and Frankie tonight. I’m staying with them.”
He walked off, taking Sara by the arm and leading her away with him. “I’ll pick my stuff up tomorrow morning.”
Sara was looking at him in shock as they walked off, but his parents weren’t finished quite yet.
“What about your life, huh? With your parents! What about becoming a star? A star pitcher in the major-leagues?” his father asked.
He turned around and looked at his father with a grin. He gently pulled Sara closer to him and kissed her.
“Quite frankly dear, I don’t give a damn.”
And with that, Josh walked off with Sara following close behind, almost more shocked than anyone else in the whole group.
“Josh, you…I mean, you…me…” That was all Sara could form. Her cheeks were turning a bright shade of pink.
He laughed. “Yeah, I know.”
“So…why did you do it?” she asked.
He grinned. “Why wouldn’t I?”
She smiled. They continued walking down the street until they made it to Ted and Nancy’s house.
“SARA!”
Nancy ran over to her frantically as did Ted and they looked her over to see if she got hurt at all. “Where have you been, young lady?” Nancy asked, a hand on her hip.
“She was with me, I apologize for keeping her out so late,” Josh said. “Sara, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Josh, do you have somewhere to stay?”
“Yeah, I’m just going to walk over to my brother’s house right now, it’s not too far away and he shouldn’t mind my company,” he said. “See you at school tomorrow, Sara.”
“Okay, bye.”
She turned and walked off toward the house with Nancy and Ted, but she stopped when she heard him run back and tug on her arm. “I forgot something,” he said.
“What is it?” she asked.
He pulled something out his pocket. Sara couldn’t tell what it was. He held up her hand and slid it onto her wrist.
“My great grandmother made it,” he said.
It was a beaded bracelet- it had black beads, some of which that were painted, with carvings made into it. Sara could tell it was hand-made.
“Josh, I—“
“I want to give it to you,” he said.
Before she could anything as a response, he had run off, leaving her in front of her home.
“So Sara, is that boy your boyfriend?” Nancy asked teasing her.
Sara turned to her, and answered only with a proud grin. She walked into the house, Nancy in close pursuit.
“Wait, you’re only 12-years-old, young lady!”
She turned to her when she was at the door to her room, and before closing it, said “Quite frankly dear, I don’t give a damn.”
November 4, 1984- 5:59 pm
Sara kept running, trying desperately to get the scene out of her mind. Josh couldn’t be leaving- he just couldn’t be leaving her. It was too much; she couldn’t handle it. She didn’t know what she would do if he left her.
She kept running, shoes flapping around on the road and bits of damp sand falling out of them. She could hear Josh’s voice behind her, pleading for her to come back.
That wasn’t going to happen.
She kept running, she had no idea for how long or how far she got, but she finally stopped when she could no longer move her legs and collapsed, leaning against a brick wall in the middle of an alley. Sobbing, she hugged her knees and buried her face in them; not ready to face people, not ready to face the world.
After the sobs stopped racking her body and her breathing slowed, she stared at the ground in front of her. The thoughts and images came flooding back.
No…this can’t be happening, it just can’t be…things were finally starting to look up…
She dried a streak of tears from her face away with her shirtsleeve.
And…I…I can’t…
She buried her head again.
I can’t deal with it!
She started crying again. She felt so small, so vulnerable. Someone could’ve come up and robbed her and she wouldn’t have done anything to stop it. She felt so pathetic, so insignificant.
She wrapped her arms around herself. Before, having been running on adrenaline, she had failed to realize how cold she was. But now that she had calmed down somewhat, she noticed that she was shaking mostly from the cold. Her hair and clothes were still damp, and the stinging chill of the night air was not helping the situation.
Maybe this is time for me to reconsider my rebel street gang idea. I’m all alone now…I truly am. Mom’s a murderer, dad’s truly gone forever, Daniel’s probably in rehab, and Josh is leaving.
She shook the thoughts out of her mind. If she was going to get through this, she needed to stop thinking like that. She stood up and took a deep breath before turning the corner of the alley and walking onto the sidewalk…
WHAM!
She fell to the ground rubbing her head. “Oww…”
“Sara!”
She blinked when she heard his voice. She looked up to see a worried Josh kneeling down beside her.
“Sara, I’m sorry, are you okay?”
She just nodded slowly as she got to her feet with the help of Josh and he rubbed the skin on her head he had rammed in to.
“Listen…Sara, I’m really sorry about all of this, and…I don’t want to leave you.”
She wiped another streak of tears away from her face. “Then don’t.”
He sighed. “I just wish it was that simple, Sara.”
“Why can’t you just talk to your parents?”
He sighed and leaned against the wall. “I…they won’t listen to me.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know.”
He looked at her. “I really want to stay. I’d give anything to stay here with you.”
“I know.”
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he paced back-and-forth. “My older brother’s living around here…maybe I can stay at his house with him and his wife…”
Sara face lightened up. “Really?”
He nodded slowly. “My parents shouldn’t care…they’d probably be glad to be rid of me. I mean, they wanted me to leave because they didn’t want me to be around you, so I guess they care a little bit, but uh…I don’t care what they think anymore. Sara, I’m staying here with you.”
He never saw it coming.
“WHOA!”
She had jumped at him in a tight hug, knocking him to the ground. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and squeezed him.
“Sara…can’t…breathe…”
She quickly let go and stood up. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” he said with a grin.
A small sedan rode up to the side of the street, the headlights blinding both Sara and Josh and making them squint.
“Who’s that?” Sara asked shielding her eyes from the harsh light.
“Oh great…my parents.”
The headlights dimmed and the car didn’t even come to a stop as both parents jumped out of the car.
“Josh! You’re coming with us right now!” her mother yelled in an angry tone.
“No I’m not,” he said simply.
“Yes you are, young man!” his father yelled, throwing in his two cents.
“I’m staying with Frankie and George.”
“WHAT?”
Both parent’s tones had changed. “You’re staying with those low-lives?” yelled his mom.
“Hey, don’t you talk about George like that!” Josh yelled. “You’re just angry because he followed his dreams and became a lawyer!”
“Yeah, and he passed on that crap to you!” his father yelled.
“I don’t care what you say; I’m calling George and Frankie tonight. I’m staying with them.”
He walked off, taking Sara by the arm and leading her away with him. “I’ll pick my stuff up tomorrow morning.”
Sara was looking at him in shock as they walked off, but his parents weren’t finished quite yet.
“What about your life, huh? With your parents! What about becoming a star? A star pitcher in the major-leagues?” his father asked.
He turned around and looked at his father with a grin. He gently pulled Sara closer to him and kissed her.
“Quite frankly dear, I don’t give a damn.”
And with that, Josh walked off with Sara following close behind, almost more shocked than anyone else in the whole group.
“Josh, you…I mean, you…me…” That was all Sara could form. Her cheeks were turning a bright shade of pink.
He laughed. “Yeah, I know.”
“So…why did you do it?” she asked.
He grinned. “Why wouldn’t I?”
She smiled. They continued walking down the street until they made it to Ted and Nancy’s house.
“SARA!”
Nancy ran over to her frantically as did Ted and they looked her over to see if she got hurt at all. “Where have you been, young lady?” Nancy asked, a hand on her hip.
“She was with me, I apologize for keeping her out so late,” Josh said. “Sara, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Josh, do you have somewhere to stay?”
“Yeah, I’m just going to walk over to my brother’s house right now, it’s not too far away and he shouldn’t mind my company,” he said. “See you at school tomorrow, Sara.”
“Okay, bye.”
She turned and walked off toward the house with Nancy and Ted, but she stopped when she heard him run back and tug on her arm. “I forgot something,” he said.
“What is it?” she asked.
He pulled something out his pocket. Sara couldn’t tell what it was. He held up her hand and slid it onto her wrist.
“My great grandmother made it,” he said.
It was a beaded bracelet- it had black beads, some of which that were painted, with carvings made into it. Sara could tell it was hand-made.
“Josh, I—“
“I want to give it to you,” he said.
Before she could anything as a response, he had run off, leaving her in front of her home.
“So Sara, is that boy your boyfriend?” Nancy asked teasing her.
Sara turned to her, and answered only with a proud grin. She walked into the house, Nancy in close pursuit.
“Wait, you’re only 12-years-old, young lady!”
She turned to her when she was at the door to her room, and before closing it, said “Quite frankly dear, I don’t give a damn.”
quoth_the_raven
Corpse
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