Miles apart

Miles Apart

Only having long, intense conversations over the phone just wasn’t enough for Rosa. She and James had been talking for a year now. She knew her mom didn’t approve of meeting people online, but she didn’t care. Even though she had never actually met James she felt like she really knew him. They found out that that had many things in common. They were both seven-teen, worked as waiters at restaurants, hated sports and listened to music that both of their parents hated. Heavy metal. They liked to do all the same things, so she knew if they lived closer to each other that they’d date.

“I can’t wait to see you babe.” The words she had heard a million times sounded just as deep and sincere as the first time.

“Yea. I can’t wait either, but I’m actually starting to wonder if we are ever gonna see each other at all.”She said sounding a little annoyed.

“We will soon babe, I promise.” He said in a reassuring tone.

“Okay baby, if you say so. But I’ma go to sleep now.” She said sounding disconnected from the conversation.

“Okay babe. Goodnight. Sweet dreams. I hope you sleep good.” He said sounding dreamy.

“Goodnight.”

“I love you.” He said sweetly.

“Yea I love you too. Bye. “She said harshly as she hung the phone up. She hated how every time they talked, it was about the same things over and over. She understood that it was because they never get to see each other, but it was just getting way to boring for her. She was starting to lose interest. She couldn’t stand to like someone so much that lives so far away that you haven’t even met them. To her it felt like they were in a permanent long distance relationship. Rosa picked up her phone while lying in her bed and went straight to the picture he had sent to her a few days ago. James was in a black fox shirt with some jeans that were a little baggie, so he had on a belt to hold them up. It had a shiny silver buckle that sat in front of where his shirt fell down neatly. His black hair laid neatly down to his chin making his green eyes stand out. She wished she could him just one time. She wondered if he was really like he acted when they were on the phone, as she started to drift into a deep sleep.

She felt a cool breeze so she started to reach for her fuzzy blue cover, thinking she must’ve pushed it off of her. It wasn’t there. She put her hand down as if she was trying to feel around for it but instead of her warm bed sheets she felt something cool and gritty. She knew instantly this wasn’t her bed.

‘Where am I?’ she thought as she opened her eyes and quickly found out she was right.

She sat up and looked around while rubbing her arms with her hands trying to get the chill bumps, that were there, to go away. She was lying on a sandy path of beach sand that was lined by trees on each side. She could hear the fait sounds of the ocean as the waves crashed ashore. She wondered how she had got here, so started to look around to see if she saw anyone, but no one was there.

She got to her feet while realizing she wasn’t in her blue, pink and white plaid shorts or her pink tank top anymore. Somehow she had changed into a pair of closely fitting jean shorts that came to her fingertips and a baby blue lacy blouse. She didn’t know how she had changed but she liked the outfit. She started to walk down the winding path towards the sound of the waves.

‘Hopefully when I get to the beach I’ll see someone I know or I can ask someone where I am.’ Rosa thought.

She walked for what felt like two hours and the path started to grow narrower, the sun grew hotter and she was starting to sweat. A glimpse of the ocean was visible through the trees and the branches above knotted together forming a canopy that blocked out the brightness of the sun.

‘I’ve never seen anything so beautiful’ she thought.

She looked ahead towards the end of the path and sees that there’s a circular opening. The sun was shining in the opening leaving a halo like shadow on the ground. As she started to walk closer she realized that there was something that looked like a blob in the middle of it. As she got closer and closer she realized that it was a person.

His black hair blew freely in the breeze. His back was turned so she couldn’t see his face. He was wearing black plaid shorts that were a little baggie on his butt with a white beater that laid in little wrinkles at his waistline. As the breeze blew past him and onto her she could smell a faint scent of axe aftershave and cologne. She thought that the guy looked handsome from behind, so she knew she couldn’t wait to see his face.

She walked closer to him and he turned as if to glance behind him and then turned his back, back to her. Then he quickly turned back towards her as if he had to do a double take. He looked so familiar but she knew she couldn’t know him. He was still looking at her as if watching her as she got closer to him.

“Rosa?” He asked in a deep heavenly voice. ” Is that you?”

She knew instantly who it was.

“James?”

“It is you!” he said excitedly.

“Oh my gosh. I can’t believe it’s you!” She said cheerfully as she ran up to him and jumped into his strong muscular arms.

They stood there for a few minutes in each other’s arms. Chills covered her body once again but this time it wasn’t from being cold. The sound of his voice, the warmth of his body as it pressed against hers, the feeling of his hands on her lower back made her feel like she was safe. Like everything was perfect. He pulled away moving his hands into hers. She was glad that he didn’t let go. She didn’t ever want him to. He leaned and to give her a soft kiss.



Instantly she felt the sparks fly, like she had lightning bugs flying around in the pit of her stomach. She looked down at their hands. His was perfectly tan making her own look pasty white. Then Rosa moved her gaze to James’s face. She could see little star-like specks of light that were escaping from the canopy above, dancing across his skin.

Rosa felt something she had never felt before. The feeling was over whelming. She was in love. James was slightly taller than her. His black hair flowed freely framing his eyes and making his light pink, plump lips stand out. His body was perfectly chiseled with toned muscles. She was attracted to him in every way possible, but something just didn’t feel right. He wasn’t as cheerful and happy as he usually sounded over the phone.

“Are you okay babe?” Rosa asked in a concerned tone.He looked down at their intertwined hands and his face lost all traces of emotion.

“Yes. Well no. I don’t know it’s just….” He sounded lost and like he was confused by his own emotions.

“Well which one is it babe? You know you can talk to me.” She said with concern and confidence.

“It’s just…. I don’t feel the same way I thought I would.” He said in a low disconnected voice as he looked into her blue eyes.

“What are you talking about? Feel what way?” She asked sounded confused. Her heart beat started to slow down as she stared into his deep green eyes waiting for him to answer. ‘What if I did something wrong?’ She thought.

“I mean I like you and all, but…..” He trailed off.

“But what? Did I do something? Was it the way I kissed you or is it my sweaty hands? Please tell me what I’m doing wrong.” The words seemed to pour out of her mouth a thousand miles an hour.

“No baby you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just when you kiss someone your supposed to feel sparks and I’m just not feeling anything.” He said sounding kind of like he was disappointed.

The words that came out of James’s mouth hit Rosa like a slap in the face. She went silent and was at loss for words. She just didn’t know what to say back to him. She felt the tears streaming down her face so she quickly turned her face where he couldn’t see her crying. She hated for anyone to see her cry. It made her feel like she was weak. He pulled her to him giving her one last hug and said the words,

“I’m so, so sorry. I do like you, but maybe….”

She looked up at his face that was now blurry from the tears as he started to fade away. She was now standing alone, like he was never there.

She woke up in her bed clutching her pillow that was now soaked with tears.

‘It was all just a dream. I can’t believe it. It felt so real.’ She thought still crying.

She looked at her window and could see the daylight creeping in from the top of the sleeping bag she had put up to block out the brightness of the sun. She picked her phone up from underneath her pillow to look at the time. 12:30, she hadn’t slept that late in a very long time. Rosa dialed James’s number as fast as she could. She needed to talk to him right away.

His phone rung so many times she thought he was never going to answer the phone. Finally after like twenty rings, someone answered the phone.

“H..hell..hello?” it was a woman’s voice and she sounded like she had been crying.

“Is James there?” She asked in a polite voice.

The woman on the other line started to wail like she had been stabled in the chest and was in a lot of pain.

“Maim? Are you okay?” She asked not wanting to be rude, but she wanted to know.

“I..Is th..this rrrr…Rosa?” She said sobbing so loudly Rosa could barely make out the words.

“Yes Maim, it is. Is everything okay Maim?”She toke a minute to pull herself together so she could speak to Rosa.

“This is James’s mom, Rosa. I’ve been told about you. James talked about you all the time.” She said in a much clearer voice.

‘Talked? What does she mean talked?’ she wondered silently in her thoughts.

“Really?” Rosa asked.

“Yes he did. All the time to. He loved you, you know.” She couldn’t believe that he talked about her all the time. The sound of his mother telling her that, made her smile and feel tingly inside.

“Well is James around because I really need to talk to him?” She asked in an anxious voice.

“He….. He got into a car accident.” She sobbed. “He passed away late last night.” His mother said while crying deeply. Rosa felt the tears well up in her eyes again. She didn’t want to believe what she was hearing but she knew his mother wouldn’t lie about something like that.

“He decided to leave after he got off the phone with you, Rosa. He wanted to see you and didn’t want to wait. So he headed out on his way to go see you. While he was driving a drunk driver ran a stop light and crashed into him………… killing him instantly.” His mother had slowed down her crying enough for Rosa to understand what had happened.

Rosa’s heart felt like it was about to burst out of her chest. He was on the way to see her and she was such a jerk last time she had talked to him. She couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, nothing. She just sat there motionless. If only she hadn’t been so harsh to him maybe he would have stayed home and he’d still be alive.

His mother drove all the way to get her to bring her to his funeral. The only time she had ever got to see him was in his casket. He looked so beautiful and so peaceful. Rosa’s wish had come true she got to see James one time and only one time. Her heart was broken and she was never able to talk to another guy again. She knew she would die a lonely woman, but knew when she did that he would be waiting for her at the heavenly place they had been together in her dream.