Sitting under the clouds in the day is a great idea. If it's a dreary day, not so much. But if it's a bright, sunny day, and you can watch them float by without being blinded by the glare of the sun, then it's lovely. It's so relaxing sitting there and watching the world go by. You don't have to rush to go anywhere – you can just lie in the grass and breathe in the cool air.
Your name is Dave Strider, and this is how you spend a lot of days when you're with your friend. Her name is Jade Harley.
You have other friends, too. John and Rose. They said they'd try and visit for a day and we could all catch up. Talk and stuff. You were originally going to go to some unpopular diner near John's house and chat over milkshakes and chicken. That's what you would have ordered.
But John and Rose cancelled for reasons they didn't specify so it was just you and Jade. You weren't even considering telling Jade you weren't coming. It would break her heart, because she's normally the one who organises everything for you. But you weren't comfortable with going to the diner. That would look too much like a date. Not that it's a bad thing; it's just that you didn't want people to get the wrong idea. You're not dating.
So you decided to go to the park, like Jade suggested originally. She was all for the idea when you asked if she'd mind reconsidering the venue. She got all excited and spazzed on the keyboard (you were talking on Pesterchum at the time) and you couldn't calm her down. No matter what, you're going.
Despite the rain forecasted later.
So you have no idea how Jade can get over here, seeing as she lives on an island, but that's not your problem. You can't drive, and so you're not able to meet her at the dock or anything. You're not even sure there is a dock here.
You're at the park now. You walked here from your house. She said she'd meet you wherever you wanted, so you said the bench at the entrance. That way you could walk around the park and just talk, like you intended to do at the diner. Except it's only you and Jade now, and not the four of you. You were pestering John earlier on advice on talking to girls, and he immediately suspected that it was a date. He finally caved on giving you advice when you said you would tell Rose he had a crush on her. He doesn't, but Rose wouldn't know that. He told you to act casual, and not bring up any awkward topics. He said you should also dress how you normally do, because then it looks like you weren't expecting her to dress up if she dresses like she normally does. As soon as he asked who it was, and you told him it was Jade, he typed "hahahahaha" on the chat and went offline. You think that he's probably already told Rose, but it doesn't really matter if Rose thinks anything. You can usually always prove her wrong.
You sit on the wooden bench and cross your one leg over the other, leaning back. You're going to try and look cool when Jade finally gets here, so you stick your headphones on and turn the volume up full. You sit there for a while with your trademark shades on, nodding your head to the beat. An old woman walks past and looks at you in disgust. What's wrong with some people? Can't you just listen to your music in the park without attracting attention?
You shake your head to no one in particular, but when the little break in between songs makes its appearance before your favourite song, you rush to take your headphones off. Someone is shouting your name. Really
loudly.
You turn your music player off and shove it in your pocket, along with your headphones, which are convenient enough to have a fold-up ability. You look around you to try and see who it is. When you can't see them but can hear where it is coming from you head in that direction. At this precise moment you don't care if you look a bit uncool while you're running. You just need to find who's calling your name.
You run down the left path when the cobblestones fork. One leads into a small forest, one leads up the hill, and one leads to the field where all the little kids play their serious matches of soccer. Serious. You amuse yourself sometimes.
There's nobody here except for a girl about your age with long black hair sitting on a bench near the park exit. As soon as she spots you she looks up. "Dave!"
It's Jade. Why she thought the gate clearly labelled "exit" was the entrance you'll never know. But that's Jade. And you wouldn't have her any other way.
"Dave!" she repeats, running up to you with her arms outstretched. You stay put. No running towards each other while Chariots of Fire is playing or anything. She reaches you and hugs you, and you can't help but return it. She is a good friend, after all, and good friends do hug each other.
"I'm so glad you're here!" she squeals into your shirt.
"Calm down," you say. "It's only been about three months. Not five years."
"But...I'm just really happy to see you again! I would have been even happier if John and Rose were here, but I don't mind. I'm perfectly happy, even if you're the only one of my friends that's here," Jade babbles, smiling. She detaches herself from your shirt and points over to the other end of the field, where the huge hill starts. "We can go and watch the clouds up on the very top of the hill. If that's okay with you."
You turn from Jade to look at the peak of the hill. It'll be a miracle if you can even make it up to the top.
You go to point out that you might not be able to get up the hill but it comes out as something completely different. "Sure."
"It doesn't matter if you don't want to right now. It's just a thought." She scans her surroundings, and you stay staring at her. "We could...get ice cream?"
"At least it will give us energy to get up the hill. You do know that it's a long way up, right?" you say. She nods. "Okay. As long as you realise that it kills your legs."
"Ice cream gives you energy!" she smiles, tugging your hand. She starts to walk down the path you just ran down to find her, and you obediently follow. You walk in silence for a while and she admires the forest next to her. The path seems longer now that a) there's an awkward silence and b) you're not running down it. You resist the urge to get out your headphones and start listening to your music because that would just be rude.
Finally the families and couples gathered in the main park area seem to loom into view, and you can see Jade's grin spread across her face at the sight of the ice cream van, and her grip on your hand gets tighter.
Wait. She's holding your hand. How did that happen?
It doesn't matter now, as she's let go and is running off towards the van. It's like taking care of a toddler. A fast, grown-up toddler, who can manage to slip her hand into yours and run off through the park without you noticing. You chase after her and she turns around and sort of jogs backwards. Her beaming smile makes you smirk slightly too.
She backs slowly up to the van, then spins around to face the ice cream selection board. You catch up, stopping behind her.
"Vanilla, chocolate, raspberry ripple, banana..." she mutters to herself, reading the flavours out. She turns around with her eyes closed and shouts "DAVE!" at the top of her lungs before realising you're standing right behind her.
"Jesus! I'm here!" you say, flinching and raising your hands in mock defence.
She opens her eyes. "Right." She smiles sweetly and blinks. "Sorry. I'm getting just a plain vanilla. What about you?"
"Actually, I'm okay for now. So nothing," you reply. She digs in her pocket and counts her change, but you push her hand back down. "Don't worry. I'll pay. It doesn't look like you have enough there anyway."
She glances down at your hand, and she puts hers back in her pocket. You look up at the vendor and say in your coolest voice: "One vanilla scoop, please".
It's hard to be cool when you're ordering ice cream.
The guy looks at you. "Just one? There are two of you, you know."
"Yes, I know," you reply. "I'm not in the mood for ice cream at the moment."
"Have an ice cream."
"No, thanks."
"Go on."
"I don't want one."
"Suit yourself." You stare at Jade's pebble-collecting antics while the guy prepares her ice cream. She keeps mumbling things like "that's shiny" and "very nice" to herself.
"Oy." You turn around and retrieve the cone from the guy. You tip the money out of your hand onto the counter and don't bother saying thank you. 'Cause that's what cool guys do.
"Jade. Jade," you say, hinting at her to take the ice cream off you. She perks up, and she looks so much like a meerkat that you can't help but crack a small smile.
"Ooh! Thank you, Davey!" She gives you a hug and you flail your one arm to keep the ice cream out of the way. "Sorry. Again. I'll take that." You pass her the cone. She takes one lick before closing her eyes and smiling to herself.
"You look like the cat that got the cream," you comment. "Is it that nice?"
"Yes, it's delicious!" she giggles. "Want some?"
You lean forward and lick the ice cream off the side she hasn't touched. Not that there's anything wrong with the side she has touched, it's just that it's the side closest to you.
"Uhh, great," you lie."But I'm not a big fan of ice cream, so I won't like it as much as you do. Although it does smell really nice."
She sniffs the top of the ice cream and ends up getting a splodge on the end of her nose. She hasn't realised. "You're right! It does smell nice!"
"Um, Jade...? You've got ice cream on your nose."
She goes cross-eyed trying to look at it and then attempts to reach it with her tongue. "Ahh, I'll ask for some napkins."
You watch her cutely ask the man in the ice cream truck for some napkins. He shakes his head, and she returns to you. "Got none," she says sadly.
"Okay." You're not sure how to do this. You're not going to soil the red sleeve of your t-shirt with vanilla ice cream.
You're about to reach out and wipe it off with your finger when she shakes her head violently, and it kind of reminds you of a dog. She then smudges it off with the back of her hand. "Done."
"Well, that's one way," you say. She wipes her hand on her shirt. "Shall we walk back to the hill?"
"If you want." She takes it as a yes and starts to walk back across the main park area, stopping to stroke a dog that's chasing a stick. You stick there by the van, just watching her, until she bolts down the forest path.
"Jade!" you yell, running after her. "Jade! Don't just run off!"
You sprint across the grass, reach the forest path, and slow down, because you want to conserve your stamina for the hill. And also because you don't know how far into the woods she's gone.
"Dave!"
It's Jade. She's gone somewhere to the right, because you can detect where the sound of her voice is coming from, and you follow it. It's steeper to the right, and no longer as flat. You stop for breath a few times and eventually start to see the sunlight pouring through the trees ahead.
"Dave! Come and look at this!"
You trudge up the rest of the hill. It must lead to the very top.
You emerge from the trees and branches and you shrink away from the light. Then you remember you have your shades on. Your vision is slightly blurred because of the sudden darkness-to-sunlight transition, but when it readjusts, you see Jade lying on her back in the grass. You plod over to her, and sit resting on your hands next to her, facing the opposite direction.
"The grass is so soft," she whispers.
"I guess so," you agree.
"And the sun feels nice. Warm. Cosy."
"Yeah, I suppose."
Jade lifts herself up slightly so she's resting on her elbows. "Why don't you lie down, Dave?"
"Because I fear that if I lie down I won't be able to get back up again. My legs ache that much. It's a bloody steep hill," you moan, but eventually give in and lie back on the grass, and Jade follows suit. You're both staring up at the clouds and lying ear to ear on the grass. Her long hair tickles your cheek every time you move.
"Did you eat that entire ice cream in the time it took me to follow you up here?" you ask.
"Yeah, I did. It was really nice," she smiles. There's a pause where we're both just watching the sky.
"Look at the clouds. What shapes can you make out of them?" she puzzles, pointing up at the sky.
"Uhh...that one kinda looks like...oh gee, a cloud, I guess," you say sarcastically, then realise that she's sensitive. You hope she doesn't get upset.
"Yeah, but what shapes can you make out of the clouds?" she responds. "Like that one. That one looks like a cat head."
You haven't the foggiest how one can fathom shapes out of bundles of silvery fluff but you agree nonetheless.
"Do you know why I love clouds?" Jade asks. She proceeds to tell you an essay's worth of stuff about the sky and the colours but after a while you blank out, just focussing on the pale blue in front of you. She keeps talking even after the sky turns a murky grey.
"And I mean, despite there being not much colour, there's-Dave? Dave, are you okay?" You give your head a quick jolt and snap back into reality.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."
"Good. I wouldn't want to think I was boring you or anything," she grins. "And you know what my absolute favourite thing about clouds is?"
"No. What?"
"The fact that they're so free. Like they can go anywhere they please. It's peaceful to watch them just sail across the sky. It's almost like there's some sort of spirit guiding them."
"Spirit? What exactly do you mean by spirit?"
"Like...the spirit of a dead person. I've always imagined that each cloud is a spirit of someone who's passed on."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Like the spirit is just floating along, going wherever the wind takes it – literally. It must be nice to be like that."
"It's probably not that nice to be dead," you point out, then realise that such a comment could upset some people. "But nice to be free, if that's what you meant."
"That's what I meant. It just came out wrong." She sighs to herself. "I'm not making much sense, am I? I bet I just sound weird."
"It's not weird. It's actually kinda cute," you assure her. She twists her head to the side as the same time as you, and you end up nose to nose. You both look away and you can feel your cheeks heating up.
"Er, sorry," you say.
"It's okay," she replies. "I, um, I don't mind."
You stretch your hand out in front of you and feel small specks of rain on your palm. "It's starting to rain. We should go now."
"But I want to stay in the grass..." Jade whimpers as you sit up.
"It's raining though, and I don't fancy sitting in the wet grass in soaking clothes all day," you reply. You shuffle backwards and tug on her hand. "Come on."
She sits up, taking off her glasses and rubbing her eyes. "I almost fell asleep there."
"Well, wake up, because it's really coming down hard now." You can feel the raindrops patter on your hair. You stand up and assist Jade as she does too. She takes one look at the sky and buries her head into your shirt.
"I can't see the clouds anymore," she mutters.
"Of course you can."
"No, the lovely, fluffy white ones that were out a minute ago. The ones that my mother helped me to make shapes out of when I was younger."
That sentence is like a dagger through your heart. She's never talked about her – granted, now deceased – parents. At all. Ever.
You tilt your head back slightly to see her face, and a tear runs down her cheek. "Hey, don't cry," you say gently, wiping it away.
"No. I'm okay." She takes in a deep breath and moves away, but you snatch her hand at the last minute. She looks down at your hand on hers and back at you.
"Come here. Give me a hug," you mumble, stepping out of your cool guy mode to reveal a softer side. She does, and wraps her hands around your side.
"You're freezing," she says.
"I know. And so are you."
"I didn't even bother to check the weather," Jade shivers. "Why didn't we bring a jacket or anything?"
Right now seems the perfect time to say a line to say something that you've always wanted to say to her.
"I'd give you a jacket if I had one, but you can have my heart," you whisper to her. She looks up at you with widened eyes.
"Dave..."
"Actually, forgive me," you say, and her facial expression changes to one that looks like a mix of hopeful and scared. "It seems like you've already stolen it."