Little Blue Hearts

You Awake?

"Alice! Alice!" Asher ran into the music room, almost tripping over his own feet. He was holding a yellow package in his hand, grinning madly.

"My college applications came back... the Juilliard one, at least. I made it in." He was smiling ear to ear, almost crying with happiness.

I was speechless for a moment or two. He had made it? I hadn't thought about it yet, he'd be leaving for college eventually, because he was a senior and the year was almost over... but I put that aside and stood, hugging him tightly. "That's amazing... I can't believe you made it, you with your terrible playing." I laughed a bit, and so did he.

"At least I'm not as bad as that dumb Mozart, huh?" He said, and I smiled. "You don't seem happy."

I shook my head. I did feel upset, but I didn't know why. I was happy for him and sad at the same time. I tried to explain it to myself as I spoke. "No, no, I'm just a little let down you have to leave, but there's absolutely no reason for that to be a factor in any of this. This is the biggest thing to ever happen to you. Everyone will be a little upset you have to leave."

Asher raised an eyebrow. "Juilliard's not massively far from here. It's a two hour drive or something. I'll visit whenever I can and then when you get in we'll be in the same school again."

I shrank a bit at that. "I'm not good at auditioning. It's terrible, I mess up every time I go up there, and I-"

His hands held my face suddenly, and my heart felt like it flipped because I thought he was about to kiss me, but he didn't. He stared into my soul, with his own soft, caring eyes, and spoke. I could hear his lips move as he spoke.

"You're better than me. You'll make it in."

I nodded, because that was all I could do. I rested my head on his chest and he hugged me. I was really tired all of a sudden, and I felt like crying, but I was happy for him.

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We stopped on the bridge, and watched the water run. It was a really hot day that day, so I guess I should have expected when Asher dropped his bag and pulled mine off my shoulders, then grabbed my hand and led me to the water. He had a habit of suggesting activities through demonstration.

There was shade under the cobblestone bridge, and the water wasn't flowing at a harsh pace, nor was it very deep. Two or three feet, maybe, with sand on the bottom. It was calm, and when Asher pulled me in I realized it was also very, very cold.

I gasped as the freezing liquid enveloped my body, waking every nerve in my system. I held my arms above the water, I was sitting on the bottom of the creek and it was up to my neck. I looked at him and splashed him, laughing, and he splashed me back. The water was cold way past 'refreshing', but you get used to temperatures over time, and soon it felt nice to be swimming around in our wet school uniforms.

A tiny fish jumped up in the water beside him, and he fell back. "I didn't think there were any fish in here," he said, looking awfully surprised. I thought for a moment, and he was right. There weren't any fish. The creek had never had any fish.

All of a sudden, the current started picking up. I waded out of the water immediately, but Asher stayed.

"Asher, what the hell are you doing? Get out! Something's wrong with the water!"

He looked at me, with kind and patient eyes. "But this is the most important thing to ever happen to me," he said, and my face twisted in confusion. What was going on?

When I heard a roar coming from downstream, my stomach knotted. I turned my head, terrified, and a huge wave was coming down the creek. What was going on? Creeks didn't have tidal waves. I jumped back in, trying to shove Asher towards the creek bank, but it was as if he was glued to the ground. The wave was coming, fast. I was crying, begging him to move, but he said nothing. Right as the wave towered over us and the bridge, I hugged him tightly and closed my eyes, ready for us to be swept away, because there was no way I was leaving him.

I felt him ripped from my arms.

I opened my eyes to find him being tossed in the current as he was thrown downstream in the giant wave- the giant wave that was missing me entirely. The bridge fell, crumbled into the water, but I was untouched. As his body was crushed by the debri of the bridge and I felt my heart sink to my feet, my eyes flickered open.

I was in my room, in my bed, my clothes and hair and skin all soaking wet. I panicked, crying desperately, until I realized it was just sweat. I threw off the covers and staggered into the bathroom, then into the shower. I took a hot shower, so hot it almost burned my skin, because if I felt one drop of cold water touch my skin I would throw up.

When I stepped out, I wrapped a towel around me, not bothering to dry my hair. I turned up the thermostat in my room to 90 Fahrenheit, and sat on the floor in the large white towel. It was 3:43 am, my clock said, and nobody else was awake. After sitting, hugging my knees for almost an hour, I worked up the energy to change into dry underwear and a long white cotton shirt. The dream tugged at my mind repeatedly but I tried not to think about it. Instead, I thought of how the last day of school was tomorrow, and how Asher and I would have to say goodbye to the music room. Always better to think of something sad than happy when trying to forget something terrifying.

At 4:37, I pulled my phone from my dresser, and sat on my bed. My shaky fingers opened the messages, and I types out a message to Asher. The screen illuminated the dark room.

Me: You awake?

I waited a minute for his response.

Asher: Yeah. Why are you awake?

Me: I had a nightmare. I cant remember what it was, though.

Asher: Oh. Ok.

Me: Hey, let's not go to the river tomorrow, ok?

Asher: Okay. Whatever you want.

Me: Alright. Thanks. Sleep well.

Asher: You too. G'Night.

There was a long pause, but it said he was typing.

Asher: Make it into Juilliard for me, Alice.