THE PICTURE OF YOU -rafe cameron-

094; the stolen watch

These last few hours of Rafe's life had been magical, even though he hadn't slept a minute of the night that had passed. Darkness and bright shining stars had been exchanged for hot sun rays and a clear blue sky. It was still early as Rafe drove his dirtbike from the cut towards his home on figure eight. He had dropped Myra off by the woods of her home, gazing as she ran across the yard with her bare feet. Amazed he had watched her messy blonde hair dance along her back as she moved away from him. Adoringly he had caught the glimpse of the joyous smile she shot towards him before she walked through her front door, disappearing out of sight. His girlfriend, it was hard to imagine. Even more unbelievable to even think that it had become reality, his new reality. His first step towards something better, a newer and better version of himself. The one he was meant to become, Rafe could almost taste it on his tongue. He could see it, he could almost grab ahold of that dream.

Oh how the tables turn. His blissful easy morning soon turned into something out of a nightmare. As Rafe drove he noticed another dirtbike behind him. He continued to drive, picking his speed up slightly as he kept his eye on the bike behind him in his left side mirror. The dirtbike behind was getting closer and closer, pushing Rafe to turn a corner. The bike followed. Another turn, the same thing happened. The realization soon hit Rafe, he was being followed.

Rafe somehow managed to shake his follower, now rushing home. As he drove up to the gate of Tannyhill, he couldn't see the bike that had been after him. Rafe got off his own bike, feeling his heart pound inside of his chest. He pretended like he wasn't afraid of anything even though he secretly was. He was afraid of a lot of things that he wouldn't dare to admit. A feeling of uneasiness lingered within him, making him feel a little jittery. Rafe could feel his hands shake. He looked around. It was a still morning. The house before him laid quiet. In the distance he could hear the sounds of the waves slowly moving in the marsh. Birds chirped and the air was getting warmer and warmer with each passing second. Rafe couldn't see anyone, so he figured that no one could see him either. He was in the safe zone, or so he thought. The huge and overwhelming emotions of the night were getting to him. It mixed with the trembling of his hands, the beating of his heart and the way he had just been shaken to his core. He needed a quick release, just a small one. Rafe reached his hand into his right pocket to pull out a small plastic bag containing the one thing he feel like he needed. Given it wasn't good for him, but he couldn't care less. He looked around again before he poured some of the white powder out on his dirtbike, hastily forming it into a line with his fingers. Rafe stared down at the substance before him, seeing the snow white contrast of it against the seat of his red and black dirtbike. He longed for it, his fix. It seemed to solve all of his problems in a matter of seconds. Rafe was still blind to the fact that the cocaine wasn't the key to a good life for him, instead it was actually the root of all bad things surrounding him. He didn't want to see it. So instead he bent down, closed his left nostril off and sniffed all of the white powder up.

"You gonna give me a bump big boy?"

Rafe stood up, wiping his nose as a familiar voice rang through the warm air of figure eight. Rafe turned around, seeing Barry waking up to him. His heart began to pound again, uncomfortably hard this time. Rafe knew what Barry was after and seeing him here right now wasn't a good thing. "Man, check out this place though huh?" Barry called out as he looked around, seeing Rafe's grand home. Rafe took a step forward, feeling the uneasiness from before rushing back. "Hey Barry... Barry, hey man" he urged, a slight shake in his usually deep and certain voice. "It's fancy" Barry continued, a manic smile upon his lips. It only drove Rafe's worry further. Barry was walking over towards him with determined steps. "It's a nice place to live" Barry urged right before he stopped in front of Rafe. "Listen" Rafe huffed quietly, putting his hands up in front of his body, "I don't have your money". Barry nodded slowly, clearly not enjoying Rafe's words. "Mhm" Barry mumbled, staring at the slightly taller boy. "Alright?" Rafe pushed, leaning closer towards Barry as stress formed inside the pit of his stomach, "so uhm, you shouldn't be here right now, what are you doing?". Rafe averted his gaze for a split second, afraid that someone was going to see them. He definitely couldn't be seen socializing with Barry, the known drug dealer from the cut. If his dad caught the glimpse of it, Rafe was sure that he would strangle him right on the spot. "I'm right here" Barry urged a little louder, his manic smile turning into a look of pure frustration, "you wanna know why?". Rafe knew why, he didn't need any further information. "Give me until the weekend, okay?" Rafe pleaded with the dark haired boy, feeling a few pearls of sweat forming on his skin. They soon began to trickle down his forehead. "All I... All I need you to do is front me some more coke" Rafe went on frantically, "okay?". Barry didn't seem amused at all with Rafe's words. "Mhm, yeah" he muttered as he dragged his hand through his messy hair. Rafe laid right ring clad left hand on Barry's right shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. "I've got a guy coming this weekend" Rafe tried to reassure Barry, "it's cool, right?"