A Summer Night In Heaven  

























Pacholo Mercado




















This story utilizes the song
241 (My Favorite Song) by Rivermaya  

















What good is a heart when it shudders to speak?
I guess it's too late now...











Hills with a light purple haze, glaring at him by the pale moonlight above. That was all Adrian saw that summer night as he sat down on a knoll. His brown hair swayed slightly in the evening breeze following the sway of his white jacket. He hugged his legs covered in jeans as he stared in the distance. Below the knoll was the bike he used to get here in the middle of the night. He escaped his bedroom through his window. Nothing about this could be wrong. Love is beyond good and evil, someone once told him.
As he stared at the tip of his red sneakers, his focus then turned to his side. Beside him was an empty space which was not empty a few nights ago. He laid his head on his knees, staring at the grass on his side. His chest still hurt from the incident that happened just hours ago. The smell of gloom filled the air. His eyes were out of focus and he could see nothing but colors and shapes. More than a million things were on his mind that even he couldn't understand.
There is nothing more painful than doing the things you used to love to do—but you only loved it because you wanted to be with a person. All the times they were together, all the times that they weren't. All came back to him. All made him miss her. All…

-----

There was nothing worse than going to your high school prom without a date. Adrian sat down on a table with a single candle in the middle of it as the rest of the school body danced in the dark room lit only by the flashing and moving colored lights coupled by the occasional blow of artificial fog that smelled like ham. The music was so loud that each beat made his heart jump. Everybody was dressed in their best formal outfit. He, himself, was wearing a suit his mother bought just for this day—and for other days like this to come.
"Here, just so you don't bore yourself to death." Said a boy in a tux approaching the table. He placed a transparent plastic cup on the table showing its red contents. It was punch.
Ike was—to some extent—Adrian's bestfriend. Though Adrian was actually a very private, shy and anti-social person, Ike was the only person he could talk to without thinking of a way of how to get out quickly. He always seemed to be talking and asking questions and Adrian always seemed to not care about the right answer just as long as he answers it as quickly as he can to end the discussion. Somehow it didn't matter to the both of them that they always had awkward conversations, it was the companionship that counts.  
"Thanks Ike." Adrian muttered, taking the cup and sipping just enough to wet his palate. He thought it would be rude if he didn't act interested.
"Why the hell didn't you ask anyone to the prom?" Ike asked as he sat down across him. He placed his arms on the table and put them together—as if serious. He found it weird that anyone would go to the prom alone, much less his socially impaired friend.
The truth was Adrian never had enough guts to ask anyone for a date nor did he want anyone to be his date; and the only reason he showed up is because as soon as his mom knew about the prom, she loaned money from his aunt just for his suit.
"She's from outside the school, she said she couldn't come." Adrian lied. He quickly took a sip of his punch, trying to iron out the anxiety of lying.
"And you still came?" Ike raised his right eyebrow. There was something about people like Adrian who didn't do and talk much that made it obvious when they lied.
"Well, I didn't want to waste the suit." Adrian took another sip of his punch. As he looked behind Ike's shoulder, he could see Ike's date searching around for something near the food table. "I think you left your date when you got me the punch."
Ike turned around and saw his date. "Oh, crap. Sorry, got to go. Talk to you later." He said as he stood up and half ran to the food table.
So once again, Adrian was alone at the table. He was the wall fly—again. He never did like mingling around with people or talking or even just being in large groups. He thought it was meaningless anyway. He had his thoughts and that was enough for him. He didn't need to be dancing that night. He would just wait for it to end—maybe have a bit of food—and then another normal day would come.
In front of the room was a stage where the band was performing. There was one boy singing, two boys playing the guitar and one boy playing the drums. They played the last second of their noisy dance music then paused before playing a slow song. The people on the dance floor suddenly became stiff and hugged their partners. All of them were so solemn now, just swaying side to side as the girls lay their heads on the boy's shoulder. At the corner of the room, Ike was smiling as his date stared deep into his eyes.
For a moment, Adrian thought of what it would be like if he was one of those people dancing on stage. He wondered if it felt gratifying to have someone hug you and be near you. He was never one of those touchy-feely people. He wondered if it would all change someday and he would be on that hardwood floor, dancing with his arms around a girl whose eyes he could stare into all night.
Adrian was so lost in thought that he didn't even see his friend Ike approaching him. "Hey, Adrian." He said. A girl came with him wearing a red dress. She had brown eyes and black hair that was beautifully combed.
Adrian looked up. As soon as he saw the girl with Ike, he gave out his only defense against the challenges of having to talk to someone—a smile. Ike personally thought that even though Adrian smiled to ward off people, it made them think he was friendly so they talk to him more.
"Adrian, this is Joanna." Ike pulled a seat out for her and motioned her to sit down. She did so shyly, murmuring a thank you. "She came without a date, too."
Just as those words were spoken, Adrian's mind was put in emergency mode. If this "Joanna" would stay in this table the whole night, he would surely have to talk to her if he wanted to avoid unease. He took another sip of his punch.
"She was all alone and she was my date's friend, so I thought you'd make her company, eh?" Ike gave a sly smile to Adrian. He knew very well that his friend wasn't very skilled in talking to, well, anyone. However, he thought it was his responsibility to introduce him to the world of socializing. "Well, this dance is getting sweeter and sweeter by the minute so I'll just come back later; my date needs some company of her own." Ike finally said after a few minutes of silence between the three of them. He turned around and walked into the mist just as the fog machine let out a cloud that smelled like ham again.
There was something very uncomfortable between Joanna and Adrian as soon as Ike left for another dance with his date. The two of them kept looking around, trying to avoid each other's gaze. He would occasionally look at her and try to say something, but he decides against it.
"Sucks, huh?" Joanna said, looking at the people slow dancing. She had her chin on her arms which was on the table.
"What does?" Adrian politely replied. He wasn't really interested in what she was talking about, be he wasn't going to be rude either.
"This prom." She said, turning to the people on the dance floor. "We're all alone like something's wrong with us." She looked down to her fingers which she was rubbing together with a glum expression. Her voice was like the voice Adrian's mother used when she was talking to him about how his father doesn't appreciate her. "Maybe it's because I'm such a freak or something."
Since Adrian wasn't really a connoisseur of talk, he wasn't sure what he was feeling right now. There was a sense that he should talk, but couldn't. He felt that he needed to comfort her somehow and tell her that it was ok, but it needed to sound like he wasn't hitting on her.  Right now, all he was giving out was a smile—which was probably channeling off the wrong message.
"Did you ask anyone to come with you tonight?" Adrian said then quickly took a sip from his "cup of anxiety release". It was hard saying a word to someone he barely knew, much less nine words. He looked at her intently waiting for a reply. He wasn't rude so she shouldn't be either.
Joanna turned to the table and put on a serious and still glum expression on her face. She was staring straight at Adrian, which made Adrian very uncomfortable. "Yeah, but he didn't want to come with me. Apparently, he needed to do something with his family." She turned her head to the crowd again. "But you know what's funny?"
"What?" Adrian said immediately. He was actually interested this time. There was something about feeling the misery of others that made him want to listen.
"He's right there dancing with someone else with his hands around her waist." She then turned back to her fingers which she fiddled with. She was feeling very lonely that night and she knew very well why.
Adrian on the other hand was feeling reverence for another person, other than those he saw in the movies, for the first time. He didn't know what to do with that emotion. He knew that some had to be kept to themselves like anger and hate—and some needed to be let out like joy and sadness. He wondered what he should do.
"How about you? Did you ask anyone to go with you?" She asked, looking at him again.
Adrian took another sip. He thought of the consequences of telling the truth. If he said no, she would ask why thus prolonging the discussion. If he said yes, she would ask why and thus prolonging the discussion. If he said nothing at all, then he would come off as rude—and he didn't want that. It seemed he had no choice.
"No." He simply replied.
"Why?" Joanna placed her chin on her hand and was ready to listen to his side of the story. One of her favorite things in the world was listening to others, next to that was talking.
He took a deep breath and got ready for one of the longest things to come out of his mouth since the oration competition he was forced to join last year. "Well, I didn't think I needed to ask someone because I wasn't supposed to be going here anyway. Too bad mom knew about it and bought me a suit before asking me. I didn't want her to use up her money for nothing so I went."
"Well, seems like you're a nice little son." She laughed with a smile.
"I try to be." Adrian said with a smile of his own. It was strangely gratifying to let out what you feel to others. It was so strange that he didn't know what to do with it.
"Have you ever danced before?"
It was one of those times when you didn't know if you should answer the right answer or say something else to avoid answering all together. Adrian knew that somehow he was going to have to do something he didn't want to do if he answered this question. Without thinking, he made a decision that was going to change his life and how he looked at it.  
"No."
Joanna looked at him with an eyebrow raised. Suddenly, there was a smile on her face—the kind that you would never think she would have since she was so glum just mere seconds ago. "Never? It's simply follow-the-beat movement, you know."
"I’m not a very touchy person or a very social person, either." Adrian said, clutching his now almost empty cup. He knew at the back of his mind that this girl was going to do something they were both going to regret sooner or later. It was one of those moments when you know something bad would happen so you cross your fingers and wish that it won't happen. But of course, it will and you just know it.
Joanna stood up and grabbed him by the hand. "It's like this," she said, "let me show you." She knew she wasn't doing this to teach him. She wasn't a teacher or anything. She did this for the sole purpose of having a dance at the prom. Even if that dance was with a stranger she met just moments ago. Besides, he was a sweet boy if she knew any better. His hands were as cold as ice as soon as hers touched it. It was true when Ike said Adrian was a very shy person.
Adrian had nothing to do but comply. Within an instant, she had his hands around her waist and her arms around his shoulders. He had never been this close to another human being since he came out of his mother's uterus. He could feel her warmth in front of him and he could smell her sweet perfume. He tried to open his mouth to say something—but she was too close for him to speak comfortably.
"Now, move you feet left to right, then right to left." She started swaying and so did Adrian. The gentle tune of the music in the background perfectly complementing the moment that he thought would never happen…

"I want to live forever… Inside your nights and days… Wish upon a silver cloud… Crawling 'cross the moonbeams…"

"Now isn't it better than just sitting down there all night?" Joanna smiled at him.

Their eyes met with a spark.

"Yeah… it is."

-----

Joanna laid her head on the backrest of his dad's old SUV. She was sitting on the back seat, staring at the stars beyond the window. The radio was playing some old, cheesy country song again that seemed to be sung by three tone-deaf women. Her dad was driving away at the driver's seat.
Her dad had to work in another part of the country "far, far away", as he would say. It was somewhat of a blessing, really. They were barely surviving on his meager salary at his old job on River's Creek as a clerk; and she was tired of eating beans in a can everyday in an apartment so messed up you'd think they were roommates with rats.
However, it was also somewhat of a curse. Just when the most perfect thing in her life—the kind that every girl dreams of— happens, she had to get "far, far away" from it. When she first heard about it, she was so in between sadness and happiness that she wasn't even able to frown or smile. Even until now she couldn't decide on what to feel, she just kept softly repeating that song she sang with him when she was with him on that beach…
-----

The wet sand beneath your feet and between your toes just as it gets hit by the cold waves of the beach felt like mashed potatoes, only softer and wetter. The cold air was filled with the smell of the salty sea. The waves splashed on the shore with a gentle whoosh… whoosh… every five seconds or so.  
Joanna walked the shore line with Adrian that night. It had become a ritual for the two of them to spend late nights together somewhere in River's Creek. Last night, it was the knolls just beside the church, tonight, it was the beach. The summer had just rolled in last week and the two have been meeting quite a lot since she taught him how to dance.
She wore her white dress that day, with a cloth her grandmother made years ago around her waist. It waved around in the wind as she walked alongside Adrian who was wearing a white jacket and jeans. She was barefoot—but he insisted on wearing red sneakers. She knew long ago that he was one of those obsessive-compulsive types. Well, slightly.
"Nice, isn't it?" She said, looking at the horizon lying on top of the sea and below the sky. "My mother always told me that the sky and the sea were once in love, so they touched each other for eternity. The line between their two fingers is the horizon." She smiled as he told him the story.
"Really…" he said with a small smile at her. His brown eyes were staring directly at her. She knew beyond a doubt that he could care less about what she just said—but he cared enough not to show it.
"You don't care, do you?" Her smile faded and she turned to the sand beneath her feet. She focused on the way the sand emerged from between her toes as she stepped down on it.
"Of course I do, I just… don't know what to say." Adrian turned to his own feet. The edges of his red sneakers were becoming more of a maroon color now.
Joanna turned to him, "Why is it that you don't know how to talk?" Apparently, just because they danced and spend nights together doesn't mean that they talk more. It seemed that she was always the one who told the stories and he was always the one who responded with one to ten word replies. She knew he was shy—but she didn't know anyone could be this shy.
Adrian thought for a moment. "I don't know." He said, putting his hands in his pockets. He knew that he really didn't know why he doesn't like talking much. He'd simply grown up that way. Every time the family went to the dinner table to eat, all of them would begin talking about their day, but not him. He would just carefully munch on his food, listening but uninterested, keeping his opinions to himself.
"Well, let's play a game." She said, her pace beginning to slow down.
"Ok." Adrian responded plainly, almost as if he was only saying it so she wouldn't get mad.
"You have to answer my questions as truthfully as you can." Joanna looked at him and began to wonder about a lot of things. You really didn't know much about a guy who didn't speak or tell stories. In fact, all she knew about him was that his name was Adrian, he was anti-social, and he lived three blocks down from her apartment building. "What's your favorite color?"
He began to think again. "Orange." He said, looking at her. He said it with no enthusiasm whatsoever. He was playing a game because he had to, not because he wanted to. He didn't want to play games anyway, the only reason he was here was because he really liked this girl and he wanted to be with her.
"Ok, um, when's your birthday?" She rapidly asked again.
"February 19." He said again.
"What's your favorite song?" She was intently looking at him at this point. She thought that if he didn't want to talk—fine, he would have to sing, then. There had to be some communication between them.
"My favorite song… Hmm… I heard it on the radio once…" He said, finally stopping and sitting down on the sand. He faced the horizon and hugged his legs. The wind was getting a bit colder. The rustle of the leaves on the nearby trees were audible now, even over the swoosh of the waves.
"Really," Joanna sat down beside him. She looked at the moon above. It shined down on them as if it was watching them, waiting for the concert of the man who didn’t talk. "How does it go?"
Adrian looked at her with a blank stare. He barely talked, what made her think that he was going to sing? The last time he did, he was in the bathroom rubbing soap against his side—and he was alone then. "I can't remember." He lied.
There was something about shy people that made it obvious when they lied. "Oh c'mon, how could it be your favorite when you can't even remember it?" She smiled at him. "Just a part of it?"
Adrian quickly thought of a song he could pretend he liked. He never really liked one song; he was too opinionated to like anything, actually. He flashbacked to his days with music, which was few. The last time he heard music was when… "Ok, it was something like… I want to live forever… Inside your nights and days… Wish upon a silver cloud… Crawling 'cross the moonbeams…" He sang the song with a fast pace and with no consideration for tone at all.
"Aw…" Joanna said with a smile that reached ear to ear. "That was the song at our prom when we first danced!"
Adrian knew that quite well, it was the last song his ears had ever heard so it was the first one he sang to another living, breathing person. Besides, other than that one all he knew was the song about the merry little lamb. He knew it was in bad taste if he'd sung that song.
"How about we sing that together?" She said, taking his hand and entwining her fingers with his.
Adrian felt the warmth of her hand against the cold of the wind. He felt happiness at that moment in time. He always did whenever they touched. At first it was a weird feeling of warmth that he never wanted to end, but now it was something he yearned for—that he never wanted to end, either.
Holding each other's hand, they began to sing together…

"I want to live forever… Inside your nights and days… Wish upon a silver cloud… Crawling 'cross the moonbeams…"

"You know what comes after that?" Adrian asked, turning to her.
"I think it's…" she said as she began to look at the moon again…

"A summer night in heaven… Between the stars and waves… gaze upon the old bonfire… tremble on my heart beat…"

-----

The world was a blur and nothing really made sense, and it didn't even matter. Robert, a local jobless slob, just came from the bar after having over ten bottles too many. He was drunk and he knew it, but he didn't care. He drove in a car that he rented that morning just to get away from the life that he had recently left behind. The lights of the freeway blinded him as he passed. He could barely keep his arms steady. His car was going too fast, but it was in the middle of the night, and no one was there anyway. He could hear the wind slamming itself on the windshield of the car with a whoosh. He was so drunk that he didn't even notice he had his headlights off.
His wife decided to leave him today. He had no job, and he did nothing at home. His three kids did all the work. Three years ago, he was fired from his job as a mechanic at the local car shop. After that, he decided to never work again. Sometimes, he pretended to look for work, but it was always a ruse so that his family wouldn't turn against him. At the back of his mind, he knew that they knew. It didn't matter. He was happy enough just lounging about at home—not having to do anything. His wife had a small job at some place. She got enough cash to buy food and put the kids through school; that was enough. He didn't need to work, so he didn't.  
Even drunk, he could still remember what happened hours ago. It made him angry. It made him feel like he wanted to get even. He gripped the steering wheel, shaking, thinking…

-----

The smell of bacon and eggs was thickly in the air. Robert held a newspaper in front of his face, reading about the latest, well, news. In normal households, it was the mother who cooked food, but in this one, it was the middle son who did it. Every day and every night, his three boys and one wife would take care of everything for them. There was nothing to complain about.
"How're those eggs goin'?" He asked, flipping the page of his newspaper. The eggs fizzled.
"Just a second." His son answered with a violent tone. Of all his brothers, he had been the most resentful lately, and his father wasn't taking very kindly to that. Though there'd been a few shouting incidents—at least no one's broken a bone yet.
"Don't give me that tone." Robert lowered his newspaper and gave his son a fierce look. His son didn't seem to notice. He just kept on fiddling with the eggs. Robert stood up and gave him a hard nudge on the shoulder, "I'm your father and you don't have the right to give me that tone!"
His son pursed his lips slightly and pushed it to one side. It was a common expression given by someone who was about to explode. He breathed deeply, "Well, fathers commonly work for their children. I don't see you doing that."
Robert clenched his fists, "Maybe you didn't know, but I put you in this world! I worked my butt off just to put you through the first half of your schooling, if I didn't lose my job and found another, I would be working! I'm not a slob!" It always came to this when "difficult" situations arise. He always told his son about all the work he did for him and how he "put him in this world". The only thing is, he knew he wasn't working at all anymore.
His son placed his spatula at the counter and turned to his father with a stern face that a father would never want to see on the face of his own child. "Well, I cook for you, I clean your room, I clean your damned house and we pay for the mortgage! You do nothing here but sit around all day feeding off of us like a leech!"
In a fit of rage, Robert pushed his son as hard as he could. His son caught himself on the counter—still stuck with a face of resentment. He pointed a stiff finger at his son's face, "You live under my house and you will live under my rules, you got it?" Robert's eyes were filled with a fiery anger. He knew it was his fault, but he knew no father must bow down his son.
The boy straightened himself up, "This isn't your house anymore, you just live in it." He said calmly, walking away, but his gaze still up at his father's. Behind them, his brothers were watching, apparently, they saw the whole thing.
Robert just looked at all of them in silence. Moments passed and none of them moved. Then, a rustling of keys emerged after the bang of a closing door. "What happened here?" A voice of a woman said, holding the shoulder of her boys. It was Margaret, his wife.
"You're kid just told me off!" he said immediately.
Margaret looked at his middle son, the one whom always fought with his dad. She knew it was him. "It's you again, isn't it?" She said, putting a hand to his face. She looked at Robert for a second and breathed deeply. They've been talking about this for some time now, and it seems that now was a good time to tell him. "Robert," she began, "We want you out of the house. Come back when you have a job."
Robert burst out laughing, "Excuse me, Margaret, did you just tell me to get out of this house? Maybe you didn't know but this house is mine!" he slammed his hands to the table.
"Not anymore. I had it changed a year ago. I showed you the papers and you signed it like it was the receipt for Chucky Cheese! I own this house now—and considering that I and your kids pay the mortgage, it's only fair." Margaret was a strong woman and a strong mother. Though she never lacked the expression of love, she knew what had to be done. She had to be if she wanted to bring up three children and one overgrown one.
Robert walked in front of his family with a face of disbelief. Deep inside him was a fear that he'd been trying to hide for three years. Now, it was happening in front of him. He was a useless slob, and he had to stand up for it. "Margaret, you've got to be kidding me. I've been looking for work; you know I have, please!"
The three boy's mom walked in front of her kids like a lion protecting it's young and stared straight into the eyes of her husband, "Robert, no one and I mean no one looks for jobs that long and not find it. We have been working our asses off for ourselves and you and we are tired! If you want to stay in this house, find a job, if you can't—leave and stop feeding off of us!"
The smell of burning food filled the air but no one noticed. A father, someone who was supposed to be the pillar in a household was being thrown off into nowhere because he had been nothing but a pestering vampire sucking on his family's precious time, money, food and life. Robert placed a hand on his head and rubbed his temples. After a while, he walked around the four and entered his room. He was leaving.

-----

Jonathan drove his SUV on that bright highway in the middle of the night. His daughter was asleep at the backseat. He turned his radio off just as he's heard her doze off. He loved his daughter very much—it hurt him that he had to take her away from her friends. She never did say a word when he announced they had to move far, far away, she just nodded and went to her room. That's how Joanna always was, a good, happy, curious, optimistic child.
Just a few days ago, she told him of a boy she liked. A shy boy he didn't talk much and didn't like being with people she met at the prom. He was so happy to hear Joanna talk about someone she liked. The last time she did, she was in kindergarten. He could remember her smile just as she mentioned his name, but he was getting old, he couldn't remember the name itself.
He'd been applying for a new job for the last eight months. His salary from being a clerk just wasn't paying the bills anymore. Being a single parent didn't help very much either. Luckily, a call came through the other day saying that he got another job as an accountant—that would surely give them a better life. The only catch was, it was on the other side of the country. There was no other choice, opportunities don't grow on trees.
"Dad!" Joanna screamed in the backseat, "Watch ou—"
It was true that before you die your life flashes before your eyes…

-----

It was so good having a cup of tea at night. Even though the table he was sitting at was made of plastic and it smelled like something died in that small room they called a kitchen slash dining room, home was home.
His daughter, Joanna, walked in and opened a cupboard. "Hey dad," she said. She walked to a fridge and took a pitcher of water. She poured some in her glass.
"Anything new, Joanna? How's your life?" Jonathan said, taking a sip of hot tea. He always loved chatting with his daughter. Since her mother passed away, it was the only thing that made him smile anymore.
"Well, I do have some news, dad." Joanna sat down by his father with a big smile. "I met someone." She drank half the glass of water.
"Really? Where?" Jonathan smiled with a warmth that only a father could give to his daughter. Joanna always felt that when her father smiled, she was the happiest person in the world and that no matter what she did, he would always be beside her.  
Joanna held her hands together, "At the prom last week."
"I thought you didn't have a date?" It was hard knowing that his daughter had no one to dance with at the prom. A dad always wanted their daughters to be beauty queens and feel like it. He could almost feel her sadness when she came there all alone.
"I didn't," She said, "but a friend of a friend introduced me to a guy who didn't have a date either, so…" She smiled and took a sip of water.
"You hit it off with him." Her father slightly laughed and took his own sip of tea. "Good for you."
"Well, he's one of those shy, anti-social types, so it took some time." She laughed. "At first we were just talking, then he said he couldn't dance—actually, he never danced before. Well, at least, that's what he said."
"Let me guess, then you taught him how to dance." Jonathan said.
"Yeah, and we ended up having a good time. We meet almost everyday in school now."
"Well, that's good." Jonathan said. He was happy for her. He had never seen her this happy since—well, ever. "What's the lucky guy's name?"
Joanna smiled a moment. "Adrian," she finally said.
"Oh, well, you go and have a good time then, dear." Jonathan smiled and took a sip of his tea. He almost forgot about it since he always tried to give his daughter full attention when they chatted.
"Thanks dad." Joanna leaned in for a kiss and stood up. She took the glass and placed it on the sink. Then, she strolled off to her room.
"Once question though," Jonathan half screamed to her as she entered her door.
"Yeah dad?" She peeked her head through the door of her room.
"Do you love him yet?"
"I think so…" She smiled and closed the door playfully.
Jonathan smiled and went back to his tea. He took one large sip and stared into space, thinking about what just took place. His daughter was in love. Some dads find it hard to appreciate their little girls having to fall in love with another guy. However, he knew that whatever happens, dad would always have special place in her heart; and besides, all he wanted for her was for her to be happy.
Now, all he could hear from her room was the tune of her radio playing. The song was a sad song, but he knew that his daughter felt otherwise…

"I wanted to turn you on… My favorite song… Wanted to be near you but… somebody owns you now…"

-----

Margaret sat on her couch early that morning, sipping a cup of coffee. Being a single mother, though not unmarried, was hard. She shooed off her husband yesterday. It was nice not having to take care of another man while you did your own thing. It was also nice to be watching the news early in the morning and not some action movie with bad dialogue. The television showed a helicopter's view of the open freeway. It seemed that an accident just took place.
The reporter on television spoke as the scene was surveyed. There was an SUV that had its backside totally impacted by another car. "According to reports, three people have died in this accident. The one in the unidentifiable car is in such bad condition that it's impossible to ID him by his face and he's not carrying any identification of any kind so it may take some time to positively ID this man. The car, according to the plate, is a rented car. On the SUV, however, a father and his daughter fell victim. The father is IDed to be Robert Hall and her daughter is Joanna Hall from River's Creek. All of them in the accident died of blunt head force trauma; they hit their heads as the accident happened so hard that death was almost instantaneous."    
Margaret almost lost her grip on her cup of coffee as he heard those names. She heard that name before, from her son Adrian…

-----

God forbid anyone disturb Adrian as he was studying for his exams. Margaret looked at her son through his half open door as he diligently read his thick school books. She knew her son didn't talk much, so she didn't really know a lot about him. Most of the time he would just lounge about his room to study. He really wasn't a slob like his father. Actually, his two brothers were as hard working as he is. As a matter of fact, Adrian worked as hard as her and his two brothers. It was his dad that was like the pet of the house. Adrian was the strongest of the house, too. He didn't tolerate the fact that his father didn't have a job. They fought almost everyday about it. It wasn't that Adrian was disrespectful, he was just looking out for the family that his father forgot about yet lived in the same house with.
Margaret entered the room. Her son didn't move an inch and kept reading. "Hey," she smiled and sat down on his bed. "How's your studying going?"
Adrian folded a page and closed the book. "Fine."
It was always like this when anyone talked to him. Nothing but one word answers and the occasional necessary explanation. Margaret didn't know where he got this from; they were always a vocal family. "Anything new?"
Her son turned to her from his chair, "Nothing much, just studying for the finals."
"How's your prom? Did you like the suit I bought for you?" Margaret thought of giving her sons a sense of happiness once in a while a responsibility. The three of them take care of the house while she's gone, cook the food, and even have their own jobs just to help her pay the bills. They did this without second thought or reward just to compensate for the loss of the biggest money maker of the house: their father. All his husband did all day was sit around and eat their food. Three years ago, he lost his job; he didn't get another one since.
"Yeah, thanks. If we work hard for the week, we could pay Aunt Sarah for her loan." Adrian walked to the other side of the room and fixed some knick-knacks he had on his shelf.
It made Margaret happy that his son was as industrious as he is. Most children don't even know how loans are made, and his son was already working to pay one up. "Don't worry son, you don't have to work extra. I'll pay for it. How was the prom? Who was your date, by the way?"
Her son stopped a bit and turned to her, "Someone."
"Really, I thought you were going to be a loner at the prom. You don't talk much, you know." She smiled. It was true. "What's the lucky girl's name?"
Adrian sat back down on his chair, "Joanna, I think."
Margaret felt a burst of glee. Finally, her son had someone to be with. When she was sweating to work for her family, he helped her. It was good that his son had someone to be happy with. "You've been seeing each other lately? I notice you go out at night quite often now."
"Yeah." Her son shyly said, opening the book back up and looking at the pages. It was obvious that he wasn't really reading, he was just avoiding eye contact with his mom.
"Are you dating or are you already in a relationship?" Margaret smiled broadly.
"Just hanging out." He turned some pages as he spoke. There was something about people who don't talk much that made it obvious when they were lying.
"Is it that Joanna Lieberman I met at the Parent-Teacher meeting?" Margaret saw that girl at the meeting when she pleaded her to make her son go on a date for her. It seemed that her son was a regular girl charmer in school. Maybe it was the way he didn't talk much that attracted them, his good looks he got from her wasn't a bad factor either.
"No, that was a Jane Lieberman; the one I'm with is Joanna Hall." There was a pause in his fiddling, like he said something wrong, then continued.
"The one you're with?" Margaret laughed softly.
"I mean, we're talking about. The one we're talking about is a Joanna Hall." Adrian scanned the pages of his book as if he was looking for something. It may mean that he's really, really uncomfortable now.
"Do you like her?"
Her son seemed too focus on whatever he was staring at in the book. "A bit."
"Adrian's in love!" Margaret teased, pushing him softly. "I'm proud of you son, you have a girlfriend. Maybe she could take your mind off of school work, house work, and your job for a while."
"Mom…" Adrian whined, slightly blushing.
"Tell me, Adrian, do you think you're in love? I mean, there's nothing wrong with that. Love is a wonderful thing."
"I… I don’t know." He turned the page again.
"I promise I won't tell your brothers." She smiled. She knew she would tell them somehow just to tease him. There was no way in hell she was going to tell his father, he doesn't deserve to know about his son's love life.
"Fine, yeah, a bit." He rolled his eyes up to the ceiling then back to the book.
Margaret laughed again and pushed her son a little harder. He was blushing like an apple now. "Well, good luck with that Joanna Hall girl." She stood up and opened the door, "Meet with her whenever you'd like, you deserve it." She closed to door behind her.
It was such a good feeling inside a mother's heart when she gets to talk to her child like that. Her son who never spoke a word more that he needed to just slightly admitted he loved someone for the first time. She smiled as she walked to the table to clean up. All that mattered now is that one of her hardest working sons was happy and she never wanted that feeling to end—for her or her son.

-----

Nearly six hours had passed since Adrian's mother woke him up early that day without waking up any of his brothers. She cooked breakfast for him, a job which he always did, and told him while they ate that there was an accident last night. His mom said that she saw a report on TV that two cars heading out of town crashed into one another. At first he was confused, who would be so important to him that he had to be woken up just because of a car crash? Then, he remembered Joanna. She was leaving town that night. That's why he was on that knoll. Tears ran down his face as it was revealed to him that Joanna died.
The room he was in was all white. It smelled like old wood and dusty carpets. Wearing the same suit he wore at the prom, he stood in front of the open coffin, staring at Joanna through glass. She was as beautiful as he remembered. It just hurt him that he couldn't even look at her eyes one last time.
Behind him were people he barely even knew. Two months was never enough to know a person fully, but it was enough to learn if you loved someone or not. True love or not, it was love. Some were crying, some were not. Some wondered who he was and why he was taking so long.  It didn't matter to him. All that mattered now was the sad reality that the person who taught him how to dance would never dance with him again…

-----

Tonight was a special night, Joanna said over the phone when she announced where they would meet that night. Adrian was where she wanted him to be: at the knoll near the church where they first had their summer night together. It smelled like wet grass that summer night. Beside him was Joanna, staring into the stars. He was staring into the stars, too.
"You know why I asked you to be here?" she said, not turning away for her gaze.
"Why?" he was curious too. He had no idea why this night would be a 'special' night. He had no idea why he had to go here either, he had a lot of places he'd already thought of where they could have more fun, but Adrian always kept his thoughts to himself.
"I have to tell you something very important." She looked at him with full eyes. This time, he wasn't uncomfortable like he should be. It was actually like he wanted it to be that way.
"What is it?" He asked, staring back into her brown eyes.
She breathed in deeply and looked down, breaking the connection they just made. "Adrian, you know that even though we've only known each other for a month and a few weeks that I really, really like you to the point that… well, I love you, right?"
As if a frog ran down his throat, Adrian took a moment to spew out a three letter word. It was so uncomfortable for a guy who didn't talk to talk about feelings, even if he did like the one he was talking to. "Yes."
"Do you love me too?" She asked, looking at him again.
"Y-yes." He stuttered. His hands were beginning to go cold now. What could this be about? They were already in a relationship even though it wasn't formally said. Maybe she just wanted to talk about feelings tonight.
"Well, Adrian, I'm leaving River's Creek tomorrow and—"
"What? You can't leave!" It was his first burst of expression since he was born. Adrian felt a searing pain in his chest as he heard those words. Something he never wanted to end was going to end tomorrow, he could not let this happen.
"I have to. Dad has a new job there and we need the money."
"You could stay here while he goes there! You could stay at our house! Or you could borrow money from us!"
"Adrian, your family is working hard as it is, I don't want to burden you." Just as Adrian was going to speak again, she held his hands and looked at him straight. He kept quiet. "Remember our prom?"
With that one word, the almost crying Adrian was filled with memories. The punch, the dance, Ike, the fog that smelled like ham, the beach, the song he heard a million times, the first dance he ever had. "Yes."
"Well, Adrian," she paused as tear ran down her cheek. "I'm pregnant."
Adrian gripped her hand, "How is that possible?"
"With another man's child. That was the reason I was alone at the prom, I told him there and he left me right on the spot. I would never go to the prom if I knew I would be alone. Ike saw me crying when he walked away and he introduced me to you. I asked him not to tell you." She paused, "I even told my dad I was going alone!"
Adrian was speechless. It was almost impossible. "Stop it."
"Stop what?" she said, tears running down her face. "I'm sorry Adrian, but I love you. I felt something the first time we met. I knew you wouldn't judge me."
"Why didn't you tell me if you knew I wouldn't judge you?" He half-screamed, angry.
"Because I was scared, I didn't want to lose you!" She was going closer to him now, but he wasn't moving. Adrian sat there, dazed. "When my dad arrived home as I was crying in my room, I told him about you, Adrian, and he liked you. He doesn’t know I'm going to have a child. When I came back to my room, I still cried, thinking about you. All I did was turn up my radio so he wouldn't hear me. I was even listening to our song!"
Adrian remembered the first time he told his mother about her. He was trying to memorize the full lyrics of their song when his mother walked in. "I'm sorry, Joanna, I have to think about this first." He couldn't even look at her as he left her there, crying. He rode on his bike home. When he arrived, he cried more than he'd ever cried before.

-----

Adrian touched the glass, hoping to feel her hand one more time before she departed from his life forever. Tears were running down his face as he remembered their summer nights together. He remembered her crying alone on that knoll. She needed him that night, but he wasn't there. He was never going to be forgiven for that, it was too late now. "I memorized that song, Joanna; I learned it for you." He began to sing with a whisper as he stared at her…

"I want to live forever… Inside your nights and days… Wish upon a silver cloud… Crawling 'cross the moonbeams…A summer night in heaven… Between the stars and waves… gaze upon the old bonfire… tremble on my heart beat… I wanted to turn you on… My favorite song… Wanted to be near you but… Somebody owns you now… But I've got to live… Somehow…"

"I'm sorry, Joanna, I'm sorry…" he whispered, his voice quivering in tears that fell from his face to the carpet below his feet. He knew that she couldn't hear him now. She was in a place far, far away, above the clouds and beyond the stars, spending a summer night in heaven.