a/n- this is a looong one.
Never would I have thought I would be jumping off of a train with Rachel Amber.
We walked up to a high spot in the park. There was view finders, a map and a statue.
"Wow, it's actually a really nice view." I said while leaning over the wooden railing.
"Glad you approve, and as a reward for making it up here, I have a new game for us to play."
"I'll beat you at any game."
"Oh really? Well, this game I learned in theater class. It's all about improvisation." She walked up to the viewfinders.
"You know, I act all the time."
"Really? When?" She leaned against it, giving me a side smirk.
"I act in class. Pretending like I'm paying attention." I smile and walk closer to her.
"Well, lets put your skills to an even harder task. This game involves spying on people from afar. Luckily, we've got some high-tech surveillance equipment right here. Let's fire it up." She pulled out a quarter.
"You are so on." I crossed my arms as she put the quarter in.
The quarter got stuck and she slapped on the viewfinder but nothing happened. I looked down and saw an "OUT OF ORDER" sign on the ground.
"Well, that blows."
"Shit!" She said, angrily walking away, closer to the railing.
"That was my last quarter. You?" She had this really angry expression. It seemed really strange that a quarter got her this upset.
"Quarterless." I put my hands in my pockets.
She paced for a second.
"Hey! What if I fix it? I fix my car all the time so I'm sure I can handle a viewfinder."
"Really? Fix it with what?"
"I'll figure it out. I'm pretty handy."
"Alright, lets see what you got." She gave me a small smile.
I walked away and felt my phone buzz in my pocket.
C: ethan! some fucked shit just happened at school!
E: whaaaat?! of course i missed it. what happened, are you okay?
C: i'm good i just embarrassed the shit out of drew. man it felt good.
E: no waaaay! he deserved it. i'm proud of you, price.
C: :)
E: what happened to no emojis?
C: i'll make an exception.
E: alright, i'll talk to you later.
C: cya!!
I smiled, putting my phone away.
"Hey Rachel. Do you have something on you I could use?" I walked up to her.
"All I have is a nail file." She handed it out to me.
"That'll work just fine." I grabbed it and walked to the viewfinder.
I stuck it under the metal panel and got it open.
"Sweet!" I grabbed Rachel's quarter.
"Missing a quarter?" I walked up to her and held it out.
"You actually did it. Gotta say, I'm impressed."
"Why, thank you." I bowed down.
She put the quarter in one of the other viewfinders.
a/n: i'm gonna cut some dialogue and skip some parts for brevity's sake
After we played around with the view finder, we saw a man standing by a tree kissing a woman. Immediately after seeing that, her whole demeanor changed and she stormed off.
I followed her as she just kept walking and walking, which led us to an old, abandoned junkyard. She was chugging this bottle of wine that we stole from some people. Long story.
"Hey! Check this out!" I showed her the junkyard, in all of its destroyed glory."
"Great. It's a pile of trash."
"Yeah, an awesome pile of trash! Come on, let's explore!"
"You do that. I'm gonna sit down." She walked over to the side and sat down. Bottle still in hand.
It hurt to feel so quickly rejected by her, even though we've been having such a fun day.
"Jesus. That wine hit you too hard?" I walked up to her.
"It's not the wine. I just need some space. Is that alright with you?" She looked so angry.
"Okay... Actually, no. I thought we were having a great day together. Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?" I started to get frustrated.
"I'm not acting like anything! I just want to be left alone right now."
"No! I don't get it. You can't just turn on me for no reason." I got more and more frustrated.
"I'm sorry, turn on you? I guess I forgot. It's always about how you feel isn't it? Sad Ethan's fucking sad again. Maybe you should try caring about other people for once!" She stood up.
"Are you fucking kidding me right now?" I got closer to her, angry.
"Fuck!" She threw the bottle and it smashed. She sat back down, her hands holding her face.
"Here. If you really want to smash something, this should do the trick." I held a bat that I found behind me.
She got up, not saying a word but with a burning stare. She walked up to me and grabbed the bat.
"I asked you to leave me alone." She tossed the bat to the side.
"Seriously? I know you're supposed to be the school princess and you have prefect grades and whatever, but seriously, fuck you." I didn't mean any of what I said. I'm just so angry.
"Great. I'm leaving. See you around, Ethan." She turned around and started to walk away.
"You can't leave!"
"Watch me."
"Rachel, please. Don't go."
"Why not?!"
"Because I don't want to ruin this the way I've ruined everything else in my life." I felt tears start to form.
"And what is this, exactly?" She crossed her arms, looking more sad than mad.
"Really? You're gonna make me say it?"
"Say what?"
"It's something... something I haven't felt in a long time. I haven't been this happy since before my mom died. It's quick and exciting and fun! It's more than just a friendship. It's special." A tear dropped from my eyes.
"Please Rachel. Say something."
"Ethan. I.. I-"
"You know what. Forget it! This was stupid. You're the Rachel Amber, and I'm just boring old me."
"It's not that! It's just hard right now. And I can't talk about it."
"Why not?!"
"Because I can't! I know it isn't fair, but it's how it is."
She walked up to me and held my cheek for a few seconds, only to back away.
"Goodbye, Ethan."
She walked away and this time I didn't try to stop her.
It was such a familiar sight. My mom leaving just a few months ago, never coming back.
"What the fuck. What the fuck. WHAT THE FUCK!" I got angry so I grabbed the bat and started smashing and smashing everything around me. Until I got to her car.
"Mom?..." I started crying the hardest I've cried in so long. I got into the drivers seat of the wrecked, old car , drifting to sleep.
After what felt like a couple of hours, I woke up and it was dark out. I got a bunch of missed calls from Chloe but that's not what matters. I need to find Rachel.
I walked for a while, finding her standing by the tree that we saw the man and woman earlier.
"You came. I'm glad." She had her back turned to me.
"I couldn't let today and with... whatever that was."
"Ethan. I want to talk to you about something, but I don't know how to talk about it." She sounded like she had been crying.
"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to."
"Remember the man and woman we saw kissing at this tree?"
"Yeah?"
"That was my dad, but the woman was definitely not my mom." She turned around and I could see tear tracks from her makeup.
"Oh shit."
"The worst part is, I'm not surprised. You know, It's silly, but I've carried this photo with me for years." She handed me a picture of a younger Rachel and her dad.
"It's from Mt. Hood. My dad took me hiking there when I was ten. It started raining and I fell and broke my arm. He carried me all the way down the mountain. I remember screaming like I was gonna die but he kept me calm."
"I'm really sorry. Here." I handed her the picture back.
"Ethan, I owe you an apology."
"You don-"
"No! I mean it. Whatever's going on between us is new and intense and awesome. You had the courage to tell me that you feel it too, and I treated you like shit for it. I just want you to know... I'm lucky that you were with me today. You're a badass Ethan Pierson" She gave me a saddened laugh.
"What?"
"Remember that biker asshole who wouldn't let you into the concert? You talked your way right past him."
"You saw that?"
"I sure did. You're the real thing Ethan.. I don't know anyone like you. Plus, you came along with me no questions asked."
"Well it's not hard to get me to skip school."
"I guess tomorrow they'll be hell to pay."
"Can't wait to see what Wells has in store for me."
"And my dad will definitely punish me with-"
"Fuck your dad."
"Fuck him.
"What I wouldn't give to leave this place and never look back."
"What's stopping us?"
"Us? Are you serious?"
"So if came to you tomorrow and told you to pack your bags..?"
"I'm serious. Let's ditch this place forever."
"Alright."
We smiled at each other.
"Can I borrow your lighter?" I checked my pockets and gave it to her.
She walked to a nearby trash can and lit the picture of her and her dad on fire.
The whole trash can was in flames.
"Lets go." I walked away from the fire but she didn't.
She walked towards it, kicked it over and began wailing. The fire caught on to a tree and it began this huge forest fire.
"Rachel! Holy shit. Let's go." I grabbed her arm and we walked away, leaving the park.