The Last Day

She was gone- vanished like a bug on a windshield. One minute we were all laughing in an empty parking lot, the next we sat silent, staring confused at the empty white hood. Gone. A few moments passed before I was able to grasp what had happened and step out of the car. She was lying on the ground, her hands firmly cradling her head as her body rocked back and forth on the dusty gray pavement. Her white pants were ripped on the knees and blood oozed from the newly formed holes. “She needs water,” Lena said as I opened the door to the backseat. “Just get the water.” We were unintentionally yet very intentionally reckless. Our longing for freedom which had built up for so long was spilling over the brim. We arrived on the top floor of a parking lot. As we stepped out of his shiny white car, the soft breeze embraced us and played with our hair as we spread out across the empty area. Clouds created patches of purple and orange on the light blue sky and disappeared into the sunset. The feeling of freedom spread like ecstasy in our bodies as we stretched out our arms and allowed our legs to carry us around every inch of our gray wonderland. As I stared out onto the streets, observing the tiny people making their way home, my attention shifted to the sound of Lena’s voice requesting to drive Jacob’s car. Her intriguing suggestion urged me to quickly demand to go next. Soon we all had our turn speeding up and down the three floors of the parking lot, pretending we were professional race car drivers while driving approximately one mile an hour. After a while, Lena and I had the bright idea to lay on the hood of the car while Keniesha attempted to park it. An amused Alaia decided to follow our lead and took our spot on the hood. Her dimply smile widened as Keniesha teasingly pressed her foot down on the gas pedal, which filled the car with the ringing sound of our laughter. I rushed to the spot where she was lying, staring at her body rocking back and forth, waiting for her to tell me what to do. I froze. Finally I urged her to the back seat of the car while my hands frigidly attempted to find something to ease her pain. “I can’t find the water,” I told Lena as I searched through the trunk of his shiny white car. My lips couldn’t stop smiling. It was the same smile I had when my best friend told me they were moving away, and the same smile I had on my twelfth birthday when my mom told me my great grandmother had died. This was the first time I had ever seen Alaia afraid, and I smiled. I put my hand on her hair, stroking it and feeling what seemed to be a second head. The feeling of it made me cringe, the way it was throbbing. My hand moved away quickly and noticeably, my eyes wide as they stared at the back of her head. It was the last day. Anticipation and excitement filled our stomachs as we ran out of the dorm, fighting for a seat in his shiny white car. I sat in the middle, squeezed between Alaia on my right and Lena on my left, both stubbornly reaching over me attempting to find the aux cord. Keniesha, sitting in the front next to Jake, swiftly grabbed it first and plugged it into her phone. We sang at the top of our lungs, making up the lyrics as we went. I let my arm swim through the smooth summer air mimicking the rhythm of the song Alaia persisted on playing. The sun caressed her pitch black hair and she nodded to the beat of her favorite song. She wanted to go back and we refused, refused because we were selfish and wanted to continue our last adventure; we weren’t ready to let go yet. The bump on her head seemed to grow every time I touched it. We needed to find ice. We were still giggling. Giggling because we refused to find reality, or perhaps because we weren’t able to. Looking out the window staring at the pitch black sky full of stars I was smiling, but reality struck like a knife in my stomach each time I glanced back at Alaia’s dimple-less face. Too many distraction were taking place around us for anyone to be serious. All we could do was offer sympathetic looks. We sat, wrapped up in blankets, our eyes fixed on the horizon. The clouds spread across the vast extent of the sky, moving away as if to create space for the sun expanding its bright golden rays. Drops of dew crawled on the blades of grass, and the earth was slowly waking up again. Three heads leaned on each others shoulders, not saying a word while speaking the common language of silence. We all avoided saying that last defining word that was waiting to be spoken. All six eyes were squinting, still observing the bright blue and pink swirls sweeping across the mellow sky. Suddenly Alaia’s bump was no longer our biggest worry, but saying goodbye was.