NINE

It was a beautiful  Monday morning thought the skies were gray and it looked like rain. It seemed optimism was on Steph’s  thoughts today.  She jogged down the stairs and greeted her father with a light kiss on the cheek.

“What are you doing up?” he said.

“Why not? It’s a Monday.”

“It’s six a.m.” he said matter-of factly.

“That  early?”  Weird, I  usually  wake  up  at  seven.  “Well,  maybe  now  I have enough time to cook us a great breakfast. Scrambled or sunny side-up?”

“Sunny of course.”

She went  over to the  refrigerator  and took  out four  eggs. She  fried  them in the pan,  careful not  to break the yellow middle. She put two each on two plates and set them on the table.  Next she cooked some bacon and set that on the table too. She brewed some coffee for her father and  poured orange juice for herself. When everything was ready she called her father in the kitchen.

“Mmmm… Smells great.” Her father said.

 

Tim saw  Steph nearing  the school  grounds, a wide smile pasted on her face. Too bad her mood didn’t rub off on him, for he could still feel the doubt and insecurity in him. He still  asked himself  if his  decision to  stay was a good one. Steph could already guess what he was thinking, and her smile faltered for a few milliseconds before reappearing on her face.

Does  this make  us officially  together?  He thought.  Was there  even  an us?  His thoughts  were jumbled  in his mind,  and the  fact that he didn’t get much sleep last night added to that. Did this make him fickle? Well not fickle exactly,  but did this mean he did not know what plans he had for his life; no pursuits, no dreams, no aspirations? Would he stay  here  forever?  Was she  selfish,  making  him stay  when he  desperately  needed an escape? Or was it he, thinking he could escape his life so easily?

The  school bell  rang the  exact moment  she stopped  and stood  a few  feet away from him. They walked side by side in the crowded hallways. Then he took her hand. She was  surprised  at first,  staring at  their fingers intertwined, then her hand relaxed and she smiled.

They  entered  the  classroom,  still  hand  in  hand.  No  one  looked  up  at  them, probably  used to the  idea that  they walk to class together. Then one by one heads turned up, and saw their hands together. There was nudging and murmuring, a few whoops  here and there,  but about  two-thirds of the  class didn’t  notice them,  which was just the  way they wanted it.

 

School was  done and Tim and Steph were at the manor. They seemed to be closer after they had resolved their fight. Nothing could penetrate and disturb the world they had created. And the truth that surrounded them. There were no other  secrets to keep, and the great thing was, even though they both knew the others dark past, they each accepted  the flaws and the way the  secret could  affect people.  Nothing was  perfect in the world, and they were satisfied with that.

“What exactly drew you to me?” Tim asked. “The day we almost kissed; the day I got mad.”

“I don’t  know exactly.”  Steph said and  stood up from the mat and leaned against the wall. “It just seemed to be the right thing to do at the time.”

Tim  was  silent,  and  he  stood  up.  Stephanie  was  leaning  against  the  wall, Timothy’s  back towards  her. He seemed  to be nervous  about something.  His shoulders were tense and  he kept shaking his head and  running his hand through his hair.  Then all of a  sudden he  turned and  briskly walked  towards her, then stopped, an inch away from her face.

They  stood there,  eyes staring  into the  core of  the others.  Steph  could  feel her heart pounding in her ears and the blood throbbing through her head. She breathed slowly and  could feel  the blush  creeping  up her neck.  She felt  the cold  wall against her back. There was no way to turn and break this moment.

Tim’s  eyes grew  soft, then  shifted down.  He looked  up again,  this time  at  her parted  lips.  He  raised  his hand  and gently  caressed her  neck, his  thumb  stroking  her cheek. And then, ever so slowly, he leaned in and kissed her.

He was  so gentle, compared to his usual self. Steph had never been kissed before, and it felt awkward, tilting her head, eyes closed and out of breath, but at the same time it was  very  sweet.  And  for  that  moment  they  both  felt  detached  from  the  world.  No problems,  no thoughts about the past of future were able to seep in. all that mattered now was this moment, the fact they were together.

He drew  back, breathless,  his hand still  on her neck,  and rested  his head  on her shoulder, listening to her heart.

“I love you.” He murmured.

She  bit her lip to  keep from crying.  She was speechless,  breathless. She  put her arms around him and embraced him tightly. I love you too.

 

“I love you.” Tim murmured.

The  words didn’t  seem enough  to tell her what  he really felt, but it was the only phrase that  was true  and simple  enough. He  could hear  the  fast  beating  of  her  heart, which  seemed  to  match  the  pace  of his own.  Though his chest  ached from his  hearts reaction, which meant he had to take his medication, he still held her tight, not wanting to ruin the  moment. He  didn’t really  care anymore. The medication did nothing but muffle the pain, which always came back.

In the beginning,  he didn’t imagine his relationship  with Steph to go this far. But in the  end they both found out they needed each other. Tim often saw Steph’s wincing of pain  whenever they  strolled outside.  And he knew her pain was greater than his. For she knew. She knew the deaths of people she knew and did not know. And she needed him.

He needed Steph for she was the only one who knew his secrets. She was the only person who could understand him. He needed her.

He led her outside and out back and they both came to a rusted gate.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“I don’t really know. A garden maybe.” She said.

Tim  neared  the gate  and opened  the lock.  He reached  out to her  and they both entered. The garden had ivy  all over and vines were  hanging down from the trees.  They were  hand in hand, and Tim helped her balance when she almost slipped. The garden had a circular  fountain in the  center. There  was an iron arch to the right, ivy climbing up the iron bars. There were  small flowers  on the vines,  which gave the garden  a haunting but mystical and romantic atmosphere.

They walked  towards it  and stood  under the arch.  Both were  silent. Tim leaned closer and touched  their foreheads  together. They closed their eyes and smiled. No prob-lems of the outside world seeped through this moment.

He stepped back and took her hand, and they both walked out.

 

Steph  and Tim were  strolling around  town, and  they both came to a busy street. Her eyes  landed on a  random stranger,  and instantly  she fell down  on  her  knees.  The woman  had long strawberry  blond hair. She was pretty, and she was wearing an ice blue blouse  and an ebony skirt.  Her features  were haggard,  though she  had kind eyes. Steph had felt this pain before; this woman was going to drown. She tried to cough, but she was choking,  and  she felt the distant clutch of  Tim’s arms around her.  He was saying some-thing,  but  his voice seemed  too far away, though  she knew he was  just beside her.  She tried to stay awake, but the pain was too strong, and the darkness was taking her under.

 

Tim was frantically searching for someone to help and at  the same  time  his arms were tightly around her as he whispered in her ear.

“Hang on Steph.” He said. “Stay with me.”

He  saw a blond  lady in a  blue blouse phone for emergency. Steph turned limp in his  arms and he  saw that she  blacked out.  A few  minutes later the  ambulance  arrived. They didn’t allow Tim or the lady to accompany Steph in the back. But instead one of the medics told Tim to inform Steph’s  immediate family.  The lady offered  to drive him and he accepted, for he didn’t want to waste any time.

A few  minutes later  they arrived  at Steph’s  house.  Tim ran out and pounded on the front door, yelling for her father to open the door. The door opened  and Tim instantly bellowed what was wrong. Mr. Cross ran inside to get his car keys, but the woman in the car  shouted for  them to get in.  Mr. Cross  locked the  wooden  door  and  they  hurriedly drove to the hospital.

 

Steph woke  up in a bright  and cold room.  She sat up  and instantly  three figures rushed to  her bedside.  Two of them  were Tim  and her  father, the  other figure  was the blond lady.

“Steph,”  her  father  said  gently.  “This is  Miss  Brandon.  She was the  one who phoned for an ambulance.”

Steph choked on the lump in her throat and forced a smile. “Thank you.”

 

Tim  neared  the  bed.  Steph’s  father  was  accompanying  Miss  Brandon  to  the entrance. He saw her choke back a sob. He lightly touched her hand.

“What’s wrong?” he said.

“It’s  not fair.” She said. “She was so nice, she doesn’t deserve to die.” She curled into a ball and wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. “It’s not fair…”

“Was  she… was she  the one you saw? She was the reason you blacked out? Was it her?” he asked.

She nodded.  “She’s going  to drown,  Tim.” She whispered. “She doesn’t deserve it, but she will…”

Tim was silent.  He couldn’t  imagine feeling  the pain she  was feeling now. How complicated  and hard it  was to have  the so called  curse.  He couldn’t  believe  she  was experiencing  this ever since she was a child. It was so difficult for her, and it was hard to know the secret and watch her go through it.

She wiped the  tears off her face  with the back  of her hand and composed herself just in time, for that moment her father entered.

“The  doctor said  you have to  stay here  a few more  days.” her father said. “You haven’t been having attacks for quite a while. He just wants you to have a check-up.”

Her father  turned to  Tim. “Thank you,  Tim. You have been a great help. Do you want a drive home?”

Tim shook his head. “No thanks Mr. Cross, I can walk home.”

Tim waved his goodbye and walked out of the room. Before he went past the door he looked back for a moment. He saw in her eyes that she didn’t want him to leave. But it was late,  and he knew  she  had to  spend  time  with  her  father.  He  walked  out  of  the hospital  doors and was  greeted by  the cold chill of the night wind. He was almost home when he  heard a  pair of  footsteps  behind him.  The  street  was deserted,  and  when  he looked back he saw Bobby a few feet behind him.

“If you  were smart  enough,  you would  not do this  now.” Tim  said.  He had  no patience for this now. Not when he felt angry that Steph had to endure all that pain; that it was so unfair to her.

“Long  time no see.”  Bobby said.  “I just wanted  to finish something that was too long overdue.”

“Well,”  Tim murmured,  trying to  keep his calm. Not now. “That just proves just how smart you are.”

“Well,  if you don’t want  to do this now we can meet some place else. How about Saturday, noon? At the park, behind the gym.”

It was no question, it was a statement.

Tim turned his back towards Bobby. “Fine. Just leave me. For now.”

His  voice  was  grave,  and  Bobby  heard  that.  Tim  heard  Bobby  turn  and  his footsteps  faded away.  Tim stood  there even  after he  knew Bobby  was gone.  He stood there,  wanting to  be in a  moment of  solitude,  while he  still  had  the  opportunity,  and nobody was around. He headed in  a dark alley.  He punched the rough wall, and his hand did not recoil from  the pain.  His knuckles  were throbbing,  and in the dark he could feel the wet  blood when  he rubbed them.  He leaned  on the  wall  and  slid  down.  He  cried silently in the shadows, as everything else went on, oblivious from his pain.