Moon Stone I have this necklace, it was given to me by Natalie. Natalie was my girlfriend, keyword was. She was killed in an accident, sadly, and the day of she had given me this. It was a stone, not sure what it really is. She had said it was a moonstone, a glassy stone that promoted positive energy. Cold, a little foggy. I m not too big into, gems, stones, whatever they re called. Yet it gives me comfort, it was hers. It s one of the only things I have left of her, and I loved her so much, it kills me to know she s really gone. I remember giving her a gemstone, still I never knew what it was. I gave it to her for christmas, her parents helped me out, her mom especially. Katelyn, Natalie s mom, was happy to help me out and wrap it up for her. I suck at wrapping, I m not good at homecrafts, or anything honestly. I remember the smile on Natalie s face, her dimples carving her cheeks. Her touch, her Energy. It was such an experience, she was all mine. I never had a family like that, people who loved me for who I was, what I did even if I did mess up. When I had first met Natalie, we were just little kids. She hung out with a lot of people when we did first meet, people who disliked me. I was the kid with a pocket knife, she was the girl with a hand to hold every second of the day. Natalie and I grew closer in middle school, our friends always used to urge us to get together, and we never really thought of it that way. She talked about it with me a few weeks into our friends talking about it, and said she didn t want a relationship like that. Not with anyone, so she said. I thought that, you know, we wouldn t get so close together. It was, a turning point in some way. We parted ways for some time, saying hi to each other every once in awhile. When we both got into highschool, Sophomore year, I was working at Marathon.
She came into the shop, just by herself. It was late at night, she was out for a walk she said. My shift was almost ending, and she had asked if I was doing anything right after this. I said no, yet I was supposed to meet this guy to deal something, and I didn t show up. I packed up my bag, letting my coworker know that I was leaving and that his shift is almost over as well. I went to the bathroom before I left, the smell of bleach and uncleaned marathon bathroom was all I saw. I looked in the mirror first thing, my complexion looking flushed as hell. I sigh, fixing the shaggy hair I had yet to cut, moving the strands to the right side of my face. My blonde hair going in all directions even after I fixed them, my green eyes wandered my face as I had wondered what I was going to do. As I look at my facial structure, I try to piece out what it really looks like. A chiseled face with a pug nose, freckles scoring my face. I pulled off on my shirt, my skin seemed fine under the bland lighting. I pull off the tag off my shirt, misspelt of course. Our manager seems as dumb as me, maybe even dumber. It s spelt, Mechel. I pulled another shirt out of my bag, a black cotton shirt, the fabric running across my skin. It was plain, but it looked nice on the blue jeans that I wore. I looked down to see my shoes, black old skool vans. Tattered and worn in. A bit of the edging was already falling off, good thing my paycheck was coming in the next day. I walked out of the bathroom, eventually, and my shift had ended, I put my hoodie on and then I left with Natalie. Leaving the Marathon with a Monster in my hand, an Arizona in hers. I remember her wearing this grey hoodie that said something along the lines of, I'm reminded that I should be getting over it. Not sure why she had it, but it looked nice on her. I could remember feeling the cold breeze flow through my hair, and Natalie had sniffled a little. Natalie was always short, frail, and very chill. She always had a sense of style to just go with whatever the hell looked comfortable on her. She seemed, sick at the time. Her black hair
draping over her face, her hazel eyes looking elsewhere as the street lights gleamed in her eyes. I felt a little nervous to be around her again, even after all those years. But then again, we weren t with each other every single day. We barely talked during that time, especially since she was almost always busy. I got the courage to ask if she were sick, she obviously denied it. But I didn t believe her. Eventually we led ourselves to an old warehouse next to the ports, and sat down on a pier together. It was tattered, worn, the paint was long gone. All you could see where the worn out planks on the bank, algae growing on it. A street light was nearby, giving us a dim lighting. You could see the water peacefully flowing by, almost chilling in a way. The street light gleaming against the water, you could see the movements of the water too, which was nice. Natalie and I sat down together at the end of the pier in silence, at least for then. As soon as we started talking we realized how god-awful the cold breeze was, and got closer together. Our feet hanging off the piers end. We talked about how things were, what changed since last we talked. Nothing besides her brother had died, and it was only a few weeks ago when she had told me. She still was upset, and she started to tell me how afraid she was, how she didn t have anyone else to really talk to. She was planning to run away, I asked her why, she couldn t say. She didn t know why, but she wanted to run away. I had wanted to run away for a very long time. Yet I couldn t understand why she wanted to, out of all people. She felt betrayed, lied to. Her parents tried to hide the fact that he was sick, very sick. He went on vacation, and when he came back he was dying. By then she was on a trip overseas to visit a family friend, and she didn t know at all. When she came back, she was told her brother had died. She had this feeling of running, running away from home, and I could attach to that. I knew how she felt. I told her, and promised her that she could escape
to me if she needed to. We had known each other for so long, we felt so much comfort in each other. Why did I want to run away? I ll tell you. I will be killed if I stay here for too long, reason why is because I deal with some dangerous lying snakes. Narcos aren t nice I ll tell you, and I m not very lenient with my bosses. Sadly I couldn t run away then and now, at least just not yet. But I couldn t get her involved, and I m definitely wasn t too keen about her getting involved with me. I was then again afraid to lose her, afraid of her losing me. I didn t want to be killed then, and she gave me the motivation to keep living once more. I just wish that I would have a better life, I wish I could have her to hold again. I wish that fateful night didn t happen. I wish we didn t try to go to the pier again that night, we were just trying to spend the time we needed. Together. I wasn t wanting to have lose someone so important and someone so loving to me. My parents had left me, my brother started to betray me and leave me to rot, I had nobody to rely on. All the clients and bosses that I had and have today are still chasing me, it was the center of my life and it still is. Natalie was my escape, she was my second life. I loved her, I truly did. She gave me the home I never had, the food I couldn t get and eat correctly. I just, wanted her to live. As desperate as it seems, I want her back, I want to have that future with her. But I can t, not anymore, and I feel like to blame. But, maybe the future will look up. I found someone, someone new. Ashton Laen, one of the newer kids on our block. He s been here before in the past, yet he left and eventually came back. I see him in the corner of my eye, I smile a tad bit, feeling a flutter in
my stomach. Maybe it was the jack I had last night, but I m not too sure. The bell soon rings, this ringing sticking to my ear drums for a few more seconds after that. I touch the moonstone necklace dangling off my neck I have before I stand, it was cold and heavy in my hands. A comforting feeling. While I stood, Ashton was still packing up his bags. Pushing his notebooks into his small Jansports bag, I walk towards Ashton s desk with my feet dragging. I hate this feeling, but what else more do I have to do? Ashton looks at me, a worried look on his face. As if I m going to punch a hole through his face, which isn t surprising to me. I rub the back of my neck, my hair rubbing against my skin. What do you want Michael? The boy says, shuffling a little in his own space. He seems uncomfortable, I step back, giving him some room. He seems a little more comfortable by this, and I give myself some time to think while he continues to pack his bag. Am I over Natalie? I ask myself, maybe I ll never be over her it seems. Ashton, maybe you ll flip this bad boy around? Who knows what I have in store, and would it really matter in the future? I just want the normal life, it s all I ve ever wanted. To have that loving family like I once did. Maybe I can do something new, be someone new. The sound of a zipper, climbing across the fabric of that cheap Jansports bag brings me back to consciousness, and I look up to Ashton. Hair in my face, of course. I speak, and I speak slowly and seem to be calm. Wanna come skip with me at the pier? I say, and a nervous look on his face forms. His eyebrows furrowed, his hair covering a part of his eye. He seems a bit entertained, contemplating my words. Who knows? Cause I don t know what will happen next.