4th ♬
The last time I talked to Jace was when I half-heartedly saw him off before he left for college. I grudgingly went along with the request of our parents. I thought of it as me bidding my bad luck goodbye. Well, maybe it was actually a good thing, since it turned out that it felt so good seeing him go away.
However, our parents weren't satisfied with just me telling him goodbye. They wanted us to talk and fix things, like the way good neighbors and used to be friends should do.
But then, what we did was far from being called as reconciliation. What had happened before he left was a firm declaration of an all out war. That day, he clearly implied that I would get my revenge the moment that he came back.
A day I'd always been afraid of.
And to think that I'd never been afraid of Jace. Around two years ago, after that sleazy thing—also known as the second incident—I did to get back at him, as much as I had predicted him to, Jace Hamilton never did anything to me. Directly, that was. Only his friends and the rest of the school pulled pranks on me.
Back then, I started to see him in a new light. That somehow, he was compassionate enough to spare me. Or maybe he was also apologetic for what he had done. I couldn't guess which one. But all that had changed, or rather, let me say that the thought had been quickly pulled away from my mind the day he left for college.
"I will get my revenge, I promise you that. So wait for me until then. We're not yet through," were his last words to me. Suddenly, he was clothed in black cape, holding a sharp scythe in hand.
He and I realized that we were meant to be sworn enemies instead. I loathed him to the core, with every single piece of me despising him. I couldn't stand the sight of him, and he shared that same mutual feeling.
And even though he didn't tell anyone, I was certain that I was the reason why he had chosen to go to a university at the far side of the globe. Or maybe it wasn't really that far. But it was certainly far from our place—the never heard of, Turtle Bay Island.
Our place was not an island located in the middle of nowhere. But a distinct quality of it was that the island was sort of protruded from a mainland. And in between the two, there was an ample amount of land that acted like a bridge, connecting the contradictory masses of land together. And from the visitors of the moon, our island totally looked like a turtle, thus the name. Furthermore, if anyone would really ask, there were turtles inhabiting the coast.
And he was here once again. He was back in town.
I was stunned, dead on the spot. It was like I was the one who drowned and never saw the light again. I couldn't believe that right here, in front of my eyes, Jace Hamilton was sitting. A good distance of about three feet was placed in between us, but that wasn't good enough. I needed miles in order for me to be okay. I wanted him oceans, mountains, deserts, and plane rides away from me.
He pulled his hair back, dusted the sand off his arms, and leaned on his palms as he kept his stare at me. I held my face straight. It felt, like, if I would turn away, I would lose to him.
"He's alive," a man at my right uttered. Then he patted my back, and said, "Good job."
Thinking that it would be too rude if I would continue the staring contest with Jace, I lifted my head and turned to the man. I watched as the tint of happiness slowly crept on his face. But he had no clue what had really happened. It was now game on, sir! What Jace did was his first move. The first piece was touched, opening the chess game. The starting pistol had been fired, and the runners dashed away from the starting line. It was now officially starting—the game of revenge.
Cheers were echoed, and our audience clapped in happiness. Chatters started, praises were given, and everyone was happy.
Splendid.
And fortunately, most of them had recognized Jace, son of the mayor and Midget Dreams' lead singer. He was popular from way back then, and his features hadn't changed that much, despite the years of no-show. So the next moment, everyone came over to his side, after giving me brief congratulatory pats on the back. And as soon as they huddled around him, I stood up on my feet and took several steps back.
"Are you okay, kiddo?" I heard one man ask, as he went to his side. Jace nodded in the most alluring way. After seeing that kind of reaction, I had decided to keep my words to myself instead. How in the world would I make everyone believe that he had faked the whole thing? All of them were dazed by his charms.
So the chances that they'd be convinced if I said that Jace was only pretending the whole time would be close to none. I closed my eyes and tried to calm down. I reminded myself that it was my job to save people, bogus plan or not. And after all, there was no harm done. I was just doing what I was supposed to do, even if I had to save someone who knew how to swim even better that I did.
Dusting off the sands from my knees, a woman in her mid-thirties complimented me, "You did a great job, Reese."
She was someone familiar, but I forgot her name. Well, I wasn't good with names to start with. Then, with a gleaming face, she added, "I'm so proud of you."
"No big. It's my job," I said, giving her a courteous nod. I felt mortified, as I remembered that I was dozing off a moment ago.
"Now I don't have to worry about my kids. They're all in good hands," she confidently said.
"I'll do what I can," I tried to sound reliable. From now on, I promised myself that I would pay close attention to everything, and that included people who were faking drowning.
And that thought brought me back to him. Oh, crap. He was back and met me first thing in the morning. In this small town, it was not a secret that I was one of the new lifeguards at Turtle Bay Beach. And how hard was it for him to ask his mom and dad what I was up to? I was certain that they were thoroughly informed by my own mother.
Then I noticed that the crowd was getting few in numbers. This wasn't a good idea. He was only a few steps away from me. And with more people leaving the area, the obstruction between us became less. And with that, the chances of us being left alone together were increasing. I needed to get out of here.
Fast.
I slowly sneaked out, trying to be inconspicuous, while Jace was preoccupied with people asking him how he was or if he was feeling well and such. Some chatted about his stay in Creeksburg, and asked how he was doing in college. But I had no intention of hearing the rest of his story. He was breathing and out of danger, so my job was practically done.
One. Two. Three.
I counted my steps, as I tried to get back to my lifeguard chair without talking any further to Jace. He was the last person I wanted to start a conversation with. And the greater the distance between us, the better chances I had to live a decent life this summer. The charisma he had before was still with him—shining and radiant.
It was a fact that everyone loved him. If we were not in bad terms, I might end up being one of those girls who were drooling over him. He was cute, nice, smart, and funny. He was close to being perfect, with those luscious sapphire eyes that defined the calmness of his soul, his dark brown medium length hair that was grown a little over the tips of the ears, and his angular face that was formed with impeccable flawlessness. What was there not to love?
I successfully made thirteen steps away from him. But suddenly, a voice that was all too familiar had caught my attention. It had been years since I'd heard his voice. But I would ever forget it. With that same charming and pretending to be innocent tone, he asked, "Is my lifesaver not going to ask how I'm feeling?"
I inhaled a mouthful of air.
I wished that I could just ignore him. And then, after briefly thinking about it, I had decided to do so. It wasn't as if he would care if I'd ignore him or not. I took another step away from him without even glancing back... or speaking.
"Still not talking to me?" Jace asked again. Wasn't it obvious? Did we need flashcards here?
He was back, not only to perform in the upcoming midsummer concert. It had already started. The drowning was just a brief introduction. He almost killed me with all the tension, and he was just starting.
So, what was next? Maybe it might include getting the rest of the female population to go against me. One snap of his fingers, and all the girls would obey him without falter.
Just thinking about it made me feel weak all of a sudden. I found myself trembling while walking toward my chair. But I couldn't be shaken by him. And to think that I hadn't heard him move from where he was standing, I'd bet he was definitely looking at me, carefully watching my every move.
"Not even one word? I wonder what's going on in your mind now that I'm back," he said to me using a frisky tone, putting enough emphasis on the last two words. And with that, his message was well conveyed.
There was no escaping this. The idea of turning mute in front of him all summer did sound good to my ears. But it would be weird if I would do that. And it was not as if I could just ignore him. He had a way of making me talk. He had always known what to say, what to do, and how to get me irritated. And being like that, he would surely gain some kind of reaction from me.
I tried turning my head, but it was as stiff as a rock. It cooperated with my desire to never see him again. It did a fair amount of effort in keeping itself in place. I calmed my nerves and tried once more. I managed to turn my head little by little, but my inner self was screaming for me to run away.
Run, Reese. Hide. Get away from here.
The moment his eyes locked on mine, I choked. His smile was still in place. The water dripping from his wet hair made the matter worse. He was as handsome as he could possibly be, and it was distracting. Definitely. It was hard, hating a guy who looked this comely.
And somehow, maybe it was due to my outstanding attempt to get my voice out, I found the words and told him, "Do I need to talk to you?"
"Well, I think you should. We're neighbors and our families are well acquainted with each other. So I believe that we should at least say some greetings to one another," he spoke.
"Right," I replied sarcastically.
"Long time no see," Jace told me, holding his arms over his chest and still looking at me straight in the eyes. I grimaced with sheer disdain.
"Yeah, it's been a long time. How long has it been again? A year..." I tried to sound innocent about the length of his absence. But for crying out loud, I had kept track of it. It had been two years, one month, four days, seven hours, eight minutes, and twenty-five seconds. I breathed. Okay, I made that twenty-seven seconds. Even if I didn't want this to be fixed in my mind, it was there.
"Two," Jace helped out. "And several days, I guess."
"Oh, it has been that long," I mused, faking a surprise myself. I'd never admit that I'd always known how long his absence really was. I'd counted it yesterday, for lack of better ideas on what I should do.
"Yeah, did you miss me?" Jace uttered.
Why should I? I was more like hoping that he would never come back. But going along with the situation, I half-heartedly muttered, "Of course. You know, neighbors."
"And we kind of had that connection before. It must have been hard for you. Missing me all this while," he added, playing around some more. He pulled his hair back and several girls from afar shrilled in pleasure. The sight must have been heavenly in their eyes. But from where I was, it was handsomely disgusting.
"Oh, I bet it was harder for you. I was all right for the past few years," I went along, blathering nonsense.
As we were talking, I couldn't help but hear those murmurs which questioned why this kind of person was talking to me. I was aware that I wasn't the most attractive girl around here, and the black lifeguard clothes—wet suit type—that hugged my body emphasized that. Jealousy could really be one ugly thing. I wanted to shout that they could have him and please take him away from my sight. They could take all his attention and save me all the misery.
"Not that much. But I think of you every now and then," Jace told me.
"Wow, you must have also dreamed about me," I suggested, hoping that he would finally stop this pretense. He and I both knew where we'd stood in each other's life. And he could do me a favor by ending this conversation and letting me off the eyes of the peering crowd.
"Well, now that you've said it, I did. Sometimes it involved some other things, like chickens and guitars," Jace hinted. The flicker in his eyes told me that he had already hit the main point.
Those were the magic words. I couldn't be wrong now. Summer was officially starting to be a bummer for me. "I don't think that's a pleasant dream at all. Too bad for you. Must be dreadful."
"Bearable enough. And I'm closer in making the rest of those nightmares come true," he muttered, nodding a little as he said the words.
"And what do you mean by that?" I was unintentionally holding my breath. Frightened, above all else.
"Nothing much," Jace replied. "You know, I shouldn't be keeping you at all. Your boss might get angry if he saw me here, chatting with you instead of letting you do your job."
"That's a good idea. You should go your way, meet old friends, or even start a new summer romance," I suggested, sarcasm hitting every syllable. I made the last part loud enough for those girls around me to have a glimpse of hope that they could snag this young man. One clingy girl could make so much difference.
"I think I should." Jace grinned. Then he pointed behind me and added, "And I think you should pay close attention to that group over there. They're kind of messing up. Gonna be a long day, huh? Good luck."
I looked behind me and saw three kids messing around. One was throwing the recyclables all over the place. Another one was kicking the side of the trashcan, making it fall to the ground with empty wrappers spilling all over the place. The other boy in the group was happily laughing his heart out at what the other two were doing.
I turned back, knowing who the culprit was. But he wasn't there anymore. After scanning the rest of my zone and making sure that there was no drowning incident going on, I turned my attention back to the trio.
Making my way toward them, I heard one say, "Hey, Jace! Look! We're doing a great job."
I hurriedly turned my gaze to the direction where the child was looking at. And true enough, Jace was the one behind all this. He even gave the child a thumb up.
Glaring at him, I screamed at the top of my lungs, "Jace Hamilton, I will never forgive you!"
He raised his one hand and just waved me goodbye. As if he cared about all that. The second phase was already here and unfolding in front of me. I took a deep breath and went to face the kids. I kept my patience in one piece, reminding myself that they were just kids who were being used by Jace.
It took a while before the kids decided to call it a day. But after the kids and trash event, the rest of my shift went on peacefully. And the good thing was, I was alert every minute, looking for any sign of Jace and his pranks. But gladly, there was none that came after the second round.
A little after five in the afternoon, I went back to the beach house to get my things, feeling more exhausted than ever. Putting back my whistle to the hook on the wall, I looked for Sam.
"Sam?" I asked, wondering where he went.
"I'm here, Reese," Sam answered. His voice came from the storage room and I headed to it.
I saw him grab his things and put them in a huge bag. "Are you going somewhere?"
"Yes. I'm going to my son's place for the rest of the summer," he said to me.
"What about the beach?" I asked him. He couldn't be thinking of leaving us here alone.
"There will be someone who will watch the place for a while. I haven't heard who he is, though. But you guys will be fine. I bet he's also nice. Everyone in this town is," he said to me, still busy with the packing.
"Oh? Well, I hope so. Have fun. I have to knock off now. Mom's been frantically calling for half an hour now," I told him, looking at my watch.
"You as well. Enjoy the summer," Sam told me, giving me a warm smile. Good luck with that. My enemy was right around the corner.
I changed my clothes and said one more goodbye to Sam before heading out. The sun was already setting, and I was running late for our dinner with the Hamiltons. Oh, great. I would see him again. I started to wonder what he was planning to do now. But so far, so good. I was capable enough of handling his pranks.
"Reese!" Susan greeted when she spotted me. I saw her walking from the other side of the road, a bag of grocery in her hands. Dressed in fitted leopard pants, striped off-shoulder top, and neon blue pumps, yes, that was definitely Susan.
"Hi," I said, trying to hide my uneasiness. For the last few years, I had never been this uneasy with her. Now that Jace was around, I started to be extra cautious with her, too. It was better safe than sorry.
Susan was around my mom's age. She had a dark auburn hair and the same shade of eyes like Jace. She was very kind, despite the odd sense of fashion that she practiced. Prints and stripes were always a partner for her, as well as odd colors and thick scarves during summer. Well, it was her body after all, so no one even bothered saying anything about it.
"Oh, good thing you're here. Your mom and I need a hand in the kitchen. You don't mind helping us, do you?" she asked, or more like forced me to answer yes. I knew I should have stayed at the beach a little more.
The moment I nodded my head, she instantly dragged me toward their house. There were a few ones helping around. I saw my mom at the sink, rinsing some vegetables. As soon as she saw me, she said, "Where have you been? Can you help me out with cutting this?"
"Sure," I said, putting down my things on the table.
"What took you so long?" Mom kept on asking me. I knew she would ask me that until she got her answer. She expected me to come home a little after five, but I had dwindled around and prolonged my stay at the beach, knowing that getting back here would get me in a situation like this one.
And I was right.
"I got caught up with some extra works," I said, making up some nonexistent excuse.
"Grab me a plate," she ordered.
I heard someone going down the stairs, clacking loudly with each step. Since this was the Hamilton's residence and Susan was still outside, I bet that the person was either Chad or Jace.
The answer was soon revealed to me as someone opened the fridge. Noticing my presence, he said, "You're here."
"Nah, you're only seeing things," I muttered, as I handed the plate to my mom. "And thanks for the kids. Lot of fun."
"Anytime," Jace replied.
"So you two already met," Mom said, not taking off her eyes from what she was doing.
"Yeah, it was good to see Reese again," Jace told her, leaning back against the fridge.
"I told you, Reese. He was looking forward to see you," Mom said, giving me a wink.
"Can we stop this?" I said, uninterested. Mom had no clue why Jace Hamilton wanted to see me. And setting that aside, she was supposed to be my mom and not pushing me to Jace. Why was my mother like this?
"The two of them are getting along again. It's such a sight to see," Susan said when she came in the kitchen. Susan was another weird mother. Maybe that was why they got along so well.
"It was a good thing that we forced them to tidy things up before Jace left for Creeksburg," Mom replied.
Jace laughed, shaking his head. And only I had understood what he meant. We both knew what had truly happened that day. There were no resolutions.
Nonetheless, as for Mom and Susan, they kept on talking about how we complimented each other so well and so on. What kind of insanity was that? I was convinced that these two were delusional.
I shook my head in astonishment.
Since yesterday, I had tried my best to avoid him. I even did all the crazy stuffs just to prolong our fateful meeting. But a few twists and turns had led us both here. He was breathing beside me. And as much as I avoided him, he was already here, closer than ever.