Storm Clouds and Sirens
Marcie Mallory
I fidget with the hem of my blouse. I wish I had not said I’d wear the yellow one. I hadn’t expected everybody in the coffee shop to be wearing shades of black, with rain clouds over each head and brooding looks on everyone’s faces. I felt just as bleak about this impulsive life choice as they looked. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do? Wear something bright, something that stands out? The coffee shop is busy, crawling with young people, clinking coffee cups, whistling steam, a little too loud to be a good place to talk. I check my watch and slowly rise out of my seat, trying to decide whether I would abandon ship, when I see a flash of strawberry blonde. I sink back down before I realize it’s not her. I think she has dark hair now anyway, that’s how he’d always liked it. I can’t help but remember another time when against all my doubts, she convinced me to stay. “It’ll be quick,” she said. “Is that supposed to make me want to?”
24 American River Review
“Of course! You don’t even have to stress about it, it’s really no big deal.” I wanted to scoff at her. I wanted to hurl, if I’m being more honest, but I kept quiet, not sure how to respond to her nonchalance. “Then what are you worried about?” she always could read me better than anyone. “You! Us. Ugh, I don’t know, I just need you to be okay.” “We’ll always be okay, you know that. We’ve been best friends forever!” Her eyes were sparkling, pure and clear, as she said that. They always looked like honey in the golden hour light, like amber when she was angry. She was making me put down my defenses the way only she was able to. “Exactly. Won’t this complicate that?” “I would never let that happen, not with you.” “You can’t promise that.” “But I can, because I know I’ll always love you.” At the time, I believed her, I believed her the way
