Saving Rose

Waves

Once we get everything set up on the deserted beach, we crawl into the one giant tent. It took a little longer than I expected, since it was hard to do it in the dark. We only brought two flashlights for all of us to share. That was a bad idea.
We all get settled in, and my sleeping bag ends up in between Oli's and Austin's. I squirm into it and hug it to my chest, since it's so warm. I can hear the waves outside. I close my eyes, listening to the pretty sound for a moment. Oli and Austin know I'm enjoying it, and they don't talk as they get in a comfortable position.
I yawn, turning on my side towards Oli. "Nice idea," I praise, smiling a little. He smiles back, and I can't help but smile wider.
"I love you guys so much," I say quietly, and they both say "love you too" back.
"No, seriously. Oli, you found me that one time. I'd be dead without you. Austin, you've kept me going. Ever since the day we met, you've always made me feel better. And I still obsess over the music both of you guys make." I'm not done yet, but I take a second to hold back tears. "
"Thank you both," I say, just not really sure what else to say. I sigh deeply, relaxing a little after getting all emotional a second ago.
"No problem, kiddo," Oli smiles, gently squeezing my hand. Austin rolls towards me, and I face him, giggling a little. He scoots awkwardly until he's close to me, then he gives me a big hug.
"Love you," he says, and I know that these two mean it whenever they say that. I can trust them.
"Love you too," I reply, completely confident in my words.
Oli chimes in another "love you both," laughing because of the awkwardness of him saying he loves Austin.
"I love you too, bro," Austin says jokingly, then he suddenly rolls back to his spot.
"I'm so tired," he moans, and I give a weak smile.
"Me too. Today was fun. The parents were all nice. Vic and Mike's parents have a cute dog," I mumble, barely audible, then yawn again. Austin closes his eyes as Oli opens his mouth.
"Night."
"Night," Austin and I say at the same time, then I close my eyes, going back to listening to the waves. Usually, we'd do more when camping, but since we're so tired, we're fine with going straight to sleep. Maybe we'll do some fun stuff tomorrow when we wake up.
Soon, I hear Austin start to lightly snore. A little after, I feel myself dozing off. I fall asleep easily to the soft sounds of the ocean.


THE NEXT MORNING, OLI'S POV

The next morning
When I wake up, I roll over, stretching a little, before I open my eyes. Rose and Austin are still silently sleeping.
I can see them easily because of the dim light coming from the sunrise. Rose looks so peaceful and happy. It's hard to even think of the way she looked worse before, since she looks like nothing ever happened now. Sure, she has scars, but they'll fade someday. And hopefully there won't be any new ones. Ever.
I'm so proud of her. She realized things on her own, without a therapist or anything. She convinced herself that life was worth living. And that's a hard task. I know that from personal experience. But, who doesn't? We've all had our share of terrible days. Some people just don't show it.
I can't believe how fast she recovered. Usually, it's unheard of for depression to almost completely disappear that quick. Just like snapping fingers. It happened almost instantly. I guess it all just clicked in her mind in that moment. That she would get better, that she had something to live for.
Austin stirs, then slowly opens his eyes. I wave, pointing silently at Rose to show that she's still sleeping so he doesn't accidentally wake her up. He nods, then stretches. We're all wearing basketball shorts and a tee shirt, even Rose. They're good for camping since we can jut wear them during the day too if we need to.
Finally, she rolls over, yawning and stretching her arms out up in the air. Right as she opens her eyes, she smiles a little.
"Good morning," she mumbles tiredly, and we both say the same thing to her, a little more clearly since we've been up longer.
"What time..." She trails off, closing her eyes again. I look down at my phone, which I left beside my sleeping bag, and tell her.
"8:57. Not too early, but not quite sleeping in," I say, peeking my head out the tent. The waves must have come pretty close to our tent, since there's seaweed a few feet away. The ocean looks pretty in the light morning fog.
I crawl out, slipping my feet into my shoes on my way. Once I get out, though, I just take them right back off. The sand is so soft and smooth, I can't help it. I turn around, helping Rose out. She grins, looking out towards the ocean and the endless blue.
"It's beautiful," she breathes, and I nod in agreement. The ocean is sparkling, and the fog all around us is a soft golden color because of the newly risen sun. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else, except with Hannah, my girlfriend, obviously.
Without warning, Rose takes off towards the water, giggling. She splashes around in the water, and I watch as her face turns pale and her face drops. A split second later, she's screeching and running as fast as she can towards us. "COLD!!!"
Austin and I both laugh, feeling bad for her but still amused. "Well you're a smart one," Austin jokes, and she sticks her tongue out at him.
"Yeah, smart enough to do this," she smirks, then jumps on Austin, wrapping her freezing legs around his waist. He staggers, almost tripping, and laughs loudly.
"Meanie!" He cries playfully, but continues hugging her. She just buries her face in his shirt, trying to warm up. I walk over, smiling and shaking my head. She's even shivering.
"We can do that later, but not this early, you little dumb butt," I tease, reaching in the unzipped tent and grabbing her a jacket. She snatches it from me desperately, dropping down onto her feet and stepping out of Austin's arms to put on her jacket.
She sighs happily once it's on. "Thanks, Oli."
I nod, then step back into the tent to grab my phone and a few other important things. "Let's go get breakfast."


ROSE'S POV

When Oli mentions breakfast, I cheer. "That sounds like a great idea," I muse, then start to walk towards the restaurant we went to yesterday.
"They're open," I say gladly, once I reach it. The guys are a little behind me, so I lean against the wall to wait for them. When they catch up, we all walk in the restaurant together. The waiter is a different lady than yesterday, luckily. She leads us to a table, not really a big feat since we're the only people there except for one small family.
"My name's Ally, and I'll be your server today. What can I get you to drink?" She asks cheerfully.
"Root beer," I mumble.
"Sprite," Austin says, smiling kindly at the waitress.
Just as Oli's about to speak, the door swings open loudly. I have my back to the door, so I don't see. When Oli's eyes get big, I turn around, though. It's Mike, standing in the doorway, panting. I gasp in confusion.
"What-" I start to question him, but he shushes me, gasping.
"Jaime! He- he..." Mike's crying now, and my heart feels like it's being squeezed. This is not a good sign. I'm scared.
"What happened to him?!" I scream, standing up. My whole body is shaking. He can't be dead. Please don't let him be dead.
"He got hit by a car!"
My heart drops.