Between You and I

Chapter Fifteen

May 16, 2012: 86 Hours After

Well. I just spent the last hour of my life walking in circles. Literally. Just around the park over and over and over again. Everything feels heavy. The air, my head, my body... All I want to do is sleep for days on end and never get up. Who cares about graduation? Someone killed herself. I’m not in the mood for a graduation.

Speaking of graduation, I don’t get how everyone is already moving on. Just this morning, they were all crying their hearts out. Now... Now it seems like nothing ever happened. ‘Hey, party still on at my house!’, ‘Dude, I can’t believe I’m actually passing high school.’, and ‘Date with Emma in an hour :)’ were all the facebook posts I’ve read on my phone before I didn’t want to read anymore.

It’s like Valentine was always gone. It’s like she was just someone in the background of their lives who just didn’t matter. And I feel bad for her, but the thing is, everyone would be able to use the reason ‘they don’t care’ because somewhere somehow, people just don’t give a shit. As a matter of fact, I want to be one of those people. I’m sick and really tired of caring. It's not like I have to, right?

The grass growing from the park ground crunches as I walk. Children are running around, laughing and squealing as they chase each other. My lips tug down at the corners. Years ago, Valentine and I would have been in the same place as those kids. She had a childhood. She had a life. She was breathing and could think and say things that no one else could, but she can’t anymore. 

I don’t know what happened, but I began to come here less and less; even when we were friends. This is her favorite place in the world. Or was. She told me that this was the one place where she could be herself and no one would see. Since no one could see, she didn’t have to be scared the while she was here. So she came all the time, even if I didn’t.

Now that I think about it... There’s a bench at the very far end of the park that no one knew about except for us. At least, that I know of.

“Maybe I’ll take you there again next time,” The sentence swirls around my head-

Holy.

Shit. 

Just like that, my legs take off, running as fast as they could.

“Its right in the middle of all the trees. You remember the clump of trees right? Where we buried Dacim the Vampire?”

“It’s the one place I could hide,” Her voice began to grow louder in my head, the sentences sounding as if they were merging into one.

“And it would be nice to visit his grave one day again. Its been so long!”

---

I found it. The bench is right where I remember it to be: in the middle of the tiny park forest, hidden from sight. This is where we would have gone next time. My heart starts pumping as I run to it, my eyes automatically searching for anything Valentine could have left me. There has to be something, right?

Then I see it. Etched deep into one of the various planks that make up the bench. ‘Arabella’. What am I. Supposed to do. With. A. Name!? My excitement dies and my hopes fall as I collapse next to ‘Arabella’. This is stupid. Arabella can be anyone. Heck, Valentine might not have even etched it! But why else would she want me to be here? I know this is the place. 100%. So what am I supposed to do now?

The breeze makes the the trees rustle and my face feels like ice mostly due to the disappointment sinking in, but it doesn’t bother me. Maybe she just wanted me to remember the talk we had about this place. Maybe she wants me to think about all the times we ran around like idiots here when we were younger. Heh, Dacim the Vampire. He was the 'reason' why our classmate- Trevor- had a missing dog.

But I’ve already thought of all of that. She didn’t have to remind me. If she wanted to remind me, she wouldn’t have put it on her laptop for me to find, and especially not have put it as a clue she knew that only I would have figured out. 

I stick my hands underneath my thighs. Old habit. What is she trying to tell me? I’m not some ghost whisperer who can just ask her. Although, I wish I was. Huh...

That’s weird... I wiggle my fingers a little. The surface has a long rough patch under my fingertips. Feeling as if I got a shock of electricity throughout my body, I slide over and stare at the barely visible etch until I finally make out what it says.

‘Document One’. 

And that is all it takes to get me running home, mind racing, heart pounding, and my hopes rocketing sky high.