Much Like Falling

Chapter Six

I woke before she did, and as creepy as it sounds, watching her sleep calmed me. She looked peaceful; it was hard to believe the same girl had tried killing herself just yesterday. I wondered what she was dreaming about, or if she was dreaming at all. Was she happy there? I saw her stir so I quickly looked out my window, watching as the early-morning surfers tackled the ferocious waves.

She groaned, “What’s the time?”

I glanced at the digits on my dashboard, “Nearly eight. How did you sleep?” I watched as she sat up and winced, hugging herself.

“It was alright. My muscles hurt though. How was yours?” she glanced passed me.

I shrugged, “Same as you.”

She nodded in reply. “Um, is there a bathroom near here?”

“Yeah it’s just over there,” I said, pointing passed her. “Actually, I need to go as well.”

Afterwards, we decided to sit along the sand. Luckily it was early so there was still a slight chill in the air and clouds had covered the sky. As far as I knew, we weren’t in any risk of getting sunburn. We sat in silence as I watched the waves while she dug her fingertips into the warm sand, enclosing her hand into a ball and watching as the grains ran free from her grasp. She sighed.

I wanted to know her name, and I had been ever since I first saw her in English. How had I never noticed her before? She was beautiful, but I knew she believed otherwise. Like mine, her hair traced her eyes. She hid herself behind it, as well as her jeans and long sleeves. Just like me.

I glanced at her to see that she was already looking at me. I couldn’t help but smile as my stomach flipped. Her eyes were so blue, almost a mirror image to the view at the lookout. Her cheeks were a natural slight shade of pink, and her rose lips full. There were no traces of make-up at all. She was so beautiful… “What’s your name?” I asked her.

She looked at the ground then, and pressed her hands against the sand. “We’re not on a first name basis. I’d rather we use nicknames.”

Confused, I asked, “Why?”

“Easier to forget each other that way,”

I shook my head. “What if I don’t want to forget?”

I watched as she stood and made her way to the ocean, leaving footprints, stopping just shy of the waves. Confused, I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling rejected and somewhat betrayed. Why did she want to forget? How could we? She saved my life. I didn’t just want to forget her. I kept my eyes on the russet-brown haired figure, making sure she wouldn’t do a runner.

Several minutes passed before she returned. I stood as she approached. “What’s your favourite animal?” she asked.

“Uh,” I paused. Why did she want to know what my favourite animal was? “Tigers… Why?”

“OK Tiger, that’s your new name. Mine are rabbits.”

This was stupid… “No, actually my name is Emerson.”

She narrowed her eyes at me before shoving my chest, but I didn’t budge. I raised an eyebrow, amused. “Why did you do that?” she cried. “Now how am I going to forget you?”

“I don’t want you to,” I grabbed her arms, forcing her to look at me.

She pulled away from me. “Just take me home,” was all she said before heading back to the car.

Well, I fucked up everything.

As I found the way back to town, I did what I normally would do and wound down all the windows, playing music on full blast despite her protesting eyes. I was probably being immature, but I didn’t care. She couldn’t expect me to forget her just like that, so I did everything in my power to get on her nerves. At least I didn’t have my Hard-core genre CD like I normally would do. At least we were only listening to Coldplay. Rabbit kept her eyes focused on the road, remaining silent while I quietly sung the lyrics of Paradise, hoping she couldn’t hear me. Once we reached town, I turned the music off so she could give me directions to her house.

We fought over the quickest way to get home, and by the time we reached hers it was already dark out. I parked in her driveway, gazing up at the white-painted wooden two-storied house in front of me. There was a nice garden to the left of us, marking the porch while rose bushes lined the fence, stopping anyone from hurdling over it. The porch light was on, giving a nice welcoming glow to her home.

I looked at her as she started opening the car door. “What happens now?” I quickly asked.

She glanced back at me. “We forget and go back to doing whatever we did before.”

I shook my head. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”

“You really are annoying,” Rabbit sighed. She wasn’t joking.

“Good luck with your parents, Rabbit,”

“You too,” she slammed the car door. Wait… so she wasn’t even going to call me by my nickname?

I made sure she was through the front door before I sped off, taking note of the street and number she lived at.

By the time I reached home, it was already eleven o’clock. From the drive, I could see the perplexing light from the lounge, which was rather strange for this time of night. Usually the curtains were closed and Mum would be in bed, but I could define her silhouette, as if a tiny mouse eating cheese, but she was sobbing.

Putting my hands deep inside my hoodie pockets, I quickened my pace, noticing that the front door was unlocked, also strange. I heard an unfamiliar, low husky voice as I crept into the house. “What’s wrong?” I asked Mum, seeing how her head was bowed, her hands flailing, covering the tears. I did not recognise the man standing in the corner; he was just a tall, clean-shaven figure who was fitted into a suit and wore glasses.

Mum didn’t answer straight away, instead she told me to sit down, her hand in mine while she forced her bloodshot and swollen brown eyes to meet my face. My throat began to swell, taking in the hurt that was plastered on her face. It was obvious there was no concern about my disappearance, only, a more serious thing had happened. The man remained standing in the corner, as if a statue, a soldier, but he was probably just a businessman, or even an officer. “Emerson,” Mum paused, peering at me closely, “I-I don’t know how to say this.” The man shifted, folding his arms so I stared at him, expecting him to say something but when he continued to remained silent, I brought my attention back to Mum. “Your Dad, he-he has been in a car crash and-”

“What?” I bolted upright, releasing my hand from her grip. “Is he OK?” My Dad may have been an abusive Father, but I still loved him. He made Mum happy, and he provided his kids with food and shelter. If something bad happened to him, we would be done.

Mum shook her head. “Emerson, he’s gone.”