The Apprentice (Girlxgirl)

Chapter Fifteen

We were parked on a cliff near the top of a mountain, not a very big mountain, but still. Because we were deep in conversation, I hadn't noticed where we were going, but I could see that we were really high up, and there was nobody else around.

"Fuck!" I moaned, closing my eyes.

"What's the matter?" Alex asked, confused.

"I don't like heights... Fuck. How high are we?"

"I don't know, but if we walk this way for a few minutes, we can get some amazing photos," she spoke slowly, and I knew she would be pointing at something, but I didn't want to open my eyes.

I heard Alex's door open, and then shut behind her. A few seconds later, my door opened, and my heart began to beat fast. I knew I was only a few meters from the edge of the cliff, and although I saw a fence, it didn't give me much confidence.

"Jamie, open your eyes. I promise you'll be fine, we're not going anywhere near the edge."

Her voice was so soothing, and it calmed me fast. I slowly opened my eyes, and shut them again.

"Look at me, Jamie, only at me," she said, and I listened.

I opened my eyes again and looked straight into Alex's eyes. I was shocked by how beautiful they were. They were a bright green, with a dark ring around the iris', accompanied by yellow flecks. I don't know how I didn't notice her eyes yesterday, but now I couldn't look away. She gave me a shy smile, and took my hands.

"Okay, we're just gonna walk around the car, and then not look back in that direction at all," she said, and I felt really immature being so scared, "and then I'm gonna show you my favourite place, and we're gonna take some awesome pictures."

"Thanks Alex... Really though, you could have warned me about this!" I joked.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know it was gonna be a problem," she laughed.

She pulled me around past the car by my hands, which were sweating profusely, and sat me down on a rock while she got the camera bags out of the car.

"Are you good?" she asked, kneeling down in front of me. Our eyes locked again, just for a second, and I was mesmerised by the colours.

"Your eyes are so beautiful," I replied, and her cheeks reddened, "And yeah, I think I'm good. Lead the way."

She passed me my camera bag, and started walking over a small hill. I followed her, excited to see her favourite place.

~~~~

"Holy shit!"

"I told you it was amazing," Alex said proudly.

We were stood in a place I could only describe as magical. There was a waterfall coming from the top of the mountain, it was filling up a large pond. There were only a few trees, following the stream down a hill, the rest of the place was like a meadow. Small blue flowers were spread all over the grass.

I looked around and I could see so many different kinds of birds, there were also squirrels and rabbits. Alex was right, we could get some awesome pictures here.

"I can see why this is your favourite place. How did you find it?" I asked.

"When I told my dad I was gay, he didn't react so well, I needed to get out of his way for a while so I got in my car and just kept driving, and after a while I ended up here. Since then, I come back here every week or so. It's just so... relaxing," she told me.

"Yeah, it's definitely relaxing. I can't believe your dad was so unfair about everything."

She sighed, and looked off into the distance.

"So c'mon, let's take some awesome pictures," I said, changing the subject, and Alex smiled.

She tied her hair up in a ponytail, and started to take close up pictures of some plants. I noticed a tattoo on the back of her neck, it was a sea shell, with blue watercolour paint splashes to on it. It wasn't very big, but the only reason I hadn't noticed it before was because she wore her hair down. It was beautiful.

We both took hundreds of photographs, and I was quite pleased with mine. I was looking forward to editing them.

"Should we head back soon to edit?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, if you're happy with what you've got. And thank you Alex, for bringing me here. It's amazing."

She just smiled, and put all of her camera equipment back in the bag. I did the same and we headed back to the car. I was hoping we could come back another day.

As we neared the cliff, Alex grabbed my hands again, and turned me around so I was walking backwards. I was left staring into her yes once more. My heart was beating really fast again, I knew I was near the edge of the cliff.

"Thank you," I said as she opened the car door for me. She just smiled shyly in response. She got in the car and started the engine, watched the road on the way down, so I could find my way back here again. Maybe away from any cliffs or edges though.

"Is there a story around you being scared of heights?" Alex asked.

"Umm... Yeah kind of, my parents died in a car crash when I was eight. We were on a narrow road in the countryside, and some drunken idiot came over too far and plowed us off the road. It was quite a big drop, the drunken idiots car followed us down, and he didn't make it either." I wasn't sure why I was so comfortable talking to Alex, but I could have continued for hours.

"You were in the car?" she almost whispered.

"Yeah, I had 3 broken ribs, a broken leg, and a hell of a lot of glass in my back and shoulder. They said I was really lucky to be alive, and I always hated it. How was I lucky when both of my parents were dead? But after a long time, the pain dulled, and I realised that I was lucky. I still miss them, but I've got my whole life to make them proud now." when I finished talking, Alex looked at me sympathetically.

"I'm so sorry Jamie."