“Emily, get your ass up!” Don bellowed as he stormed into her room not bothering to knock. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
Emily coughed. “I can’t go to school today, I’ve been throwing up all night.”
Don made a disgusted face. “Fine, just don’t touch anything, I don’t need you germing up the whole house.” He slammed the door shut and Emily remained in bed until she heard the front door slam a few minutes later. Okay, what now?
You don’t want to sleep in or anything?
I’m already awake, unless of course you do.
Nah, I’m a morning person. Do you remember how to get to my house?
I think so… We’re hanging out at your house?
Sort of. I’ll see you when you get here : )
Emily got up and got ready to leave. She had finally decided on a white T-shirt and a pair of jeans, both of which were several sizes too big, when her phone rang. Oh, and bring a bathing suit.
We’re swimming? She tossed her suit on under her outfit and headed out the door.
Twenty minutes later she pulled up to his house, having only made one wrong turn. Mick must have been waiting because he was outside as soon as she turned her car off. “You made it,” he said. His smile was contagious and Emily couldn’t help but smile back. However, she didn’t know what to say so she waited for him. “You’re probably wondering why you’re here…” He said, sounding as if he were addressing a group of strangers as opposed to one girl.
“You could say that.”
“Well, I don’t want to ruin the surprise but if you’re willing to go for a little walk I promise you won’t be disappointed.”
How could I say no to that? She smiled and nodded, telling him she didn’t mind walking. He accepted her silent answer and headed to the rear of the house. There was a clearing large enough to play, and the rest was surrounded by trees. Her house didn’t really have a yard, and this was so… normal and she loved it. There was a grill on the porch, along with an assortment of outdoor toys, a tire swing tied to a nearby tree, and a hammock set up a few feet away. Mick walked by everything and headed into the woods. “Is this where you bring people to kill them?” Emily joked, remembering the conversation they had had yesterday and hoping he did too.
He laughed. “You think I would bring them to my house? It would be too easy to trace it back to me.”
“Only if they searched your property,” Emily pointed out.
“Hm, good point… I might have to change my spot.” Emily laughed. Mick turned to look at her as he walked. “You should laugh more.” He said it so matter-of-factly but Emily blushed at the comment. Mick stared for a moment, completely serious, and then turned back.
Emily couldn’t get his words out of her head. He was right of course, she should laugh more, she just hadn’t had much reason to in the past. Sure Allison made her laugh, but they didn’t get to hang out nearly as much as they both wanted to so it wasn’t that often.
They hiked in silence for about ten minutes before she could barely make out a familiar sound. “Is that running water?”
“Uh, yeah, there’s a river up here.”
Is that what he wants to show me? She thought but didn’t ask. The sound grew louder and about five minutes later Mick told her to close her eyes. “What?”
“Close your eyes. Trust me,” he added, seeing her hesitation.
She heard the sincerity in his voice and saw the kindness in his eyes, so she shut her eyes and reached out for his outstretched hand. He took her hand and slowly guided her, telling her when to watch her step or duck as she avoided nature’s obstacles. The sound of the water continued to grow and when they finally stopped it was so loud she could barely hear Mick when he said, “Okay, you can open your eyes.”
Emily opened her eyes and the sight nearly took her breath away. They were standing in a clearing facing a waterfall falling probably twenty feet before emptying into a pool at the bottom, then streaming off into the woods. From their position at the edge she could almost feel the mist that was constantly bouncing off the surface, causing a small rainbow to float steadily in the air in front of them.
“So what do you think?”
Emily had almost forgotten about Mick until he spoke. “It’s amazing,” she replied, still awestruck.
“I thought you’d like it, and I wanted to show it to you before it got cold, hence the strange urgency.” He said it with a smile, and Emily felt touched.
“Thank you.” What is happening here? He wouldn’t just bring a girl he barely knows to a place like this if he didn’t have some kind of feelings for her right?
“So, do you wanna swim? It’s deeper here than it looks.”
She did; more than anything. She nodded.
“You know, I’m not going to make fun of you if you talk,” he teased. He took his shirt off showing a lightly tanned and muscular body.
Emily smiled as she took off her baggy clothes, revealing her oversized blue bathing suit beneath, trying to ignore the screams that said she was inadequate.
“If you don’t say anything I’m going to be forced to talk to myself, and then you’re going to think I’m crazy,” Mick smiled.
“Sorry, I just, uh, I’m not very good with small talk.” She stood at the edge of the water, not wanting to be the first to jump in.
Mick noticed her hesitation. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of water now.” He took a few steps back before running and jumping, showering her in water. He came back to the surface grinning. “Don’t make me pull you in.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Are you willing to take that chance?”
Emily laughed, it sounded like some cliché line from a movie. She dove in, surprised when she didn’t touch the bottom. The water was colder than she’d expected, but then again it was early October, outdoor swimming wasn’t going to be an option for much longer.
“You start talking and I’ll show you something else that will blow your mind.”
“What do you want me to talk about?” Emily doggy paddled in the same spot, getting used to the water.
“Anything,” Mick said, swimming in small circles around her. “What’s your favorite color? What do you like to do? What do you want to be when you grow up?”
“Blue,” was her one word answer. She started to swim from one side of the pond to the other.
“One word does not count as talking.”
“I told you, I’m not very good with small talk.”
“Then we won’t do small talk… There’s still something I’ve been wanting to ask you, something that you mentioned before…” He didn’t want to come right out and say it, hoping she would catch on and then he could gauge her reaction.
“You mean my parents.” She said it more as a statement than a question, still swimming from side to side.
“Good guess,” he commented, relieved by her nonchalant attitude.
She smiled lightly. “If I tell you, you have to answer my question.”
He had a pretty good idea what she was talking about and figured it was a fair trade. “Deal.” He began floating on his back, turning his head so he could still see her.
Emily stopped, resting against a rock she’d found on the ground, allowing her to stand without having to wade. “Well, my mom left when I was four and I haven’t seen or heard from her since.”
“That’s rough,” Mick commented.
“Yeah, I remember them fighting a lot, and then one day she left and didn’t come back. I think my dad thought she was cheating, and her leaving seemed to confirm that. When I was little I used to ask about her, and he always told me that ‘Mom was a little whore and we’re better off without her.’ I didn’t know what it meant then but I’m guessing that’s what he meant, whether she actually cheated I’ll probably never know.
“I don’t really remember what my dad was like before she left, all I know is that he’s always been really detached. The only thing I can think of is that her leaving him made him feel betrayed and I am a daily reminder of that. Oh, and he once told me he never wanted kids and he detested that his parents wouldn’t let him get rid of me.”
Mick was stunned by how calm she seemed; you would think they were having a casual conversation about the weather as opposed to her sad upbringing. “That’s horrible.”
Emily shrugged. “That’s life. Your turn.”
Mick was just about to talk when he cell rang from the shore. He smiled sheepishly before swimming up to get it. Emily waded around trying not to eavesdrop though she did hear enough to deduct what was going on. “Sorry,” Mick said a moment later, hanging up the phone.
“You’re mom?” Emily guessed.
“How’d you know?”
“Woman’s intuition, and I may have heard you say it. You in trouble?”
“Sort of, she found out that I bailed on school today.”
“See, I told you it was bad, this is karma.”
“Yeah, I guess it is. Uh, I have to go to school. I haven’t really missed much and if I don’t go I’ll pretty much have no life for the rest of the year, sorry.”
“It’s okay, you’ll just have to tell me some other time.”
“Right.” He gathered his things and offered Emily a hand as she got out. “I swear I didn’t plan this,” he added as they were walking up the trail.
“Sure, you just didn’t want to tell me, you know, you could tell me now.”
“It’s a long story, and honestly I’m not really sure how to tell you yet. I took the fall for a friend who made a big mistake.”
“You sacrificed your reputation for a friend?” Emily couldn’t believe anyone would do something so selfless.
“Yeah, the way I saw it he already had a record and I didn’t, so I was a good friend and made it so that he didn’t get into more trouble.”
“Wow, that was really nice of you.”
He looked back at her and grinned, but she saw a hint of what she thought was bitterness in his eyes. Is he just being nice to me out of pity? Am I just another selfless thing for him to do?
“Yeah, well, now you know.” He knew it was a pathetic answer after she had practically bore her soul, but he didn’t want to tell her the whole story, even if he’d said he would.
Emily nodded, the only sound being the crunching of their feet on sticks. She could tell that there was obviously a lot more to it than what he’d said, but she knew better than to pry.
After ten minutes of zero talking they emerged into the backyard and headed to the driveway. Emily thought they were going to leave without saying a thing, but as they approached her car he said, “Again, I’m really sorry, I’ll make it up to you.”
Emily smiled. “It’s okay, really, besides, this is the first time I’ve ever skipped.”
He chuckled. “Well at least something came out of today.”
She got into her car and waved to Mick before heading back home, enjoying a day alone before going back to pretending to be sick. At least I got left alone, she thought as she went to bed that night. She dreamt of crashing waterfalls and joyous laughter.