Falling

Chapter Thirteen

"I told you," Alice was laying on my bed with her head dangling off the edge, making her upside down. "Riis told me Nate was talking about you and him and I took it the wrong way."

Me, who was sitting up straight across from her at my desk was trying to tell if she was telling the truth or not. Alice sat right side up on my bed.

"I'm sorry." She pleads. I could tell she was telling the truth even though she was still hiding something from me. I didn't know what. I didn't know why she had such hatred towards Nate. I was sure she wouldn't have implicated such negative connotations with Nate if she didn't already think so badly of him.

I roll my eyes. "It's fine," I sigh. Before I could further myself, Alice got up from the bed.

"Cool! So, you know school starts back up tomorrow?" She tells me.

"Yeah? So?"

"Well..." Alice was pacing around my bedroom. "There's a party at the falls celebrating our last few hours of freedom... Wanna go?" Her voice sounded anxious for my answer.

In the little while I had known Alice I had figured out a couple of things about her.

1) She loved having it her way- no matter what.

2) She's not one for pleasantries. She is straight and to the point.

And

3) She always has to be having some sort of fun.

This "party" happened to fall under the category of number three and if I didn't go have fun with her I'd have to face the consequences of not following number one. But as much as I did want to go with her-- and I did-- I couldn't.

"I have to babysit Drew." I tell her, making her anxious smile turn into a disappointing frown. "I'm sorry but I can't."

Alice sighs and for a second I think she drops it but Alice is much too stubborn. She jumps and claps as she has an idea. "Bring him to the falls."

I shake my head as soon as she says that. "That doesn't sound like a good idea."

Alice comes closer to me to further her plead. "Oh come on, why not?"

I raise my eyebrows. "Uh it's a party there will be drinking for one? And drugs... And-"

"Oh that won't matter. We will keep an eye on him." She interrupts me. I'm not convinced. "It won't be fun with out you!" She tries. The party did sound fun... And Nate might be there so maybe i'd run into him.

I hadn't purposely not spoken to Nate but I wasn't going to go up and talk to him.

I didn't want to seem like every other girl who has ever been remotely into Nate. He probably had girls coming to him first all the time. I didn't want to give him any power over me, so I was waiting for him to call me. I wanted him to talk to me first. So far he hadn't.

Having Nate on my mind and the possibility of him being at the party one me over. Hesitantly, I agreed to go to the party. As long a we kept Drew away from all the vulgar things he shouldn't be exposed to yet, and as long as we kept an eye on him the whole time.



-******-

Drew could hardly stand his excitement. In the back of Alice's car he couldn't sit still because of his enthusiasm. Apparently he barely went to the falls, no one ever took him so this was a treat.

When we arrived at the same parking lot that Nate had taken me to so many days prior, we got out of the car.

"I can't wait to go swimming in the swimming hole, Charlie! It's going to be so much fun!" Drew tells me, amused. I'm barely paying attention to him because I am much to worried about the consequences of bringing Drew to the party.

"Okay Drew, just stay away from all the big kids, okay?" I tell him.

"Alright." Is his succinct reply. He starts skipping happily towards the swimming hole and Alice and I follow.

"Watch your step!" I yell to Drew. I was much too nervous with him here. Alice could tell.

"Chill out." She advises me, cooly.

"I'm fine. But he-"

"Will be okay," Alice interrupts. I leave it at that.

When we arrive to the swimming hole, I try subtly to search for Nate. I see him near the kegs but he isn't drinking. I think he sees me though, so I quickly look away. Drew finds a spot in the dirt and starts to draw in it. Alice pulls me further and further away from him all the while reassuring me that he will be alright and ordering me to relax.

When Alice and Riis's eyes meet Alice scurries over to Riis. She invites me along but I politely decline. I wanted to look as alone as possible. If I didn't have anyone talking to me, then maybe Nate would be more opt to come up to talk to me.

"Now I don't think we've met." I hear a guy's voice from behind me say. I turn around. It was Ty, from Riis's party. The one who groped Alice and me. "You're Alice's friend, right? Charlie?"

"Yeah, I am." I smile at him.

"I'm Ty." He smiles back. "Can I get you a beer?" I look over to Nate, who is already looking at me. He cocks his head. I turn back around to Ty.

"Sure." Ty gets me a beer and makes it obvious that he wants to talk to me. I allow it because it seems to get Nate's attention. "We have met before." I tell Ty.

"Oh?" I take a drink, looking at Nate. He raises an eyebrow to me and I take another sip. He rolls his eyes.

"Yep. But you were probably too drunk to remember." I give Ty my best flirting.

"Wait. I didn't get you pregnant too, did I?" He jokes. I laugh and shake my head.

"No, but I know for a fact how handsy you get when your smashed." Ty rolls his eyes, playfully.

"Oh well," He waves his hand. "Everyone knows that." Ty and I continue to talk for a little while longer. My cup gradually got less full, until it was completely empty. I went to refill my cup at the keg. I try to ignore Nate while I'm there but he comes up to me.

"You're being petty." He sighs as he leans cooly over to me. He doesn't have a shirt on. I give him an innocent look.

"Petty? How?" I take a long drink of my beer.

"Talking to Ty to get my attention? It's a little beneath you."

"Who said I was trying to get your attention?" He gives me a crooked grin.

"Seriously?" I look at him wide eyed, taking anther gulp of my drink.

"I'm just talking. Why is that a problem?" Nate shrugs indifferently.

"It's not a problem, I just don't think you should flirt with someone your not interested in."

"Pot kettle black, Nate." I counter. Nate only laughs and I take another drink.

"Drink anymore and you'll pass out." He warns me. He snatches my cup from my hand.

"Hey!"

Nate disregards me and continues to speak. "You don't need an excuse to have another sleep over with me, Freckles." He gives a small shrug and keeps his lazy eyed grin. "All you have to do is ask."

I didn't get how he could act so blasé towards me. Nate still acted like it was some sort of game.

"How can you-" I begin, but stop myself when I decide it isn't worth asking because I'll just be answered with some vague, witty remark. Instead I give Nate a fowl expression and try to move passed him to get another drink. He grabs onto my arm, halting me.

"Charlie, hey, I'm kidding!" Nate tells me, brightly. I nudge my arm so he'll let go. He does. He gives me an honest smile. Maybe the first genuine smile, he's given me. "Why don't you hang around?" He asks me, meekly. As if on cue, a small group of girls, sitting on a small cliff, holler at Nate to go over. Nate and I both glance over to them before looking back at one another.

"That's why." I say, sorely, my lips pursed. I move passed Nate to get a new cup since he so kindly took my original one away.





A little while later, I headed over to where Alice, Riis, and a few others were talking. I had hit someone. They felt extremely coarse.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" I shout, a little louder than I intended. I tried putting my hand on their shoulder, that's when the person came into focus. It wasn't a person, it was a tree. I shook my head in embarrassment and hoped no one else saw. When I turn to continue walking I do actually run into someone.

"Ohp excuse me." The guy smiles. I squint my eyes and see who it is. It was Aiden. As soon as I realized this, I stopped breathing.

"Oh-- I uh... It was me. I never look where I'm going." I choke, trying to hide the cold sweat escaping my forehead.

Aiden smiles again. "Well you don't need to. Later, Charlie." He walks away, bemused. I see Nate in the direction Aiden is walking. He is still with the small group of girls but he's looking at me with worried eyes. When our eyes meet I look away, wiping my hand on my face, before continuing to walk over to Alice.

Someone handed me another refill. I absently consumed it. Since I arrived I had not been paying attention to how much beer I was drinking. People would just keep refilling my cup without me really knowing.

Alice noticed my uncomfortable manner. "You okay? You look like you've seen a ghost." She asked me. I smile, running my fingers through my hair.

"Yeah." I shrug. "I'm just cold." Alice nods in understanding. She must've agreed with my excuse because she was wearing Riis's sweatshirt.

There was a sudden commotion closer to the swimming hole. It made everyone's heads snap over in that direction. Most of everyone was crowded together, so it was hard for me to see what was going on. I ran over to get a better look. There was someone stuck underneath the waterfall on the far end of the swimming hole. I looked around to see who was missing. I couldn't figure it out. And then I remembered Drew. I looked for him. I couldn't spot him anywhere.

I glanced back at the waterfall. Why wasn't anybody helping the person out? Everyone was trying to figure who it was. Whispers everywhere were going; "Who is that"... "They seem small"... "Someone help"... But no one was. When I allowed myself to recognize it was Drew, I jumped into the water.

The water seemed even colder than I remembered it. I couldn't remember how to swim and which direction to go.

How much had I had to drink?

Before I got too far out, someone grabbed ahold of me. I didn't know who. All I heard was; "SWIM BACK, I GOT HIM!"

...and for some reason I trusted that voice. So I went back. When I got out Alice covered me in a beach towel and blanket. She tried talking to me but I wasn't really there.

"Charlie..." She began. Her voice was hoarse. I was too busy paying attention to the water.

Nate was pulling Drew back. Drew's eyes were closed and his face was pale and his lips were blue. I had flashbacks of my mom when I had found her on the floor. Her face was clammy and ashen, discolored lips, No chest movement... Just like Drew.

Nate pulled him out of the water and immediately I tried putting a towel over Drew, but Nate took it out of my hands and told me to back away. I could tell he was freezing too, but when I tired to give Nate a towel for himself all he did was tell me to back away again. He put the towel around Drew's legs, then tried to feel a pulse. Nate started doing chest compressions. I knew you were suppose to do thirty chest compressions at a rate of one hundred per minute, so I counted along with Nate's rushed pushing. After the first thirty, Drew still wasn't waking up. Another thirty and I was getting dizzy. I sat down.

On the seventeenth of the third set of compressions, I heard a cough, followed by choking water. I stood up and ran to Nate and Drew. Drew was conscious. Each of them received more blankets and towels. Drew was beginning to regain color. I was kneeling beside him.

"Charlie... I'm so tired." Drew told me. "... And cold." I took his hands in mine and rubbed them.

"I know sweetie. I'll get you home."

"Better sooner rather than later." Nate says. He was straight faced, wrapped in a blanket. His hair was like a dark mop over his face. Alice comes up too. She is extremely shaky.

"Right." She agrees. "I'll take you too home." She says this to me but I can tell her tone is for Nate. Even after saving my little brother's life, she still isn't kind towards him. I didn't get her problem. If it wasn't for her, Drew probably wouldn't even be here.

"Alice, you're drunk as hell! I'm sorry but I really don't feel like getting swerved into oncoming traffic." I bark. Alice's glassy blue eyes fall to the ground and she sighs. Then she looks to me.

"Be safe." She says and walks away. I immediately feel guilty for shouting at her. It wasn't her fault Drew was here. It's mine.

"Uh, okay then. I'll take you." Nate says, not looking at me. He goes to pick up Drew. "Heya kid? Doing alright?" Drew replies, positively. Nate takes the lead to his truck. I walk a few feet behind him. I kept tripping on my own feet.

In the car, we were silent. The only sound was the quiet hum of the engine. It was like that the entire way home.

Nate pulled up to my house. I tried to carry Drew in by myself, but I was too weak. Nate carried him up to his bedroom.

Once Drew was tucked into his bed, Nate finally looked at me.

"I'll uh, be down stairs." He said, and left the room. I sat down on Drew's bed.

"You okay?" I whisper to Drew. He nods his head.

"Yep, I am now. It was scary, though. I just went swimming a little and then it was like the water was pulling me and then it was pushing me further into the water. I couldn't breathe and then, well then I just don't remember until I was back on the ground. Strange, huh?" I move the little blonde hairs out of his face.

"I'm so sorry, Drew. I should've stayed with you. I should've made sure you were alright. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" Tears welded in my eyes. I don't know what I would've done if something had happened to him. Drew smiles, sympathetically.

"It's okay, Charlie. I know it was an accident." He assures me. It was strange that he was the one being level-headed about this.

"But accidents can be prevented."

"Sometimes."

"This time it could've. If I would've stayed with you." I tell him.

"But you didn't. And I'm still okay." I shake my head in disagreement.

"But-"

"And I won't tell mommy or daddy about this." He says, interrupting me. This surprised me. Why wouldn't he tell them about this?

"Why?"

"Because I'm smart." He pauses to yawn. I can tell he is extremely tired. "I know you're still just a kid too." This made me laugh a little.

"Get some sleep, okay Drew?" I tell him. His eyelids began to waver.

"Okay. Goodnight, Charlie."

"Goodnight." I whisper.

When I go down stairs, Nate is standing in the kitchen.

"Is he okay?" Nate asks.

"Yeah." I reply. He furrows his eyebrows.

"Are you okay?"

I rub my eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine." I was fine, though my head was pounding. But my ailments seemed trivial at this point. I think Nate could see something wrong though. I went to the cupboard to search for something to eat. "Do you want anything?" I ask.

"No..." I could feel him looking at me, coming closer. I was moving cardboard boxes and tubs around, when a bunch of them fell out of the cupboard. Nate helps me to clean up the mess. "How much did you have to drink, Charlie?"

I had to think about that. "I don't know three, maybe four cups."

"While you were supposed to be watching Drew?" Nate's tone sounded temperamental. I looked to the floor and nodded. "Don't you see how stupid that was? He could have died!" He shouted the last part. It startled me. It made me cry. Which made my head pound even more.

"You don't think I know that?" I ask him. "I've been beating my self up inside! I know it was stupid! I know I was stupid!"

"Then why did it happen, Charlie?" He asks, darkly. He knew I didn't have a good answer.

"I don't know." I shook my head. I noticed the spilled cereal on the floor and started to pick it up. "I don't know. I don't know anything."

Nate sat on the linoleum floor with me, picking up the bits of cereal.

"It's okay." Nate says, much more softer. "No one really ever knows anything. I'm pretty sure everyone just pretends they do."

Right then my phone rang. It was on the counter. Nate got up and handed it to me. It was Alice. I clicked ignore. I was planning on texting her later but then I realized something.

"Your not going to answer it?" Nate asks. I dodge the question.

"Do you know why Alice hates you much?" Nate shrugs, casually.

"She doesn't like how I sleep around."

"The real reason?" I ask. Nate thinks for a moment.

"I have a hunch, but I think she should tell you."

I stand up and Nate gains a questioning look on his face. "What are you doing?"

"Going to go ask her. Can you stay here and watch Drew?" I wasn't going to leave Drew alone tonight.

"You really trust me to watch him?" He asks.

I reply, "yes", without hesitation.



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•Author's Note•



Well it's finally here! I apologize for taking so long but here it is! Thanks everyone for keeping with it and being supportive! I hope you like the chapter! It was hard to write... That's one of the reasons it took so long. I'll try to update ASAP but I'm going to summer camp so we will see!

Xoxo