How To Be Miserable For A Whole New Day

I rode up the old town street on my bicycle. The cobbled streets, the faded brick buildings, the black lampposts, the old benches, and the plants in hanging baskets in patios made for a vibrant aesthetic. The sun was high and making the day almost unbearable. The ride was tough and I relied on my leg strength to make it through. The road winded upwards in a big uphill and cars piled up on the street in traffic so I rode on the sidewalk. Pedestrians called me some names but I mostly ignored them, sometimes even laughed at them. Children licking their ice cream almost dropped it when I sped past them.

“Hey, watch where you’re going!” said a girl who I almost ran into, trying to cross the street. At first glance I found her cute. A little shorter than me, dark long hair, a t-shirt and white shorts. She was also eating a cone. A scoop of vanilla. I pushed the brakes on my bike and halted right in front of her.

“Vanilla?” I said, grinning. “That’s my favourite.”

Others would have rolled their eyes or continued to ramble on about how I almost killed them, but she was different. She seemed to forget the whole ordeal immediately as she said, “You too? Mint-chocolate chip is so overrated.”

“Definitely.” I looked around. I expected a girl like her to spend a summer day like this with her friends. “Are you alone?”

“Yeah. I like to walk down main street by myself sometimes. What about you?”

“Same with me. Quality time with yourself is underrated too, right?”

“Mhm-hmm. Where are you heading? I was about to go see that old live action movie set just up the road over there. That one they used for all those action movies back then. I heard it’s abandoned now, and people can just check it out whenever they want to.”

I couldn’t believe it. That’s where I was headed too. I told her that. She laughed and then asked, “Cool. Want to go see it with me?”

I shrugged and said, “Yeah, sure. Why not.”

I locked my bike to a street sign and walked up the rest of the way with her. Along the way we talked about our favourite things. I was shocked to find out we liked a lot of the same things. The same opinions and tastes about everything. We liked the same music, artists, movies, games, shows, and everything in between. I thought I was lucky. My tastes aren’t exactly common, yet I found someone who had them all anyway. I thought I was dreaming.

The experience at the movie set was surreal. I remember having a fun time, which was mostly it. It was turning night, which made it more spookier. We saw old, rusted cars, some charred and broken buildings that they probably filmed some explosions with, and a lot of shipping cargo containers and oil barrels around some train tracks, as if there was a train scene. There were some abandoned trains too, and even a helicopter. I remember her entering the cockpit and saying roger and over and out and laughing along when I laughed at her. Generally, it was a cool place. 

“I had fun,” she said. “But it’s getting late. I have to get home.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Me too.”

“I’ll see you next time.” She wrapped her arms around me, which left me surprised. “Bye.”

I waved goodbye as she left. On the way to my bike, I felt dizzy, hazy, and strange. As if I couldn’t comprehend what happened. But a surge of emotion came like a wave and almost knocked me over. I still had a hand on my forehead when I found my bike. I rode it home.

Except I wasn’t going home. I had other plans, actually. I lied to her. There was this futuristic, cyberpunk mall around town, and I was going to meet my friends there at midnight. It wasn’t too long of a bike ride. I could probably get there in time.

Time seemed to pass by during the ride. Maybe my head was still dizzy after seeing that old action movie set, but it didn’t feel like I had a headache or anything. Everything just felt strange, surreal. I made it to the mall just fine, though. I saw some older teens outside smoking and looking emo with their black leather jackets and all. There were a lot of them. My friends were probably inside already so I parked my bike and pushed past them to get to the doors. I had to go through some spiral stairs in a yellow-walled room to get to the neon floor. Not every floor was the same, I guessed. When I got to the right floor I was greeted with a bunch of flashing lights and signs.

The inside looked great. There were all these neon signs in every store, which made up most of the light inside. Some dance music was playing and everyone seemed to be enjoying. Coloured strobe lights and the loud noise set the mood. There was a DJ and a crowd in the centre plaza having a blast. Everyone was throwing their hands up and down or jumping up and down frantically. I saw a group of girls with each of their hairs dyed a different colour laughing hysterically and hopping to the beat.

I saw a lot of shoppers too. They all had punk rock outfits and dyed hair and nose piercings. I found it amusing. They carried bags as they walked by shops or ate some food on some mall benches. The entire plaza had a glass roof that showed the moon and the night sky and overall, it was impressive. Although none of it was really my style.

“Hey, there’s our boy!” said one of my friends, walking up to me with the rest of them. He was blonde, tall, and wore an outfit similar to everyone else in the mall. I felt a bit out of place as I still wore my plain t-shirt, track pants, and headband from my bike ride earlier.

“Did you get lost or something?” said another friend. “Welcome to Neon City, dude! Are you ready to explore?”

I found the place cool enough, honestly, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I wasn’t really supposed to be here. Either way, I promised I’d hang out here with my friends so I shrugged and said, “Yeah, man. I’m down.”

We stuck together and just walked around the place. I mean, I liked my friends, but this wasn’t really my idea of fun. They seemed to favour laughing at crude jokes and putting each other in headlocks instead of talking about big dreams or favourite artists. I must have looked so bored in the group, from anyone looking in on the outside. I had put my headphones on and blasted my music, and it ended up me barely hearing anything in the outside world. If any of my friends said something to me, I wouldn’t have heard it.

We strolled by more shops. I had my my hands in my pockets now, looking at the ground and listening to my music, just following my friends’ feet. They ogled at some lingerie shop advertisement models and I laughed along with them. I actually found it funny, but not in the same way they thought, I guess.

Eventually, they got tired and decided to sit on some couches around some pillars next to the dance floor in the main plaza. There was a group of girls our age on the opposite side, on some couches too, and one of my friends thought it was a good idea to make some type of funny remark at them that they didn’t like. Suddenly they were all laughing and the girls were acting mad, but I saw it in their eyes. They liked the attention. Soon it was just the two groups flirting, and I mostly stayed out of it, focusing more on my music and not really looking at the group of girls. 

Naturally though, I ended up glancing at them. One immediately caught my eye. As if my equal, she was listening to some music with some ear buds and looking at the floor, arms crossed, sitting with her group of friends although not really acting like she was part of them. Not really participating in what they were doing, looking bored. I recognized her though. A little shorter than me, dark long hair, a t-shirt and white shorts. Looking so out of place compared to everyone else around her wearing punk rock outfits and having vibrant hair. She was the girl I hung out with earlier.

I ended up staring at her like an idiot, hoping she would look at me, but no one would have cared anyway. The dance music of was so loud now, I could barely hear my own. The flashing strobe lights were also so distracting in the dark atmosphere, I doubted she’d ever see me. But then she did, when she looked around for a minute and glanced in my direction. Her eyes lit up when our eyes met. I looked around and saw a pillar that no one was leaning on. Most of them were occupied by some older teens indulged in the party. I jabbed a thumb at it, telling her to meet me there. She got up and went, and I did too. None of our friends saw us leave them.

“Hey,” I said, when we both got to the pillar. 

“Hey.”

I pointed at her MP3 player. “What are you listening to? Surreal Winds by The Axis?”

She smiled. “Yeah. How did you know?”

It was the same one I was listening to. Our favourite song by our favourite band at the height of their game. I didn’t really have a doubt we’d be listening to the same song. We were so alike. 

I glanced around at the mess of a place. Then I looked at her and said, “Hey, do you want to get out of here?”

She nodded. “This place doesn’t really cut it for my standards.”

I saw some doors leading out to a long balcony outside. Kind of like a big veranda or porch on the second floor, overlooking outside, encased by a glass fence. There were some patio chairs and kids sitting on them smoking. It looked more relaxing than inside. I looked back at her and pointed my head in that direction. She smiled and followed me outside.

The fresh night air was cool outside. Immediately, the loud music and lights were gone and it was much better. 

“Much better,” she said, as if she knew what I was thinking. We were on the glass fence, our arms over it, side by side and looking at a view of the city. I exhaled and took it all in. It was great being here, with her as well. I saw some lights in the distance and a ferris wheel. The local amusement park. I knitted my eyebrows. It was nearing three in the morning and it was still open. I found it strange, though I was in the mood for some cotton candy and rides.

“Want to go there?” I asked her. I didn’t have to say where. She knew where I was looking.

“Yeah,” she said. “Let’s go. It’ll be fun.”

We left the mall without saying goodbye to our friends. Just the way I liked it. We took a bus to the amusement park and got there in no time. 

It was completely devoid of people. There weren’t even any employees. Being the only ones there, it was just like the old action movie set. We just horsed around and had some fun. We played with some of the large stuffed toys on the racks and sang some of our favourite songs. It was so corny but I loved it. There wasn’t anybody to operate the rides, so we only looked at them. It began to feel like we snuck in, but I could have sworn the park was open. Either way, I didn’t care as much at this point.

When we got tired, we got some cotton candy and just walked around. The only light came from these lampposts around the park, which made it eerie. I mentioned that to her and she laughed, thinking the same thing.

“So…” she said, slowly smiling and looking at me. “Are you going to say anything to me? You’ve been acting like my boyfriend the whole day.”

I kept a moderate expression, wondering what I could say. In the end I just gave up thinking and smiled, wrapping an arm around her. She leaned in and didn’t question it, taking a bite out of her cotton candy. I wondered if it was possible to have this feeling forever.

I don’t know what happened next, really. It was all so strange. I remember just one moment, having my arm around her and feeling great, and then the next, my body started to feel like it was floating away. And my vision faded. The amusement park was gradually disappearing and I was so confused. Then my eyes began opening, although I don’t remember closing them. Did I close them? I don’t remember. But all of a sudden they were opening, all because of this ringing sound that annoyed my ears. My body, which was floating, was now getting the sensation of being under some sheets in a bed. And that ringing noise. It wouldn’t go away!

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