Free Boy Midflight by Charlie David

inner turmoil. Her eyes are wet, and she hurriedly brushes a tear away and tucks a disobedient blonde tress behind her ear.
    “Ahh… come here,” I say, enveloping her in my arms and placing her head to rest on my shoulder. “It’s gonna be fine, Chris is gonna take care of you. What am I saying? You, lioness, can take care of yourself. And I’ll be back to visit soon and often.”
    “I guess I can always post up pictures of you from the magazines in my locker, right? I’ll make a little Ashley shrine.”
    “Michelle, we’ll always be awesome friends and you and Chris can come visit me in LA. It’s a short drive, like twenty-two hours driving fast.” I laugh.
    “Promise me one thing,” she says, looking me in the eyes.
    “Anything.”
    “That you won’t change. Because there is so much to love just as you are. Remember that.”
    I nod. “I’m a little scared, Michelle.”
    “Don’t be. We’re all really excited for you.”

IX
     
     
    CHRIS LAYS his head back and sighs while staring at the ceiling. I watch him silently as he places one hand on his head and rubs it over his recently shaved scalp.
    I roll into him and we lay looking up at his ceiling in satisfied silence. Silence because there are few words left to say. Silence because we yearn to stretch each moment and save those words until there is no choice but to give them breath. Rain pit-patters on the awning above the window, open and inviting in the cool night air. It slips in a silent stream from the ledge, drawing a line across the carpet and up onto the bed, where it tickles our feet. I draw my arm up and crook it over my head. Curiously running my fingers over Chris’s smooth skull, I mindlessly continue until he breaks our glass silence.
    “Can you stop doing that? I hate that.”
    “Stop what?” I ask, mystified.
    “Stop touching my head. I hate it. Just leave it alone, okay?” Chris seethes with a harshness I’ve never heard before.
    “All right, no problem. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize it upset you.” I pause. “So where were you today? I missed you.”
    “I couldn’t be there. I couldn’t stand that building today.”
    “It was my last day, Chris. I wish you’d come.”
    “I said I couldn’t do it, all right? Your last day…. Did you really think of me once today before coming over to mess around one last time?”
    I bolt upright and start searching for my boxers. “I can’t believe you just said that. Do you think that’s what this was? A bon voyage screw?”
    “Ashley, stop. Please. I’m sorry. I don’t know what I’m saying. I just can’t stand knowing you’ll be gone in the morning. How am I supposed to say good-bye?”
    “Who says we have to? Chris, I’ve been waiting for the silence to be broken all night by that horrible word, and I can’t stand to look at you and say it.” He embraces me, and we stand locked, united against the surging sea, the dark clouds, the seething wind, and whatever the future will bring.
    “Here, I made this for you. This is how I spent my day.” Chris hands me a blue box, exquisitely painted like the sky with clouds.
    I nod, kiss him one last time, and turn. “I gotta go.”
    Clutching the sky in my arms, I slowly walk away from Chris’s house. Leaving love for a new life; career is always first. I’ve prayed so long and sincerely for these two things, to find a best friend and lover. Is it possible I’ve finally found someone who loves me for who I am? My second equally compelling prayer has been to find the keys to unlock the doors of my ambitions. To catch a break.
    Ironically Antonio has given me both at once. He’s handed me two great gifts, and I can’t manage to carry both. Bittersweet tears start forming in the corners of my eyes as I reach the top of a hill on Pembroke Street. A streetlight holds me transfixed in its sifted rays through the pink-blossomed trees. Gazing out over the city lights with memories of our time spent in this very spot, I sink to