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“So this is our Pride Rock, hey?”
“It can be whatever you want it to be,” he explains, softly kissing my temple as my eyes slip shut.
And he’s right.
Life is what you make it, and today, my life sucked. But the fact I’m standing here, in the arms of someone who gives me a reason to smile, gives me the strength to soldier on.
Our mingled breaths are the only noise for a long time, and I think Quinn needs this stillness as much as I do.
His soft voice breaks the silence. “I’m sorry about today. I know you didn’t get the answers you wanted.”
“There’s no need for you to apologize. If it weren’t for your support, I would hate to think where I would be now. You’re the only thing getting me through this, and if anything, I should be the one apologizing to you.”
“Hey, stop that,” Quinn says, spinning me around to face him. “You know I’m here because I want to be.”
I nod, but I still feel like shit that he feels that way. He should be out on a date with some normal college girl or having a beer with his friends. Instead, he’s here with me, emotionally supporting a girl who is slowly forgetting why she’s here and who she is.
Suddenly, the stillness and the peacefulness break down my walls. They come crashing down with a loud bang, and word vomit is about to overtake my sanity.
“Everything is so fucked up. I came here thinking that I could get some kind of closure. But I don’t even know who I am anymore. I started this journey just wanting to escape a life I so desperately wanted out of. And for a while, it was nice to pretend I was normal. But who am I kidding?
“I’ll never be normal, and I was naive to think I ever could be.”
There it is—the ugly truth. The truth I’ve been trying so hard to squash down.
But I don’t have the strength to suppress it any longer, as it eats away at my already fragile mind.
At that precise moment, a shooting star blazes across the night sky, and its beauty is gone before I can appreciate it. But the small glimpse was enough.
“Make a wish,” Quinn says, also looking up into the atmosphere. “That was the universe’s way of telling you it’s listening.”
Raising a confused eyebrow, I look at Quinn, waiting for him to elaborate because I’m not sure what he means.
“Tell the universe how you feel. Shout it out. Shout out that you want a fucking break. It’s only you and me. Let go, Red. Let it out,” he declares, hands spread out wide.
“I think the universe stopped listening a long time ago,” I say with a small smile. “And besides, I think I’ve purged enough. All I feel like I’ve been doing is crying or complaining. I’m sure you’ve had enough, and it’s getting old pretty quick.
“I mean, even I’m getting sick of—”
But before I can finish my sentence, I watch Quinn bite down on his lip before he brushes past me and stands at the edge of the cliff.
I don’t make a sound, as I have no idea what he’s doing, but I watch with close scrutiny, curious to see what comes next.
He remains utterly still for a few moments before unexpectedly tilting his face to the sky and yelling, “I wish I could take it back! All of it.”
I remain motionless, unsure of what to say or do.
But as I watch Quinn, standing with his eyes shut tight, completely at the mercy of the heavens and baring a piece of his guarded soul, I know there is only one thing I can do.
Slowly walking over to stand beside him, I take a deep breath before mimicking his position, throwing my head back, and screaming into the starless sky, “I wish I could be normal! I just want to belong!”
The scream that tears from my throat scorches my esophagus, but the burn feels so good.
“I wish I never made her leave!” Quinn suddenly screams, his arms spread out wide.
My heart breaks at his confession, but I don’t make a fuss, as this, in a weird way, is somewhat like our confessional box. And now that I’ve started, I can’t seem to stop.
“I wish I’d killed him! I wish he’d fucking died!”
