Clouded

 

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/Prologue/ - Reminisce

/Prologue/ - Reminisce

xxx

It was a freezing night. Heavy rain sounded like a music playing non-stop in her iPod. The whistling of the wind and the cool air that seems to surround her makes her want to doze off to sleep. But still, she was up, alone. She can't make herself sleep. She was there in her room, rolling on her bed. She found herself reminiscing about her past, their past. Everything was still vivid and fresh.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked him.

"It's the best thing to do right now." he answer coldly.

She knew that they were both broken that time. She can't blame him for leaving her behind, thus, she hardly blamed herself for doing such... stupid things.

"Can I get one last hug?"

He pulled her close to him and hugged her tightly.

"I will miss you." he whispered in her ear.

"I will too, I'll miss you more." she said while holding back her tears.

Tears start to race down her cheeks after remembering this scene. For her it was the most wonderful hug she'd ever received and at the same time, the most painful one. She regretted every single thing she did, every word that came out of her mouth. She regretted everything. Once again, a video of a scene from the past played before her eyes.

He ended the hug. He turned around and started to walk away. Her throat felt so rusty. She couldn't find her voice. It was awhile before she managed to say something.

"Wait! Don't go yet. Please." No tears ever fell from her eyes. It was like she's already emptied. Her eyes was covered with coldness, trying her best to hide the pain, regret, anger, fear and sadness. But inside her, these feelings kept on bursting, like she was going to collapse.

She waited for him to say something but he just continued to walk away. As soon as he was gone from her vision, all of her cover-ups went down. The cages she tried so hard to lock up opened on their own and freed her tears that wanted to escape the whole time. She wanted to chase him, she wanted to tell him to go back, she wanted to let him know how much she need him and love him, she wanted everything to go back just like what it used to be. She wanted him.

She pulled herself back to reality. She shook those memories away from her head. She knew that it isn't right. She must not think of him, or anything related to him, or anything that can make her remember her past again. That was her promise to herself. She should get over with it.

"I'm over you. At least, I think I'm over you."

xxx

jeanne.

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/One/ - Reunited

/One/ - Reunited

xxx

Sky Thompson smiled as she finished writing a short story she titled "Reminisce". A memory from the past was now just some story for her.

She felt the cool air brushing through her skin as she put her notebook in her bag. She loves this place, from the sight of the whole city as the darkness of the night envelops every part of it and the tiny city lights that goes on one after another to the sound of the honking cars from afar and the silent hush as the trees dance through the wind. It never failed to calm and make her happy whenever she's down, depressed or every time that she just wants to be alone.

She was seating on the cliff of a hilltop that overviews the whole city. It may look dangerous but she wasn't afraid. All she felt was comfort. It was one place she could be alone and think and be herself.

"And I wish I could run to you, and I hope you know that everytime I don't, I almost do.."

She softly hummed through the tune of one of her favorite songs playing on her ipod.

"I almost do"

Once again, she found herself smiling. She started talking, as if she was seeing someone through the wind.

"It's been almost two years since I last saw you." She paused.

"You wanted me to forget you, right?"

She stared at the distant as if she was reminiscing.

"You could call me stupid but I won't." She left a small smile on her lips.

"There's no use forgetting. Our memories.." She didn't know why she hesitated but she continued anyway.

"Our memories are worthy enough to keep. They're precious, a reminder that we were once happy with each other."

She chuckled a little. She felt like a certified weirdo talking to no one. But she didn't care. She felt so free and happy.

"I.. I admit it was hard.. But I got through. I have moved on now. I'm finally over you. And I am happy now. I hope you are too." She smiled as she finished her soliloquy.

"I'm not."

She tensed as she heard a familiar voice behind her. She haven't heard it in a while but she was sure.

That voice was once her favorite music.

She thought she might be imagining it. There's no way he'd be here, she thought. But still, it felt so real. She stood up and turned around to confirm if she really was just imagining things. But she wasn't.

There. Just few feets in front of her was the guy she was supposed to be talking to.

"Ivan" She said softly, as if whispering, and still surprised.

"I'm not happy."

Sky just stared at him. Her shock was replaced with confusion.

"Wh-what do you mean?"

Ivan smiled. His smile was still as sweet as ever. "Nevermind. I was just joking."

Sky sighed, then smiled back. "You got me there for a sec. Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"I was just passing by and I saw your car here," he pointed at her car, "so I figured that you're here and maybe we can have a little chat if you weren't busy. And I was right! You're here." Ivan smiled again, "Being a loner, as usual."

Sky laughed a little. Even back then, Sky didn't have too many friends. She sometimes prefer to be alone and Ivan knew that. That was one of the things that they often argue about because Ivan was the opposite. And even as a couple, they had a lot of differences. She was a quiet type person while he talks a lot. She's all about libraries and books and being at home, while he was about party and friends and adventure. They were a cat and a dog.

Sky turned her back on him and sat back down. "Do you still have a problem with me being a loner?" She said as she stared at the sky.

Ivan chuckled. "Nah. And hey! I don't wanna hear your long list of why you hate parties and stuff again!" He said as he walked towards her and sat down beside her.

Sky couldn't help but smile. They had an arguement about that once, an arguement that easily lead to making up. She couldn't believe that they were talking about that normally now. And she was fine with it. They were no more heartaches and tears now.

Sky pretended to clear her throat. "Here it goes!" She started to talk as if reciting a poem in front of their class. "Reasons why I hate parties and stuff. Number one-"

"Oh c'mon!" Ivan protested.

"Hey! You shouldn't be interupting me in the middle of my report!" Sky nudged him.

"What?! You? Reporting? No way." Ivan grinned. "You couldn't even introduce yourself in front of the class." He bursted out laughing.

Sky laughed with him too. It was true that she had a stage fright back then.

"Hey! I can do that now! I could even deliver a presidential speech if I want to!" Sky said jokingly.

There was some catching up with each other. They talked about how they were doing now. It's funny that they were okay now, after two years of not seeing each other, as if they weren't hurt before.

They talked about a lot of things but after a while, Ivan finally left saying he still has some things to do. After a while, Sky decided to go home too since it was getting late.

xxx

Sky drove back downtown. It was quarter to eight. She was getting hungry. She decided to eat on a restaurant first before going home.

The street was still as busy as ever. Sidewalks were crowded with people walking, some are even running hurrying to their destinations and cars were still making a traffic.

She was waiting for the stoplight to turn green. She was tapping her fingers on the wheel, a habit that she does a lot when she's getting impatient. The light is taking to long to change and she was starving.

She hit the pedal the moment the stoplight turned green only to hit the brakes quickly.

She must have hit someone. Sky got off her car with her hazel eyes wide opened, her heart was beating so fast. She looked at the lights, it was a 'go'.

I didn't kill him, did I? She thought. Geez, talk about being paranoid.

She saw a guy, just about her age, on the ground. Fortunately, they weren't any serious injuries. He just got his knees and arms scrapped.

"Are you okay, sir? Lemme take you to the hospital." Sky said.

"No, I'm okay. It's nothing serious plus it was my fault." The guy turned and his eyes widened. "Sky?" He said unsurely.

"Eh? How did you know my name?" Sky eyed him curiously. He had this hazel-coloured eyes and thick curly brown hair. He seemed to be familiar though she couldn't remember if she knew him or seen him somewhere.

He got up and said, "Well, of course. Don't you remember me?" He smiled teasingly.

"Uh.. A bit. But I don't--"

Sky stopped and narrowed her eyes. Her eyes slowly widened as she finally realized who he was. She felt a little embarrased not recognozing him at once.

"Cloud?!"

xxx

jeanne.

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/Two/ - Cloud

/Two/ - Cloud

xxx

Sky couldn't believe that this was him, her childhood bestfriend. She haven't seen him since she was ten.

"Yeah, how could you forget your bestfriend." He said while clutching his chest acting as if he was hurt.

Sky laughed, he still haven't changed. She then realized that they were still standing in the middle of the street with cars honking behind her car. "Yeah well, let's get out of here first." She said.

Sky grabbed Cloud's arms and shoved him into her car's passenger seat. She hurriedly got on her car as if she was excited to go to some amusement park.

"Where were going? And what's with the hurry? I almost killed you!" Sky blurted.

"I was in a hurry. I need to drop this by my friend's apartment." Cloud flashed a silver and red flashdrive.

"Oh, then what's the address? I'm driving you there."

Cloud tried to refused and insisted that he doesn't want to 'cause a disturbance but after a while, he finally told her the address.

Apparently, Cloud was a freelance photographer and he needed to give the photos to his friend who asked him to shoot a project for him.

"I didn't bother riding a cab 'cause it was just a few blocks away from my apartment." Cloud explained.

"You never changed. You're still a thrift-freak!" Sky said.

"Hey hey! I need to save money, you know. I'm gonna buy a new lense for my cam." He said excitedly.

Sky grinned and shook her head. She was overwhelmed with joy seeing her childhood bestfriend again after a long time.

"Why didn't you just send it through e-mail?" Sky wondered.

Cloud made a disgusted face. "I don't trust e-mails. They ruin the quality of my precious photos."

Sky didn't bother to argue. She knew Cloud, and when Cloud said something about his passion, you wouldn't stand a chance on changing that opinion.

After a few turns, they reached a three-storey apartment.

"I'm going in, you don't have to come with me. I'll be quick." Cloud said.

Sky nodded. She watched her friend run into the building.

She had known Cloud ever since she was seven. They met in school when she defended Cloud from a horde of mean brats. Cloud was a wimpy and scrawny kid back then. He used to have thick-framed glasses that hid his beautiful deep eyes that now seemed to disappear. They became bestfriends and learned that they live in the same street. Since then, they became unseperable, just like their names, the sky and clouds, until Cloud left. He left without even saying goodbye.

Sky was interupted from her deep thoughts when Cloud knocked at the car's window. Sky unlocked it and let him get in.

"Now, where to?" Cloud asked.

"How about dinner? If it's okay. I'm starving."

Cloud looked down at his tummy while rubbing and tapping it. "Sure. My stomach's already growling."

"My treat." Cloud continued.

He smiled at Sky. Sky felt uneasy, though she didn't know why. She brushed off the feeling and smiled back.

"Good, I have a lot of questions."

Cloud gulped and nodded. "Oppsie. Am I.. In trouble?" He said.

Sky laughed. "You sure are." She said as she was starting the engine.

xxx

They were in a restaurant, a fancy-looking, fine-dining but cheap restaurant that Sky suggested. Of course, being a thrift-freak, Cloud complained at the first sight of the place.

"I am not treating you in that place, Sky. Let's find Mcdonalds instead!" Cloud complained.

"You're gonna spend a lot more of thousands when you had cancer by eating at fastfoods!" Sky exclaimed as she pulled Cloud into the restau.

They ordered their food and Cloud was surprised that the prices are affordable.

"I never heard of this cheap restau." Cloud said.

"Oh, they're all over the city. You were just busy with Mcdonalds and their happy meal." Sky teasingly said.

"Oh really? I bet you're still playing that Barbie dress-up game in the internet." Cloud said.

"God, Cloud!" Sky slapped his shoulders and laughed. "But remember that one time you argued with me 'cause you said that the purple dress was prettier than the pink one?" Sky said while still laughing.

Cloud grinned. "Well yeah. It was true though, when we were younger, your fashion sense was worse than a guy's."

Sky was about to say something back but their waiter came with their order.

They were eating quietly when Sky decided to break the silence.

"Cloud." Sky said without looking at her bestfriend.

Cloud was chewing his food so all he could answer was a 'Mm?'

"Why did you left without saying goodbye?" Sky said, still looking down at her own plate.

Cloud sighed. He looked at Sky who was still not looking at him. "I had no choice." He said.

Sky looked at him as if waiting for an explanation.

Cloud continued talking and started to cut his meat. "My mom didn't told me that we were moving. I was at my grandma's that week, remember?"

Cloud glanced at Sky and she just nodded her head.

"She made me stay there for a week 'cause they said my aunt was on a trip. Then that day, she arrived with my aunt and told me to pack my things."

Cloud looked down. "I thought we were finally going home. But instead, we went on a different house. Turns out, she and my aunt just made me stay at grandma's so that they can pack up our things."

They both stopped eating and sat down quietly for a moment.

"Of course, I cried and complained. I told my mom I didn't even had a chance to say goodbye to you. But she just ignored me and told me to be quiet and help her unpack our things."

Sky was staring at him. "Why didn't you call or went to my house?"

"Mom confiscated my phone and we didn't have a phone line for a month." Cloud explained. "I didn't know how to go to our subdivision alone, hell, I blame my ignorance on this beautiful thing called commuting back then."

"When I finally got my phone back, I didn't had the guts to contact you. I was afraid that you were mad at him, embarassed and guilty too." Cloud continued. "Mom didn't told me why we left so suddenly though. Or why she didn't tell me we were moving. Or why she didn't even let me say goodbye to you." Cloud said.

For a moment, they were both silently eating until Sky sighed heavily. "Well at least I know your reason now." Sky smiled. "Don't feel guilty cloud-head. It's all good."

Cloud looked at her and he saw her smiling. He sighed and said, "So you're not gonna whack my head for not calling you?"

"Oh I would, because of your ignorance on this beautiful thing called commuting." Sky said.

Cloud laughed and shook his head. "Finish your food." He just said.

Sky continued eating. She felt relieved knowing Cloud's reason for not saying goodbye. She was okay with it now, she should be. It happened so long ago that she wasn't even bothered about it now. She just wanted to know the reason.

At least now, she got her bestfriend back.

xxx

jeanne.

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