try hard // l.h.

two.

Nevine stood on the bridge, watching a tug boat try to pull a boat three times its size. She rested her elbows on the railing and tried to peer closer through the chicken wire fence that stood between her and the crystal-blue water of the Brisbane River.

Brisbane officials had the fence put up after suicide number ten. Now, Nevine's only escape plan had been ruined. . . for good.

She had been standing at the bridge for twenty-five minutes trying to think of all the possible ways she could get over that fence quick enough to jump and not be caught. People were walking by her, but she didn't care. She was completely done with her lifestyle and she didn't care about the people who claimed to "love" her. In her mind, no one did. If her own mother didn't love her, no one did.

She threw her rucksack on the floor and hooked her fingers onto the fence. She used all her upper body strength to pull herself up until her feet reached the top of the railing. She peered up at what she was up against and figured it was a good 15-feet of fence.

As she began to climb the fence, she felt someone's hands grab hold of her ankles. She tried to kick the hands off, but they wouldn't let go. She peered down at the person behind her and saw Luke.

"Nevine, don't do it. Please."

She heard the pleading tone in his voice but ignored it.

"Luke, let me go!"

"No, Nevine. Please don't do it."

She continued shaking one of her legs to force him to let go but he wouldn't give in. As tried to get him to let go, she noticed the amount of people that had begun to rush over to them. There were men and women now shouting at her to climb down from the fence.

Luke kept a tight grip on his best friend's leg. When he finally saw her climbing lower to him, he grabbed her waist and pulled her to the ground safely. The crowd around them began to cheer happily.

A man approached Luke and Nevine and introduced himself as a Psychologist, but Luke spoke up before he could go any further,

"My friend is not a psychopath. She doen't need you. She never will."

He picked up Nevine's rucksack and threw the straps on. The doctor looked at him, surprised at the way Luke had spoken to him. Luke grabbed Nevine by the hand and pulled her through the crowd, heading back to his flat.

 ▼▼▼

At the house, Luke warmed up some tea for her and Liz let her borrow clothes to sleep in. She sat on the couch, waiting for her tea patiently.

When it was finally made, he brought it to her already prepared. Milk, and two sugars.

"Thank you," she said as she took the cup from him.

He took a seat beside her and watched her as she slowly took a sip. He thought about the past hour and about how he was extremely close to losing his best friend. The one person who he had grown up with, apart from his brothers and cousins. He looked at her and thought about all the good times they had had together. He thought about what he would do if he lost her. Even though he would no longer see her in pain, he couldn't bare the fact that he would no longer have someone he really cared for. Someone he took in often.

She put the cup between her legs and let her thumb trace the edge of the cup where her lips had just been.

"Luke?" she said, without looking at him, "Thank you. Really."

Luke felt his stomach fill up with butterflies, but he didn't know why. He had always done stuff for her and always let her into his house when she needed a place to stay. He didn't know what all she had to be thankful enough. She was like family.

"What for, Nevine? We always do this for you. . ."

She kept the cup in her lap and made eye-contact with him once again. "For holding me back. For not letting me do that."

His lips curled into a smile and his favourite memories from him and his best friend began to flood back into his mind. He leaned in and kissed her cheek like he always did when he sensed she needed to be cheered up. "You're very welcome, Nevine Anderson."

She looked back down at her lap and peered into her half-full cup of tea.

"So what is the right way of saying it: Half full or half empty?"

They both let out soft laughs and Luke gave it a moment of thought.

"Well, when you fill it, I'd say half-full. But when you start drinking it, I'd say half empty. Makes sense, right?"

She looked at him and nodded, "Perfect sense, Lucas!"

They laughed for a while longer until Liz came into the lounge. "I know you guys are both teenagers and out of school, but it's time for bed. I need to get to work early tomorrow and I don't want two teenagers keeping me awake."

Luke let out a playful groan and stood up, "Okay, mummy."

Liz and Nevine both let out giggles.

"Nevine, honey, you can sleep in Jack's room if you'd like. I'm sure his bed is much more comfortable than the sofa."

Luke looked at Nevine and nodded his head, "Yeah, sleep there. It's much closer to our rooms ad it's warmer, too. Trust me."

Nevine shook her head, "No, Liz. I don't want to be a bother."

Liz leaned against the door way, "No, Nevine. you're never a bother. Go right ahead."

Nevine exchanged looks with a pouting Luke and agreed, "Fine, fine. I'll sleep there."

She stood up and followed Luke into the hallway to Jack's room. Before she went in, she turned to Liz, "Thank you, Liz. Honestly."

She flashed Nevine a friendly smile before walking into her room and closing her door shut. As Nevine walked into the bedroom, Luke wished her a goodnight and went into his room.

Nevine scanned the room before making her way to the bed and pushing the covers down enough so she could slide in. When she was nice and comfy, she pulled the blankets up, over her head. She pulled the blankets tightly around her body and layed on the side of her head that wasn't bruised. She thought about her day and about how it had changed her life already.

It had already been five or six hours since her mum usually got home. And, of course, she wasn't bothering to look for her. Nevine closed her eyes shut, only to find herself beginning to cry.