Stay Awake

Chapter 6

~ DYLAN ~

It was a mistake. I shouldn’t have come here. Why did I even come here?

I heard Lana calling for me but I kept running, ignoring the fact that my chest was going to explode any second now. I knew she was going to try and get me to explain what happened back there. But I couldn’t tell her at all. She wouldn’t understand. No one will understand.

I looked back at Lana, her beautiful bikini body chasing after me. I have never seen her in a bikini before, only because I avoid going anywhere near water. Even when our school does swimming carnivals I would purposely stay at home so I didn’t have to attend them. During the summer I ignore all invitations when my friends invite me to go swimming.  Lana had this worried look on her face. Half of me wanted to smile at that moment. She cares about me. She actually cares about me.

Suddenly I tripped over a tree root, hitting the ground hard and falling onto my stomach, hitting my chin against the ground. Lana rushed to my side and kneeled beside me.

“Dylan, are you okay?” she asked me.

I sat up and looked at her, nodding even though I wasn’t really okay. My chin was aching a bit after hitting it.

“Dylan, you’re bleeding.” She put a hand under my chin. Just the touch of her hand made me forget everything that had just happened.

“How bad is it?”

“It’s just a scratch. Come on, let’s go back to the lake and I will clean the cut up for you.”

I began to panic. “No, I can’t go back there, Lana.” I started to cry. “I can’t go.”

My heart stopped when Lana cupped her hands on my face. “Dylan, it’s okay.”

I wanted to say it wasn’t okay, but my eyes were locked on Lana’s. I couldn’t tear away from them. They were so beautiful. I was a little disappointed when she removed her hands from my face. I didn’t want her to move them at all.

“What happened back there?” Lana wanted to know. “Why did you run off like that?”

I wiped my eyes. I must look like a fool crying in front of the girl that I love. What a way to win a girl’s heart. She is so going to think I’m weak. “It’s nothing.”

“It doesn’t look like it was nothing.”

“You won’t understand.”

Lana smiled and rested a hand on my knee. I looked down at her hand and then looked back up at her. “Dylan, you can tell me. You don’t have to tell Tara or Blaine. It’s just you and me here right now.”

Lana’s words It’s just you and me here right now echoed through my head. I liked the sound of it.

“I…I…” The memories rushed through my head. No. I couldn’t tell Lana the truth. I just couldn’t. She will hate me. All of my friends will hate me. Even my parents will hate me.

Lana slipped a hand into mine and squeezed it. My hand stung a bit when our skin touched because of some of the scratches I got when I fell, but I ignored the pain. “You can trust me, Dylan.”

I stared into her eyes trying to figure out how I was going to tell her. What if she laughed at me? “I’m afraid of water.”

“How come?”

“I just am."

“There has to be a reason.”

I wanted to tell her the truth. I wanted to tell her why I was crying earlier and why I freaked out when I saw Blaine dunking Tara under the water. The whole idea of water scared me. Sometimes I don’t even like taking showers because I’m afraid of the water falling down on me. I even hate the rain. No one knows about my fear of water. Lana was the first person I have ever told.