How to Be Rich

I woke up and saw the sun was already up in the sky. By the look of it, it was noon or even one in the afternoon. When I actually opened my eyes, I noticed we were driving. On the freeway. I realized I was in the passenger seat. Who was driving? I looked to my left and saw Anthony driving. He seemed ok so I went back to sleep for a little bit.

            “Abby, wake up.” Anthony said quietly.

            I woke up and saw I was in Beverly Hills. I looked everywhere and there were so many shops I couldn’t count on my hands and feet. Even though, we were in a parking structure, I knew we were in Beverly Hills.

            “Why are we in Beverly Hills?” I asked.

            “We are going to spend the day here and have dinner and then we’re going to go back home.”

            “Oh ok. So are we going to hang out here or something?”

            He pulls out his wallet and I saw there was about five hundred dollars in there and he pulled out a few credit cards. “We are going to go shopping so we could look nice tonight.”

            We started looking around and we started shopping. Of course, everyone had to look because they weren’t used to seeing a boy looking like death.

            But he still looked handsome, so girls would still look at him. We went into Sephora, Gucci, Forever 21, almost every shop. I bought dresses, skirts, cute shirts, shoes, sandals, rings, earrings, necklaces, high heels, etc. Anthony saw me when I tried all the clothes that I bought and he always smiled at me.

            It was his turn. We went into all the men clothing stores. We bought him swim suits, shirts, button ups, jeans, khakis, dress up shoes, tuxedos, and a few suits. When he tried them on, he looked very handsome.

            We looked at the clock and saw that it was five thirty. We went into these buildings to change since our reservations were at five forty-five.

            I put on this lavender, silk and sleeveless dress. I had my hair up in a bun with sparkles in my hair, white heels, a diamond necklace, and make up. I walked out into the hall, and I saw Anthony wearing his tuxedo and he had his comb out pretending to brush his hair even though he was bald. I laughed at that.

            He turned and walked towards me. I started walking towards him and I had to remind myself to breathe.

            “You look beautiful.” He told me.

            “Thanks. You look amazing.” I told him.

            “Well thank you.”

            He offered me his arm and I took it. We walked into the room where the tables were. We got seated right away and started off with drinks. When we ordered, we looked all around the room. It was fancy. Everyone was wearing dresses and tuxedos.

            Anthony and I were talking about everything. My parents, us, his parents, his brother, our friends. We were laughing, arguing, talking loudly, and playfully poking each other. We were just having a great time.

            Then within an instant, I saw his face turn from humor to serious, but thoughtful. He had a little smile on his face like he wanted to say something but he didn’t know how to.

            “Abigail,” he started. Whenever he used my full name, I knew I was either in trouble or he was serious about something. He was still looking at his silverware. It was barely a whisper when I heard, “I am in love with you.”

            I swallowed hard. “What?”

            He looked up at me again and I saw tears in his eyes. He shook his head for a little bit and looked up at the ceiling and then at me. “Abby, I am in love with you.”

            I started crying and quickly wiped my tears away so no one could see. I shook my head knowing it was all wrong. How I’d wanted to hear those words coming out of his mouth. They were out of his mouth now. But I didn’t picture him saying it like how he was. I pictured him with hair, healthy, playing football, us at dinner, and then telling me how he felt about me.

            “Abby, did you hear me? I am in love with you. I thought you were too.” He said.

            “I am.”

            “Then?”

            “It’s too late. You’re dying and I’m going to live without the love of my life. We’re not going to stay together, not going to go on dates, no ring, no marriage, no honeymoon, no wedding, and no growing old with you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. And now you’re dying. How can I do that when you’re dead? How Anthony? How?”

            He was silent. “I am in love with you Anthony Zide. And the truth is I do not want to let you go.”

            “Abby,” he started. “I know that I’m dying.” He sighed and looked at me. “You know, I’m getting a little nervous again myself. Of dying, I mean. I am in love with you, yet I’m leaving you. You think that this isn’t hard for me? It is. You think I want to die and leave you alone? No. You think I want to leave you? No. But I’m dying, Abby. We can’t change anything. I wish I could. But I can’t do anything about it. No one can. And that’s what you, me; our families have to live with. How they can’t do anything.” He looked at me again and leaned over the table getting closer to me. “So yes, I know I am dying Abby. But that won’t stop me how I feel about you.” He leaned even closer to me and looked into my eyes. “And I am in love with you.”

            “And I am in love with you.”

 

            We finished our dinner in total silence letting everything soak in on what we said to each other. We walked along the sidewalks of Rodeo Drive. All the shops were closed and the lights of the tall lamps were still lit. We walked to the fountain in the middle of the road and sat down on the concrete. We didn’t make any wishes that night because we knew they wouldn’t come true.

            But I saw him throw in a penny and I guess he did make a wish.

            “What did you wish for?” I asked.

            “I can’t tell you or it won’t come true.” he said. So I let him be.

            We walked further down the road and heard some music playing. There were a few couples dancing to the music and they looked peaceful. I looked at Anthony and he looked like he wanted to dance. I walked in the middle where the band was playing and I was swaying to the rhythm of the slow music. I saw Anthony walking towards me and he pulled me closer to him. While we were dancing, I put my head on his shoulder and his head was near my cheek. It was so peaceful. The couples dancing to the music, beautiful night, beautifully lit. I felt like we were sleeping in his bed late at night. In his arms, it felt so peaceful and made me feel like no one was taking him away from me. Not even the cancer when we were this close together. When we were like this, I felt like I could actually save him and am with him. When I opened my eyes, I knew that wasn’t true.

            I looked up at him and he was watching the band play. I kept on starring at him until he met my gaze. When he did, he smiled and his green eyes twinkled with happiness. Something that I haven’t seen for a long time.

            I put my arms around his neck and just kept looking into his eyes. Not even thirty seconds later, his lips were on mine. It was slow. We didn’t look like hormonal teenagers. This kiss, in my mind, felt like it would last forever. It was so soft…precious…sweet…

            And when we broke apart, I saw everyone stare at us. Listening to what we had to say to each other. I just looked at him, not even paying attention to the other people.

            I knew I was in love with him and always and forever will be in love with Anthony Zide.

            I put my head on his shoulder. “Don’t let me go.”

            I heard a smile on his face. “Wouldn’t plan on it.”

           

            After that dance, I drove us home and we went upstairs to go change into our pajamas since it was very late.

            He had trouble with the buttons on his shirt so I helped him. I unbuttoned every one of them. I knew he was looking at me. I was in my tank top and pajama pants.

            He just kept on looking at me. He took off his shirt and he started kissing me again. His arms wrapped around my waist and my arms went behind his neck. When he started messing with my pants, I knew where he wanted to go with it. I broke apart from him and kissed him on his bare chest.

            “Not tonight.” I said and kissed him goodnight. I went to my side of the bed. Then I found myself in his arms again.

            He thought I fell asleep so he started talking.

            “One of these nights, you will fulfill my wish. One night, you’ll make my wish come true.”

            After that, I slowly fell asleep in his arms.