God, it's bright.
The sun is really beating down on us, and the fact that we're a large group of sweaty, hormonal teenagers doesn't help. I get that this eclipse is a historical, once-in-a-lifetime experience, but I don't know if watching it is worth the pungent-smelling armpits and burning eyes. Of course, there are some that choose to look directly at the sun to prove how badass they are and then immediately regret it afterwards.
I look around, my eyes searching for a certain someone. This doesn't go unnoticed by my friend sitting next to me.
"Looking for your girlfriend?" Cheyenne asks, a smirk tugging at her lips. I lightly punch her arm.
"She's not my girlfriend."
Cheyenne doesn't buy it. "Uh-huh. You're just head over heels in love with her, that's it?"
Damn, she got me. I'm obviously not going to admit it, though.
"I'm not in love with her either," I yawn, the warmth of the sun making me a tad sluggish. "We're just friends."
I hear Cheyenne hum. "Sure, Leah. Keep telling yourself that."
I will, I think, pushing myself up off of the grass and standing up. "I'm gonna see if I can find her anywhere."
"Alright, babes. Don't take too long, you don't wanna miss the eclipse."
I walk off of the field, heading straight for the back of the main building. This search won't take very long; I already know where she is. It's where she always hangs out, being the cliche rebellious youth that she is. As expected, I see her figure come into view the closer I get to my destination. I can almost smell the cigarette smoke.
When I'm a few feet away from her, she looks up, making eye contact with me. She's sitting on the ground, leaning on the side of the graffiti-covered dumpster with a lit cigarette in between her left index and middle finger. Typical.
"Leah." She says my name to acknowledge my presence. I nod.1032Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXfQcKmv1ad
"Amber."1032Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7mOd6SXVA8
Her name feels like fire on my tongue.1032Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoSNUZ4mtTA
She scooches to the side, which I take as a signal to sit next to her. I do exactly that. She looks at me.1032Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYSUPVuJkd1
"Want a drag?" she asks, bringing the cigarette close to my face. I shrug. "Sure."1032Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1h0oZC9Pfw
I take the end of the it in between my lips, inhaling. Satisfied, I lean back against the dumpster and puff out a stream of smoke from my mouth. Amber chuckles.1032Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ06lESdg5c1
"Look at you, sweetheart. You're a pro now." she teases. "Not long ago you would cough up a storm after only a small puff."
I scoff. "Yep. Thank you so very much for giving me lung cancer. Anyways, why are we here?"
She brings the cigarette up to her lips again. "You mean, why are we sitting behind a dumpster?"1032Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡazR6Y7iypb
"I mean, why are we sitting behind a dumpster during the eclipse? I came here to bring you back to the field so we could watch it with Cheyenne and everyone else." Amber's light smile drops back to her usual 'I don't give a shit' expression.1032Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoCBQLya52G
"The goddamn world's ending. That's why."1032Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoGH2Q7JV5V
"What?"
"You heard me, sweetheart. This eclipse signifies the end."
I crossed my arms, skeptical. "And how exactly did you come to this conclusion, Miss Amber?" Her eyes narrowed at the formality. "Watch it," she warned, slicking back her brown shoulder-length hair with her free hand. "I just felt it in my gut: this intense, overwhelming feeling of... unease and excitement. It's the end of the fucking world, sweetheart. Believe me."
"Huh." I meet her eyes. "You don't look too excited."
"I am... but I'm not so sure if I want it to happen." Her eyes look different. Those usually calm, murky blue eyes now look like an ocean during a storm: troubled and roaring with life. It takes me a few seconds to remember how to speak. I regain my composure.
"What's there to be not sure about?" I ask. "If it is, in fact, the end of the world like you're saying, then that's pretty damn cool. No school, no more having to deal with shitty people and lung cancer," I continue. "It means we're free, doesn't it?"
Amber puts out the cigarette on the ground next to her, breaking our eye contact. She sighs. "Yeah, that's true," she says, sounding tired. She turns her head and our eyes meet again. She smiles... sadly?
"But if the world ended, then I couldn't be with you."
That does it.
I grab the back of her head, gripping her hair and slam her lips into mine, ignoring the fiery pain that follows. Amber is stiff for a moment, then she reciprocates, kissing back and bringing her hand up to my cheek.
Amber, Amber, Amber.
We kiss for what feels like an eternity. It's sloppy and frantic and perfect. It gives me this bubbly feeling that I don't know how to properly describe. When we break apart, we're both breathing heavily and I realize that I somehow ended up in her lap, straddling her, not remembering when or how that happened.
We look at each other.
We both smile.
We both start chuckling, and that turns into loud, hearty laughter. I fall onto the ground, holding my stomach as I laugh. My legs rest on top of her legs. The laughter eventually turns into comfortable silence, and I sigh contentedly.
"If the world ended right now, I would die happy."1032Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRI2ZWbDHWQ
"Well then, I guess you're in luck, sweetheart," Amber points to the sky. "The eclipse is starting."
It gets dark. We stay on the ground, staring at the moon pass in front of the sun.
We watch the world end. Together.1032Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN6QMPnIc2d
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