MITCH

Chapter 4

I turned around to see a face that looked familiar. He had blonde hair, sparkling bright blue eyes, and perfect bone structure. Why did he look so familiar?

"Hey," he said, "are you ok? Why would you jump?"

I refused to answer. I felt depressed and alone, but with him there, I wasn't alone. It was as if he was the other half to me. No, I thought. Ashley was my second half. He stared at me with concern.

And then everything went black.

~~~~~~~~~~~

I woke up in an unrecognizable room. There were boxes everywhere. There was a small kitchen, a small bathroom, and a bed in the back corner. I was laying on an old beat up couch. I saw the boy that stopped me from killing myself making something delicious in the kitchen. As soon as he noticed me awake, he rushed to my side.

"Are you ok?" He asked me. I still refused to speak. I wanted so badly to start crying and confess to him, and I yearned for his sympathy. I just stared at him.

"Please give me an answer." He begged. "I want to help." He said as he leaned in to hug me.

I buried my head in his shoulder and began to cry.

"It's my fault, I'm sorry." Is all I would say, as if I was talking to Ashley.

"Talk to me. What's your story?" He asked me.

I remained silent. He tried to make me laugh by making funny faces. It worked. I was laughing at his faces for a while. He was the kind of guy Ashley would like. That thought made me cry again.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry." He apologized.

"It's ok,"'I said. He chuckled.

"I finally got you to talk." He said with a smile. "I'm going to finish making your soup."

I watched him leave the room. I liked him already. He was so sweet.

He came back with a bowl full of soup. There was a straw too. That was just the way I like it.

"So, it's confession time now," he said to me.

Finally, I gave in. "I don't think I can tell you without crying. I can't even think about it without crying." I said, choking up.

"It's ok," he said pulling me into a hug as I cried harder.

"My best friend died in a car crash. And it's all my fault!" I screamed. He hushed me and rocked me back and forth until I calmed down.

"It's ok. You don't have to tell me the rest if you don't want to." He said comfortingly. He lied me down in the couch and he sat on the floor next to me as he stroked my hair.

I fell asleep like that.

~~~~~~~

Mackenzie walked up to the table that Ashley was sitting in and sat across from her. "Hey Ashley!" Mackenzie said cheerfully. But Ashley didn't answer she was looking down at her phone. "What are you doing?" asked Mackenzie. Ashley looked up at Mackenzie and smiled "You know the big dance next week at high school?" "Yes" said Mackenzie. "Well I got a date!!!" Said Ashley starting to smile. "Oh my gosh me too!" said Mackenzie. "Okay. Well we will say the names at the same time. Ready set go.'' said Ashley. "Tanner" they both said

They both looked shocked. Ashley got up and left the cafe and got into her car and driven away. Mackenzie sat by her self at the table still shocked.

"No," I said as I appeared at the scene of the crash. There was a body on the ground, right in front of Ashley's crushed car. I saw that it was Ashley.

"NO ASHLEY! Don't leave me please! I can't live without you." I said between sobs. "I'm not going out with Tanner. Please survive this so you can go with him. I know you like him." I put my ear to her heart, and heard silence.

"No!" I screamed as I sobbed. "I love you! Don't leave me!" I said as I broke down and lied down next to her. I lied there until I saw a person in the sky that looked like her. I cried harder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I woke up screaming. The boy woke up with a start and immediately started trying to calm me down. He pulled me into a hug as I struggled and screamed Ashley's name.

When I calmed down, I noticed the time. 12:46.

"Hey," said the boy. "I don't even know your name."

"I'm Mackenzie." I giggled.

"Mitch." he chuckled.

"Well, Mitch, I guess I should tell you what happened then." I said.

"Are you sure? You don't have to tell me." he said. He was so sweet.

"Yeah. I should." I said. "My best friend, Ashley, and I both had a crush on the same boy, Tanner. We promised to each other that we wouldn't go out with him. But one day, Ashley ditched me from our daily run to the cafe. The next day Tanner told me that he had taken her on a date. So Tanner asked me to go to the school dance that weekend, and I said yes only because I was mad at Ashley for breaking the promise, not realizing that I had just broken the promise. Later, when me and Ashley met at the cafe, I wasn't mad anymore, because I can't hold a grudge unless I'm really upset. So I told her about Tanner asking me to the dance. She said that Tanner asked her too. She stormed out, got into her car, and drove off. Later that day, I got a phone call. Ashley was killed in a car crash. And it was all my fault. I don't deserve to live. I should have been the one to die in the car crash, not Ashley! I'm a terrible person!" I screamed and cried for what seemed like hours into Mitch's shoulder and he squeezed me in a hug and stroked my hair.

"You aren't a horrible person. This isn't your fault." He chanted softly in my ear.

I pulled from the hug and looked at his face. He looked at me in awe. Why? He leaned in to kiss me.

Just then, my phone rang. It was mom.

"Sorry about that." I said. "It's ok," he said.

"Hello?" I said as perky as possible.

"Mackenzie? Where are you? I just got back from my work emergency." My mom said.

"I'm at a friends house. I'm on my way home now."

"Ok"

"Bye," I hung up.

"Sorry about that," I said.

"That's ok, I'll walk you down to your apartment,"

"Ok," I said as he held the door for me.

"So," I said, "we should hang out again tomorrow."

"Ok," he said as we stopped at my door.

He leaned down and softly pressed his lips to my forehead.

"Goodnight Mackenzie," he said as he went back to his apartment.

I sighed and went straight to bed.

_____________

We were back in grade 5. my first crush, Mitchell was drawing a remarkable cornucopia for thanksgiving. He looked up at me, and suddenly the braces and glasses were gone. and replaced with Mitch's face.

I wondered why Mitch had looked familiar, they were the same person!

____________

I woke up from my dream. Are they really the same people? I don't know, maybe. I was too tired to think so I just went back to sleep.