SPEAK

Chapter 18: Ten Bucks and a Broken Heart

Hale stretched with that goofy grin of his. "Alright, I'm off to the bathroom. Nature calls," he said, giving me a little wave before disappearing down the stairs.

As soon as Hale left to go to the bathroom, my brain did that thing again. You know, where I'm just sitting here, minding my own business, and suddenly-boom-a wild memory appears.

I was twelve, walking next to Xavier. Okay, more like being dragged by him. His grip on my arm was firm but not harsh, yanking me along like we were on some big, secret mission. "Where are we going?" I asked, trying to keep up but not entirely hating the adventure.

"To see some trees," he said like that was the most logical thing in Cold Springs. I almost laughed-Cold Springs and trees? That didn't belong in the same sentence. But I followed him, and after what felt like forever, he took me to this weird little area full of trees. Okay, not a forest, but more trees than I usually saw. Enough to make me blink a couple of times, wondering if I'd stumbled into a Cold Springs version of Narnia.

Xavier, being the *cool, wild child* he always was, immediately climbed one of them.

"What are you doing?" I asked, standing there like a dumb statue while he swung up the branches like a monkey.

"Getting you a snack," he said, plucking a fruit from the tree and holding it up like he's discovered gold.

A snack? From a tree? I blinked, thinking he was messing with me, but then he offered me the fruit, like it's some kind of treasure. "Wanna come up and get one?"

I remember standing there, staring at the tree like it was Mount Everest. "I don't know..."

"C'mon, it's easy," he said, like climbing a tree was as simple as tying my shoes. I hesitated, my brain doing its usual risk assessment. Then, for reasons I still don't understand, I decided, yeah, I can climb a tree. So I tried.

I barely got halfway up before I slipped and fell flat on my back, bumping my head on the way down. Xavier was down in a flash, all worried and hovering over me like a frantic mom. He handed me the fruit he had grabbed and, before I could even process what was happening, kissed me on the forehead.

That part-I still remember the kiss on the forehead. My cheeks heat up just thinking about it. I was twelve, so of course, it was a big deal. It was like one of those cheesy movie moments where the hero swoops in to save the day, only it was Xavier, and the "saving" was more like offering me a weird piece of tree fruit. Still... the way he acted so cool afterward, like it was no big deal, made me blush. A lot.

I touched my cheeks now, feeling the same heat creep up. Why was I thinking about Xavier?

I shook my head, feeling the familiar warmth flush through my cheeks. Of course, I'm getting all nostalgic about that one time I fell out of a tree. Classic. My brain just loved to drag up random memories when I least expect it.

But then I glanced down. The view from there was... pretty high. My stomach does a little flip. What if I jumped?

The thought hit me like a slap, and before I could stop myself, it started spiraling. The rush, the weightlessness, the silence, and then... peace. Finally.

Nobody would care. Nobody does care. My brain took that little thought and ran with it like it was some kind of twisted marathon. I could just... slip over the edge, and all of this, all of these thoughts, would just stop. No more anxiety. No more pretending everything's fine when it's not.

It made me smile. A small, strange smile. Like, why does it make me feel better to think about it? I never imagined my balance would be this good, standing this close to the edge. I always thought I was clumsy, but here I am, steady, just one little move away from-