"The Story of Luna and Sage"

I looked up from my book and across the room at a blonde haired blue eyed babe named Sage. I have had a crush on him since I was in the ninth grade but he has never paid so much as a speck of attention to me. I mean most guys don’t being the kind of person I am I strongly believe in self expression and simply wear whatever appeals to me. Weather that is a pair of rainbow stripped socks with a black velvet dress or suspenders with a skirt and a band shirt. I simply have never cared what I look like. I always say I get dressed for me not for everyone else. The bell rings as I am gawking at him like a fool so I quickly look away and close my book. I get up and scurry out of the room trying to avoid making an even bigger fool out of myself in front of Sage. I walk to my locker to switch out books for my next class and before I can even comprehend what is happening I turn around and Sage is right in front of me. His big blue eyes staring right at me before I can say anything I realize that he looks even more nervous then I feel if that’s possible he smiles slightly and says

“Hey, your Luna right?”

I smile like an idiot and look down at the floor before looking up and saying

“Yeah and your sage”

He smiles and stares at me for a moment longer then he answers

“Yeah…well um hey you seem like a pretty cool chick and I was just wondering if you would ever want to maybe chill sometime?”

I smile and kind of laugh a little before looking up and saying

“Sure I would love to”

He smiles again and says

“Okay cool well I know this really cool diner and….you know what I’ll pick you up at eight..how ‘s that?”

I give him a little wink and say

“Just perfect”

When I get home I jump up and down like crazy and run to my room to look for something to wear. When I open my closet I realize that I for the first time in my life actually care what someone else thinks about my clothes, but for once it’s a good thing. I rummage through my closet looking for the perfect thing to wear. Finally I find the perfect thing my dark amber red velvet dress with big gypsy sleeves, and my little swayed black boots. Then I decide that I will wear my hair down and wavy which looks really nice because my hair is down to my waist and is a very beautiful natural strawberry blonde color. I hate to sound self centered but I do love my hair. Then I go sit down in my living room and wait patiently for Sage to knock on my door or should I say not so patiently. I try reading my book but my mind is too distracted.

Finally I hear a car pull in the driveway and I hear a knock at the door I run over and take a deep breath and adjust my dress before I answer the door. Then I slowly open the door when I see him standing there with his Led-Zeppelin T-shirt on and his ripped up jeans with a little smile on his face I my heart starts to beat really fast. I smile and open the screen door with a little smile on my face before I say

“Is this my date?”

With a wink and a smirk he lets out a small laugh and says

“I do believe so”

Then I grab my purse and when I walk out the door I hold his hand as we walk to his car which is an old bright orange beat up ford truck. He opens the passenger door for me and I smile and say thank you

When we finally get to the café I could feel my heart floating. We went inside and ate some of the most amazing home cooked food I have ever tasted. Then he took me to this book store and showed me some of his favorite poetry books which only made him even dreamier because I have always written poetry and wanted to meet a guy who shared the same interest. When he took me home I felt amazing and I had the most fun I have ever with anyone just doing simple little fun things.

Sage and I continued to go out every single weekend doing all kinds of fun stuff and just enjoying each other’s company. I found out that we had a lot in common including our taste in music, poetry, and our views on a lot of other things. I was really happy until one day everything got very different.

I was sitting on the couch in the living room reading my new poetry book when I hear someone knock on the door. I got up and walked over to the door when I opened it I saw Sage standing there with a half grim on his face. However this was not the good half grin this was the kind of half grin he flashes right before or right after he does something extremely bad or stupid. He asked me if I wanted to go out so I said

“Sure”

Then I gave him a what are u up to look and grabbed my coat when I got in the car I felt uneasy and uncomfortable. Sage seemed really off and when I started talking to him I soon realized he was really drunk I told him to pull over put he refused. Then I was really scared I could feel my heart beating in my chest as he swerved all over the road. When the horrible car ride finally came to a stop we were in front of a dollar store. I had never been in this town before though and it looked extremely shady and I was really scared. Sage looked at me with a very serious face the kid of face he makes when he talks about things that make him mad. Then he said in a very stern voice

“Stay in the car!”

Then he got out and slammed the door behind him. I closed my eyes and let out a sigh of relief. I never thought I would find myself being relieved that sage was not around. Then I looked out the window and watched him walk across the parking lot, where there was a creepy guy in a black sweatshirt standing. They talked for a minute then I Sage turned his back to me and I couldn’t see what was happening then all of the sudden Sage started walking back towards the truck with both hands stuffed into his pockets. When he got back to the truck he didn’t say a word he simply put the truck in drive and started to drive down the road. I asked him where we were going and he simply kept his eyes on the road and in a blunt voice he said

“Somewhere special”

I didn’t like the sound of that as I continued to stare at him I realized his eyes where very bloodshot and had dark circles under then like he hadn’t slept in days. His hair was a mess and he smelled so bad of alcohol I prayed we wouldn’t get pulled over. We drove for a very long time I kept checking the little clock in the truck and the little blue numbers mocked me as more and more time passed. Finally we pulled up on top of a hill and the view over the entire town was before us. Then sage looked at me with a slight smile and said in a much sweeter voice

“Stay here babe”

So I agreed and he got out of the truck without slamming the door this time. I sat in the truck and just admired the beautiful view for a while until finally Sage got back in the truck then he backed out and turned the truck around so we were looking away from the pretty view. Then he looked at me and said kindly

“Come on baby I have something to show you”

Then we both got out of the car and sage walked around to my side and opened the door like he always does when we walked around to the back of the truck I realized Sage had blankets and pillows all laid out in the bed of the truck and candles all lined up on the tailgate. He looked at me and I smiled and said

“This is so romantic”

He smiled and said

“Come on my love let me show you something even more amazing then this view”

We climbed in the bed of the truck and laid back then we looked at the stars and talked for a long time about a lot of different things and I guess Sage must have sobered up on the ride to the candle lit view because he wasn’t slurring anymore. Then he pulled out a small bag of something out of his coat pocket He put it on the blanket in between us. I knew it was drugs I just didn’t know what kind. This wasn’t the first time Sage had offered me drugs and I had smoked weed with him lots of times before. However he had never offered me hard drugs and when he pulled them out I was a little scared In a small voice I said

“What is that?”

Then he looked at me with a strange look and said

“Heroin”

I didn’t even want to try I shook my head and said

“No sage..No I’m not doing heroin with you. I don’t mind smoking a little weed here and there but I’m not looking to get addicted to something”

He kind of smiled and said

“You can’t get addicted your first time I promise”

Then he continued to talk to me in his smooth kind tone of voice that always gets me to do this I know I shouldn’t and somehow he talked me from not wanting to have anything to do with it to being eager to try it. So finally I found myself there sitting in the bed of the truck with a needle in my arm and after that all I remember is everything feeling really good. However I know now that this was a false goodness. I simply felt numb and everything was very hazy and I decided to close my eyes.

Then somehow I ended up in my bed because when I opened my eyes back up I was in my room and I had a horrible headache. I rubbed my eyes and everything seemed extra sensitive. When I went to school Sage seemed extra loving and affectionate. I couldn’t help but wonder why.

This went on for another couple weekends and I realized the through the week when I wasn’t high I felt very off. I would get horrible stomach pains and have a pounding headache all the time. Sage on the other hand didn’t have that problem because Sage would come to school messed up. Weather that be on drugs or he had been drinking since the night before. He always came to school messed up and then he would dip around lunch time after he started to sober up and wouldn’t show up again until study hall. I also noticed that his personality was starting to change. He was not the same sage I had a crush on a few months back.

The one weekend things took a turn for the even worse I decided to go over his house for a little while. When I got over there he seemed pretty sober actually the most sober he had been in days. He was very loving and affectionate we were I the living room having a lot of fun and watching movies then I got up to get popcorn when I came back Sage was sitting on the couch with a bag in his hands the same bag he had the first night in the bed of the truck. He also had that half smile on his face that I could not stand. I looked at him with a blank look and calmly said

“Not today babe I’m not in the mood I don’t feel very well”

Then his smile slowly turned into an angry and hurt face and he said

“Come on baby it will make you feel better”

I looked at him and for some strange reason between the look on his face and the fact that I knew it would make me feel better I decided I would. So I said

“Okay but just a little bit I don’t want to get to messed up”

Then once again I found myself trusting Sage as he put that needle deep into my arm and pushed the plunger. Then I could feel the tingly warm sensation spread throughout my entire body and something in my brain snapped. I suddenly wanted more. So I did just that we kept doing hits Sage and I and we were so oblivious we didn’t know when to stop. Finally Sage put the needle in his arm one last time and it wasn’t long before his face went completely pale and his eyes rolled back into his head and his body slowly went limp and fell to the floor. I paused for a moment not knowing what to do my heart suddenly started pounding really fast and I could feel the tears rush to my eyes then before I could control it I started screaming and I couldn’t stop I was screaming his name and for someone to help and finally I thought to call 911. I ran over to the phone and dialed the number as quickly as possible. Before the room went dark and I felt myself hit the floor.

When I opened my eyes again I was in a hospital bed with tubes all over me. Everything was blurry and when I went to rub my eyes all the machines started beeping so I put my arm down and blinked really hard until I seen my mom sitting in the chair next to the hospital bed with tears in her eyes. I looked at her with a concerned look and tried to say something but realized I couldn’t talk. My mom realized what I was trying to do and said

“Don’t try to talk sweetie everything is going to be okay don’t worry”

Then before I could do anything else I got very weak and passed out again

When I opened my eyes this time there where less tubes and everything wasn’t so blurry however my mom was still sitting in the chair right next to me this time she wasn’t crying. When I looked at her she smiled and said

“Good morning sunshine”

I gave her an odd look and before I could say good morning I remembered Sage and I said

“Where is sage?”

My mom’s smile quickly faded and then she just stared at me. My heart started to beat really fast and I started to panic then I said it again

“Where is Sage mom?”

She looked down at the ground and started to get tears in her eyes now then she said

“Honey…sage is gone…”