Vacant

Chapter Fifteen

            “River?” I questioned aloud, not really believing what I was witnessing.

            “Chloe,” he said, reaching out his arms for a hug. I had no time to react, because I quickly dropped the used skateboard and ran up to him. There was a large, beaming smile planted on his face. I wrapped my arms firmly around him, and he returned the favour. He still smelled the same, that faint wisp of cologne I’ve grown to love. I retracted from the embrace first, wondering what he was doing here.

            “What are you doing here? I thought you left for Ottawa, like years ago?” I asked him. I couldn’t help the smile forming on my face.

            “My parents decided to come back, mainly because my dad got a new job here. And besides, I’ve missed Peterborough. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Ottawa is awesome, but Peterborough is where I grew up. It’s where my old house is, my old school, my friends, and of course, you.” He smirked at that last comment, and he held my gaze. I could feel myself flush and looked down to my feet. His navy blue eyes were so alluring, that I couldn’t just look into them like he did for me. It made me feel really insecure, because he was gorgeous, and I was just…me.

            “So what have you been up to? I see you’ve grown up to be an excellent skateboarder,” he said. He took my hand in his own, and he traced the lines of my palm. “You look so different, you know,” he stopped tracing the lines of my palm, and moved on to stroke my hair.

            “Everyone changes,” I replied. It looks like he really missed me.

            “Yeah, but you really changed. I mean, your hair is like gold,” River said, while he dropped his hands from stroking my hair. “Much brighter than before.” River smiled at that, and he led me to where I was skating along the rail.

            “So, are you staying for good now?” I asked him.

            He turned towards me, removing his helmet. His brown hair flicked at the ends, revealing that skateboarding hair. He smiled again, waiting for my reaction.

            “Looks like it.” He said.

            “Really? That’s awesome!” I said enthusiastically.

            “I know right? I’m back!” He laughed, climbing up the concrete step to the rail. He backed up a few meters, and then skated with tremendous speed. When he was almost inches from the rail, he jumped with his board and glided along the rail. When River got to the end, he did a small 180 and landed.

            “Pretty good,” I said, a challenge brewing inside of me. “But how about a 360 at the end?” I let a smirk crawl on my face, wondering if he would take the challenge.

            River made a cringed face, pondering whether he was up for the challenge.

            “Is that a challenge I smell in the air?” He grinned, making his way over to me.

            “Only if you want it to be,” I replied. He was inches from me now, and I could smell the faint cologne on him. He leaned over to my face, searching my eyes for something I couldn’t tell.

            “You’re on.” He whispered.

                                    *                                  *                                  *

            We both decided we had only one try to nail the 360 landing at the end of the rail. I could feel the competitive edginess inside of me. I knew I could stick this landing, I learned it a while ago. It was a “go hard or go home” cliché sort of scenario. But I knew I could win this, no doubt.

            “Ladies first,” River insisted. Okay, fine. He wants to play it like that? Bring it.

            I walked over to the railing, and backed up. Well, I wasn’t wearing a helmet, so if I fall, well, let’s hope I don’t. I focused my eyes strictly at the end of the rail. I tied my hair back in a ponytail abruptly, and then making sure it was tight enough so it wouldn’t fall into my face. When I was satisfied, I inhaled, and just skated. I pumped my back leg until it wouldn’t go anymore, and I jumped swiftly to glide the rail. I was reaching the end, I could tell, because I was running out of rail. The trick was, I knew, that I was supposed to spin very quickly. And I did.

            I did a flawless 360. I stuck the landing perfectly. Beat that River, I thought to myself. I caught my breath and looked back at him. He just stood there, scrutinizing me.

            “Not bad, for a girl.” He said. I rolled my eyes, letting the sexist comment go. I might as well get used to them.

            River ran up to the rail. Without a second thought, he just skated. He jumped, looking a little shaky, and unfortunately kept it going. He got to the end, and fell. It wasn’t that bad of a fall, but he wasn’t moving. He was making a sound, like that moment when you don’t know if somebody’s really crying or laughing, and you don’t want to laugh out loud when they were really crying.

                        “Oh shit.” I breathed. I ran over to him, rolling him over face up. “Are you ok-” I said, but cut myself off when I saw him laughing. What the? I thought.

            “…ahaha, I suck, a lot.” He was still laughing, and I punched him hard in the shoulder. He was still laughing, but he moved his arm to cover where I hit him. “Ow, what was that for?” He chuckled.

            “I thought you were seriously injured, you jerk.” He stopped laughing now, seeing how serious I was.

            “Chloe, if I were injured, I would tell you.” He grinned, and burst out laughing at my serious face. I loosened up a little, smiling a bit. I sat down now, beside him. He was still laughing now, which was getting slightly annoying.

            “Can you stop?” I said jokingly. I shoved his broad figure, which didn’t budge. Ugh, why can I never move any guy when I’m annoyed with them? Every single one of them is like, jacked. When he didn’t budge, he took it to his advantage, as he took me down to his level. I looked up at his dark blue eyes, and I knew what was going to happen next.

            River leaned down to my face, and pressed his lips softly onto my own. He kissed me softly, making sure I was comfortable. I didn’t want to pull away, because it took me back to when we were both young, at this spot, doing what we were doing now. His lips where so soft, like a rose petal. I completely forgot about Jesse and Luke, and everything about Luke. It was just me and River. I returned his kiss, but surprisingly, I returned it more aggressively, and he took me into his broad arms, caressing me closer to him. I could tell he’s been yearning for this kiss a long time, maybe because he never forgot about me. His lips were more aggressive now, taking the lead and me just following. But this moment broke almost too quickly, when a low voice echoed through the walls of the parking lot.

            “Chloe?” the voice sounded hurt, and betrayed. River and I both retracted at the same time, turning our heads to the voice. And he was there, standing alone, with a skateboard in hand. He actually looked weak.

            “Oh shit.” I said now. This was the right moment to say exactly that, because standing there in the dark, looking limp, was Luke.