Caged In

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

            The warmth of the sand felt incredible as Alyce stepped onto the beach. She didn’t know what beach it was, and honestly she didn’t care. It just felt amazing to be free.

            Alyce was wearing a plain, hot pink bikini that was stowed away in a dresser drawer in a small room painted with flowers of all colors. She guessed it was Cam’s sister’s room. To Alyce’s surprise, she really liked the bathing suit. Never could she ever say that she liked pink before. Actually, she had despised it for her entire life until now. Three weeks of being free from a shadowy basement could really change your perspective of the world. Right before her eyes, Alyce was changing.

            She walked over to Cameron, who had just finished writing something in the sand. She looked down to see her name, but he had spelled it ‘Alice’. “Hold on a second,” she said, taking the stick Cameron was writing with from his hand. She kicked off her flip-flop and scraped across the ‘i’ with her foot, writing a ‘y’ in its place. “There,” she said, turning to him.

            He grabbed the flimsy twig. “Thanks for the spell check, Alyce with a y,” he grinned.

            “Anytime,” she replied, giggling.

            Cameron laid the stick down next to her name and plopped down on the sand. “So I take it you enjoy the beach?” Cameron asked, noticing Alyce smiling up at the sun, the beach breeze blowing through her hair.

            “Very much so,” she answered. There was a peaceful silence that lingered for a while until Alyce asked, “Do you come here a lot?”

            “Not really. I know it’s easy to walk to, but I never have anyone to come here with.”

“What about your parents?” So almost let the word ‘family’ slip out of her mouth, but she had said it before, and Cameron became tense and didn’t talk much after that.

Cameron let out a sigh and searched for an answer. “My parents don’t really like to hang out with me much anymore. After Darcy left for college and Blake disappeared, they seem to act like I did something wrong. Or at least that’s how it feels.” He paused for a moment to find the right words. “It feels like it’s up to me to fix everything, but I can’t do it. I’ll never be Darcy and I’ll never be Blake.”

            “You don’t have to be them, Cameron. Just be you.” She took a hair tie that she found on Darcy’s dresser and tied her hair up into a messy bun. She stood up and looked at Cameron. “I’m sorry I brought it up.” She reached out a hand to him. “I’m going out into the ocean if you want to come with me.”

            “You can go ahead. I think I’m gonna stay here for a little while.”

            She pulled her hand back towards her and smiled slightly. Maybe he would smile back…but he didn’t.

            The waves hit her feet, making her entire body shiver. She waited for the water to feel warmer, but she couldn’t enjoy any of it with Cameron acting this way. Now she knew…mentioning Cameron’s family was not a good idea. She just wished his feelings wouldn’t have turned so ice cold towards her.

            Before she knew it, the water was to her waist. Also before she knew it, she was tumbling under the water, being swept away by the waves. Alyce couldn’t think. All she saw was darkness and all she felt was her body turning slowly beneath the churning waters.

            Cameron looked out across the ocean. He saw Alyce. He blinked. Alyce disappeared. He couldn’t even control his body. He plunged into the water and swam toward the spot where she had been. He looked around frantically, in search of her. Finally, her saw her, and he dove under the water, grabbing her and pulling her out, allowing her to breathe.

            Once they reached the shore, Alyce couldn’t thank Cameron enough. “What happened, anyways?” she said, grabbing a towel that Cameron had fetched, feeling perfectly fine.

            In his mind, Cameron saw a surfer. “A surfer rode over you with his board,” he remembered. Cameron was still looking shocked from the whole experience. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

            “Yeah, I feel like nothing happened. Except now my hair is all wet. Other than that, I feel like nothing happened.”

            “That’s strange.” He grabbed his towel and dried off his hair. “Sorry for acting weird.” They grabbed their shoes began walking toward the house, which wasn’t too far away from the beach. “What you said made me think that maybe I’m too hard on myself. And maybe what I’m thinking isn’t what my parents are thinking.”

            “I’m almost positive that they don’t expect you to try to fill in the gaps for your brother and sister. Just…be Cameron. And talk to them. Have you tried doing that?” And there she was, talking about his family again.

            But this time he didn’t explode on her. He just said, “No. I think I’ll try it though.”