-S-
Sara woke up at 5 am and she could not go back to sleep. She got up and started getting ready. Michelle was still asleep while she was making pancakes. Sara was wondering if Joe was up. He probably was curious about yesterday. As soon as she texted Joe, he replied.
-I’ll be there as soon as possible.
Sara liked the fact that Joe was always around her. Is there any way that I can be with him? Joe was the same as he always was. She told him what happened yesterday while they were eating pancakes. As she expected, Joe listened to her intently.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have answered that phone call.”
“I think you did the right thing. You said you think of him as family.”
“It’s true. I do, even though now everything is very hard.” Sara could remember when she saw Keith for the last time. It was at a small café downtown. It was the day after Sara told him she was leaving him. Keith couldn’t handle Sara leaving him, and begged her to stay.
“I am sorry for acting so weird yesterday, but I am fine now.” Sara felt good after she talked to Joe. Joe held her hand and comforted her.
“You seem tired. Go take a nap. I will do the cleaning.”
“Thanks.”
Sara saw Joe cleaning from behind. She felt very comfortable having Joe in the kitchen. Sara lay down on the couch. The sound of dishes being washed would normally annoy her, but this time it relaxed her. She slept until Michelle came down, and when she woke up, Joe was next to her, as if he was her very own bodyguard.
Shawn and Bailey came late, but they arrived at Wendy Park with everyone else.
“Let’s play!” Michelle shouted when she was getting out of the car. Jennifer checked her camera and took a picture of Michelle running.
“Where are we going first?” Jake asked.
“Well. Let’s go somewhere close first. It’s only 11 am, and we’ve got all day anyway,” Bailey answered.
Sara looked around. It was not as small as Sara thought. She saw the big red gate and Arabian style buildings.
“What is that?”
“That’s a restaurant,” Shawn said.
“Oh, it looks cool. What do they sell?”
“Uh. McDonalds, I guess.”
Sara laughed at Shawn. On one side of the park, there was a zoo, and a restaurant and other amenities in the middle; on the other side, there was an amusement park.
“Shall we go to the zoo first and then eat?” Bailey said with a smile. She seemed very excited.
“Have you been here a lot?” Sara asked.
“Well, just a couple times, but I really like it here.” Bailey seemed more excited than usual.
They walked around the zoo for a while and ate lunch at the cafeteria. Joe bought cotton candy for everyone. All of them were eating cotton candy, and walked around the zoo. Jennifer dropped her cotton candy while she was taking pictures. Sara gave hers to Jennifer and shared Joe's cotton candy.
"I used to think that I was like one of the animals," Joe said to Sara while they were passing elephants.
"What do you mean?" Sara asked back.
"Do you think they are happy?"
"Of course not, they are far from their homes." Because of the sun, most of the animals were resting under the shade. Sara put a piece of cotton candy in her mouth.
"Yes, they are far away from home, but not only that, they are chained. They don't have freedom. No opportunity for them, and they will just die like that," Joe told her. Sara was trying to figure out what Joe meant by that, but she kept getting lost in the metaphor.
"Did you have problems with your parents? I don't get it."
"Well, I once made a mistake, and I had to pay for it. People around me had to suffer because of the choices I made."
Joe seemed discouraged talking about his past. Sara wanted to know more about his story.
"What mistakes? You should tell me what happened. I want to know."
"I will, but not now." Joe held Sara's hand.
"Hey, Joe, we are going to ride the Ferris Wheel. Do you want to come?" Jake and Bailey told them.
"Yeah, sure. What about the others?"
"They’re with Jennifer. She is taking photos. They will come later." Bailey said while she walked to Sara. Bailey looked at Sara as if she had something to say to her.
"What?"
"Come here." Sara and Bailey walked behind Joe and Jake.
"I have a good feeling about today; I am going to tell Jake on the Ferris Wheel."
"What? That you..."
"Right. I will just tell him, but not too serious. I can handle the conversation if it is just the two of us."
"Ok." Sara was a little bit surprised.
"I've been thinking about telling him ever since I talked to you. You are right. I would never know, and I will probably regret not saying anything to him."
"Well. I hope everything works out." Sara was worried about Bailey. If it worked, it would be amazing, but if it did not, Bailey would get hurt, but Sara couldn’t stop her.
"Hey guys don't make us ride by ourselves," Jake was waiting. Sara stood next to Joe.
"Are we not riding with them?" Joe asked.
"No, we are riding separately," Sara told the employee and looked at Bailey and Bailey smiled at Sara.
“All right, if you two want to be alone,” Jake booed, and went into the cart. When Joe and Sara were about to get in, Shawn ran to them.
“Wait! We want to get in, too.” Michelle ran after Shawn and they both got in. Shawn and Michelle started talking, but Sara was only thinking about Bailey. She hoped that everything would go well. When the Ferris Wheel was at the highest point, she could see all over the park.
“Wow. This is cool.” They all looked outside. She could see many trees.
“They all look the same,” Shawn said.
“That’s why you don’t have a girlfriend,” Michelle teased him and Shawn started jumping in the cart. Sara and Michelle both started to scream, and Joe was laughing.
“Please no jumping in the cart. It could be very dangerous.” The employee spoke through the speaker.
“You should get him. Put him in jail!” Michelle said. After they got out, Sara could tell the employee was not happy with them, but she started looking for Bailey first. She saw Jake outside standing alone.
“Where is Bailey?”
“She went to the restroom,” Jake said. He seemed pretty normal.
It didn’t work… Sara noticed.
“I need to find Bailey. I’ll be back,” Sara told Joe and she started looking for friend. She found the restroom. When Sara walked into the restroom, she could hear someone weeping.
“Bailey…?” One of the booths opened and Bailey walked out slowly. Her make-up was ruined. Sara walked to her and gave her a hug without words. Sara wanted to know what really happened, but she couldn’t find the words; she did not know how to comfort her.
“I thought I would be ok. I told myself that so many times. No matter what happens, I will be fine. But…” Bailey cried a little more before she calmed down.
"He didn't even care. I told him, and he laughed. He thought I was joking."
"I am so sorry, Bailey. You know, he is pretty lame" Sara felt bad and a little bit mad at Jake. Bailey wiped her face and continued talking.
"I was embarrassed, but I told him again, you know, it was really hard to bring up, so I thought I wanted to take it all out, and then he cut me off, and told me that I should stop. He was still playful. He didn't take me seriously at all."
"Bailey. I think he was afraid of ruining the friendship."
"No, it's not that Sara. He wasn't, or never would, consider me as an option. I knew it. I am just a fun person to hang around. He laughed. You should have seen his face. I know that he didn't mean to be a jerk, but that was what happened.”
"Bailey ..." Sara wished Bailey could forget this soon.
"I wish my life was like a movie. Everything is like 'boom' and works out."
"Everything will work out. It will. You will find someone."
"Thanks. I don't believe myself, but I believe you," Bailey smiled at Sara.
“Oh, I look terrible!” Bailey said while she was looking at the mirror. “Sara, could you do me a favor?”
“Yes, anything.”
“If anyone asks, could you tell them that I am having a stomach ache and food poisoning? Just tell them that I have diarrhea.”
“I won’t say that.”
“I don’t care. There is no one that I’m trying to impress. It will take time for me to get back to normal.” Bailey pointed at her swollen face. “I will just play games on my phone or something.”
Bailey did not come out for an hour. Michelle and Jennifer wanted to go see Bailey, and Sara had a hard time convincing them to not go see her. Jake still seemed normal. Sara wasn’t sure if he really didn’t care at all. At least, he did not tell anybody about what happened. Sara sighed. Maybe it would be better if people just tell each other the truth so they can move on, but it hurts.
"I wish all the pain could go away and not come back after you cry."
"What? What are you talking about? Are you sad?" Joe asked Sara.
"Nothing." Sara shook her head and looked up the sky.
Sara and Joe were waiting for Bailey while other people kept having fun in the park. Later, Bailey came out with a smile like usual. When Bailey came out, Joe left so Sara could be alone with Bailey .
“How are you feeling?” Sara asked.
“I’m good. Where is everybody?”
“They are having fun.”
“Thanks for waiting for me.”
“No problem.”
“Ah, I feel good now. I feel like a weight has been lifted.” Sara was glad that Bailey was ok. Soon Joe came back and they talked a while. Later, other guys came back to the group. Jake made a mean joke about Bailey being in the restroom for a long time and people criticized him. Joe seemed like he noticed there was something wrong, but Jake and Shawn really thought Bailey had a stomach problem. Sara felt provoked by Jake.
“Let’s leave in an hour. How does that sound?” Michelle told everyone.
“Yeah, that sounds fine.” Shawn answered while he was eating an ice cream.
“Hey, guys, will you be models for my picture? There is a good place next to the stadium,” Jennifer asked Joe and Sara.
“Sure, we’d love to.”
Jennifer took pictures of Joe and Sara in the small garden next to the studio. There were big trees and birds on the side of the garden. Bailey followed them, but she did not want to be in the picture. While Jennifer and Joe were checking photos, Sara and Bailey walked around the garden. There were many plants that Sara had not seen before. Sara saw a weird looking plant. Its name was ‘Sundew.’
“I think it eats bugs,” Bailey said.
“Yeah, I think I saw that on T.V. once.”
Bailey picked up a small branch and touched the plant. It moved a little bit.
“So gross!” Bailey exclaimed.
“Hey, guys, are you ready?” Joe came to get them.
“Yeah, we are coming.” Sara wanted to take a picture of the flower before she left. When she clicked the shutter button, she got a text message from Keith.
-Hey, How are you doing today?
Sara stared at the text for a second, and made up her mind to talk to him.
“Hey, guys, I need to make a phone call.” Sara told the group and walked outside. She clicked the button and the phone started ringing.
“Hey, Sara.”
“Hey.”
“How are you?”
“I’m good, how about you?”
“It’s good. I just met some friends. What are you doing?”
“I was with friends now, and I came out to talk to you.”
“Ok. Hey, I have a question. Are you planning to come home anytime soon? I didn’t see you on your birthday.”
“No. I won’t for a while.”
“Ok…” They did not talk for a few seconds. Sara saw her friends walk out of the garden. They found Sara, and waited for her. Sara started talking to Keith.
“So what you said yesterday…”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Keith, I thought about it and I think we should just be friends.”
“W-wait, before you say something…”
“I’m sorry.”
“Can you meet me? Just once? Please. I will come to you. Seattle, right?”
“I can’t do that, and it won’t change anything.”
“Is it because the guy with you now?”
“…Yes, but that’s not the only reason”
“Sara, you and I were together for decades. I regretted letting you go. So…” Sara remembered about her dream last night, and felt sorry for him, but she decided to be strong.
“I know you are good for me, but this won’t work. Keith, I hope you know this will be best for us.”
Keith slowly spoke to Sara.
“Sara, you said. You said before that… you left me because you didn’t love me. How about him? Are you in love with him?” Sara did not know what to say at first. She looked at Joe. He was talking to Jennifer and Bailey, and he noticed Sara, and smiled at her.
“I do. Yes, I love him. Even though he is leaving soon, I really do.” Tears were in Sara’s eyes.
“…why” Keith said in a really small voice, and just hung up. Sara looked up the sky and exhaled. She wiped her eyes and walked to her group.
When it was a little later than 4 pm, they were all tired of running around Wendy Park.
“I’m so tired.” Jake was yawning.
“That’s because you screamed so much while you were on the Roller Coaster. I will never sit next to you again. You were like a little girl,” Michelle said.
“Yeah, but wasn’t it fun? We rode it like five times.” Jake laughed. Sara checked on Bailey; she was much better than before.
“Today was fun,” Joe said.
“It was. Ah. I feel so tired."
"We can stay home tomorrow."
"Yes, we can."
"Unless you want to do something else?" Sara looked at Joe.
"There is one thing I want to do."
"What is it?"
"Let's go see my grandmother."
"Sure," Joe said with a smile. When she got home, she felt exhausted. She could not sleep well, and was worrying about Bailey. Talking to Keith was a lot of pressure as well. She fell asleep as soon as she got in bed.