A Work in Progress

Off the Bridge We Go

"Excuse me!" The women dressed in red from head to toe shouted while running towards me.

I stopped in my tracks at the Hail's Berry mall and slowly looked from side to side. "Me?" I supplied, gesturing to myself.

"Yes. Sir, you are Parker Hummel, correct?" She asked breathlessly, still speaking into her iPhone like it was a tape recorder.

I shoved my hands further into my jean pockets and looked down at my sneakers. "That's me," I replied.

"You just don't know how long I've been trying to get this interview."

I blinked at her.

She's joking right?

"Me?" I countered again, sounding doubtful.

She nodded profusely, her hair flopping back and forth with each motion.

I knew I should say something else. Surely she thought I was mentally incompetent by now, but her expression of pure glee never changed.

"Er, why do you want to interview me?" I asked, tugging uselessly on the collar of my shirt.

"You saved the girl, the one who jumped off of that bridge," she replied, arching an eyebrow like this was obvious.

People heard about that?

"Yeah, I guess I did do that," I admitted sheepishly.

"Was it true that she tried to commit suicide?" she asked suddenly.

I froze.

Getting right to the point are we?

"N-no, I don't know," I lied.

However she didn't look convinced.

She tilted her head to the side slightly. "How is it that out of all those people there, you were the only one to notice her?"

Hell, why was she interviewing me again?

"I guess I'm just observant," I replied, looking her in the eyes.

She seems pleased by this answer, but continued to look skeptically at me. "Some people are saying that you noticed her because you yourself had tried jumping off of that bridge a year prior to this accident. Is that statement correct?"

I stopped breathing for a second.

"I think this interview is over," a deep voice behind me responded.

I visibly relaxed at the sound of Sam's voice. Way to save the day.

"And who are you?" she inquired, looking between my older brother and me.

"I'm the one who just told you the interview is over. Let's go, Parks."

We walked away from the lady, and I didn't stick around long enough to hear her response. Sam had a knack for saving my ass.

"I leave you alone for fifteen minutes and people are trying to get your autograph?" he asked, chuckling to himself.

"Yeah, right. She was weird. She kept asking me questions about—" I paused. This was a particularly touchy subject with Sam, and I didn't feel like getting into an argument today.