I wake up to… no alarm. I turned to see Fang still passed out. Naser said he had something planned today before graduation, I think. I get up to the sun beaming into my eyes, fuck you, Mr. Sun. I get up and stretch; I take a quick shower and go to the kitchen to make breakfast. I heat up the pan, putting a little butter on it to ensure the eggs don’t stick. I crack a couple eggs in a small tupperware, add a tiny amount of water and start whisking the eggs, scrambled eggs with leftover grits for today. I pour the eggs into the pan with a sizzle and sprinkle some cheese and salt. I wait for the bottom to congeal, and I start scraping the bottom with a spatula. Eventually, the eggs coagulate, and I reheat the grits in another pot, adding water to make them rehydrated. I plop the eggs on a cheap paper plate along with a portion of grits and repeat the process on another plate. I turn off the oven returning to the living room to see Fang slowly getting up, perfect timing. I place her plate on the desk and leave her some room to sit next to me.

 

She fills in the gap between the bed and me before picking up her plate and eating, a smile gracing her face. I remember suddenly what my dad said, the service or college… Fuck how am I going to tell Fang? I turn to her, now would be the best time, I think. “Hey, uh, Fang?”

 

She looks at me with a mouthful of food, her attention on me, “So my dad told me before I moved here… I need to either go to college or join the army.” She nods, continuing to look at me attentively. I sigh a little, “I’ll be going to college for a long time, I think… five years or so.” She nods. I don’t think she’s taken it in yet. I’ll give her some time. “I think I’m going to be a biologist.”

 

I smile a little, and she returns the expression, “That’s cool, so you’ll, like,” she takes another bite of food, “Dissect shit and stuff?” 

 

I nod a little, “Yeah, I was curious how the human body and dino body works. Considering you eat much more than us and you are much stronger than us, I just thought it would be cool to learn about and get a job out of.”

 

She nods, “So… five years?”

 

I nod a little, “To get a master’s, I’ll still come back during my winter and summer breaks if I can.”

 

Fang seems like she’s fully taking it in, “Wow… okay… damn, I don’t know what I’m gonna do without you.”

 

I shrug a little, “Do what you love? Or find out what you love.”

 

She nods again, finishing her meal, “I guess so… five years though...”

 

I put a hand on her shoulder, “It’ll fly by like nothing, I promise.”

 

She looks at me hopefully as she finishes her last bite and nods. After I finish my eggs and grits, neither of us have a clue what to do… we’ll just decide on the way. We head out and I call Monarch and he picks up almost instantly.

 

“Yellow?” I try to hold back my cringe.

 

“Hey Monarch, we need to go downtown. Fang and I are at home right now.”

 

“Gotcha. I’ll be there in a minute.”

 

He hangs up and we hear his engine roar in the distance followed by the screeching of brakes right in front of us. “Well? What are you two gawkin’ at? Hop in.”

 

Fang and I hop in the backseat, “So, where are you two headed?”

 

I put on my seatbelt, “Uh, just drop us off anywhere downtown. We’re making up the day as we go.”

 

Monarch nods and smiles, “Understood.” He speeds off and before we’re halfway through another love song he says, “Is this good for you kids?”

 

I nod, “Yeah, thanks Monarch.”

 

“Anytime kids, anytime.”

 

I hand the payment to Monarch and hop out of the car, waving him off.

 

We start to stroll around town looking for things to do to pass the day until Naser gives us the call. We eventually go to the one music museum we went to a bit ago… as we go through the exhibits, she looks a little less… enthusiastic. “You alright, Fang?”

 

“Yeah, I’m good…” Fang looks remorseful as we stare at all the guitars once held by rockstars.

 

“You sure?” I put my arm around her.

 

Her eyes start to well up, “I… I don’t know, can we uh… go somewhere else?”

 

I shrug, “Only if you want to.”

 

She takes my hand, and we head out of the museum. We talk about where to go, and she suggests a pet shop talking about the pudgy dogs she saw in the mall. Her moods completely shifted, she seems really enthusiastic about pets in general.

 

She stops and looks at me, “Parents didn’t allow us to have pets growing up.”

 

“What?”

 

Fang nods, “Plus those animals are pretty rare for Volcadara, ‘man’s’ best friend doesn’t settle too well with people around here.”

 

“Hmmm, you like animals that much, huh? Then… maybe we should go to the zoo.” I smiled softly at her.

 

Her eyes light up, and she faces me. “I’ve never been! Let's go right now.” and so, we start making our way to the zoo; 20 bucks to enter. 

 

I look at her then towards the gates, “Really? Never been to a zoo?”

 

She nods, “Yeah, dad said something like ‘they should be out in the wild where I can hunt them, what’s the fun in looking at them.’ Or something.”

 

I smile and huff a little, I pay, and we enter. Eventually, we make our way to the monkey and apes section, and Fang shoots an evil smile at me. “Hey Anon…” I already know what she’s gonna say and shake my head disapprovingly. There’s a short pause before she says the punchline, “...It’s your cousins.” She laughs hard just as she struggles to get out the last word, and I also try to hold back my laughter. I can’t help it and snicker a little. 

 

We head over to the aquatic section which is close by and spot a dolphin… I return the evil grin, and Fang punches my arm before I can say anything. We quickly make our way through the rest of the zoo, Fang skipping the bug section. She doesn’t strike me as the type of person to be scared of bugs but… oh well. Unfortunately, that was the last exhibit. Fang and I grab some Dippin Dots and check my phone. 4 PM… Naser should be calling us at any moment.

 

Just as Fang and I finished the Dippin Dots, we headed to the zoo entrance. I get a call from Naser. Perfect timing. “You and Fang ready?”

 

“Yeah, man, whenever you are.” I respond.

 

“Alright, you guys at Skin Row?” 

 

“Nah, we went to the zoo.”

 

“Alright, I’ll be there in a bit.”

 

Naser hangs up, and Fang and I sit on one of the benches lining the sidewalk. Glad we live within walking distance of this place. I look behind me and see a poster for help wanted. Better pay than Moe’s… hmmm. My thoughts were interrupted by Naser honking at us. We pop out of the bench and hop in the backseat of the NasCar. He pulls out of the parking lot and starts heading toward our destination.

 

…Still can’t believe how fast this year went, even if I was only here for half of it. Can’t believe how much has happened, either. Surprised my head hasn’t fallen off from stress.

 

As we slow to a stop, I can see the coastline of Volcaldera. Fang, Naser and I step out, and I can hear the waves crash against the rocks. As the sun hangs low in the sky, I can see Stella and Rosa in the distance. We all walk towards where they’re sitting on the sand and take a seat ourselves. We sit in silence for a moment enjoying the view of the sunset. 

 

Eventually, someone speaks up and starts talking. Laughs get thrown around as well as some tears. The sun sinks below the horizon, and the temperature drops with it. Naser and I work on the fire, and he surprisingly only makes two racist comments. He clearly struggles much more than I do, though, so maybe he’s got a point. Eventually, we get the small campfire to light, and we all huddle around it. Stella and Rosa order me to set up the tents, they look like they’re about to pass out sitting up. Fang helps me out, and it takes us a bit, but after half-an-hour, everyone’s tents are set up; ready to be slept in. 

 

Naser pops his trunk and pulls out a small cooler, rolling it over to the campfire. He takes out a pack of hotdogs and soda. He enlists me to help find sticks to put them on, and a few minutes later, we can see 5 bars long enough to roast the hotdogs. I take mine and hand the one I grabbed to Fang. Stella has been rambling with us about anime and tarot card meanings, and Rosa has just tuned her out, staring vaguely at her. Rosa looks used to this. The conversation of what we’re going to do with our lives comes up after some time.

 

“So what are you going to do, An-on?” Rosa asks.

 

I rub my neck a little, “I’m going to college… I’m gonna major in biology, I think.”

 

Rosa nods and starts rambling about how she’ll become a priest. I tune her out, enjoying the hot dogs until Fang gets mentioned. Stella says, “So, Fang. What are you going to do?”

 

Fang seems a little put off by the question, “I… don’t know yet. Still figuring that out.”

 

I nod, “You got all the time in the world.”

 

She smiles a little at me, but she looks nervous. After some time, the fire dies out, and we head to our tents. Fang and I share one… here’s to the start of adulthood… can’t wait. 

 

…

 

- 5 YEARS LATER          -

 

…I can see the familiar highschool in the distance, and it looks like it hasn’t changed a bit. Five years fly by… I was able to visit Fang during my summer breaks, but I had to stay and study for midterms during winter breaks unfortunately. I get out of the cab and thank a gray haired Monarch, he’s still got the balls to break as many road laws as possible. Fang went back to music but she toned it down a little. She told me she was going to try being a teacher but she didn’t like it. She decided to go into a studio job, mixing music. Apparently she’s making bank under some new rock star and she’s loving it. Still can’t believe how fast five years have gone by… I checked my pockets one last time making sure I didn’t leave the most important thing in my possession with Monarch. As I approach the school I give Monarch a thumbs up and he shoots one back at me before speeding off. I can hear the chatter of old friends catching up and see people sitting on the stairs, nothing’s changed. I make my way up the steps closing the distance to the main doors. 

 

I see Fang talking to a familiar triceratops, Trish, and Reed. Their position is familiar, Fang turns her head to look at me, but not with malice, with warmth this time. Instead of going back to her friends she makes her way towards me. We meet halfway hugging each other tightly, I kiss her and hear a crowd roar behind me. We look into each other's eyes for what feels like forever before she eventually loosens her embrace. “I’m home for real this time, Fang.” I wiped a tear from her eye.

 

She sniffles, “Good… don’t leave again.” She giggles a little and I rub my pocket making sure it’s still there. I take a deep breath… you can do this, Anon. You’ve been with her for 5 years… I feel a lump in my throat as I move to get down on one knee.

 

I slowly pull a box out of my pocket and open it towards Fang, revealing a golden ring. “I won’t be going anywhere, could you return that promise, Fang Aaran?”

 

She covers her mouth speechless, nodding violently, the crowd erupts again. I stand up and feel her wings wrap around my body as she kisses me. She cries as she looks into my eyes again. I wipe tears from her eyes again as we loosen the embrace. 

 

Eventually we head up the stairs, Reed gives me a thumbs up and Trish shoots me a smile. Apparently Fang made a promise to Trish to be her first customer at Trish’s horn piercing shop, that’s when Fang reached out to Trish and they reconnected. They’ve been great friends since, glad they mended their relationship. Trish is dressed up in a snazzy suit and Reed still looks like, well, Reed. Still wearing tank tops and shorts, he looks like he hasn’t aged a day.

 

“It’s the carfe man, keeps you young.” I nod a little, seeing he talks a bit slower. Might be degrading his brain though… I guess you trade intelligence for looks doing that stuff.

 

We all head inside and make our way to the gym, the main meeting place. As soon as I walk in I notice Stella and Rosa immediately. Stella looks like a soccer mom now, she’s wearing her hair down now but is wearing pretty much the same clothes. Rosa looks entirely different. She’s wearing something a priest would wear, with a golden chain around her neck with a cross on it. She’s chatting to Stella about something and they seem focused on their conversation. I move closer to the two of them and see some cards… no way. Rosa is getting a tarot reading?

 

I sit down next to Rosa, “Dabbling in witchcraft, saint Rosa?”

 

She jolts back a little, “No! I am doing no such-! oh… hello An-on, it’s good to see you again! But uh… no, I would never. Stella is simply explaining it to me, that’s all.” She looks like she could be sweating bullets right now.

 

She shifts her attention away from the cards towards Fang and I, “Still together I see.”

 

Fang shows her ring to Rosa and she gasps, “Oh my! It’s beautiful Fang…” She doesn’t take the hint “Where’d you get it?”

 

“I proposed to her a bit ago, right outside actually,” I pointed back towards the entrance.

 

She glances between us, “Congratulations you two, I always thought you made a wonderful couple!”

 

Fang speaks up, “Thank you Rosa…”

 

Fang and I take our seats and the makeshift bar, Reed and Trish following suit. Before long we’re all taking shots of whatever Reed ordered us… really hoping this shit isn’t spiked.

 

Time flies as we reminisce and catch up with each other, it reminds me of the beach all those years ago…

 

Eventually Fang and I sneak off to the rooftop, sitting watching the sunset. I feel her head on my shoulder, “I’ve missed you… so much.”

 

I put my hand on her shoulder, “I’ve missed you too, Fang. You wanna hit up Moe’s sometime?”

 

She looks up at me, “I’d go anywhere with you, Anon. To the ends of the earth.”

 

I look into her eyes and move to kiss her just as the sun sinks below the horizon…