Fall

The Prologue

His immobile body was cold. The events passed by like a blur—I pumped my clasped hands on the young man's chest yet he showed no signs of breathing. I pinched his nose, tilted his chin and took a deep breath and, before pressing our lips together. I blew, hoping that he'd gain consciousness—but to no avail.

It took me two attempts until he violently coughed out the water clogged inside of him. He turned to one side and twitched as tears formed in his eyes. I could only huff in relief as I leaned back and clutched my soaked shirt.

"You almost gave me a heart attack!" I exclaimed. The young man didn't move and stayed silent. "Care to tell me why you jumped off the window?" I asked him, yet he only let out a dry laugh, his shoulders shaking.

"You should've let the river's current..." He coughed, "take me." I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists. "Why did you save me? I made sure... I was certain... that nobody could..."

"That nobody could save you? That nobody could find you?" I continued for him, feeling a bit ticked off. "Well, tough luck. My Support doesn't work that way."

There was silence between the two of us.

"Gee, no thanks?" I asked as he coughed again and brought himself to sit up, albeit weakly.

"Why should I?" He replied coldly, "I didn't want to be saved."

The guy was starting to irk me. "How can you easily throw your life away like this? You're still in high school—live a little bit!" I told him. He turned to me with the most sullen blue eyes, his complexion pale and his lips creased down in disappointment.

"Perchance you're exactly that." He replied as he shakily helped himself up.

I raised a brow, unable to comprehend his response. "I beg your pardon?" He unclasped the golden nametag from his drenched uniform and threw it on my lap. I took it with puzzlement and read its inscription—'Maximus Campbell'. Underneath it said, 'Pyxis Academy' along with the section '3-S' right below it. Everybody knew Pyxis Academy. It was the school for the elites and all of their graduates were reassured a slot in any University they so choose to attend.

"Maximus?" I read aloud with a smirk. "You know, this is quite a rude way of introducing yourself." I remarked as I heard him click his tongue. "I'm Damien Snyder, by the way. Section 3-A of Perseus High." Might as well introduce myself then, for formalities sake.

I heard him snicker before walking away from me. "I didn't ask, Mister Snyder." He replied, "And for your poor attempt at CPR, I'd give it a four out of ten."

I stood up and chased after him. "Hey! Give me a break—I saved you, didn't I? And that's all that matters."

"If that was a practical exam, the teachers would've given you a lower score in the evaluation." He retorted as I took him by the shoulder and forced him to turn to me.

"News flash, Maximus—not everything in life is graded. Like I said, what matters is that you're alive." I told him, our eyes locking as I stared at him intently. "And I didn't forget anything! I checked the surroundings too!"

He pulled his shoulder away from my grasp and continued to walk away. "You forgot to call an ambulance, you idiot." He pointed out quietly. "Your patient would've died if you failed your attempt at first aid."

Maximus was a funny guy. A short one too. I didn't bother prodding him for a reason as to why he jumped off. We walked back in silence and got scolded by the teachers once we reached the entrance because we were both soaking wet and they thought we both went out to 'have fun', whatever that meant.