Third Times The Charm

chapter one- the bridge

The night smelled like musty river water, weed, and cheap beer. Cars rumbled overhead making the bridge tremble and echo with each pass. Even the music turnt on max couldn't drown out the sounds of the river rushing beneath us.

This was not my usual crowd - not even close. God knows I cant stand chris, but ang insisted I come have fun for once. Fun... right.

We were already out of fire wood, higher than a kite and somehow was only six hours until I have to be back at work after closing the night before. There was no way im making it to that shift honestly.

Honestly I think this whole town may not be my scene. Everyone here has their own idea of who I am, but none of them actually take the time to get to know me. Maybe they think I dont hear the rumors. Maybe they just dont care.

Me and ang had already decided we were leaving this town - just a few more months and we will be gone - leaving every memory of this place behind. Shes basically my only friend here, but a damn good one.

“Did you find more wood?” I asked Ang.

“Nope,” she said, kicking at the dirt, “but I did find someone to bring us some.”

“Who?”

“His name’s Brad. I think you went to school together.”

“Brad ___? Yeah, I know who he is. He hated me in school. Does he know I’m here?” I was immediately nervous. Theres no telling how this will go.

“Yep. And he doesn’t care. He’s bringing wood and booze.”

“Good, because I’m not crawling around in a bush trying to get you firewood anymore. I’m way too high for that.”

Brad had been my high school bully. Or at least one of them. We never got along, but when I first met him in grade seven, I had a crush on him. That probably didn’t help.  I was always painfully awkward when I liked someone, and he was the kind of guy who noticed every insecurity you tried to hide.

I never really held it against him though. I know he had it just as bad as I did, if not worse. For everytime someone kicked the shit out of me or yelled something at me down the hall, someone did the same to him. Ill never forget the day i watched him get tossed head first into a trash can - probably the dirtiest one on school property.

So the idea of him showing up to this sad little “bridge party” felt ridiculous. Ang hyped it up like it’d be a real thing, but it ended up being just me, her, Chris (already asleep on a box of Cheez-Its), and his girlfriend—who I’m pretty sure he’s cheating on. We ran out of drinks in the first hour, so we’d been doing basically nothing for three straight hours.

If I had anything better to do, I might’ve left. But around here, this is about as interesting as life gets.

By the time Brad showed up, Emily and Chris had given up on the “party” and passed out under the bridge, and Ang and I were carving our names into the concrete with a pocketknife.

I noticed him right away, he stands out, in a good way. I cant lie the second I saw him my heart raced and I got butterflies. Thats weird for me im really not the type to get nervous around someone but with him its different, he has an affect on me.

“Hey,” Brad called out as he made his way down the hill, “I didn’t bring wood - but I did bring drinks.”

And holy hell, he looked good. Tattoos covered his hand and arm, he had a goatee, and his clothes had that alternative, effortless style you’d see on some BookTok “bad boy” character. Meanwhile, I was standing there in a sub shop uniform, no makeup, and a messy ponytail.
Perfect. Just perfect.

He’d changed so much. Sure, he was older, taller, his voice was a little huskier—but it was more than that. The anger he used to carry around like armor wasn’t there anymore. He still looked sharp, still looked like trouble, but he didn’t seem cold like he used to.

“Hey, you remember Hailee, right?” Ang asked.

Brad looked at me over his eyes lingering on me just a little too long. “Yeah,” he said. “I do.”

“Hey,” I said, trying to ignore the nervous heat creeping up my neck. “I’m surprised you came. This ‘party’ turned out kinda lame.”

He laughed. "Trust me, I've been to worse." And he had.

The next few hours flew by. The three of us talked, joked, and laughed like we’d known each other forever. He was nothing like the kid I remembered. He wasn’t angry anymore. He wasn’t defensive. He was… soft. Playful. He spoke to me like he actually cared what I had to say.

For the first time in a long time I didnt feel out of place here. It felt like finally ang might not be my only friend here.

I don’t know how we ended up climbing down the steep, rocky side of the bridge, or why it’s so clear in my memory, but suddenly we were searching for the biggest rocks we could find and throwing them into the river like idiots. Being high probably helped, but the laughter came easy—stupid and breathless and perfect.

But I’ve never been good at climbing, and I’m terrified of heights, so Brad — apparently a gentleman now — started bringing rocks to me and presenting them like sacred treasures. Something about watching a guy you once knew as rough and sharp acting soft, doing dumb things just to make you laugh… it sticks with you.

And maybe it’s just me, but every time I laughed at him tripping over his own feet, he looked at me like the world had stopped and narrowed down to just us.

Two hours left until I had to be at work, and I couldn’t care less that I smelled like smoke and weed. Sitting on the edge of a bridge, hanging onto his every word, felt worth it. Nights where everything is good and nothing is wrong are rare. I wanted to stay in that moment forever.

“I like this,” I said.

“Throwing rocks off a bridge?” he teased.

“No.” I smiled, heart thudding out of my chest. “Talking to you.”

It was corny, so embarrassingly corny, like something out of a teen romance movie. But it felt right, yknow, like i could do this everyday and never get tired of it.

Brad’s expression softened. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “I like it too.”

“Do you wanna do it again sometime?” the words just slipped out before i could even stop them.

“I think we should,” he said, handing me his phone so I could type in my Snapchat.

I’ve never believed in love at first sight or any of that cheesy crap, but that night, I knew I wanted to really know him. He was nothing like what I was used to. He was gentle and soft. He made me feel something I hadn't felt before.

And he looked at me like I was the only person around.

I didnt know it then, but this night was the start of everything. Something so unplanned and sudden sparked something so strong it would change me. What I also didnt know was that brad would become the love and heartbreak that left the deepest impact on me.