The Life and Lies of The How-To Manual

It was late at night when we actually started lighting off the fireworks. Jaime took my hand in his, grabbing a bag with the other. Tony took Autumn’s hand as he hobbled next to her. They were the last up the hill to our overlook. The desert lay like an unwritten page before us. The rocks twisted and spiraled somewhere out in the desert under the cover of the night. The moon rose high in the sky, just begging for a show.

The seats were already set up. The ATL boys were starting to unpack three crates of fireworks. The rest of us were seated down in the chairs. Mike and Vic were talking off in the corner. I had no clue of what, but they were up to something.

Autumn took her seat to my right, with Jaime holding onto my hand on my left. She turned to me, grinning. Large flashlights were placed on the ground, sending out waves of light across the sand. Zack and Rian danced in them like little kids.

“So are you ready for some fireworks?” She asked me. I nodded, happy that this would be one of the first things I would get to see after being blind for so long.

“I can’t wait to light some off. You?”

“Same. Jack said he would set some big ones aside for me.” She chuckled darkly. That was the Autumn I knew! That was my best friend that had stuck with me through the years!

“Good, good. Just please don’t let Jaime’s hair on fire. Or Vic’s.” I added. She sighed.

“Fine.”

“Promise.”

“Fine.” We crossed pinkies and laughed. She wouldn’t break her promise now. We all were well aware that Autumn had a little bit of a mischievous streak in her, so we all had to be careful.

“Here, have a sparkler.” Alex lit one and handed it to me. I smiled as I stood up, taking the popping stick from his hand. The tiny fireworks were soon dispersed and the smell of burning chemicals that made the colors appear filled the air. Little fingers of smoke tickled the night sky, making the stars laugh and shake.

I dropped my sparkler once it was dead, letting it burn out on the sand and cool down until the metal turned from white to red to nothing at all. Jaime followed suit and grabbed another sparkler, writing out little words as it burned.

We’ve all played that game as a kid on the Fourth of July. You know, the one where you take the sparklers and spell out words in the dark. I watched as Jaime made some in front of me.

I….love…you…

I blushed as the words started to fade. I took another firework and lit it up, sending the sparks up into the sky and falling to the earth. I wrote the same message back. Once my sparkler died out, Jaime pulled me close, pressing his lips against mine.

I smiled against his kiss. Once we pulled back, I looked around, seeing the others yelling and cheering as they spelled their own words out in the air.

Of course, Vic and Mike were writing butt-queef in the air with arrows pointing to people. Such maturity. Wow.

Jack and Alex had managed to spell out Jalex about a thousand times until it was burned into the back of my eyelids. I laughed as Zack and Rian flicked sparks into the desert sand.

Our play was interrupted as Alex and Jack snuck off and lit up one of those Screaming Bees fireworks, the ones that send up yellow sparks and screech like a dying pterodactyl. The bitter taste of smoke lingered on my tongue. I covered my ears, jumping at the sudden noise of the fireworks. Alex and Jack’s cackling laughs were heard over the dying explosive.

And I guess that gave everyone free reign to open up the gates of Hell and be like, “Come on out, Satan! Let’s all have a party and set off the loudest fireworks we can find!”

Needless to say, I enjoyed dancing under clouds of red, blue, green, white, and gold. Any color, you name it, and it was shot off at some point in the next hour. Jaime even stuck to his word and let me light a roman candle off over the edge of the overlook.

“I can’t believe you seduced me into doing this.” He grumbled as he handed me the lighter. I followed his instructions carefully and kept the firework away from my body, so I wouldn’t get hurt…hopefully.

“I can’t believe you fell for it.”

“Hey, I’m not an idiot!” He whined. I turned, kissing his cheek quickly.

“No, you’re just a man.”

“Yeah well-HEY!” He complained. At that, I chuckled and lit off the firework, letting the explosions rattle the sky, shattering anything that had been in one piece. I lit up the sky and showed the world that I was here.

I chuckled and threw the firework back into our “throw away” pile. I grinned happily and followed my boyfriend back to the seats. He squeezed my hand tightly as we watched Mike and Rian dance around some flash bomb firework like a cult.

Okay, okay, we all joined in at one point. To anyone who was watching us, they must’ve thought we were a sexican, butt-queef, black mass of the century cult.

Yes, let us sacrifice our lambs to the Lord Jalex! All hail the unicorns!

The night wore on like an old, comfy sweatshirt. I had no clue what time it was, but I honestly didn’t care. I loved hanging out with these boys and it was fun to actually use my eyes for once. Everyone was wearing down and we decided to take a short break.

We all sat in the darkness, the only light to be seen coming from the flashlights piles around and spilling dim light into the sand. I couldn’t really see everyone’s face. All that could be heard was quiet chatter and panting of exhaustion.

“So how does everyone like the new album?” Mike asked the other band. They all shrugged.

“Pretty good. The release a month ago was a huge hit. It’s gotten great reviews.” Alex added, grinning. I looked over to a slight tapping noise. Tony was tapping his foot against the sand, almost nervously. Maybe he just had too much sugar.

“Who gave you caffeine, Turtle?” I chuckled. We weren’t allowed to give him huge amounts of sugar or liquid energy for a reason…

He sent me a weak laugh, never leaving his eyes off his girlfriend. His hands were shoved deep in his pockets, refusing to come out.

“No one, oh, no one.” He stuttered out quickly. I dropped the topic, leaving the question open. I kept my eye on him nonetheless.

The talking died down as Tony jumped up.

“Let’s light the last of the fireworks!” He declared in steely determination. No one objected, mostly because Tony had already gotten a firework out of the box and was ready with a lighter.

“Oh, okay.” Vic eventually responded. We all watched in silence as he lit it off. It was one of those illegal-in-most-states-because-of-size-and-other-dangerous-chemicals-but-isn’t illegal-here-for-some-unknown-reason fireworks.

When the show in a box was over, Tony was already sorting through another one. We all murmured quietly, mostly about Tony Perry’s sanity, but Vic and Mike jumped up, running over to the guitarist. Soft words unknown to us were passed before Tony returned to the chairs.

We had all scooted further down the hill once we realized larger and larger fireworks were going to be lit off. Now that we were safely away, Tony decided that now would be the absolute perfect time to endanger his girlfriend and bring her up in front of us. I was terrified that Tony would do something stupid and hobble up the hill to stand right with Autumn right underneath the lit fireworks.

Worse yet, I was afraid that Autumn would agree to this!

No, no, as we all opened our mouths to object, I noticed that Tony had just brought Autumn up in front of all of us. Tony was standing a little ways away, and Mike was further up the hill. What the hell were they all doing? Or what were they waiting for?

“Autumn Warren, you’re a beautiful girl, you know that?” He started out, shaky at first, but growing confident with each word. Autumn nodded hesitantly, waiting for the next great speech of Tony Perry.

“And I’m just so lucky to be able to call you my girlfriend. I constantly question four things every day: First, why Vic has girly hair.”

“HEY!” Vic yelled in anger. Tony giggled with us.

“Second, why Jaime has dumb hair.”

“True.” Himes shrugged. I hit his arm. “You don’t have dumb hair.” I whispered. He kissed my cheek in thanks.

“Third, how am I so lucky to have an amazing, caring, slightly dangerous, and always beautiful girl I can call mine, and fourth, why would you ever stay with a dorky turtle like me.” He added humbly. Autumn shook her head.

“It’s because I love you, butt-queef.” She chuckled, tears coming to her eyes. I’ve known her since we were little and she’s always teared up when someone gives her excessive compliments.

“But Autumn, you’re an amazing, independent, stunning girl with the brightest hair I’ve ever seen. We’ve been together for just over three years now, and they’ve honestly been the best three years of my life. I remember our first date, when I threw a blanket over Vic because I needed to hide the mess in my house.” I laughed.

“Hey!” Vic whined again.

“Anyways, I remember I was so nervous when I opened the door and saw you standing outside. Then we played TMNT monopoly in my basement and watched a movie. What a terrible first date.” I chuckled. Autumn shook her head, grinning.

“I thought it was awesome! It was so much fun!” She corrected. I blushed. I thought it had gone horribly!

“But still, you stuck with me. I can’t believe you actually wanted to keep dating me after that. But here we are. I’m with the most beautiful girl in the world and I couldn’t ask for anything more. I couldn’t imagine another day without you by my side, ruling the world and being the drunken hide-and-go-seek champions.” Tony at this point was favoring his injured ankle, but knelt down on one knee anyways.

Everyone let out a little gasp.

Autumn’s eyes went wide in shock, guessing what was coming.

“Autumn Warren, will you do me the incredible honor of being my wife?” He asked. There was a moment of stunned silence as Tony held out a little box with a diamond ring in it. Vic was staring in shock, jaw slack at the sight.

“Yes! Of course!” Autumn breathed out, barely heard over the world’s baited breath. Tony slipped the ring onto her finger before swooping my best friend up into her arms, kissing her hard, a tear of happiness falling out of the corner of her right eye. We all whistled and clapped. Vic gave a signal as Mike lit off the firework and dove for cover.

Perfectly timed, Fuentes. Perfectly timed.

We all came up and congratulated our best friends on their new life together. I couldn’t believe it was happening. Autumn was going to get married! I walked up to her, and she let go of Tony long enough to give me a big hug as well.

“Hey Willow?” She asked. The fireworks started to die down in the background.

“What is it?”

“Will you be my Maid of Honor?” She asked. I nearly screamed and nodded, bouncing up and down.

“Of course!” I yelped. She hugged me again before going to her new fiancée. We all returned to the chairs. Tony and Autumn stayed hand in hand the entire time.

“Hey, when do you want the wedding?” I overheard Tony asking Autumn. She didn’t even have to think about it.

“How about a November wedding?” She asked. Tony smiled. I nearly choked on my own spit.

That soon!?

“Perfect. I know you have a perfect wedding place in mind, so I have a feeling you have all the details worked out.” Tony chuckled. Autumn kissed the corner of his smile.

“I used to be a young teenage girl who planned the perfect wedding, you know!” She slapped his arm playfully. His eyes were just wide with adoration. I sighed. Autumn had recounted her perfect wedding to me multiple times when I was sick. She would come over to my house, offer to make me soup, play soothing music, and then BAM! Wedding planning. She was always setting me up for torture.

I turned to Jaime. His hand found mine and he cupped my cheeks, kissing the tip of my nose until I wrinkled up my nose and made the weird scrunchy face I knew he loved and thought was adorable.

“It’s a good day for them, huh?” He asked. I nodded, feeling a pang of jealousy. Autumn and Tony were perfect for each other. Their marriage would be a long and healthy one. Was Jaime and I that perfect as well, or were we doomed for my constantly looming illness to drive us apart. It nearly had almost a month before…

“It is, it is.” I whispered, watching them oogle over each other.

Only time would tell.

Notes

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