Free Falling Free: What happens in Vegas... (The Fall Series) by Annica Rossi Page B

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Summer Long by Kid Rock came bursting through the ear buds.
    Suddenly, I was running and
laughing with tears in my eyes like a crazy fool as I listened to the lyrics. We
were two wild kids back then. Well played, Mr. Blackwell. Well played!
    It was 1989, my
thoughts were short, my hair was long
    Caught somewhere
between a boy and man
    She was
seventeen and she was far from in-between
    It was
summertime in Northern Michigan
     
    Splashing through
the sand bar, talking by the campfire
    It’s the simple
things in life like when and where
    We didn’t have
no Internet but man I never will forget
    The way the
moonlight shined upon her hair
    And we were
trying different things, we were smoking funny things
    Making love out
by the lake to our favorite song
    Sipping whiskey
out the bottle, not thinking ‘bout tomorrow
    Singing ‘Sweet
Home Alabama’ all summer long
     
    Catching Walleye
from the dock
    Watching the
waves roll off the rocks
    She’ll forever
hold a spot inside my soul
    We’d blister in
the sun, we couldn’t wait for night to come
    To hit that sand
and play some rock ‘n’ roll
     
    Now nothing
seems as strange as
    When the leaves
began to change
    Or how we
thought those days would never end
    Sometimes I hear
that song and I’ll start to sing along
    And think, man,
I’d love to see that girl again
     
    As the music faded I wasn’t ready
to let go. The song ended too soon. I wanted to hit repeat, but before I could
the next song started to play. Pour Some Sugar On Me by Def Leopard. Wow! This
really brought me back. We weren’t the typical kids back then I guess. We used
to listen to CD’s that I borrowed from my dad’s collection more often than the
current music that played on the radio. And this tune? Well, let’s just say it
had my hormones racing on more than one occasion with Parker. The night he
challenged me to a kissing contest this song played in the background as we
locked lips for the first time. I could still picture the scene in my mind. We
were so young and inexperienced. We thought we knew everything when in reality
neither one of us had a clue.
    For almost an hour I ran and
listened as song after song had me laughing and crying and singing along high above
the beautiful chaos in the streets below. But the last song…the last one. I
hadn’t been able to listen to it since Parker sang it to me seven years ago. Yellow by Coldplay. Every time it came on the radio I flipped the channel quickly
to avoid it. Now here it was playing in my ears like a message from him…
    My mom had been sick for a while.
We knew it was serious, and we were waiting for the test results that night…
    Look at the
stars,
    Look how they
shine for you,
    And everything
you do,
    Yeah, they were
all yellow.
     
    We were sitting close to the fire
on the beach. Sarah and Nina had called it a night, and it was just Parker and
me when this song came on the radio…
    I came along,
    I wrote a song
for you,
    And all the
things you do,
    And it was
called “Yellow”
     
    Parker had been on his best
behavior that week, giving his usual annoying asshole routine a break. Looking
back now he must have sensed that I really needed my friends more than ever,
and when the others were gone he sat next to me and put his arm around me
tightly. Then out of the blue he just started singing…
    So then I took
my turn,
    Oh what a thing
to have done,
    And it was all
yellow
     
    Your skin,
    Oh yeah your
skin and bones,
    Turn into
    Something
beautiful,
    You know,
    You know I love
you so,
    You know I love
you so,
     

 
    He remembered that night, and somehow
he knew how much this song, that night, meant to me.
    I swam across,
    I jumped across
for you,
    Oh what a thing
to do.
    ‘Cause you were
all yellow,
     
    I drew a line,
    I drew a line
for you,
    Oh what a thing
to do
    And it was all
yellow.
     
    Completely overwhelmed with
emotion, I wanted to run to him. I wanted to drop the bitch defense that I had
come here so hell bent on