There is Beauty in Simplicity

I blink my eyes open as a golden ray of sunlight shines through a small opening between the curtains. The time must be between seven or eight because that's when the sun comes up around here. As I sit up, I yawn and stretch my back, trying to stay quiet so Adam doesn't wake up. The cheap motel room gives off a unpleasant smell and it gives me an urge to shower and rid my body of it's faint odor.
The warm water runs down my body and soothes my tired muscles. My long, ebony hair reaches just below where my bra would go and it has a silky, soft feel to it. My skin has an olive color, even though my siblings have a lighter complexion. I finish scrubbing my body and cleansing my hair before dressing myself and getting ready for a long plane ride to Australia to see my older brother, Andrew, whom I haven't seen since a few days after my sixteenth birthday.
I moved out of my parents' house when I was only sixteen and have been traveling the country with my boyfriend Adam ever since. He made sure I finished highschool online and that I stayed on the right track. Every single day I thank whoever is up there listening for the man they have given me. He has dealt with all of my drama, my immaturity, and of course, my insane jealousy. But Adam was there and has stayed through it all.
On my way out of the bathroom after putting on my eyeliner and mascara, I bump into my cutie. He is six feet and two inches tall (or 185 centimeters) with a light, choclatey colored hair and these deep emerald eyes that seem to shine even in the darkest of times. Looking into his eyes is like looking at a emerald gem centered in a brilliant white rose during it's peak of blooming. The only other time I ever saw such magnificent green eyes were on my mother. I haven't spoken to her in years but everytime I look into his deep, viridescent eyes, all I see is her.
"Good morning, baby," I say quietly as I swerve past him. He rubs his eye with the heel of his hand and groans in response. I continue about my business and grab his keys and my wallet before heading out the door to go get us some breakfast. He owns a beaten up, white 1967 Ford F150 but I love it. When I turn the key it roars to life and makes me feel so powerful.
I pull into a small diner, June's Diner, that has a cozy, rustic feel to it and go inside to order Adam and I some breakfast. Our flight leaves at 2 p.m. so we have to be at the airport by at least noon. Inside the quaint diner, the walls are decorated by a dozen animal heads. They range from bear to javelina. It is a bit unsettling to have so many dead eyes watching your every move but I will be gone soon enough.
"What can I help you with dear?" asks a sweet older woman. I read her name tag and notice she is June. She has a sweet smile on her slightly wrinkled face and her hair is tied up in a neat bun at the top of her head.
"Hi, can I get an order of steak and eggs with a side of bacon, and an order of blueberry waffles with extra whipped cream and blueberry syrup with eggs and hash browns," I reply with a smile. She nods as she takes down my order.
"Would you like the eggs scrambled or sunnyside up?" she asks sweetly.
"Both scrambled and can I get it to go?" I respond with a smile on my lips. She nods as she finishes up her writing.
"Alright, darlin', we'll have that ready for you in just a few short minutes." June walks away and hangs my order up for the cook. I begin to observe the diner more thoroughly.
By the front door is a small stand with a register and many little knick-knacks and souveniors. Many of them are of little bears holding signs saying 'Welcome' or 'Heber, Arizona.' There are old couples scattered among the tables inside. Someday I hope to be a happy old woman eating breakfast with my happy old husband.
I feel a vibration and pull my phone out of my pocket. It's Adam, of course. "Yes, baby?"
"Where are you?" He asks while yawning. I can already imagine his messy hair and tired eyes. Those are actually two of my favorite things about him.
"I went to get us some breakfast. I'll be back soon," I assure him.
"Did you get me steak and eggs?"
"Of course, babe. How can I forget?" I reply. He chuckles a little and it makes my heart flutter. He has this little laugh that could make any girl swoon. I knew the second I met him; he was perfect.
"Awh, you remember my order," he says sweetly. I blush a little and two boxes are set by my arm. I look up and June is smiling at me.
"Of course, but baby I have to go now. I'm about to start driving and I don't want to die," I say to excuse myself. "I love you."
"I love you too, and don't let my food be cold when you get here," he jokes. I hang up and pay for the food but as I'm leaving a small wrinkly hand grabs my bicep. When my eyes find who the hand belongs to, I see June with a smile on her face.
"Have a great day darlin', and you drive safe." Her eyes are very sincere and so I simply nod in response. She responds with a small grin before releasing my arm.
The drive back to the motel is beautiful. I'm surrounded by tall, lush pine trees and there are deer peering out from the protection of the forest. It makes a person think about how much bigger life really is. The world is such a big place and each little person is so insignificant. It kind of makes my problems feel less world shattering.
I pull into the motel parking lot and stop the truck just out front of our room. I sneak a peak through the small opening between the curtains and see Adam putting on his white V-neck shirt. God, I'm glad I looked through the window. He is so fit and his body is nice and toned.
After peeping on my boyfriend, I finally decide to enter the motel room. He looks over at me and immediately grabs the styrofoam containers of food from me and turns to set them on the small wooden table behind him. When he turns around to face me again he rests his large and firm hands on the curve of my hips.
"How did I ever end up with a girl like you?" He asks me sweetly. I pretend like I'm thinking hard about it, making him chuckle at my facial expressions.
"I remember now. You were the Assitant Teacher for my Automotive class," I remind him with playful banter. "No matter how many times I said no you kept asking me to go out on a date with you until I eventually said yes."
"I remember it way differently," he laughs out loud. "I was wearing a brand new white shirt and I was checking on you and your project when you turned around and slammed into me, smearing grease and oil all over me."
"Shut up, it's my story, let me tell it."
"It's your insane little fantasy," he corrects me. God, being so close making my heart race. Even after three years he still gives me butterflies.
"Your food is going to get cold," I breathe. His fingertips go to my chin and gently tilt it up to look at him.
"Let it," he replies in a deep, husky voice. Slowly, he goes in for a gentle kiss. One that is so delicate, it lingers for a second before he goes in for another one. As he and I start to get a little heated a phone rings. The motel room phone to be exact. I press my hand against his chest and apply very little pressure before he pulls away, allowing me to answer the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hi, check out is in 10 minutes and if you aren't gone we will have to charge you for another night," replies a woman on the other end.
"Yes, okay, we'll return our keys in just a moment. We're just finishing up," I reply quickly. There is a click on the other end and I hang up the phone. Adam is watching me with a small smile spreading across his plump rosey lips. A smile that is one in a million. "We should get going."
"Yeah, I know," he starts in a playfully sad voice. "Just when things are getting good."
"Shut up and take the bags to the car, you nympho," I command. He smiles and kisses my forehead before doing as I ask. At first, I watch my tall, slender boyfriend take my bags to the car without any questions ask and think to myself Wow, I'm living most girls dreams.
Taking the small plastic room key, I start my short walk towards the main office. Inside, it's very basic and has a coffee machine, couch, and television. The woman behing the desk is a little heavier set and has tattoos all over herself. I hand her my keys and she just responds with a forced smile. She doesn't come off as the very appealing type of person.
Outside the door, Adam is waiting in the truck for me. I struggle a little trying to climb in the cab of his truck because it's so lifted but I seem to make it in. He smiles that genuine smile that melts my heart before resting his hand on my knee.
"Where to?" asks the cutest boy alive.
"The airport silly," I remind him. He giggles and I open up his box of food. I cut a small piece of steak and feed it to him. For the rest of the ride to the airport I take turns between giving him a bite of steak and eggs and feeding myself. When we get to the airport we are a half hour early so we wait in the truck and finish eating our breakfast. He dabs a small bit of whip cream on my lips before kissing it away. His lips have a faint salty taste because of the eggs and it makes me want to kiss him even more.
"You taste sweet," Adam says, breaking a kiss.
"And you're salty." He smiles at my comment. I look out and see a large digital clock saying it's ten til noon. Time for us to get on the plane. Adam opens the door easily, whereas I have a little bit of trouble trying to make it budge. Adam has to open it from the outside for me. He rolls his suitcase and I roll mine so that we can hold hands as we walk.
The terminal we need to go to is much more packed than I intended. There are masses of bodies everywhere, resulting in high heat in our area. Dealing with all our bullshit is hard enough as it is without them.

It's two o'clock and we are finally taking off. I close my eyes and grip Adam's hand tightly as we begin to take off. My major fears include: flying, spiders, ships, clowns, and I have monophobia (the fear of being alone.) He holds my hand with a bit of pressure just so I know he's there. It's a very hard moment for me considering I've never been on a plane.
The sound of the engines makes my heart race and I use my other hand to grip the arm rest as hard as I possibly can. I can feel my knuckles as they begin turning white and my breathing is at a fast pace. Adam begins rubbing his thumb in small circles on my hand and it leaves a tingling sensation where he touches.
"Don't worry about it. Everything will be fine," he reassures me. I begin taking deep breathes and the pounding of my heart slows down a bit. "Are you okay?"
"I think so," I reply as I exhale deeply. "Thank you, Adam."
"Anything for you," he says in a sincere tone. God, he is perfect. "You should probably take a nap. It's a long flight and sleeping will help pass the time."
As I shut my eyes, all I can think about is how my brother will react when he sees me. Will he be amazed at how much I've grown and changed or will he be horrified with my tattoos and style? Will he be happy or a little disappointed? Too many different scenarios about what could possibly go wrong. I don't want to lose the last person I have in my family. Finally sleep takes over.

It's bright outside. The sun is shing directly into my eyes and it makes it hard for me to observe my surroundings, which I find absolutely necessary in new places. A slight breeze gently blows my hair back from my face and cools my skin. I hear a laugh. A little girl's laugh was coming from in front of me. I'm not sure why but I feel the need to go see who the laugh belongs to. Sitting on the ground is my little sister. She should be fourteen this year but right now she looks like she's five.
"Tyler," she exclaims before hugging me. "I've missed you so much."
"I've missed you too, Sarah." A tear falls from my eye and lands on her head and immediately she begins to grow from a sweet five year old to a gorgeous fourteen year old.
"You left me alone," she says before backing away from me. I go to touch her but she pulls her arm away from me. Tears are rolling out of her beautiful blue eyes. "You left me alone. You were supposed to be there for me."
"I had to leave. You know I did. If I didn't I would have done something terrible," I explain. I reach out for her but she pushes my hand away.
"You ran away with Adam instead of being there for your little sister!" she screams. "I hate you! I wish you would just disappear for good!"
"I'm your sister," I whisper as tears flow down my face in little rivulets.
"I have no sister," she says sternly. As she walks away, I catch her wrist but she turns to purple smoke and blows away in the breeze.
Now, it's cold and dark. Rain hits my face and I shiver before looking through the window of this beautiful family home. Inside, I see a beautiful blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman grabbing two beers from the refridgerator and I watch as she takes one into the living room where a basketball game is on. She hands one of the beers to a man before kissing him sweetly. It's Adam. My heart is pounding and I can feel my breathing slow to nearly nothing. My stomach is in knots and my heart in pieces. I fall to the soaking wet concrete and it immediately becomes a cold tile floor.
"Tyler!" yells a concerned voice from on the other side of the door. I feel dizzy and nauseous as I watch the blood flow from my wrists and I can feel myself faintly smile. The door swings open and my mom rushes in. She pulles me into her lap and wraps my wrists in an Ace bandage to stop the bleeding. "Don't worry, baby. Mommy's here. Mommy's here." Before everything goes dark I can hear her humming Smoke on the Water to me, just like she used to when I was little.
"Angels are watching over you," I whisper before everything goes dark once more.

I wake up with a jump and look around. I'm on the plane. My hands instinctively go to my wrists where I look at them and I see the faint scars left behind by my own actions.
"Baby, are you okay?" Adam asks in a sleepy voice. My breathing is fast and panicked.
"How long have we been asleep?" I ask as I try to calm myself down. He checks his watch and looks back up at me.
"About ten hours," he replies as he closes his eyes again. I look out the window and see a bunch of dark clouds beneath us and just watch it for a few minutes. It is so beautiful and simple, it calms me down. I plug my headphones into my phone and put on Smoke on the Water to calm me down. My mother used to sing it when I would get upset. It would calm me down then and it still does now.
For the rest of the flight, I had my headphones in and my eyes closed. I must have fallen back asleep because the next thing I remember was Adam waking me up. I check the time and it says that it's seven in the morning. We are right on time.

"We are about to land," he says quietly. I rub my eyes and look at him. His hair is tousled and his eyes are tired. He grabs my hand as the plane starts to land but I feel much more calm than I was when we took off. My mind is stuck on those dreams. Why was my own mind tormenting me?
Pretty soon we are off the plane and waiting to get our bags. Luckily it didn't take quite as long as everyone said it does. Adam insists we should eat before going to Andrew's house, and of course his cheap ass chooses McDonald's.
"Why do we have to eat before we get there? He won't mind," I complain. He doesn't even look at me when he replies.
"It's our first time meeting and I don't want him to think of me as a user. I want him to have a good first impression," he states.
"No matter what, he isn't going to like you." He stops and looks at me a bit worried.
"Why? What's wrong with me?" he questions.
"Nothing. He just doesn't like people," I explain while I continue walking. He catches up and grabs my hand. He is a lot more worried than I expected.
We eat in silence and it scares me. There's something wrong with Adam. He's never been like this with me. I can tell by the the way he keeps looking around like everyone is watching him and by how he keeps looking at me like he's afraid. I don't understand what is going with him and it makes me uneasy. His sea green eyes are dull and there are faint bags under his eyes. I know he slept on the plane but I was asleep so I don't know how long.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, just a bit nervous." He finally looks me in the eyes and it's like I'm looking at a child. I feel an urge to just hold him tightly and tell him it will all be okay but I can't.
"We should probably get going," I remind him. He looks at his watch and exhales deeply. "Baby, don't worry about it. Just, if he subtly challenges you, don't back down. Like the hand shake. Grip tightly. He wants to see if you are a 'real man.'"
"Alright," he replies with a slight nod. He actually smiles and I feel a bit better. This place is crowded anyways. He takes my hand and leads me out of the restaurant and to a rental car place next door where he had reserved a 2009 Chevy Impala for the trip. We put our bags in and I enter Andrew's address in on my phone and before we know it, we are outside of his home. It's very lovely and much nicer than I had imagined. I knock on the door and hear a big dog barking and people racing to the door.
"Who is it?" whispers a voice.
"I don't know. It's a girl and guy," says another.
"Let me answer it!" whispers the first again.
"No, I am!" says the first voice. The doorknob turns and I see the men who own the voice. A tall, beautiful man answered the door. He looked too good to be true. He has golden hair and these hazel eyes that look like rivers of golden honey that flow slowly. His eyes were so beautiful. I've never met someone with eyes like his. They look as if the sun is shining through a jar of honey; they radiate beauty.
"Who are you?" I ask full o wonder.

Notes