Welp, I'm back! This is a sequel to "An August Beach Trip", which itself was a sequel to "An August Afternoon: Revisited". I'm not sure whether I'm going to keep just putting out the oneshots, or put all of these related oneshots into a story. I would do that last one, but the other stories that I'm going to write for this aren't really going to have a strict timeiine, so I'm not sure. Feedback on this problem is welcomed.
Enjoy!
August 31st was the last day of many things. It was the last day of my summer vacation. It was the last day of my life as a "kid". It was the last day of, well, August. But being the last day of something usually means that the next day was the start of something new. In this case, it was the start of my life as an adult, and the start of my first day at college.
That morning of the 31st was hotter than usual. I woke up around 11 in the morning, judging by the position of the sun in the sky. Still despite how early in the day it was, there was already a sheen of sweat covering my forehead. The heat was oppressive and I didn't want to get out of bed, but I knew I had to. I had to finish packing so that Namine and I could head to Twilight Town Uni. together the next morning.
Speaking of Namine, we began going out two weeks before, a few days after our beach trip. Her lung condition was acting up again that day due to the heat and humidity putting a strain on her body, so we sat in her house and watched a movie. It was a period piece about some magician, but I wasn't really paying attention. Even in the air conditioning she had trouble breathing; her chest shook with each breath and on some inhales, I heard her wheezing. She tried to hide it by not breathing too deeply, but that seemed to hurt her worse.
"Hey, Nami?" she turned toward me and tilted her head. "Wanna go out with me?"
There was a moment of silence. Awkward, awkward silence. Her eyes wandered everywhere but to mine.
"What?"
"Do you want to go out with me? We're going to the same college – it's not like we'll have to have a long distance relationship or something."
"I-I…" she struggled to find the right words. "I'm not against it, but why? Why me, of all people."
"Why? Because I like you. Why else?" I answered. I had nothing to hide.
She smiled. "I see. Well, in that case…."
Namine scooted closer to me, hands clasped in her lap and a smile on her face. She leaned down and I snuck a peak at her white bra through the drooping collar of her t- shirt , even though there was a big chance I'd get caught. I wasn't. When she pecked me on the lips, giggled and sat back down on the sofa I could only smile. "Yes, I'll go out with you."
Since we began going out, not much has actually changed between us. Sure, we make out now, and hanging out became going on dates, but besides that we were the same people doing the same things. We were still just wandering around the neighborhood, trying to find things to do. We were still talking as we normally did. And neither of us really kept anything from each other before we became an item, so there was no "secret telling". I was still Roxas and she was still Namine. Only now, we were Roxas and Namine.
After I woke up I grabbed a bite to eat and took a quick shower. Thing is, it was so humid that day that even 5 minutes after my shower I was already sweating a bit. Sighing, I walked back to my room to sit on the floor and finish packing.
In a corner of my room were things I already packed – my clothes, the text books I spent hundreds on (fuckin' textbooks), my laptop, stuff like that. Basically it all fit into 3 boxes. But there were a few things I wasn't sure about bringing. Things like my tv and my ps2 and the minifridge I brought when I was 16. My roommate had been totally unreachable for the entire summer for some reason (it later turned out he was in Greece on vacation), so I couldn't ask him what he was bringing. I began listing pros and cons in my head, but in that quiet hour, my thoughts ended up escaping me and I "woke up"some time later, completely forgetting what it was that I was thinking about the whole time. I ran my hand through my hair, sighed, and just packed the rest of the things into the last box I had. If I needed to, I could always just bring them back when I visited my home.
I headed to Nami's house when I was done packing and, for the final time as a kid, I took in the scenery of my town. And somehow, everything did look different. The trees were less vibrant, their leaves a bit darker. The sky was bluer than usual, but the sun light seemed absolutely golden as it made everything the color of dry bones. The air was thick and humid, and it smelled more like the earth. Everything felt old and dated. Perhaps it'd look newer when I visited home.
When I reached Namine's place, I saw a few boxes piled up on the corner of her stoop. She was walking out with another box in her hands, wheezing, sweating, looking completely exhausted from the effort. But as much as I wanted to go and help her…I didn't. She was a very determined person despite – no, because of her illness. She liked to do things herself and if I wanted to respect her at all, I had to respect that part of her too. I stood next to a tree on the far end of her front lawn and she didn't seem to see me.
Once she put the box down she sat on the stoop and looked down, holding her head in her hands and breathing in and out deeply. I walked up slowly and smiled. Even when I sat next to her, she didn't notice me. I began patting her back a bit, trying to get some of the air out in the same way a mother pats a baby on the back to get it to burp. Eventually she turned around and smiled and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I thought that that was cuter than just outright kissing me.
"How's the packing going?" I asked.
"Just finished." She breathed deeply, then wheezed. "What about you?"
"Same. Hey, you okay?" I asked when she was caught in a coughing fit. I began rubbing her back because I couldn't think of anything else to do. She shook her head and I took my hand back.
"I'm…I'm fine. Just a bit out of breath, you know?"
She stood up and offered me her hand. "Wanna come in for a drink?"
I took it and followed her into her air-conditioned home.
~!~
After sharing a light lunch of a Panini and lemonade, Namine and I sat on her couch to watch some tv. While we did still have to pack my car, I wasn't going to call her out on anything – even an hour after she struggled with the boxes, Namine was wheezing and breathless. Her chest would shudder almost violently with each inhale and exhale.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Y-yeah. I overdid it a bit today, though. Hey, would you mind getting me my medicine? It's upstairs in the bathroom, right on the sink. I'd go upstairs, but I don't think I could make it."
"Not a problem."
When I walked up the stairs I could only smile at the pictures of a younger Namine that hung on the walls. In one of the pictures, she was walking up to the camera with a dandelion in her hand and a smile on her face. In another one where she looked around 10, she was playing with a puppy. In some of them she was with her father, but there wasn't one picture of her mother. Not one sighting in any of the photos. It was almost like they purposefully picked the ones without her mom. But I was shaken out of my thoughts when I heard Namine enter another one of her coughing spasms.
Just as she said, there was an orange bottle of pills on the bathroom sink with her name on them. The pills had some convoluted name that I couldn't pronounce, but that didn't really matter. All that mattered was that they helped Namine. After I brought them down to her, I brought her a glass of water from the kitchen. She took two pills and a sip of water, and a few minutes later her chest shuddering lessened to its normal rate – which was still pretty sickly.
"Thanks for that." She gave me a genuinely sincere smile and a nice kiss on the lips.
We watched some more tv, but eventually I had to go.
"I'll come back when I finish packing, alright?" I told her.
"Mhm. See you then." She pecked my cheek and, with a smile, I walked back to my house.
~!~
I woke up early the next morning, at around 5. The night before, I had gone to Namine's to pack her stuff in my car and then went home. We both needed our sleep, and it was only right to spend our last day home with our families.
Anyway, I said goodbye to my parents, told them I'd be good and learn a lot, that I'd call them all the time. And as I walked through the door I honestly did feel some sadness – I was leaving home to live on my own for the first time. I was leaving the people who took care of me for 18 years. So I entered my house again and gave my parents both big hugs.
"Thanks, guys. You did a good job."
My mom could only cry harder and my dad smiled wider. It felt really good and I gave my own smile back.
I drove to Namine's house and got out to knock on the door. But before I could, it opened. Standing in the doorway was Namine's father, looking as stern as ever. He lead me in to his living room.
"Roxas, I'd like to ask you to take care of Namine." He began, then laid a hand on my shoulder. "Make sure she's safe and that she takes her medicine. Do you understand?"
"Sure, Mr. Grey, I'll try. But do you really think that Nami'll just let me keep tabs on her like that? She might look weak, but you of all people have to know how stubborn she can get." I gave him a smile at the end. He returned it with his own, which was a first for him. I'd never seen him smile to anyone besides Namine.
"That's true, she is pretty stubborn. Just like her mother used to be…."
At that point, Namine walked down the stairs. She looked pretty sleepy, but she never was really a morning person, and definitely not an early morning person. I learned that quickly.
She hugged her father, who gave her a little kiss on the forehead. "Be good, alright? Don't get into any trouble. Are you sure you have your medicine?"
She just giggled. "I have my medicine and I'll be good, Dad. Take care of yourself." They hugged again.
It was a touching little moment, but it had to end sometime. Namine separated from her father and we walked out the door to my car.
Twilight Town University wasn't too far away, but the drive was a few hours long, which was why I wanted a head start. Leaving at 6 in the morning also gave me a way to see the sunrise, something I loved to watch.
At around 7 that morning, while I drove on the highway, the sun began its ascent over the horizon. Stars twinkled in the darker blue parts of the sky, while warm pastel clouds drifted closer to the warm light of the sun. Namine, however, didn't see any of this; she was fast asleep in the passenger seat. I stared at her in adoration after watching the sunrise. There was just something about her that I couldn't help but love. And then there was just how cute she looked, especially when she was asleep.
But a loud beep from a car horn shook me from staring, and I realized that I almost hit the guy in the next lane. I had to pay more attention to the road and less to the girl next to me. I mouthed the words "I'm sorry." to the guy, who just flipped me off. Oh well, you can't win 'em all, I guess.
~!~
It was just about 1 in the afternoon when we arrived at Twilight Town Uni. Students littered the lawns. Parents said a tearful goodbye to their kids. And the main building itself rose high into the sky, topped by a bell tower with a big clock underneath it. And it was here that we began our lives out in the real world.
I definitely like this one more than "An August Beach Trip". Except for that last paragraph, anyway.
Part of this was inspired by Hellogoodbye's "Finding Something To Do".