Sleeping, With Saints And Apparations

5:09 p.m
San Diego. It was bigger than I anticipated and lots of local bars caught my attention. But not one gas station in sight. I had been riding on empty for the past ten minutes and it’s only a matter of time before my poor car sputters out.

But besides that, San Diego is amazing. Awesome waves for surfing, small little shops that can make a perfect job, and lastly, they have better radio stations that Greensboro did.

I spot a little station a few feet up the road and I measly make it to the entrance as my car sputters out. I groan and let my head hit the steering wheel, blasting out the horn. Nearby people give me stares.

I get out my car, slamming the door hard, and walked to the back to start pushing. I knew I should’ve got gas in Fresno.

“Need help?” I turned around to see a guy standing behind me with a huge grin on his face. His dark hair was hidden under a beanie. I sighed and released my strain on the car as it rolled back a few inches.

“Uh,” But the stranger walked in front of me and began pushing the car. I shrugged my shoulders and began pushing the car with my back as he pushed with his hands.

“My name is Jaime by the way. Pronounced Hi-Me, spelled J-A-I-M-E” He said with certainty laced in his words.

“Well, Jaime, I’m Jillian.” We got the car into the gas station and just need to find a pump on my side to put the gas in.

“Nice surf board.”

“Thanks.” I found it awkward to be talking to him. Although it’s nice of him to help me out, his presence is just purely aggravating me. The more he talks, the more I think about letting this car run him over.

“New to California?” He asked as we neared a gas pump.

“New to the city. Not the state. I used to live in Los Angeles.” I say.

“Oh, is it fun down there?”

“I mean, we have a city wide Rob Dyrdek day. February 1st, the one day where everybody acts civil.” If only the country had a national Dyrdek day. Maybe one day a year is what we need for everyone to act nice and civil. We already have one day of the year where everyone can chill out with a bag of weed, why not kindness.

We got my car to a pump and I wiped drops of sweat off my face and began pulling my credit card out for gas.

“No, I got this.” This made me even more angry. Who is he to, willing pay for my gas when I didn’t even ask for his help to begin with. The main point of me moving city to city, country to country is to not stop and make friends with total strangers.

“I don’t need-” I started to snap, but he was already gone walking towards the store. I quickly swiped my card and filled my tank up. Thank God there was a long line. When my tank was full, I quickly got in and drove away to Levi’s place. The less contact I make, the easier it is to leave.
On my way there, I stopped by the beach. I hopped out the car, landing on the sand with athud and kicked off my dollar flip-flops.

“Jerk face!” A nearby teenage yelled as he chased two girls with pastel coloured hair. One was a pastel mint-green and the other was a pastel pinkish purple. People were in and out of the ocean, smiling, laughing, and having a good time.

It reminds me of my time in Australia, not a day would go by that someone wouldn’t want to go to the beach to escape the everyday life drama.

I quickly untied my surfboard and lifted it off the top of my car, hoisting it to the sand. I stripped of my tank top and my shorts. I changed into some spandex shorts and my sports tee before grabbing my surfing board and charging into the ocean.

“Check out that wave Luce, it’s cranky big!” I begin to paddle my way towards the opening.

I pointed the nose of the board towards the endless ocean, sitting on the board with my legs dangling into the ocean, ankle strap secure.

“Ames, that’s too big. Wait this one out.” Today was a good day. I’d spent all day with Luce and we finally got to go surfing, seeing that the waves were killer. Although my sister is in swimming shorts and a bikini top, claiming she needed a major tan, I’d taking this day seriously with a surfing top and a bikini bottom. This wave is huge and it’s the biggest one I’ve ever taken. I was quite the pro at 13.

Then I felt it. it was like vibrations, like the ocean had a heartbeat. I began paddling towards the soon to be high tide. The cool Pacific ocean waters brushing between my fingertips. The water became rougher the further I land out into sea, shells and various shrimps rising to the surface and dipping back down below the surface.

“No way sis!” The wave came closer and Luce started to scream. The wave was huger than I thought.

I rotated so the point was now facing the beach as the wave began rising beneath me. I looked over to my left and saw eager surfers trying to catch the wave as well.

Three minutes, six minutes passed of just sitting the a really big tide washed over, knocking one of the three surfers to my left. The wave was close, really closer. The clouds began to darken overhead and the eerie familiar double red flag was thrown up.

“AMES! GET OUT OF THERE!”Luce screamed. The wave came and drowned out her screams. I began paddling as fast as I can, looking back on the way. Once in the heat of it, I positioned myself and stood up, wobbling a bit as the wave carried me. My heart was beating out of my chest as I balanced the board against the pressure of the water. “AMETHYST!” I pulled against the ankle brace and moved closer to the edge of the board. The water caved in on me like a tunnel and I couldn’t see the outside.

The wave came without warning and threw another surfer off the board. We were about eight miles from shore, the other surfer and I, and this wave is huge enough to carry us straight back, if we can ride it out. The wave swept beneath us, picking us up and carrying us in its path.

Unlike what I did at the thirteen, I stood up with confidence and spread my arms out in front of me. It rose behind us like a wall, all grey and angry, ready to knock us off course. My heart was beating rapidly in my chest, my palms itching as I squat down to brush my fingertips along the wall that was forming. My hair was no longer visible as the entrance of the wall closed in, the other surfer no longer in sight.

“Keep riding, keep riding.”

“Keep riding, keep riding.” I muttered to myself. I let my fingers graze the wall of the water as I begincoming closer and closer to the opening. I could see Luce’s blonde head as she began paddling towards me. I could see her mouth moving, I just couldn’t hear the words. All I heard was the waves aggressiveness.

I couldn’t hear the outside world as all I could hear was water. The swishing and swooshing of the wave as it took me where ever its course is. I gulped fresh sea water air and pulled against my ankle restraint.

The wave switch its course and completely caved in on me. I wiped out, my surf board hitting surface and the ankle brace snapping free. I fell into the dark water, the aftermath of the wave swirling around me.

The wave completely crashed. It dunked hundreds of pounds of water onto my small body, pushing me under my surf board, trapping me in the ocean. Unlike last time, my ankle brace remained. I moved my board over to the side to pop my head and gulp fresh air, looking out to the shore. I saw another blonde head rushing my way. Well, more like wobbling.

I started kicking my legs against the jet stream and my head broke surface. I could see the double red flag the life guard was waving. I looked back and saw another monster wave heading my way. My board was already floating back to shore.

“Jillian!” The woman called as another wave dunked me back under, snapping the thin stretchy material that connected me to my board. I screamed as the salt water burned the fresh cut made by the brace, filling my lungs with water.

“Amethyst!” the wave crashed on me in a down pour, dragging me under.

I saw my board above me as the waves continued to pound.

I couldn’t see or hear anything but the water swishing. But I could feel someone lifting me onto a board. My body felt so cold, I feel frozen. I could feel my fingers dipping into the water as I floated.

“Can she hear me?” A voice said. It was far away, faint almost, but it was there.

“I don’t know.” Another voice said.

“Amethyst, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand.” I felt a hand grasp mine. I squeeze his hand, but I still didn’t hear anything. I could swear I’m moving my hand.

“She’s not squeezing.”

“She’s trying, look at her facial expressions.”

“Amethyst! Oh god, my baby!”

“What’s wrong with my daughter?”

She got knocked out by two waves. She’s not responding, but I think she can hear us.”

“Someone do mouth to mouth!” I heard hesitation, but felt lips against mine. A wave of hot air flowed into my body and something was coming up. It burned my throat and released air from my stomach. It sputtered out of my mouth and sent my eyes flying open.

I coughed and sputtered water into the sand, trying to sit up so I can breathe.

"I collapsed to my knees and let all the pain I’ve been holding in come out in one anxiety attack. My body began shaking rapidly and I couldn’t feel air. I felt as if I was drowning all over again.

Arms sat me up and stepped back until all the water was out of my system.

“You turd, I told you not to take that wave.” Luce yelled with tears in her eyes.

My eyes snapped open and with little oxygen I had left, I kicked my legs up to the surface, screaming on the inside as my lungs burned from no blood flow or oxygen. Once my hit head hit surface, I gulped the air and sighed. No one was on shore, except the blonde head, a guy next to her and my surf board. Confused and dazed, I swam back to shore, doing small doggy paddles.

Once on shore, I collapse onto the sand and cough up water, taking fistfuls of sand and letting it clump on my hands.

“Jillian, you are such an idiot.” The woman spoke. Her voice was extremely feminine, with the hint of stress in it. By the shape of the combat boots, it was Lights. By the looks of the huge feet, it was Beau.

“What are you doing in San Diego?” I asked, my words coming out as a hushed whisper. All of this made no sense. Maybe the blood was still flowing towards my brain.

“Passing through, well, was.” She said. “Until you decided to drown yourself. Everyone thought you were dead.” Lights and I have a weird friendship, if you want to even call it that. She happens to come up at the moments when I need her the most, like now. Although, she can be a little bitchy to me sometimes, our friendships is something I would never take for granted, only because she’s one of the few female friends I have.

“Come on, you can ride with me. Let Beau drive your jeep behind us.” I nodded and gratefully took the towel that was tossed to me. I was having a blonde moment as I looked back at my board as Beau dragged it to my car. How long was I really out?



-Tony Point of View-
7:22 p.m
I rolled over as the sad depressing music that is Ed Sheeran. I need to get out, I need to live a little, but how can I when the one person who gave me life sucked it up and left?

“Tone, are you in there?” a knock appeared outside my apartment door. There wasn’t much crap in here and sadly there wasn’t much food for me to drown myself in. “Tony, I know you are in there. I can hear Ed from outside.” I rolled over again and faced outside the window.

“Tony, you can’t be caught up on Erin forever. Get out, go to a bar, it’s been hours now!” Jaime continued to yell. A bar did seem like a good idea, something to rid my mind of Erin. But I’m not Mike. I can’t just rebound women like that.

“Tony Perry. If you don’t bring your Mexican Hine-quarters down here right now, I will come back with Mike and Vic and I will tell them about Erin.” I groaned and flipped off the bed. I kicked over some of the clothes laying on the floor and opened my window to see Jaime standing out there.

“Jaime, what are your blabbering about…..now?” I asked, wiping dry tears from my eyes.

“I wanna talk.” I rolled my eyes.

“About what?”

“The girl from the gas station is missing!” He yelled.

“What girl?”

“Some chick, I was paying her gas and now she’s missing.” I shrugged my shoulders.

“Not my problem.” I rubbed my hand over my naked torso.

“Some help. Get dress. We’re going out.” I groaned and leaned further out.

“I don’t wanna go out.”

“Well, I tell Vic and Mike, or you get dressed.” He said, crossing his arms.

“Are you black mailing me Jaime Preciado?” he smirked at me.

“Maybe.” I groaned again.

“Fine.” And two hours later, I was abandoned outside a bar in a pair of skinny jeans and a t-shirt.

Stupid Jaime.

I walked into the bar and grabbed a drink. I decided that tonight will be my night to forget Erin, even if it’s only temporally. It’s better than hanging on her forever.

I began to scan the bar, after my third drink, and found a girl dancing alone.

“It’s now or never Tony.” I mumbled to myself.

Notes