Beneath The Waves

(2) Waiting to Crack

Chapter 2

Ryan sat on the bench by the River Eden, staring out over the dull brown water. Behind him, shoppers strolled past, the peace of the river marred by the clip clop of shoes, the shrieks of children and the general babble of conversation. The noise of the town ebbed and flowed around him like a current, but it bugged him. He preferred the estuary, and the silence he could find there.

Ryan folded his arms around himself as a chilly breeze buffeted his jacket and stirred his golden brown hair. His left leg bounced nervously as he glanced around for Melanie; this wasn’t the kind of place his girlfriend usually asked to meet him. As far as he knew, she hated nature.

Behind him, a child screamed, and her mother yelled a reprimand. Ryan shut his eyes, tipping his head back, wishing he was away from the noise. Just a couple of hundred metres down from the river, he knew he could find peace...

But the estuary would never really be the sanctuary it used to be. Not since it had swallowed Noah into its murky depth.

Six weeks ago, Ryan’s brother Noah had been out on the estuary in his rowing boat, like he usually was. Despite the cold weather and the fog warnings, no one had worried. Noah was sensible, a skilled boatman, and he never went far when it was cold. He always came home.

Except this time he hadn’t.

Noah wasn’t the first person to be lost to the river; it could be treacherous, even in the calm, untroubled estuary. The current could drift you out to sea, a couple of rough waves could toss you into the water – which was dangerously cold, in early January – and it was choked with thick, oozing mud and cloying weeds. But Noah had always been so calm and controlled on the water. Ryan still couldn’t believe he was gone.

But two weeks ago, Noah’s boat had washed up on the shore, battered and broken. There was no way anyone on it could’ve survived – especially not Noah.

Noah had been diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome. Even though he had been nineteen, his brain had always been childlike, simplistic. He didn’t understand sarcasm or social conventions, and he couldn’t read facial expressions well. He’d never gotten on well with other people, could never understand their moods and actions or say the right thing; yet he’d been Ryan’s best friend.

“Sup, Ainsley?” a vaguely familiar voice hollered from the street. Ryan glanced over to flash a grin at the group of guys he sort of knew from football practice, but didn’t try to start up a conversation. Nowadays, he didn’t feel like being chatty. With Noah gone, it didn’t feel right anymore.

Ryan had always been the popular kid, the golden boy, the guy everyone wanted to be, and to a certain degree, he’d always known it. Completely opposite to Noah, he always knew the right thing to say, the right way to act around people. He drew them to him unconsciously. At seventeen, he was one of the few guys who could afford to be kind, and sweet, and smart, because his constant popularity meant he didn’t have to act ‘cool’ to be liked.

“Ryan?”

Ryan opened his eyes and turned his head. “Hey, Mel.” He smiled, even though his thoughts were still on Noah.

Melanie smiled back. She was beautiful, with perfectly smooth white blonde hair streaking down her back, brilliantly blue eyes and flawless make up. Ryan and Melanie, the power couple, the ideal two – everything about them dictated they should be together. Popular, smart, and above all, beautiful; though Melanie realised it more than Ryan.

She came and sat by him, kissing him lightly on the mouth. Ryan caught a whiff of expensive perfume, hairspray and cherry bubblegum that surrounded her in a sweet-scented cloud.