Riverbank

15

Rivers pov
When I woke up I still had some purple paint on my hand and I just smiled at the events of the day before. I got up and moved around Kie and pope on the floor in the living room and I went and sat on the steps outside. I traced the landscape so many times before this morning that I knew how it would look without even having to move my eyes from the tree in front of me.
" hey "
I turned to find JJ leaning against the door frame
" hi "
I said and my voice was a little horse because of my screaming during the paint fight
" How did you sleep "
I asked and he just smiled
" right stupid question "
He moved to sit down next to me
" It's not stupid I slept ok I mean as good as one can sleep in the same room as the chainsaw known as John B "
We both laughed at the spot-on comparison
" how about you "
" fine "
We both looked out at the water then he said
" you know I used to think you could only really know one person "
" what "
" yeah like I knew everything about John B but I really feel like I know the real you "
" you can never know the real way someone is "
" why not "
" because some things you just don't share with other people "
I silently added because I won't tell you one thing. He looked at me for a long moment then said
" I've never told anyone this before not even John B but when I was 14 I had taken a bunch of sleeping pills from my dad and I put them in my mouth and when they started to stick to my mouth drying it up I spit them all out into the toilet and I looked at the red-orange pills floating for a second and then fall I decided that my mind was telling me I could handle all of this and that's why I couldn't do it I couldn't swallow my pain away "
" JJ "
" yeah so "
He blinked rapidly to keep the tears at bay
" umm now it's your turn to tell me what you don't tell people "
" well umm I was being bullied so bad at school they would tell me to kill myself and all that and well the way that I walked home had this bridge with a dried up stream below and well one day after they had pushed me down in the hall and I hit my head and they all laughed and called me names I decided that I wanted to see the river bed and well I stepped off the ledge and I didn't do the math and all I did was mess up my leg that then caused me to have a slight limp no one knew I did this because I walked the rest of the way home and said that I just tripped at school and that I was fine "
We looked at one another for a long moment then I slid my fingers across my lips like a zipper and pretend to toss the key and he did the same. I smiled and said
" I'm bored should we wake up the others "
" what do your purpose "
" do you know that sweet Caroline song "
" ba ba ba "
He said and then I started to sing loudly and he did the ba ba ba and eventually, they all woke up mad at us but laughing in the end.