"We're just two people thrown together through the bond of knowing one another's secrets."
Mia and Noah couldn't be any more different. When a change in circumstances has Mia transferring from her private school to a public one, she couldn't fit in...
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It took Noah a while to pluck up enough courage to let me in on his secret. I watched him question it over and over in his mind and then when he finally decided on letting me in he still didn't seem sure.
"A year ago," he began quietly, "there was an accident." I nodded in encouragement and he took a deep breath. "Mom, dad, me and Em were in the car driving to this stupid dinner with my dads boss. We were going across Brockly Bridge when my dad lost control. The car smashed through the bridge railings and plummeted into the lake." I gasped and I could feel my eyes soften on him with sympathy.
"I'm so sorry." I whispered.
"The car filled up so fast, within minutes it was completely flooded and my family all pretty much lost consciousness straight away. He spoke quietly, keeping a lack of confidence throughout. Me finding out about Emily really shook him up and in the small time I have known him this is the first time he has ever been raw with emotion.
"It was the single most terrifying experience of my life. Cold lake water invaded my lungs, my eyes, my ears and my mouth. It paralyzed all of my senses and made me disoriented. All I could think and feel was fear."
"That must've been so terrible, I'm so sorry that happened to you Noah." I gave his hand another supportive squeeze.
"I tried to save them but I couldn't get their stupid seat belt off. I managed to somehow slip Emily out of her car seat and get her free but I couldn't smash the window because of the water pressure and we were drowning, I remember the water suffocating me. She was already unconscious."
His hands trembled as he relived his memories, he clenched and unclenched his fingers to try and stifle the tremor. But through a shaky voice he continued telling me his story.
"I managed to break a metal rod off the bottom of one the front seats and I kept pounding on the glass until it shattered but I had to manually remove the shards and one big one got me, right down my arm."
We both glanced at his scar but then he pulled his hoodie down over his arm, hiding it away. I wondered why he always kept it out and on show if he was self conscious of it.
"I got Em out of the car and onto the side but her small body was unresponsive and by the time I had done CPR and got her breathing again the car had disappeared taking my parents with it."
A tear rolled down his cheek and he wiped it away rapidly, not wanting me to notice. But the sadness was written all over his face. This boy was grieving still and had the weight of the world on his shoulders thanks to this tragic accident. I wondered if he thought he killed them just because he was unable to save them. I questioned if he told his girlfriend the same story that he told me because if that were the case then she really is a terrible person for spreading things around about him. He wasn't responsible for his parents death just because he couldn't prevent his parents death.
