The Sunset Over Another Chapter[Dane]

[Mikaela Stone]

Mikaela had snuck away from her last class to come to the beach. She was a little upset since her mothers last letter. The will had been red finally. Her father had a considerable life insurance plan as well as money coming from the Army in the case of his immediate and sudden death. It was going to be split fifty-fifty between her and her mother. That meant Mikaela got around $90,000. Plus her father’s car and then there were land investments. But Mikaela was going to sign those over to her mother.

Even in death her father was watching over her. He knew how much she wanted to go to Julliard. And now he had made it easier. Her mother was considering in starting up the restaurant she had always wanted to and Mikaela was encouraging her.

Just now, she was crying like mad crazy.

Because one thing she got out of the will was her father’s horse Rose. And Mikaela would never ever ride her because she hadn’t ridden since her father died. It didn’t feel the same without him riding beside her. She would take care of the horse, but she wasn’t going to ride her. It’d be too much.

Tugging at the sweatshirt, it had been one her father had given her. A plain gray one with the words ARMY across it. Underneath she wore a tank top, plus just some regular dark blue jeans. She must look crazy sitting here on a beach with red eyes puffy form crying. so close to sunset. But this crazy girl missed her father and all she wanted was him back. But she couldn’t have him back. Instead she would be surrounded by all these thing he had given and left to her. Haunted by his memories, but never having him there.

[Dane Matthews]

Dane was a true artist and when one would see his room they would know why. One wall was simply one giant drawing made from black, white and grey-ish colors. His desk was filled with all kinds of things he could draw with like pencils, paint, charcoal and everything else he could use, really. Under his bed he kept stacks of filled drawing books and boxes with loose drawings he had made for class. A few paintings he had made he kept in his closet but of those he had just a few.

Trying to find something to draw wasn’t that hard. The world was filled with things he could put down on paper but finding something that was worth to draw, something that was a challenge…now that was hard. Dane wanted his drawings to have meaning, to try and get emotions free in people. Drawing a tree was simple but drawing a sunset that would make people go like: ahhh, now that was hard! And fun.

Strolling around at the beach, with a few drawing pencils in his pocket and his drawing pad in his hand he tried to think of something he could draw. Not for a assignment this time but just for himself, something he could keep in his private collection. A collection he did not show to many people. Dane knew he had talent but he didn’t always like to show people his work. That was private cause Dane used his artwork to deal with his emotions, with what was going on inside his head.

Some cried, some talked, some got angry. Some painted or made drawings. Like Dane.

When he walked from one side of the beach to the other he turned around again and when he was halfway…that’s when he noticed her. Mikaela. She was sitting a bit up ahead and she looked sad. Like something was way off and had upset her. Dane knew how sometimes it was better to be alone than to be surrounded by people, so instead of going up to ask her if she was okay –which of course she was not but that is what people always asked anyway-, he sat down in the sand and started drawing her. A sunset on the background, the sad look in her eyes.

After a while, when he had finished the drawing, Dane stood up and slowly walked up to her. “Hey, are you alright?” he asked, sitting down besides her…his blues eyes hinting towards worried. Laying the drawing book closed besides him he smiled lightly at her. They talked sometimes, weren’t exactly close friends but he liked her. Dane wasn’t someone who easily opened up to people but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a nice guy. If something was up and he could help then he would.

[Mikaela Stone]

Mikaela heard people walking behind her. And a few walked before her through the edges of the water. It made her smile to see some of them walking together hand in hand. Bending her legs up, she curled within herself, holding onto her legs. Taking a deep breath, her hair picked up in the wind, moving slightly. She just kept her eyes forward, not moving to any sound she heard.

‘Papa, promise me you won’t ever leave me alone. Promise me that you’ll always be there for me.’ ‘I promise little princess.’

He was still here. Mikaela wasn’t stupid. It’s the reason she kept on playing, but not necessarily sing as often. Her voice shook. It shook to the point where she had no point of even being in for singing. But they had accepted her into both programs. A miracle beyond miracles. Just if she didn’t start singing, she may get in trouble. And she couldn’t get in trouble at this point in time.

Hearing a voice next to her-yes next to her-not behind nor in front, she actually turned her head. Her expression did not change much-just a slight twitch in the corners of her mouth. Like she wanted to smile but was not sure if it was appropriate or not. Mikaela just stared. Oh how awkward, but she had to. She was in disbelief that someone from the school was here. Had anyone heard about her ducking out of classes? If her teachers knew, she’d have all hlel to pay. And she was at a point where she couldn’t do that.

“I’m fine. What girl wouldn’t be fine with such a beautiful…sunset.” She faltered for a moment on the last part. She didn’t think it was beautiful. Nothing was beautiful anymore. Sighing, she shrugged non chalantly. “Everything is fine and dandy. Perfect.” She even pasted on a fake smile for two seconds to try and convince him of that. Then she tried to change the subject-to get everything off of her and onto him. “What are you doing here? Don’t you paint or draw pretty much every night?”

[Dane Matthews]

Dane’s eyes narrowed the tiniest bit but he nodded slowly. She didn’t want to talk about what was wrong that was more clear than anything. Which of course was fine, Dane didn’t like to share his worries with others either. So he understood, he just wanted to make sure she was okay. Sort of. Cause she wasn’t but what else could he do? Force her to talk to him?

“Alright, fair enough.” Letting her know that he knew she was far from being okay but that he got her hint and wouldn’t ask about it anymore. Sometimes talking about things was not something that helped, sometimes you needed to deal with it on your own. Besides they weren’t close friends so even if she did want to talk but not to him he would understand.

His eyes now wandered off to the ocean for a moment and he nodded. Letting his head fall a little he then looked to the side and smiled at her. “Yeah but I have to find something I can draw or gives me inspiration to draw first. That’s the tricky part.” Drawing was easy compared to that. Really it was. “So, do you mind if I sit with your for a while till I find something?”

To be honest, Dane already knew what he wanted to draw, or at least he already had drawn it. That drawing now sitting in his drawing book that was laying besides him.

[Mikaela Stone]

Mikaela leaned back so she stretched out, laying on her elbows. Shaking out her hair, she was glad he didn’t press too much. She didn’t like letting her troubles on to others. Not even Mack or Gray. It’s just how things were. Licking her lips lightly, the sun set was slow today. Made it more beautiful to look at. Not nearly as nice to look at though as Dane.

She wasn’t able to smile so just kind of passed everything off with even emotions. Picking up handfuls of sand, she let them run between her fingers. When she got back to school she was going to work on the song for her father. She had already decided upon that fact. Even if she really was upset about playing at this event.

Staring over at Dane, she looked him up and down a little. “Do you have to draw something specific? You can’t ever just go with your emotions and draw whatever is in your mind or on your mind?” Mikaela, even if nothing was inspiring her, would often write about things or people just on her mind. Because they inspired her in life. “Draw your thoughts. If you’re thinking of a certain person, draw what you see in your mind, what you remember. What you feel.”

Rolling onto her stomach, she drew circles and hearts connected in the sand. Nodding, she half smiled. More like an amused smirk. “Sure. I could use the company now anyways.” She had been alone all day-now it was time for some company. “So any interesting drama happen since I decided that school was a waste of time and left? Which would be about an eleven this morning.” She had been out a long time. Sunscreen was good like that really-though she may still ache the next day. But she would have to eat at some point in time.

[Dane Matthews]

Pulling his knees up Dane focused his eyes on the ocean again. Whenever he needed to think he would come down here and sit in the sand, watching the waves crash themselves on the shore. He would sit somewhere quiet, watching people passing by while drawing both them and waves on paper. Sometimes he could be so lost in thought he wasn’t really aware of what he was drawing. It had led to him drawing crazy things like a car in the middle of the ocean after having been in a car accident. Things like that. Those were the drawings that showed most what was going on inside of him and those he had never showed anyone before.

He smiled faintly, “I draw what I feel or what I see in my mind or around me. Sort of both I guess. Just kind of difficult to draw when neither of the options is helping much.” Usually he had too much to draw and he drew what was going on at that specific moment. Dane didn’t draw things he had let go off or that did not mean all that much to him. Except for class, although he still did not understand what the beauty was of drawing dozens of pink flowers in a water bowl. There was no emotion, no feeling. Just ugly pink flowers.

Noticing her looking him up and down from the corner of his eyes he smirked but shrugged. “It will pass, just a ‘drawing-block’.” It definitely wouldn’t be the first time he had been having one. They usually didn’t last more than a day or two tops. Sometimes they even came in handy cause usually when the block had been cleared he could draw for hours without taking a break. Turning a little, so he could look at her, he now watched her play with the sand. She was good at it, hiding her feelings and emotions. Well they always said it would take one to know one right?

He chuckled, softly. “There is always some kind of drama going round. Didn’t notice though, Mack is usually the one keeping me posted. Drama has the amazing habit of avoiding the art department somehow. Or just me, I’m not entirely sure on that one.” Dane knew about things going round in the school but just the major things or the things that had something to do with his friends. Other than that he just didn’t care.

“So you’ve been here all day long?” Which was…long. At least like 5 hours or something without really doing anything? Sure, Dane was a thinker but he couldn’t just sit still and think for 5 hours straight. Apparently she could?

[Mikaela Stone]

Mikaela pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. Listening to him, she knew how much blocks sucked. Especially when things needed to get done. Such as assignments for classes and favors promised for family friends. Kind of like what was going on with her life. “Then just draw.” Mikaela peered up at him and chuckled lightly. “Remember back in like kindergarten when we had time to just draw and do whatever we wanted? Just draw something. Even if it’s a bunch of scribbles on a piece of paper.”

Mikaela liked the feel of the sand beneath her. Calming. She was just glad that the sun was setting, hiding her tears which fell over the past hours she had been here. She was glad her letter was tucked away, out of sight. Away from the eyes of her newest friend. Until she could sort out what to do herself. Especially about her father’s horse, the money and the car. How to get it to her here at the school and where to put the horse. And if she would ever ride it again.

Finally letting a small laugh out, she nodded. “Yeah, she is the go to girl for dramatic info. “ Ruffling her hair, she wrinkled her nose softly. Just enough to make her think of her best friend. “I don’t think I’d be able to make sense of any of the things going on if it wasn’t for her.” Mikaela would be totally lost with all the gossip and drama-and left out in the dark about what was said about her.

“Um, yeah. Pretty much. I-I just couldn’t take the rest of the school day. I had to get out and breath. Just clear my head.” Even though her head was far from cleared, it helped out a lot to be here. Smiling softly at him, Mikaela finally let her eyes settle upon him. Not just out of the corner of her eye-full on upon him. The sun was almost completely gone now, casting shadows across his face. Almost like a new song falling across his face. It was a lovely sight and a lovely melody.

“Jump in the water with me.”

[Dane Matthews]

Dane rose a brow, just draw something? For others it might seem hard to capture emotion in a drawing and that drawing a regular object like a tree would be simple. For Dane it was the other way around, drawing emotion was what he did. Drawing something like a dog, a fish in the water or a fruit bowl that showed no emotion was really hard for him. “Yeah but then we had all these neat colors.” He chuckled, teasing her a little. He then shrugged, “I don’t know, I prefer to draw something that has meaning.”

Shifting some Dane laid his legs down and lowered himself some so he was leaning back on his arms in the soft sand. “Yeah, same here. Although it would be a fulltime job to keep up with everything that seems to happen around here you know.” Really, some people wanted to know anything about anyone. Dane simply didn’t care, why would he?

Dane nodded, understanding how that felt. “So the beach is your place you run to then?” It was his go to spot, and also the go to spot of many other people as it seemed. Well there was room enough and he couldn’t blame them for choosing the beach. It was beautiful out here, just plain amazing. He smiled at her, hoping that she had been able to clear her head some. She really looked upset.

Jump in the water?

“Say what?”

[Mikaela Stone]

Mikaela groaned. These artist boys were so demanding and moody. So very much unlike musicians who just brooded and were mean. “Drawing something with meaning I can see. But if you want to just do something, but are blocked, I can see just drawing the most random thing ever.” With Mikaela, even if she was blocked with a song, she would just song a nursery rhyme. Keep her light and thoughtful.

“Gossip is good for me to catch up on things. I seem so lost not knowing anyone nor the love. I also don’t want to be all over someone’s man and get a ‘Btich say what? Back up off my man!’” Laughing, Mikaela had been in those sticky situations before so she knew how much they all around sucked.

Nodding, Mikaela just stared off into the sunset. The waves lapsed lightly on the shore. Smiling softly, it was the first one to graze her lips. “Yeah it is. The only place I can escape and get away from it all. All the drama and hate and hurt. And just everything bad in my life.” Staring at Dane and then back at the water, Mikaela smiled wider. “Let’s jump in the water. Go for a dip-clothed of course.”

Standing up she showed she was serious. Of course a white tank top would make this weird but whatever. Slipping her sweatshirt over her head, she tossed it aside before kicking off her flip flops. “Come on. Unless your scared to jump on in.” Making a silent walk for the water, she dipped her toe into it before jumping in fully. It was a known fact that the oceans and seas always stayed warmer then the air around them. So even if it became cold outside, it’d still be warm in the water.

Letting the waves carry her in, it carried her pain away to. Even if only for the moment. Going under the water, she came back up, falling on her back, waiting to see if Dane dared to come in.