• Sapphire
    “Leon, hurry up,” I chanted. ‘I can’t believe I’m wasting my precious time waiting for you and your shopping lollygagging pace. You should be groveling at my famous feet and crying your eyes out in anticipation of my departure.” I stared at him mockingly as a slight smile touched his features.
    “You don’t even know the half of it,” he teased.
    I gasped and broke out my ninja skills. “Take that,” I yelled as my foot moved to land in… empty space. “Darn kickboxing,” I muttered as he grinned openly.
    “That’s not going to work twice,” he taunted.
    “Well chop, chop. Time is money,” I said quoting my career obsessed agent.
    A warm breeze ran through the newly made parking lot. I heard my car beep and sobered up. I hadn’t actually wanted to leave yet. I really was saying goodbye. My eyes started to prickle and the weight of my career slammed down on me. I loved my job I love my job I love my job I chanted, but I loved my friends. His mood changed instantly too. I was glad that his indifferent mask wasn’t on today because I would have been heartbroken to see my best friend unaffected by my leaving. I didn’t want to cause him any pain. No, none at all. So I smiled again.
    “How long is the filming again?” he asked.
    “Four months,” I said. “Four monthymonthmonthiemothelmolematchedalse…”
    “Dae’ Shaun, there’s something I want to tell you,” he said cutting me off mid-word. He sucked in a deep breath. I reminisced over our day.
    “Let’s see,” I thought. I woke up and went out to breakfast with my pack: Nicole, Midori, Audrey, Amani, and the guys: Jason, Trey Lee and Edward. I didn’t even have to include Leon. He was a given, we were always together. Hmmmm. We ate, went to the movies, and spent the Saturday enjoying ourselves at my makeshift going away party. I thought of all the conversations we had and all the opportunities we had to talk back then. I thought of all the sad tearful goodbyes with my girls and the goodbyes with the ever joke-ful boys. He could have told me this anytime today. I wonder why he waited or if maybe he just thought of this. Either way this took me by surprise! He was always so assertive and confident around me. He never told me he needed to tell me something, he always just said it.
    My ride beeped again. I looked up and grinned. What, what, what, what is it?!!?!” I said, my curiosity growing with each of my heartbeats. “Tell me, tell me, tell meeee!!!” My normally animated personality momentarily returned as I almost broke out into song. The beet was already forming in my head, and I was about to start on the first verse when I looked up and noticed his dark mocha skinned face was slightly red.
    “OH NO!! Leon are you sick?” I shouted. “Is that what you wanted to tell me? “I put my hand on his forehead and the redness increased. “Nooooo you are, you are sick. What happened? You can’t be sick you’ve got your sport and your team needs you and I’m going to worry and I’m…”
    His long arm extended and his hand clamped down on my mouth ceasing the sound. “What is going on,” I thought. He never acts like this except that one time when… my thought was cut off midway because a warm, long, tall body was suddenly pressing up on me. “A hug? Since when did Leon give me hugs,” I wondered? Even if I was going away for a while, he was never into the mushy stuff… Or was he…?
    “I’m going to miss you,” he whispered as he released me and turned to run away.
    “Wait, what else were you going to say to me?” I yelled after his retreating form.
    “I’ll tell you when you get back,” he said over his shoulder. I stood there watching him run and smiled.
    “Well then when I get back,” I said out loud. I sucked in a deep breath and screamed after him, “Don’t trip while I’m gone because I won’t be there to laugh.” Even at his distanced I could see him stop and turn around to smirk.
    “Same to you Dae’Shaun,” he yelled back completing our goodbye quote tradition.
    I beamed and waved. My car ride beeped again and I turned around and headed off to do my job.
    My mind drifted around between random thoughts during the drive. Mama, and Jack my manager, were talking to me I think but I didn’t notice. I thought about my school with our brightly colored soft uniforms and clean, neat, sensible structure. I thought about my little remodeled city of Sakura on the Hawaiian Islands. The peaceful beautiful weather and mild temperatures that we got to live with. The moistness in the air so think you could taste it but so refreshing you wanted more, that belonged to our island. The crowded but safe streets and noisy bike paths of my town called out to me. I thought of my pack and all the greatest times we had. I thought of Leon Jacob Carter, my best friend and ex-worst enemy. I thought of all the things I like about him. The way he calls me by my last name, the way he makes me so angry then laugh so hard I cry. I thought of the way he was always calling me romantically dense and how I still have no idea what that means. His constant descriptions of my personality (spazy, spacey, crazy, wild, hilarious, random) whizzed through my mind. I thought of his recent birthday party officially making him 13. My mind skipped to how he used to be before we were friends. Violent, mean, scary and that expression of pure hatred he used to give me. Chills ran through my spine at the thought and I went to a happier subject. I thought of myself, Sapphire Rain Dae’Shaun aka Sara, the 12 year old actress/ singer star. Hehehehe I laughed. I thought of how I always tried to solve people’s problems. I thought of how much of a challenge it was to find the real Leon. My love of people wrongly guessing at my personality gave me a fun time. For some reason society always thinks that people who are at least somewhat famous are arrogant and rude. I love their shock when they hear one of my fantabulous spontaneous songs from me, a normal human being. Jacks voice finally made it through to me.
    “Oh, by the way Sara we will be on a remote location for the movie filming so you won’t have any phone service,” he said feigning nonchalance. My eyes popped.
    “What, no service?” I said.
    “Sorry, none,” he said.
    I looked down at my maroon cell phone. I sent a message to my friends, one last one before we got to the airport. I read it over, “Won’t have any service on the shoot so talk to you in 4 months  Caio, love Sara. I snapped it shut and handed it over.
    “You need to focus,” he said as his hand closed around my cell.
    “I need to focus,” I whispered to myself.


    2 more months later
    “I’m baaaaaaaaack,” I sang my grin stretching from ear to ear. I was so thrilled to be able to see my friends and family again. Wherever they were… I looked around searching. They all said they would meet me at the terminal when I got back home. “They must have gotten the date wrong,” I said out loud as we stepped into a cab. My thoughts flickered thought the months of filming and all the false press and rumors. The gossip magazines made up crazy things like I was going out with my male costar. My hands clenched in response. “Those people need to butt out of my life!” I shouted. Mama and Jack looked at me like I was crazy. My beautiful house came into view and I felt a sense of normality returning. I ran up the marble steps and through the wooden double door. Sweet tangy air wrapped around me as I walked into our kitchen where Grandma was making sweets. “Grandma!” I squealed as I ran to give her a hug.
    “It’s good to have you back dear, she said smiling. “Yay, now I get to see you and mama every day again!” I said half singing the words. “I was getting sick of my only family being Jack for four months,” I voiced. Hey mama, I said as she walked in, I’m going to run over to Leon’s house.
    “Mmmk dear,” she replied.
    I set my bags down and started jogging, up the familiar path etched into my head. I ran over the things my mother had told me while she visited the set.
    “Sara dear, Jack told me that you’ve been saying Leon’s name in your sleep every night. I do believe you unconsciously miss him.”
    I knew it wasn’t unconscious, my heart had felt torn for the entire 4 months. Maybe that’s what he had meant “romantically dense”. I didn’t realize I loved him until I left. “Oh well,” I though. “I’ll get this all figured out in a sec.” I walked up to his door and rang the bell.
    “Hey Sara,” his older sister said as she opened the door.
    “Hiya, I said, is Leon here?” She looked a bit nervous as she responded no quickly. “Uhh well then where is he?” I asked.
    “Ummm try Jason’s house,” she mumbled.
    I did and I got a similar reaction. I went to all my guy friends’ houses and even my packs houses but no one was home. Extremely disappointed I wandered around the park aimlessly until I noticed the football stadium lights on. Avid sports fan that I was I knew the schedules of games and practices by heart. I knew that there was nothing going on today. I figured I might as well poke my head in to check out whatever was happening. I heard “here she comes” from somewhere among the area as I ascended the steps. The concrete floor echoed my steps as I walked along. I loved my crime free city and all their unlocked glory. I easily walked through the main gate and through the inner part of the stadium. My palms started getting sweaty. What in the world was going on? I considered running away for one short moment but then my curiosity got the best of me. I could hear voices as I cautiously opened the door. “What the heck is going on,” I wondered. I squinted into the bright lights and then… SURPRISE!!! All my friends and even family were there beaming at me. I got smashed by bodies trying to hug me.
    “We missed you so much,” everyone said as I got teary eyed.
    They had thrown me a welcome back party. My friends, my wonderful friends. I looked to up to see the one face I’d missed especially, Leon’s. He was beaming so hard his smiled matched and outshone my own.
    He leaned in and said, “Dae’Shaun I’ve still got something to tell you.”
    I smiled and said, “Same here.”
    He cocked his head to the side and said, “never mind, I’ll just show you.” He leaned in and kissed me. My world went blank. This was all that mattered. I couldn’t think, I couldn’t breathe. He released me and I fell into my own world of pure bliss. “How could this get any better?” I asked as I reached for his hand.
    “You tell me,” he said, and we walked to join in the party. heart