The Goodbye

I opened my eyes to see nothing but Sleeping Beauty right next to me, it was Alana. I was laying on the right side of the bed while she was on the left. Her bed was so comfortable- it was like sleeping on a cloud. She snuggled up next to me, “well good morning Sleeping Beauty!” I laughed a little bit at my own joke. She laughed too, but when she laughs she tends to draw her laughter out and that doesn’t bother me one bit!

“Sleeping Beauty? Wouldn’t I be more like Ariel?” Alana looked at me with a big smile on her face.

“Well, Alana if I’m going to be fair; you can’t be Ariel because you

don’t even have red hair.” I explained to Alana and her expression drastically changed.

“Gee thanks Rusty.” She covered herself with the bedsheets and she got out of bed and walked into the bathroom. She seemed a little mad, but I know she was joking around.

“Hey the only reason I said Sleeping Beauty is because you look cute when you sleep.” I raised my voice as Alana was in the bathroom fixing her hair.

“Rusty you’re so sweet,” Alana’s smile reflected in the mirror. I could see it from where I was standing. She was complaining about her hair and started to just mess it up by frantically running her fingers through it, “Ugh! I can never get my hair the way I want it!” She yelled as she fumbled with her hair. I walked into the bathroom to brush my teeth. Alana tried to fix her hair one more time and she was looking at me through the mirror, “you look so cute right now!” She turned around and pecked me on the cheek.

“So now that the competition is over, what do you want to do today?” I asked.

“Well, let’s start by getting some breakfast. My hair is not cooperating with me so I’ll just put a bandana in it.” She had this yellow bandana that she folded and tied around her head. She looked like Rosie the Riveter, only Alana was cuter.

“We can go to Lani’s that place is open for breakfast.” I suggested and she agreed. Now what do I wear? All of my clothes are at Eddie’s house. I guess I had to wear the same clothes I wore yesterday: jeans, checkered vans, and a blue tee. I usually cuff my jeans an inch. Alana wore cut off jeans and a A$AP Rocky sweatshirt. It was like sixty-two degrees out, and I bet the water is freezing right now.

“Nice sweatshirt.” I took a look at her sweatshirt, it was maroon with an inverted American Flag with the letters ‘VSVP’ above the flag. Alana and I walked out the door, “Are you not going to lock your door?” I stopped, and Alana was walking down the stairs to her car.

“It’ll be fine.” Alana unlocked her car, “get in.” She had a an old blue Jeep wrangler, go figure I see girls back home whipping their jeeps around all day. They all drive newer models. Alana has an ‘03.The jeep was a soft top. I hopped in and the car smelled like dank and the interior was so messy too. Alana seems to just not care about anything. I mean, the night I kissed her she threw a fucking lamp and shattered it! By the way, the lamp is still on the floor from two nights ago. I can’t wait to see how her parents react to the house when they get back from New York. We pulled out the driveway and we headed to Lani’s. She drove like a mad woman honestly. Speeding down the highway, I had a nice view of the coast to my right, she went twenty miles over the speed limit, but then again a lot of people speed here. Let me just say all in all Alana was a bad driver. I should check my phone to see if anyone called me. Wow, Ryan called me five times. I tapped on Ryan’s name and called him back, “Hey Ryan, what’s up…..wait you’re here in Pensacola with the rest of the guys?...Okay….No, you missed the competition… well you didn’t miss anything too exciting….I’m heading to Lani’s. Look, I’ll send you the location...Okay, bye.” I hung up. I send Ryan the location of Lani’s restaurant. Alana turned into the gravel parking lot and the car slid into an empty space, it was like something out of a James Bond movie. “Nice parking job.” I was actually impressed, but Alana thought I was making fun of her. Her face said it all, “No, like seriously good job.” I said with a more serious tone. She laughed as she got out the car. I followed behind her, and then she was complaining again.

“Who the fuck decides to fill this parking lot with gravel and rocks? It’s the beach! Most people walk barefoot here! Oh my gosh!” She wasn't wearing shoes.

“Alana, you should’ve worn shoes then.” Why is she complaining right now? She should’ve put on some shoes. “It just hurts my feet!” She paced a few steps further than me and got to the door. I went to open the door for her and she seemed a little surprised.We walked in and got a table by the window. We didn’t wait that long for a waiter to come to us.

“Hello welcome to Lani’s!” The waiter was a small scrawny kid with blonde hair that hung down to his shoulders. He was quite energetic though with all his hand gestures he made when he talked, “Can I get you guys started off with some drinks or are you two ready to order?” I glanced at Alana and she ordered first, “We’re ready, I’ll take a sweet tea and a tuna salad.

“And for you?” The waiter frantically wrote on his notepad.

“Um, I’ll get the same thing.” I said. Alana looked at me strange. She had a look on her face as if she were to say “What the fuck?” I took a look out the window and saw this black Challenger pull into the parking lot like a bat out of hell. I know who that is. It’s Ryan and the rest of the boys; Graham, Matt, and Sean. Graham had on a Bowie world tour tee shirt. Sean wore swim trunks, and Ryan wore shorts and a black tee. Oh now they see me. Okay, here comes Graham running in.

“Rusty Slater the Hero of The Cove! Dude, you’re all over instagram with that Snake Jackson fight!” Graham screamed as he ran through the threshold. Keep in mind that the restaurant was quiet until Graham’s voice shook the place.

“Graham keep your voice down!” I laid my head down on the table. Graham pulled up a chair next to Alana.

“What’s up? I’m Graham.” Graham shook Alana’s hand, then he turned to me, “Rusty what’s wrong man?”

“Look, I didn’t win yesterday.” I looked at Graham’s face turning into disappointment. The waiter brought Alana and I our drinks.

“Oh jeez I’m sorry to hear that Slater.” Graham said. I’m surprised Alana didn’t mention herself placing second. I thought she would be the type of girl to brag, but she didn’t say a word. Maybe because she doesn’t want to hurt my feelings. Ryan, Matt and Sean walked in and sat to the table next to us.

“How’s it going winner!” Ryan gave me a friendly punch to my shoulder, which kinda hurt.

“Ow, my shoulder! I’m very sore guys and I lost. I didn’t win.” I sipped on my sweet tea.

“Oh yeah, I saw a video of you wiping out on Snapchat.” Matt said. Wait, on snapchat? That’s odd.

“Wait on whose story?” I asked.

“Victoria Vice.” Oh my God, Matt just said Victoria Vice was there. Why the hell would she be down here at the beach? Agh, no need to worry about that bitch.

“Who’s that Rusty?” Alana gave me an eye and I answered,

“Victoria is on the dance team at our school.” I focused my attention on Matt now, “Matt, why would she be down here?”

“I told you guys! Victoria is in love with Slater.” Ryan laughed and the others chimed in, like a nice melody. I know they are joking with me, but I seriously don’t want Alana to know about Victoria. I told the guys to cool it and they did. The scrawny waiter came and brought us our food. Oh I forgot to introduce Alana to my friends, “Alana, this is Ryan, Sean, Graham, and Matt. They go to school with me.” One by one they shook her hand and of course Graham had to ask, “So are you two dating?’ Alana and I both looked at each other and she gave me a wink, and I chuckled, “Something like that.”

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“So, Alana what do you do for fun around here?” Ryan asked, he pulled up a chair and the waitress walked by with a tray of food and a drink. Ryan took the drink behind the waitress’s back and sipped it, “it’s Dr.Pepper.”

“Well, during the summer people are always out on the shore, so I’m always out in the water. There’s a movie theater here that a lot of people go to, um.. What else? Oh! I was on the dance team for my school but I quit that last month.” Alana sipped her tea. She never mentioned that to me.

"What about during winter break?” Sean added.

“I surf,” Alana laughed, “I told you I’m always in the water!” She laughed.

“Yeah guys, I didn’t expect you all to show up this morning, I thought you all would come in later in the day.” I told the boys. Ryan looked at me if I was stupid, his mouth was open.

“Slater it’s Fourteen hundred.” Ryan said it was two o’clock in the afternoon. He was in the ROTC program back at school, even though he got kicked out he still uses twenty-four hour time. I don’t mind it.

“Jeez, we slept good!” Alana raised her legs and crossed them in her chair. We were out all night, but I didn’t know we woke up in the afternoon. Man, my sleep schedule is so off right now. The boys laughed and we just hung out and ate lunch.

After we ate lunch, even though I considered it breakfast, I walked Alana to her car. The boys followed behind me.

“Hey, Slater wait a minute.” Ryan yelled out. I stopped walking and turned around and looked at him.

“What?” I asked.

“Aren’t you forgetting something? We’re taking you home.” Ryan explained. Oh fuck. I don’t really want to leave right now, even though I do have school tomorrow.

“C’mon guys, just a little more time?” I asked.

“Dude, we drove all the way out here to pick you up!” Matt said. I got a little mad, but Alana came up to me and said,

“Look, Rusty you can drive with me to get your stuff from my house. Okay?” Alana rubbed my hand. I nodded.

“Okay then, I also have to get my bags from Eddie’s house. Let’s go.” I walked with her to the car.

“Hey boys, you can follow us to my place!” Alana raised her hand at the boys. Her and I hopped in her car and drove back. She was blaring The Kinks through her car stereo. Ryan was following us. He was a several feet back.

“Here we are!” Alana took her orange sunglasses off and threw them in the center console of her car. Ryan parked next to her and all the guys got out.

“Nice place!” Graham said as his jaw dropped at the sight of her house.

“Thanks! Wait until you see the back!” Alana walked up the stairs and opened her door for us. I walked in and saw that lamp again, broken and in pieces. The sliding glass door to her balcony was open just a little bit. The green couch had a wine stain on it. Alana went into the bedroom to get my clothes and board. He handled my board with care. That’s what I like about her, “Here you go.” She gave me a wink and giggled. I took my board and I just felt so sad. For the past week I’ve had some fun times, but the last three with days with Alana were the best- dancing on the beach not giving a care about anything, smoking weed and talking about nonsense, and she nursed me back to health when Snake punched me in the face. I’ve never connected so much with a girl like her before. I looked at those dark eyes of her’s. She glanced at me and then looked down at the wood floor. She bowed her head.

“Hey girl.” I touched her chin and raised her head up to look at me, “I’ll be back before you know it.” I smiled at her, “I’m only three hours away.”

“I know, I know I just wish we had one more day together.” Alana was feeling blue, as she would call it. Her eyes were filling up with tears.

“Wait Alana are you crying?” I asked her.

“No, I’m not!” Alana wiped away her tears with the sleeve of her sweater, and she gave me a tight hug that I was not ready for. She looked up at me and I could see her dark eyes water up with tears again. She squeezed me and I wrapped my arms around her waist. I’ve had so much fun being here with her. I was suppose to get my bag and other clothes from Eddie’s place. Let me just call him, that way I can say goodbye to everyone at once. I pulled out my phone and tapped on his name.

“Hey Eddie? What’s up man...hey listen I was wondering if you could drive down here and bring me my clothes and everything else? Really….. Cool! It’s the house we were at two nights ago….Alana….yeah the fine ass girl….okay thanks man.” I hung up. Alana gave me a funny look

“So Eddie calls me the ‘fine ass girl’ huh?” Alana placed her hands on her hip.

I laughed and answered, “Yeah, you’re one pretty girl.” She pecked me on the cheek and I heard the sliding glass door open.

“Damn check out this out!” Sean exclaimed. - Graham walked outside and put on his dark sunglasses. Alana and I walked out to her balcony, she had three chairs out, circling around a steel table.

“Nice view!” Graham shouted, and we all walked out there and saw the white sand, which was very bright as the sunlight reflected off it, making the sand almost blinding to the naked eye. The waves were breaking onshore, and they rolled in fast. Some waves crashed on top of each other and the sound of it were like music to Alana. I could see her face, she brushed back her hair as the wind was blowing it all around. Damn, she’s lived here her whole life.“Wait till the wind dies down, everything will be calm then.” She said. Ryan grabbed a chair and sat down. He made himself comfortable and rested his feet on the table. Alana gasped, “Hey get your feet off there!” She snapped at Ryan.

“Jeez alright sister!” Ryan put his hands up and lowered his feet. I walked back inside to go get a drink and I heard a knock on the door. Could that be Eddie? I called him like twelve minutes ago! I walked over to open the door.

“Eddie! You got here fast.” He wearing a red bandana that held his hair back. His hair was messy and it seemed as if he didn’t even try to comb it at least. He had a yellow Hendrix shirt on too, that’s cool. “I like your shirt, come in dude.” Eddie and I walked out to the balcony. The wind blew and Alana was talking to Ryan, She peered over his shoulder and was looking at me, her dark eyes stood out from all the colours I could see. I can’t seem to take my eyes off her. Maybe I’ll take her to a school dance when I get home, or maybe I’ll take her to Jazz Fest. Now that would be fun, a music festival with my favourite girl. Not giving a care and dancing till our feet hurt.

“Hey Alana.” Eddie waved. She waved back. Eddie looked at me “So Rusty you’re heading out?”

“Yeah, it’s about that time, sadly.” I shrugged my shoulders. I said to Eddie, “Well, I’ll be back before you know it.” I looked over his shoulder to see Alana and I smiled, I wanted to wink at her but- I can’t wink. She walked over towards me.

“Well, let’s go get everything in the car then.” She held my hand. We all walked outside and loaded the car up with my two bags and board. Ryan opened the trunk and placed my bags inside and closed the trunk. Sean got in the car. Graham and Matt carefully placed my board on the roof of the car and tied it down. I was just watching them all do this and I was still holding Alana’s hand, only tighter now.

“So when will I see you again?” She asked me. I thought about when the next time I would see her. It is December and I probably won’t see her till spring break, or maybe until Summer. Funny thing is that I never go to the beach on spring break. Too many people. She was waiting for an answer, but I asked her, “Well, In February my school has a Sweetheart dance. Do you want to go to the dance with me?” Her smile exposed her white teeth and her eyes were big

“Yes I’d love to go with you.” She tilted her head and leaned in to give me a quick kiss.

“All right. We are ready to go.” Ryan said. Matt and Graham got in the car, and Ryan started the engine. The car growled when he started the car. The sun was shining, the wind was blowing, and I could hear the loud steady gargle like sound from the exhaust pipe.

“Text me when you get back.” She placed her hand in front of me and I gave her my phone to put her number in it, “I had a fun time Rusty.” That was all she said.

“Goodbye Alana.”

I was thinking of Alana. Honestly, she’s a wild child - so sweet and so fine. She’s no daddy’s girl, but she’s loving and caring like a mother though. Her tan skin shines a light bronze colour in the sun. She certainly has a good taste in fashion. Oh yeah, and she wears that flower in her hair. At first, it looked kinda weird and stereotypical, but Alana is such a nature freak that she can wear a flower in her hair if she wants to. Her dark eyes are so cute though.

“Hey Slater! Welcome home.” Graham said from behind my seat. I was in the passenger seat with my window rolled down. The breeze felt nice.

“Oh we are already here?” I was daydreaming the whole trip back, and to pass the time so more. All of us smoked weed on the way back. We let Matt drive the car because he’s the best driver out of all of us.

“How about we drive down to the lakefront?” Matt asked us. Ryan was just chilling out and listening to the radio, I was daydreaming still, and Sean was sleeping.

“Sure thing, why not.” I answered Matt. Ryan agreed with me. So we drove to the lakefront, it’s a park right near Lake Pontchartrain. Kids from school go down there every Saturday night and park their cars along the road. Some kid will usually blast their stereo of their car and everyone has a good time. Only thing is, it’s not Saturday night, it’s Sunday afternoon. So there is probably not one there.

“Are you thinking of Alana, Rusty?” Matt turned his head to look at me. Truth be told I was missing her. I wonder what she is doing right now. I hope she feels the same way I feel about her-agh- what am I saying of course she does!

“Yes.” I replied. Matt got his phone and plugged it into the stereo of the car and he played, “She Loves You” by The Beatles. I had a big smile on my face. I got a feeling about Alana.