Kisses
Remembering Him
The sun was setting as Julie walked along the beach, waves gently kissing her bare ankles. She held her flip-flops in her right hand and the hand of another person in the other. Although she couldn’t see his face, she knew who he was. She knew the way his hand felt in hers and she knew the feeling of having his thumb gently brush the back of her hand. This was familiar to her. This was home.
“I’m not always going to be here ya ‘know?” She spoke to the man beside her. “I’m gonna leave one day and I won’t come back”
“Don’t say that” the man whispered and let go of her hand. “Please don’t say that”
After a few moments of silence Julie looked down to see that she was no longer holding her baby blue flip-flops. In her hand held a gun. A gun made of gold. She tilted it, admiring its beauty and the way the setting sun caught the shine and shimmer.
Then she noticed how she was holding it. Julie had never held a gun before, never was it even a thought. But here, she was holding it like the people do in movies. She was holding it like she had planned on using it. Julie could feel fear rising inside of her. Where did this come from?
Her hand raised and pointed to her right and her eyes darkened as she spoke, “I’m not a back-up plan.”
Julie tried to stop what was going to happen next; she resisted her own strength as she pulled her finger fingers back and pulled the trigger on the gun. The deafening explosion was all that Julie heard.
Julie woke up from her nightmare; sweat covered the top of her forehead and dampened her hair. Her hands flew up to her chest. She could feel her heart racing, trying to escape from behind her ribs. “Fuck, not again” she muttered to herself and she slipped out of the bed. Her feet hit the cold hardwood floor, causing her to shiver as she walked. Each step she made the floor would creek. Hoping not to wake up her roommate, she stepped lighter and walked slower.
Once she got into the kitchen she flicked on the light and winced. The brightness of the light stung her eyes but they soon adjusted. Julie glanced at the clock on the stove and cursed. “Another day starting at 4am” she said with faked joy. “Fuck my life.”
She started to brew a cup of coffee and walked over to the table where her laptop sat, patiently waiting for her. She opened the laptop and put her headphones on. Searching her iTunes playlist for the perfect song to relax her Julie settled on Sunrise by Norah Jones. The soft melody of the song filled her ears and she could feel her heart rate finally begin to get back to normal. She did her usual routine, checking and replying to e-mails, opening Facebook and scrolling but never really caring about what other people post and finally, opening her blog to read the comments from the last entry.
Julie was a self-employed music blogger. Once she left high school, college wasn’t really an option for her so she took what she did best and went with it. She tried to be a writer but realized that she needed to take classes to improve her writing for any publisher to ever glance at her work. She tried to start writing for local newspapers and magazines but soon realized that horoscopes were in fact false and no one really cares about what’s going on in the local underground music scene. That was when she got the idea to start her own blog. It started as a Tumblr account. She would find other music bloggers to follow and copy their style. After a few months of just writing and writing she finally got her big break when a band – Pro Train – performed at a bar she was at. Everyone that night seemed to love their sound. Julie went up to the band after their set and told them what she did and asked them if they would be interested in being in a feature. They gladly accepted, excited for the recognition.
After she posted some of their tracks and saw how much her followers loved it she did a follow up interview. Once the interview was up followers and fans came rushing to her blog. Pro Train then relapsed their debut album. Neither Julie nor the band could have imagined what this album would do to both their careers.
Julie was getting thousands of bands from all over the country asking for a little bit of help and publicity. She was getting even more fans telling her about bands that they heard about. Julie finally joined an agency that sent her out to bars and underground shows. She lived music for a living and could not be happier.
She got up to get her coffee which had now finish brewing and opened the fridge to grab something small to eat. “Well shit” she muttered to herself. There was nothing in the fridge except for coffee creamer, milk and a container that held what looked like leftovers but could be easily mistaken as a fifth grade science project. Julie glanced back at the time on the stove: 4:24am. Nothing was open at this time that served breakfast. Julie sighed heavily and sat back down at her computer. Once she finished her coffee and finished her new blog entry she decided to get a head start on her day.
Julie hopped into the shower and allowed the hot water to wash over her. She thought about her dream. This was the ninth time she has had it. The first time she just brushed it off; thought nothing of it. The second and third time she was a bit worried, reoccurring dreams were never a good thing. Every other time after that she would spend the whole day thinking about it and trying to put the pieces together. Who was the man and why had she shot him? The beach looked familiar to her but she had a hard time remembering why and where the beach was.
When she got out of the shower she walked over to the mirror. She wiped away the condensation from the steam and stared at herself. Her short black hair looked darker and stuck to herself when wet. Her skin, almost flawless, looked paler in contrast to her dark hair. She remembered when she cut and dyed her hair. She was only 17 and hated having long brown hair. She needed a change. She went to the mall one day, asked around all the salons until she found the perfect girl to do what she wanted. Julie showed the hair stylist a picture and 45 minutes later she looked like a completely different person. She remembered going over to her boyfriend’s house, hoping he liked her new look – he loved it. Then she remembered her high school boyfriend. Victor Fuentes: the first guy that Julie had ever loved; the boy in her dream.
“I’m not always going to be here ya ‘know?” She spoke to the man beside her. “I’m gonna leave one day and I won’t come back”
“Don’t say that” the man whispered and let go of her hand. “Please don’t say that”
After a few moments of silence Julie looked down to see that she was no longer holding her baby blue flip-flops. In her hand held a gun. A gun made of gold. She tilted it, admiring its beauty and the way the setting sun caught the shine and shimmer.
Then she noticed how she was holding it. Julie had never held a gun before, never was it even a thought. But here, she was holding it like the people do in movies. She was holding it like she had planned on using it. Julie could feel fear rising inside of her. Where did this come from?
Her hand raised and pointed to her right and her eyes darkened as she spoke, “I’m not a back-up plan.”
Julie tried to stop what was going to happen next; she resisted her own strength as she pulled her finger fingers back and pulled the trigger on the gun. The deafening explosion was all that Julie heard.
Julie woke up from her nightmare; sweat covered the top of her forehead and dampened her hair. Her hands flew up to her chest. She could feel her heart racing, trying to escape from behind her ribs. “Fuck, not again” she muttered to herself and she slipped out of the bed. Her feet hit the cold hardwood floor, causing her to shiver as she walked. Each step she made the floor would creek. Hoping not to wake up her roommate, she stepped lighter and walked slower.
Once she got into the kitchen she flicked on the light and winced. The brightness of the light stung her eyes but they soon adjusted. Julie glanced at the clock on the stove and cursed. “Another day starting at 4am” she said with faked joy. “Fuck my life.”
She started to brew a cup of coffee and walked over to the table where her laptop sat, patiently waiting for her. She opened the laptop and put her headphones on. Searching her iTunes playlist for the perfect song to relax her Julie settled on Sunrise by Norah Jones. The soft melody of the song filled her ears and she could feel her heart rate finally begin to get back to normal. She did her usual routine, checking and replying to e-mails, opening Facebook and scrolling but never really caring about what other people post and finally, opening her blog to read the comments from the last entry.
Julie was a self-employed music blogger. Once she left high school, college wasn’t really an option for her so she took what she did best and went with it. She tried to be a writer but realized that she needed to take classes to improve her writing for any publisher to ever glance at her work. She tried to start writing for local newspapers and magazines but soon realized that horoscopes were in fact false and no one really cares about what’s going on in the local underground music scene. That was when she got the idea to start her own blog. It started as a Tumblr account. She would find other music bloggers to follow and copy their style. After a few months of just writing and writing she finally got her big break when a band – Pro Train – performed at a bar she was at. Everyone that night seemed to love their sound. Julie went up to the band after their set and told them what she did and asked them if they would be interested in being in a feature. They gladly accepted, excited for the recognition.
After she posted some of their tracks and saw how much her followers loved it she did a follow up interview. Once the interview was up followers and fans came rushing to her blog. Pro Train then relapsed their debut album. Neither Julie nor the band could have imagined what this album would do to both their careers.
Julie was getting thousands of bands from all over the country asking for a little bit of help and publicity. She was getting even more fans telling her about bands that they heard about. Julie finally joined an agency that sent her out to bars and underground shows. She lived music for a living and could not be happier.
She got up to get her coffee which had now finish brewing and opened the fridge to grab something small to eat. “Well shit” she muttered to herself. There was nothing in the fridge except for coffee creamer, milk and a container that held what looked like leftovers but could be easily mistaken as a fifth grade science project. Julie glanced back at the time on the stove: 4:24am. Nothing was open at this time that served breakfast. Julie sighed heavily and sat back down at her computer. Once she finished her coffee and finished her new blog entry she decided to get a head start on her day.
Julie hopped into the shower and allowed the hot water to wash over her. She thought about her dream. This was the ninth time she has had it. The first time she just brushed it off; thought nothing of it. The second and third time she was a bit worried, reoccurring dreams were never a good thing. Every other time after that she would spend the whole day thinking about it and trying to put the pieces together. Who was the man and why had she shot him? The beach looked familiar to her but she had a hard time remembering why and where the beach was.
When she got out of the shower she walked over to the mirror. She wiped away the condensation from the steam and stared at herself. Her short black hair looked darker and stuck to herself when wet. Her skin, almost flawless, looked paler in contrast to her dark hair. She remembered when she cut and dyed her hair. She was only 17 and hated having long brown hair. She needed a change. She went to the mall one day, asked around all the salons until she found the perfect girl to do what she wanted. Julie showed the hair stylist a picture and 45 minutes later she looked like a completely different person. She remembered going over to her boyfriend’s house, hoping he liked her new look – he loved it. Then she remembered her high school boyfriend. Victor Fuentes: the first guy that Julie had ever loved; the boy in her dream.
Notes
The prologue in a way :)
I had to delete and re-upload this chapter because it was being stupid.
Hope you guys enjoy,
xoxo
(By the way...)
OH MY GOSH! THIS IS PERFECT!
5/15/14