Two Is Better Than One

“What exactly happened?” I inquired, taking a sip of my coffee. I was sitting cross-legged on the island in the middle of my large kitchen. Frank stayed silent, just staring into his mug, like he was waiting for something to jump out of his coffee. “Answer me,” I pushed, “please.”

“I don’t remember much.” He mumbled.

“What do you remember?” I asked. He stayed quiet, his expression concentrated.

“I was at school and all the lights were off.” He started. “I found a flash light on the ground and started walking around.” His voice grew shaky. “The hallways seemed endless. I heard this humming and I swear it sounded exactly like you. I tried following it and came to a door. I opened it up and the lights were on inside. I think it was a locker room.” He scratched his head. “But on one of the mirrors, written in red, was ‘XO Alice’.” He drew the ‘xo’ in the air with his finger. “You were still humming this song, but it was getting quieter. I walked around the bathroom to see if I could find you. . .” He trailed off.

“And. . .?” I pressed.

“And I found you on the bathroom floor. Both your arms were bleeding. The-then, you started saying m-my name.” He stuttered. “It just kept getting louder. It echoed off of everything.” He paused, “then it became screaming.”

“That’s enough.” I said before he could open his mouth again. He sighed in relief and sipped the coffee in his mug. I started looking around the room, trying to find a way to break the silence. “Hey,” I started. We both needed a pick-me-up, something to take our minds off of the horrible night we shared. “Wanna see something I found?” His expression grew more interested. He nodded. I jumped off the counter and put my mug in the sink. “Come on.”

During the walk there, I refused to tell Frank where I was bringing him.

“Will you at least tell me what you brought in that bag?” He pleaded. I shook my head and kept walking. We had entered the woods and taken one of the many trails that ran through.

“We’re almost there. Close your eyes.” I told him. He reluctantly did so and kept walking. After tripping over several tree roots, he resorted to holding my hand the rest of the way there; not that I minded. The sight made me smile every time I came back. It was a wide, but shallow river. But my favorite part was the old, concrete foundation left over from a building, jetting out about twenty feet into the water. I came here a lot, but I had never told anyone about it. I only snuck out at night or when my parents weren’t home; to make sure they didn’t follow me. I led him onto the stone platform and sat down on the ground. “You can open your eyes now.”

“Whoa. . .” he started. “How’d you find this place?”

“I like exploring. Anything to get out of the house.” He crouched down and felt the water with his hand.

“Feel like swimming?” He turned his head to me.

“I’m not wearing a bathing suit.” I shrugged.

“Think that’s ever stopped me?” He stood again. He started to take off his tee shirt, revealing multiple tattoos on his muscular build. It wasn’t an easy task to keep from drooling. He kicked off his shoes and unbuckled his belt and stripped down to gray boxers. He sat down at the end of the large foundation and lowered himself in. He stood in the water next the edge of the platform, the water only coming up halfway up his torso. “Comin’ in?” He asked. I shook my head. “Fine, then I’ll just drag you in myself.” He started to push himself up out of the water. When I wouldn’t take his hand, he picked my off the ground.

“Frank put me down!” I protested. “I don’t want to! Stop it!” I shouted through fits of laughter. “Okay, okay, okay fine! Put me down and I’ll go in.”

“That’s more like it.” He carefully set me down. I took off my tee shirt, but left the black tank top under it on. I kicked off my shoes and stepped out of my jeans. I tied my hair up into a pony tail and before I could even face him, he had lifted me off the ground again. Before I could protest, he threw me in. When I resurfaced, Frank was laughing his ass off.

“You suck.” I said. I grabbed his hand and pulled him in with me. We swam around and splashed like little kids. After a while I started to get tired, due to the lack of sleep from the night before. I pulled myself out of the water and used one of the towels I brought to dry off. They were originally for sitting on, but that was before Frank happened. I dried my skin and sat back down to let my under clothes dry. I lied down on my back with my feet dangling in the water. Frank came out as well and sat down next to me. I kept my gaze on the sky, but I was fully aware of Frank staring at me. “Can I help you?” I asked.

“What color are your eyes?” He asked somewhat abruptly.

“You know, I actually don’t know. Sometimes they’re blue, sometimes they’re gray. What color are they now?” What he did next was completely unexpected. He leaned down closer to my face, his only an inch away. It took everything in me not to kiss him. I could do it. It’d be so easy.

“Blue, I think.” He said, and hesitated for a few seconds before backing away again. I wish he hadn’t.

“Got ‘em from my dad.” I said quietly. I sat up and put my jeans back on. I left the damp tank top on and stuffed my shirt into the bag I brought. “Wanna head back?” I asked, tying my shoes.

“Sure.” He said simply. I was focused on my feet while we walked. Frank seemed to know
the way back, so I didn’t worry about getting lost.

After about ten minutes of walking the winding wood trails, I could hear the cars on the busy road that runs through the neighborhood. The dirt ground turned into grass before we reached the sidewalk. I didn’t think much of it. I saw Frank’s feet hadn’t stopped, so I didn’t stop mine. We continued across the road and passed the median, into the lane where the cars came from the left instead of the right. We were almost across the road before I felt Frank grab me by my waist. I didn’t have time to enjoy it before I heard the screeching, before the impact, and before everything went black.

Notes