The Line Between You And I

Max

Once we finally got back, it was already mid-morning and we were all exhausted. Once we were back in the house, I felt my knees buckle as I collapsed onto the sofa. I must have fallen asleep or something because the next thing I know there is a blanket over me. My mum and Alice are nowhere to be seen. My head felt slightly groggy as I come out of my long coma-like rest and I decided to make a cup of tea, for me, Alice, and my mum. It didn't take long for them to all come trailing back into the house as the late afternoon whistling of the kettle perked their ears up in a second. When my mum walked in we started a basic conversation but you could tell she didn't really know what to say to me after my little breakdown yesterday Alice came in wearing the same clothes as yesterday only now they were soaked in, well what looked like shit.

"What happened to you?" I said, the morning made my voice rather croaky as I let out a slight chuckle.

"Well someone decided to be a nice person and do all of your chores for you today so then you could go see that girl you have been spooning about." Alice stated, making sure to batter her eyelashes at the end of the sentence.

I quickly stood up and walked over to her yanking her arm and pulling her into the nearest room where my mother's ears were out of reach.

"Why on earth would you say that out loud when my mum was in the house?" I said, my sentence picking up a rather fast tone as I could hear the anger rising in my voice.

"Oh you will live Max, I really don't think that your mum cares that you're falling in love with some girl from the village." She pranced around the room like she was a bloody fairy and I was having none of it.

"She is not some bloody girl from the village! She is one of the rich ones from London. Her name is Elizabeth Thompson, she is a Thompson, Alice. Not just some village girl." I wasn't mad enough to shout at her but annoyed enough to keep my sentences short and my tone sharp.

"Wait you mean Elizabeth Thompson? Ah! I know her. Damn, how did you end up with a Thompson fawning over you Max?" She couldn't help herself to just let out a little giggle.

"Hold on, let's trace it back. You said you knew her yes? How?"

Her body froze and a worried expression appeared on her face.

"I may be dating her best friend.." Her voice was lower than a whisper.

"You- excuse me what?" I stumbled over my words as confusion hit me left, right, and center.

"Basically, Elizabeth has a best friend who I am dating. Her name is Nevaeh but you Max, can't say  shit to anyone got it?" Her beady eyes went straight through me as she said that.

"I won't say anything, Al, okay? You have my word." My eyes were giving a promising look that she graciously returned with a faint smile.

We sat for a short minute in silence, neither of us knew what to say until the words rolled off her tongue one by one.

"So are we going to go see your pretty damsel in distress or are we going to sit here drinking tea." A bossy tone coating her voice. "Even as much as I'd like to drink tea.." She muttered under her breath only loud enough for me to just about hear.

One hour later...

As we were walking through the woods to get to Eliza's mansion of a home, I was telling Alice everything I could about her and how different she made me feel. Once I was finally done talking, there was a silence executed amongst us but that was soon cut short when Alice finally said,

"Do you ever think about giving up on life ya know? Like just letting death take you to become part of the world in different natural forms?" Not once did she look at me when the words spilled out of her mouth. Her head stayed low even when I said,

"Yes, maybe one day, when the time is right, or maybe even if I've had enough. But, not until we have gone wild okay exploring and never coming back okay? We only have one shot at this whole life thing and I'd rather take it than leave it."

She finally picked her head up from the floor to give me a slight nod and a smile. A smile that told me everything was okay in the world right now.

Once we finally made it around to the house, we decided to go our separate ways so that we could cover more ground sooner.

Alice's piercing scream was something I will never forget as I ran over to where her feet seemed to be stuck in place.

I looked up only to see Elizabeth's body grasping for any air left as her dad clenched her throat tighter with every aching minute.

The things I'd do to keep you out of harm's way...