Two Summers Installment II

A black hoodie, a ripped up pair of jeans she was about to grow out of, her mommas anklet, and her old stretched out pair of sneakers. She walked across the street and down a couple blocks. When she reached the corner of Smokey Water Street and Matron Avenue, She saw Bash sitting on his porch. "Hey!" She called out. "Yo wassup?" He replied almost as if he'd known her for years. She walked up to the house and up the cement steps to the porch and sat down Indian style on the floor. "What are you doing up so early?" He asked pulling out a fresh pack of cigarettes. "I just couldn't sleep last night, or this morning, for that matter." She replied biting her fingernails. "Oh, happens to me all the time." He replied lighting a cigarette. "Oh?" Jasmine said. "Ya, I'm insomniac." He said. "Oh I see. Isn't there medication people can take for that? " Jasmine replied. "Ha! not that my family can afford." Bash replied. "Oh,where's Nate at?" She asked. "Sleeping. He'll probably be sleeping for a good 4 to 5 hours yet." Bash replied "Oh." Jasmine said sounding kind of bummed. "What time is it now? She asked. "Umm.... 6:45." Bash said looking at his cell phone. "Ahh." Jasmine muttered. It was silent for a couple seconds before Jasmine spoke again. "Whats going on between Nate and your mom?" She asked wishing she hadn't. "Well, all I can say is that she is pretty emotional and Nate is very protective of her, and when she gets mad,sad or ignorant because of it, he worries alot about her." Bash replied. "Oh, does he get that way about alot of people?" She asked. "Sometimes, depends on the person and the situation they're in." Bash said putting out his cigarette. "Hmm." Jasmine muttered. Again, there was a silence between the two. 

To Write Love On Her Arms

I know this has nothing to do with my novel, but Suicide Prevention week is this week and I have just discovered TWLOHA, and if you've never heard of it, you should look it up. it's an amazing organization. 

Two Summers

"Ugh." Jasmine said flicking the rest of her ciggarette ashes to the ground, "Why is this so stinkin' hard?""Jazz, your gonna be ok." Britny said putting her arms around her. Heidi and Jeremy stood against the wall speachless. Jasmine slowly sat down on the ground, tears in her eyes. Just then a group of teenage boys came strolling down the alley. They looked pretty fierce. Jasmine turned her head to avoid talking to them, but they strolled right up to her. "What are you doing so sad, sweet face?" One of them said. "Slider get away from me!" Jasmine screamed standing up. "Fine. I came to appoligize to you.... but if your gonna be ignorant, then be that way." Slider yelled. "Look dude, leave my sister alone, she doesnt like you anymore so please just let us have our peace." Jeremy said angerily. "You know what? How about......uhh... no?" Slider yelled. And with no further warning he slammed a punch right in Jasmines face and ran off. Jasmine was silent but there were tears streaming down her face. Heidi came up to her and held her tight while she cried. She let out a few loud cries before sitting down. "If y'all want, you can come to my place for awhile untill you get everything figured out" Britny said almost crying. "Really? You would do that for us?" Jasmine squeaked out before crying again. "Jasmine, your my best friend, more like my sister. I would do anything for you, and my family loves you guys. It's not gonna be an issue." Britny continued. "Thanks Brtiny." Jeremy said. "Yea, thanks." Heidi added. "Looks like it might rain soon, we should probably go inside." Jeremy stated. "Where to?" Jasmine said crying again. "We can go into this bar, my cousin owns it." Britny said. "Sure." Jasmine stuttered. Britny went around the corner to the bar and knocked on the door, which was locked. A young man came to the door and unlocked it once he saw it was Britny. The rest of us followed. Britny introduced us to him as Bash (short for Sabashian). "I think my little brother is in the other room, i'll go get him and introduce you guys as wel." Bash said. When he came back with his brother, Jasmine couldnt take her eyes off of him. "Guys,, this is my brother, Nate. Nate, this is Heidi, Jeremy, and the little crazy haired one is Jasmine." Bash said. "Hi there." Nate said shyly. "Hi." Jasmine said looking him in the eyes. Just then an emo looking girl came trancing up the steps. "Hey Bash, I'm here. Do you need help with anything right at the moment?" She said. "No,, I think we're good for now Violet." Bash said. "Okie dokie. Who are your friends?" Violet asked. "Oh, this is Jeremy, Heidi, and Jasmine?" Nate said unsurely. "Oh, well it's nice to meet y'all." Violet said putting on her apron for work. "Violet?" Nate asked."Ya?" She said tieing her apron. "The bar doesnt open for another 2 hours." He continued. "I know, but Bash is giving me the rundown on where the drinks are and how to mix them right and all that jazz."She said excitedly. "Oh, well.... you... uh..... have fun with that." he said. "Thanks?" she said with a smile on her face. As she walked down the steps Nate turned towards us. "So...... let me guess, you've colored your hair a million times." He said to Jasmine. "Uhm.... you would be correct. Jasmine replied with a grin on her face. Nate silently giggled. "And let me guess,, you've never colored your hair." Jasmine said smiling. "You would be correct." Nate said trying not to laugh. There was a silence for a couple seconds untill Bash called Nate downstairs to ask him something. Nate thumped down the steps slowly. "Jasmine, you like him dont you?" Heidi asked. "Aww Jasmines in love with my cousin." Britny jokingly added in. "Maybe. He seems pretty cool. Why do you ask?" Jasmine replied. "Because. He's single." Britny added. "Really?" Jasmine asked. "Ya, he was going out with Violet, but she uhm.... got too drunk one night." Britny said. "Oh, I see." Jasmine said as Nate came up the steps. "Sorry about that. My brother was spazzing out." he said aproaching the top step. "It's fine." We all said in unison. "O...k then?" Nate said. He sat down next to Jasmine by the window. "Hey." Jasmine said awkwardly while biting her fingernails. "Hola." Nate replied with a sigh. Heidi whispered something in Jeremy's ear, then in Britny's. Then all 3 of them looked at her and then back at eachother and grinned. Just then Nate pulled out his phone and sent a text message to Britny. "Hey, I just got an idea. Why dont we run down to my place and get Nates dog that i've been babysitting." Britny said. "Oh, ok." Jasmine said getting ready to stand up. "No, you can stay here." Heidi said. "Are you sure?" Jasmine asked. "Yes, I am." Nate said. "Well alright then." Jasmine said relaxing in her seat. Heidi, Britny and Jeremy walked out the door. And as they did Nate looked jasmine right in the eyes. "Look, this might sound really cheesy, but I really like you." He said. Jasmine was pretty flattered. "Well, since you opened the box i guess all i have to do is enter." She said. "What do you mean?" Nate replied. "I mean that I like you too, I'm just more shy about it." She said with a sigh of relif. "So.... do you wanna go out?" Nate asked. "Most certainly yes." Jasmine replied. "Ok." Nate replied with a smile. Just then Bash came up the stairs. "Whoa whats goin' on here?" He said with one of his eyebrows raised. "Nothing, scram." Nate said again with a smile. "Fine. Be that way." Bash said laughing. Bash got ahold of what it was he was getting and went back downstairs. About 10 minutes later Britny, Heidi and Jeremy came back with the dog. They trotted up the stairs with dog, a Great Dane, which was CLEARLY Nate's dog. Her name was Saffron, and she was albino. Jasmine could tell that Nate and Saffron had a close bond. Just as Jasmine was about to ask Nate how old Saffron was, Britny looked at her cell phone watch. "Oh, dude! we gotta go!" She exclaimed. They all said their goodbyes and went downstairs, except for Nate. Jasmine slowly crept back up the stairs to say goodbye to him by herself, but she stopped when she heard him talking on his cell phone. "Mom, your skitz-ing out again. Stop it! Just stop it!" he yelled before hanging up the phone. What happened next took jasmine by surprise. Nate put the phone down and started bawling. As much as she wanted to ask him what was wrong, she thought she'd better not. Britny called for her again and again, but she couldnt hear, or she was choosing not to. After a few seconds of thinking and wondering about Nate, she went back downstairs again. 

The next morning, she woke up early, so early in fact, that the twilight was just beggining to break over the horizon. She sat up, her eyes tired, her back stiff, and slowly walked over to Britny's bedroom window. She wiped the cold dew off the window with her hands and looked out into downtown Daytona. As she sat there, all her childhood memories came back. The sound of the church bells ringing every hour, the smell of the Atlantic Ocean, and the sight of the Palm trees swaying in the tropical breeze. She looked across the street to the bar, which had a big neon sign which read "Big Ricky's". She stood up and went downstairs and out the door with the only clothes she possessed on her back.