On Top of The World

"My mom has stated you have requested her presence." Carmine brought back the curtains of the basement windows. It didn't bring much additional light, but it was enough for me to awaken, and for once I was glad to be in the basement rather than a higher floor, where the sudden brightness would've made me go blind. Having to adjust to the change in lighting meant that I did get somewhere in falling asleep in the "dungeon", so I should be happy about that.

"Why are you speaking like a darn prince?" I sat up, rubbing my eyes, much too hard that I knew if I kept it up he was going to nag me about it before I even got a look at his face. As my hands fell back down to my sides, I got a glance of the look he was giving me, and I decided to drag the conversation on before that nagging began. "Is she here right now?"

Asking her for a favor last night was all coming back. It was a painful process because it meant getting ahold of Carmine's phone without him knowing. I had to give credit to some spirit for helping me out, because I doubt I could've done something so insanely scary on my own.

"Yes. That's why I'm summoning you, bish." He, with a swift motion, yanked the blanket away from my body, and to the foot of the bed. I sat up with intentions to avoid the cold, vowing to accept the new day and head up the stairs to greet her. "You really called her without my knowing. Feeling close much, Riz?"

"Definitely." I shot it back at him, but I didn't add anything more. He followed me to the general floor with a light giggle tickling my ears, where Connie was sitting on the couch waiting for me. I didn't have the time to greet her, and she didn't value greeting me first either. Her first priority was getting rid of Carmine and to keep our secret, a secret, and I'm all for that. Not gonna lie.

"Jeez, Carms. Give us some space. We have girl talk to cover." She said, under a joking tone. I could hear his last two steps before he gave up on following us, but his face when I looked back was what I remembered the most. The pouty childish head shake was sewed into my brain. That Carmine has some real maturity when he wants to cultivate it deep enough. Now evidently wasn't one of those times.

Connie's hand was at my back to guide me up the stairs once again, to the upper floor, and she locked us behind one of the rooms. She definitely felt free to roam the house like it was her own, and it made me feel free too, having her as an excuse. "What did I tell you about Carmine, huh, Arizona? That he's head over heels for you and look how right I was. You're the girl for him, I have to say. You're so worried about this date being perfect."

"I-Is it a date?" I scratched the back of my head as I eyed the big plastic bag in her hands. It must hold what I was asking for that made her come here in the first place, but she didn't show it to me from the get go. "Carmine didn't say it was."

"That's because he's a shy prick that doesn't know how to pick up girls. Anti-social freak. He got that from his dad. No movie could ever teach him. It is a date, for sure. Don't doubt it for a second." She rolled her eyes at the idea of her son, as she rustled the bag to remove the dress from inside. She was spot on in the one I was describing. The same dress from when Carmine was trying to convince me that red was beautiful, and the one that I refused to buy; it was right in front of me now, all thanks to her. "Well, what are you waiting for? Try it on!"

As she turned her face to give me privacy, I pulled the shirt up over my head. Carmine's fragrance still lingered on it, a slap in the face when it neared my nose and came over. I might've complained about it before, but wearing his old wardrobe wasn't so bad, if I could take him with me every step I took.

The crimson cloth of the new fabric smell, hugged my body in the better of places, and the confidence I had when wearing its twin, but in a different color was coming back. Only then did I slip off the sweats that were tied tightly to my size by the adjustable strings. "Okay, I'm ready." I called to Connie, timidly.

A big smile plastered to her face when she turned around. She adjusted the zipper a litter higher up than I was able to myself, and she lowered the sleeves to show off more of my bare shoulders. My hair ended up tied up in a bun, a style I haven't tried before because although my hair isn't ideal to the standards either, I thought keeping it down and hiding my face as a back up plan would be for the better with my lifestyle, and she put on a kind of make-up that Carmine hasn't done. Burgundy, yet with a natural mix.

I was a whole new me, and for once in my life, I liked change.

"Carms is going to love it." Connie had said, when she backed away from me to see the final product.

"I hope so." I mumbled, following her excited walk back down to meet him. It got to me for the first time in my life what events like prom, school dances, or things along those lines meant to people. Because I never experienced it myself I threw it aside like it couldn't amount to anything, but the feeling that comes with it is nothing but felicity, glee or euphoria, it would hurt to know if anything like it had to be passed up. It was a special day that made life more worthy of celebrating whoever you were and it carried a lot of weight in the memory storage of the mind.

"Riza, the dress -. You look-." Carmine went speechless when I turned the corner, and the new nickname made me speechless as well. It resonated into my lungs, and for a split second I couldn't breathe. "You look stunning."

"Not so bad yourself." I winked in response, the prominent red at his cheeks really making his name shine. Connie approached him to straighten his tie, and as I saw that, I noticed the effort he put in for this day too. It might just be a date, like she was insisting.

"You're going to that place, aren't you Carms? You don't dress up for nothing." It seemed the smile on her face wouldn't fade today, and it almost seemed to glow brighter than usually. Carmine shushed her, so I wouldn't catch onto anything, but even with such a hint, I couldn't understand, so it didn't make much of a difference. "You promised you'd only bring the love of your life you want to spend forever with there. You better not break that promise."

"You know I won't, Mom. Not when it comes to her." His voice sounded like he couldn't feel uncertain about it if he tried. With the look today and his words combining, someone might need to remind me to breathe, even when I know very well that's the only way I can live. He's so heavenly it'll sweep my off my feet.

He turned his face, staring me down it could shoot me dead. I'd thank him for it with how this was going. In fact, I'd wait for him to. "Not when it comes to you."

*******

"Where are you taking me that even your mom is basically pushing us out the door?" I had to laugh at how forceful, yet gentle she was about getting us out, it's as if something were rushing her. We went out the back door, rather than the front, and the further we went in this direction the more I was sure another person wouldn't be able to find me. In the beauty of the outdoors, I felt safe from mankind, the only kind that was out to take that feeling away.

Humans are ironic.

Carmine gripped my hand a little tighter, using the other to make our way through the branches that would get in our way, as we went deeper into the forest behind his house's land. "It's funny, I haven't seen her like that before either." He scoffed out of his own laughter he hid under his breath. "And you're smart to use that to think I'm going to tell you where we're going, but it's not gonna work. It's a surprise."

I huffed in fake anger. All I got out of it was a cup of my cheeks in one of his hands to make me look like some puffer fish, and him making fun of it. If he left it any longer, it would've hurt, and that would've actually made me mad.

The soil was wet out of the rain from the night before, but there weren't any footsteps of the paths being travelled, meaning we had to be alone. Nearer to wherever the destination may be, the trees seemed to get out of our way and make space for us to make the journey. I gripped Carmine's hand tighter too, like all we had was each other.

"Ta-da! We're here!" It came out so rhythmic, he just as well break out in song. "This is where my dad proposed. At least that's what my mom said. It was their spot, so when I got the chance, I bought the land. This is also where," he trailed off for a moment, his voice cracking, and with it, I began to get my eyes off the ground and get a better look at the surroundings. A rainbow, so vivid in color it couldn't be missed, lit up the entire sky, as if this was the very spot it originated from. "This is also where I fell in love with the color purple when my mom brought me here to tell her story, and I thought, if I'd be falling in love with it again anytime soon, it should also be here."

"Why did you fall in love with it to begin with?" I made myself comfortable toward the end of the forest's cliff, far enough away from it to be safe. It gave a good view over the city, and the good in it that it was capable of offering; a side that I wasn't able to see before. The city has always been scary and something to hide from, but from up here it's heart was set on being admired and appreciated.

Carmine sat down next to me, clearing his throat as he pondered on his past. He popped a straw into a glass-bottle, handing it to me almost subconsciously, so engrossed in his own thinking. "It's the only remnant of my father I ever had. He used to claim every color of the rainbow was important to the life that we live. At red, the beginning, you learn a lesson, orange, you learn a lesson, yellow you learn a lesson and so on. When you reach purple, you've found the person you'd spend the rest of your life with, that made you live those lessons naturally, and kept you in line. Like you also said, purple is limitless. Purple is forever. Purple is rare, and purple is valuable. Apparently, my mom was his purple."

I sipped at the drink he passed me, nodding at what he was saying. There was a slur to his words, and he nearly stopped, but I knew he had something more to say. I was afraid that if I intervened, his stop would be permanent, so I stayed quiet. I wanted to know more about him, especially after he was willing to know more about me. My silence did draw more out of him.

"I ended up connecting purple to so many things as I grew up. Purple was the color my mom would paint her nails with when she came back home from work, and I connected it with the color of success. Purple was the color of starfish or corals that represented the fun we had on vacations. Purple was the color of so many creations and of life, that motivated me to explore. Purple wasn't everywhere, but it was beautiful. It was the color of trust. The color of cloud nine. The color of my safe haven."

I leaned forward to get a better look at his face. The happiness he had when he thought of it was draining, as he got to the end of the story, the part that holds the bad pieces. I felt that in my soul. I've been there countless amounts of times.

"And then, it betrayed me overnight."