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Minka Arzegotti · (03-03-2016)

{San Diego. I love Southern California. The weather is always, always, always perfect in San Diego, and the beaches are beautiful year round. I remember a family trip we took when I was still really little, maybe six or seven, when we went to Los Angeles. What's funny is that even though I know mom and dad weren't together anymore by then, I keep inserting him into my memories as if he were there. Same with Disney World when I was ten, and the Grand Canyon when I was thirteen. But on the trip to Los Angeles I can still swear that dad was there helping me build sand castles on Venice Beach, or walking down Hollywood Boulevard next to me, pointing out the names of all the dead stars. I even remember that when I said I was going to be a star someday, Luca laughed at me but dad smiled and said he knew I would be. Dad always made sure Luca was nice to me.}

"I'm sorry, excuse me, excuse me..."

{Everywhere I turned there were more people. I was running low on time to get to the arena before XWF Warfare started, but the streets were so crowded it was easy to get lost. I kept staring at the sunset, being taken away to other places. Back to Venice Beach.}

"Daddy, will you help me bury Luca in the sand?"

"Luca doesn't want you to bury him, sweetie. Why don't we go swimming? We can look for seashells, or if you want we can use the snorkels."

"But daddy! I want to play with Luca!"

"I know, honey. I know. But Luca's... Luca's not in the mood to play right now."

"Luca NEVER wants to play!"

"I know sweetheart."

"But daaaaaaad!"

"Minka, baby, please don't cry! Daddy hates it when you cry... how about this. We can build a sand castle! You can be the princess of the whole ocean!"

"Yeah? I can?"

"Yeah, sweetie. A mermaid princess, who can talk to the dolphins and ride on seahorses!"

"Oh daddy daddy, can I sing like the Little Mermaid?"

"Anything you want, little princess... anything you want."

{But that was a long time ago. Twelve years? Thirteen? It was so long ago that I know I was tired and fell asleep long before the sun went down. I'm sure my daddy, if he were there at all, must have carried me back to the hotel we were staying at. Mom would have stayed with Luca, because he was always her favorite and he wouldn't have wanted to leave before the sun went down in an explosion of oranges and pinks over the rich, blue Pacific horizon. Just like it was doing right now while I was daydreaming.}

"Excuse me... can you help me get to the arena? I think I missed my bus stop, and I'm really late, and... oh. Oh wow."

{When the girl I tapped on the shoulder turned around, her long blonde hair almost whipping me right in the face, I saw how incredibly beautiful she was. Her fancy sunglasses, her perfect makeup, her amazing body... she was talller and tanner and way, way, way prettier than I was, and she was wearing a bright red Austin Fernando t-shirt, tied off right over her impossibly in-shape tummy.}

"You going to Warfare?"

"Y-yes..."

"You got good seats?"

"I don't know, actually. I have to pick up the tickets first and I'm so late, I don't know if I'll be able to get to meet Austin or not, and..."

{She laughed. Right in my face. It was the rudest thing anybody had ever done to me in California, that's for sure.}

"You mean Austin Fernando? You think you're gonna meet him? Did you, like, win a contest or something?"

"No... I just really need to talk to him. I'm so nervous though. Have you ever seen him before? Have you met him?"

"Oh, I've met him, alright. My friend and me partied with him last time they came through here. I wore this shirt home from his room, in fact."

"Oh... oh wow."

"Yeah. And I gotta tell you, you don't really look like his type, okay? Like, he likes girls who know what they're doing. You look like you just got out of Sunday school."

"Oh, I don't go to church anymore..."

"Whatever. Tell you what. I'll get you to the arena but in return you gotta change seats with me if yours is better. Deal?"

{I didn't really want to be disrespectful to Rebel Star after she had gone out of her way to give me a free ticket, but it seemed like I might not make it at all if I didn't give this pretty girl what she wanted.}

"Okay. Deal."

"Awesomesauce. Come on. It's right over here."

"What?"

"Yeah, like, all you had to do was head around the block and follow all these people. Didn't you notice all the XWF shirts and stuff?"

"No..."

{I didn't want to tell her I was just staring at the sunset and thinking about my dad and brother. She didn't believe that Austin Fernando would even talk to me, why would she believe I was related to a different XWF wrestler? I just walked with her up to the box office and showed the ticket agent my ID card. He smiled and printed up the ticket, handing it to me underneath the plastic divider and saying "Thank you" in a voice that was kinda like a robot because of the little speaker. I took it and the pretty girl snatched it out of my hand almost right away.}

"This is front row!"

"Is it?"

{I couldn't believe how sweet Rebel was. More people should be like her and help others. Not be scary like that guy in the clown mask.}

"It's right behind the ring! I'm gonna be on TV!"

"Well, okay, but remember..."

{But she was already running off towards the door. I saw her cut through the VIP line and have the ticket torn at the entrance before I could even really try to catch up. When I told the usher about it he just rolled his eyes at me and said he'd heard that story before. Told me tickets were sold out and that I should just go home and watch on television. I started to cry. My mascara was running all over my face and people were staring at me, but a nice boy in a hoodie came up to me and pulled me off to the side, gently. He smelled liked cherry soda.}

"Hey... hey... you okay, miss?"

"I'll never get to talk to Austin!"

{In between sobs that was all I could manage to string together. I saw the boy's crestfallen expression. He must have thought I was just some other dumb ditzy girl with a crush on an athlete, like the mean girl who stole my ticket.}

"Well... listen. I work on the ring crew. I'm not anyone special or important or anything, but if you write a letter I can probably get it to Austin Fernando."

"You can?!"

{My eyes dried up right away. Hope was sometimes exactly like a ray of sunlight breaking through a storm cloud.}

"Yeah, for real. But I can't promise that he'll give me anything back, or even that he won't just throw it in the garbage. Like I said, I'm not anyone special."

"Don't say that. Everyone is special to someone."

{He smiled. I think he blushed, but I couldn't really tell because he looked down really fast. I knew he was in a hurry though, so I quickly pulled my journal and a tri-colored pen out of my purse. I was so excited. I wrote Austin my letter and used all three colors of ink, just to make it a little more fun to read. When I was finished, I gave it to the nice boy in the hoodie and he said he would go get it to Austin Fernando right then. I couldn't help it. I gave him a great big hug. He was definitely nervous and shy, because as soon as I let him go he turned bright red in the face and said goodbye, rushing off towards a side entrance for crew members.}

"Everyone is so nice in California."

{Now all I could do was wait.}

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