Love is Dangerous

10

We sit at the dinner table in silence. We know each other's biggest secrets. Ones that could kill us. I trust him to keep me alive. At the moment, I'm wondering if that was a mistake.

I pick at my spaghetti and look at my phone. I scroll through my Instagram feed. Boring. Boring. Ooh surfing. Boring. I grab my headphones and pop them in. I go on Spotify and shuffle. I click 5 times. I don't know why. Its just a sort of tradition. The song is "We Move Like The Ocean" by Bad Suns. I turn off my phone and set it on the table. I start eating and the words "I've been just coasting, my mind put to motion, we move like the ocean. But I can't swim" comes on. I love that song. It really describes me. After that song, "Stuck On You" by New Politics. I hear a notification and turn my phone on. I unlock it and Instagram pops up. I have a Direct Message from Sarah, my sister. It was a picture of a cliff overlooking water. The caption read, "Hey! Hope you're having a good time! I know I am! We'll be back in 2 weeks. Love you!" I liked it and commented, "Miss you. See you soon!" Being honest with myself, she's the only person who actually understands me. She knows about the ticking and keeps it a secret. She's the only one that I am certain she loves me. Most siblings fight or can't stand each other but that isn't the case with us. My mom locks herself away in her office and does research all the time. My dad is always planning trips for them and places for me to stay. Sure, I would want to go, but I wouldn't want to have to stay in a hotel room with research papers lying everywhere and waking up at 4 AM just to get pictures. I basically raise myself. I have to make myself and my sister food and clean the house and do everything on my own. Its like we dont even have parents. Sometimes I wish someone would come and adopt me. But then I think of my sister. I couldn't abandon her. Sarah understands because she goes through it too. Nobody else understands. It's kind of depressing but I cover it with a smile. Everyone thinks everything is okay but it really isn't. Being alone isn't exactly nice. And on top of all of that, is that ticking. Its dangerous. And being alone just makes me vulnerable. True, I feel better about Tyler and Sarah knowing, but its also a risk. A risk that puts me in danger. I set down my phone and excuse myself from the table. I get up and walk to the bedroom. I sit on the bed and put my head in my hands. I have a headache from thinking and the ticking. Tyler opens the door and walks in. He sits on the spinny chair and scoots forward. He takes my wrists and pulls my arms out from under me and my head falls forward. I pull it back up and look at him. "You okay?" he asks. I nod weakly. I don't even know what was wrong. Maybe I just needed a break. I don't know. He looks at me with concern. "You sure?" I could tell he didn't believe me. "Yes. I am fine. I'm just sick and tired of my life." I stand up and walk over to the window. I looked out. The view was awesome. Acres of trees on 3 sides of the house. Tyler's room faces the backyard, the hot tub directly under it. The wooden fence blocked woodland animals from entering the backyard. The huge oak trees seem like a great place to escape life. Then again, so is the ocean. I turn back and he is staring at me. I could tell he was trying to get into my head. His gaze softens and he turns away. I look back out the window. "I never finished what I was saying before." I look at him, confused. "Remember how I ran from Marissa's?" I nod, slowly walking toward him. Something was suspicious. His black hair swept over his tanned skin. His brown eyes staring at me. The way he looked made me suspicious. He sighs and scratches the back of his head. "I read her mind. It wasn't normal. It was like yours. A constant beating," he pauses, seeing if I understand what's going on. I do. He continues. "When you told me that you had a clock, I already knew. I could tell from reading your mind." I walk slowly to the bed and sit down. I push my hands through my hair, standing on ends. I couldn't believe it. "Marissa's got a clock," we say at the same time. At first, I feel overwhelmed. A new sense of hope rises through me. But it quickly diminishes when I realized the obvious. I already met Marissa. And my clock was still going. And her clock is still going. So its not Marissa. My last hope is her cousin. When that thought came, Tyler looked at me. I could tell he was reading my mind. But what he doesn't know is the feeling I got when that thought popped up. A feeling of giddyness. A feeling of happiness. Pure joy. Something is about to happen.