The Girl in the Water

Chapter 5

As we stared at each other, I realized with horror that my cheeks were wet. I turned abruptly away from him, hastily dragging an arm across my eyes.

I laughed awkwardly. "I guess we both can't sleep, huh?"

I felt more than heard him walking towards me. He sighed quietly as he sat down beside me; his feet were bare too, and they were long and pale against the grass.

"Night time can be the best and the worst time of the day." He mused, looking away from me as I wiped the last of my tears away. I was grateful he didn't comment on it. "It's the quietest, therefore the thoughts we hold in check run free."

"And the memories." I said softly.

"Yeah." Roan agreed quietly. "Damn memories, keeping us up all night."

We were both silent, but it wasn't awkward. A faint breeze stirred across our figures, whispering against the grass and making the tree branches dance.

"Tell me about your parents." Roan said quietly.

"Sorry?"

"Tell me about them." His eyes slid to mine before he leaned back leisurely, stretching his arms behind his head. His pale skin looked like porcelain in the night. "I never knew mine, so I'd like to know about yours."

I stared at him for a second. "You'll never know my parents either." My words felt numb.

A half-smile lit up his handsome face. "But you knew them. You can share that, even though I'll never meet them."

I don't know if it was a combination of his beautiful smile and his gentle voice, or if it was because I'd already been thinking of them, but I gave in and started talking. I started with the good, telling him all the good things I loved about them. I told him about my mother's lovely singing voice, and how I used to fall over laughing whenever my father tried to sing with her. I told him about how my father liked to shift into brightly coloured birds and tell jokes in high pitched voices whenever I was in a bad mood. I told him about how my mother was a giant cheat when she played card games, and how my father used to pretend he didn't notice and let her win. They'd taught me to play chess, which I'd hated at first, but now I could beat any opponent and smile proudly with no shame.

But then I started telling him all the sad stories. I told him how it broke my heart to see my mother cry, especially the time when she found out my Uncle Francois had been murdered. She didn't sing or play the piano for months after he died. I told him about how my father's bosses liked to walk all over him, and how he endured it with a bright smile on his face that only barely contained his silent frustration. I told him about the screaming matches I'd had with my mother when I used to sneak out to roam the city with my friends. I told him about how I'd been drugged at The Painted Lady, the infamously shady bar in the heart of the city, and how I'd probably be dead or worst if my father hadn't followed in the guise of a mongool.

I don't know how long I talked, but Roan never interrupted me. His gold eyes were calm as they looked up at the stars, the breeze making his white blonde hair flutter across his skin, but I never doubted that he was listening. When my words eventually died into quiet, he didn't say anything for a long while, simply continuing to stare up at the sky.

"Feel better now?" His voice was so soft it was almost a whisper.

I considered this, my eyes tracing shapes in the grass. "Not really."

"You will." Roan said confidently.

I felt my temper flare up in spite of myself. "How can you say that with so much confidence? My parents are dead because of me, Roan, that's something I'll never be able to forget."