Saving Grace. [Alex Gaskarth]

PRIVATE PROPERTY.

ALEX

The 20 minutes it took to get to the river by school were by far the most painful 20 minutes I'd ever experienced in my life. After the phone call without a second thought we'd all sprinted to the school, and pushed through the brambles and bushes to reveal the small river that flowed beside our school. I was expecting to find her immediately, and a small part of me hoped that she would come running back into my arms and say everything was okay, and we should forget this ever happened. But as usual the harsh reality took over, and she wasn't even there. 

We agreed to split up, I would walk straight down the river and follow it's edge, Mr. Farmers and Taylor would look deeper into the woodland close by and Matt and Margo (who had met us here) would wander around checking the shop and Hazel's in case she went back. 

"Keep each other updated, good luck." Taylor ordered, before we split up. 

I walked along the riverside, looking for any traces of her, anything that would suggest I was close. After 20 minutes of walking I was nearing the end of the river before it met with other water sources and followed into a lake which belonged to some rich lady. No one was allowed near the lake, as it was private property, and the rich lady whose name I did not know had made that clear when she visited school one time. 

I was beginning to lose hope, when I heard someone crying. It was a girl - and she wasn't sobbing but more taking large broken sighs. I followed the noise, it becoming louder and louder as I neared the end of the river. My stomach tied itself in knots as the possibly of it being Ivory dawned on me, my hands became sweaty and my pace increased. I reached the end of the river and looked out to the lake, and to my greatest delight,

There sat Ivory. 

I was beyond happy, so much I didn't know what to do with myself. A huge smile etched itself onto my lips as I pushed through the bushes and started climbing the fence - ignoring the 'PRIVATE PROPERTY - DO NOT ENTER' sign. When I thought I was close enough I called to her, waving my arms and yelling "IVORY!" over and over. 

But she didn't respond, she kept her eyes fixed on the lake in front of her, taking large, broken sighs that matched the one's I had heard before. When I finally reached her, I slumped down and sat as close as I could. 

But she moved back. 

"Ivory!" I smiled. 

But she didn't respond. 

"Ivory please I know you're mad but please don't ignore me" I sighed, the smile leaving my face.

She flinched and turned her head away, wiping her eyes. 

"Ivory-Grace please, let me explain." I begged. 

She took a deep breath and kept her head turned away. 

"I n-need you! Don't do this to me, I c-can't lose you." I cried. 

She took a ragged breath, shaking her head violently and wiping her eyes again

"Baby please..." I whispered, crawling over to her and placing my hand on her cheek, her eyes didn't snap to mine as usual, and she kept her head facing away.

As gently as I could, I pulled her face to mine and moved so I was sat in front of her, our knee's touching. She was still refusing to even look at me, despite how I was acting towards her. Normally she would have shyly looked at me, a small smile on her lips, and I would kiss her, she would kiss me back, and she would stop crying.

But this was different, and I could feel the lump in my throat and the tears forming in the corner of my eyes. 

"I k-know you're m-mad at me, b-but I'm g-gonna t-tell you what happened a-anyway." I stuttered, running my thumb under her eye like I always do.