"Prove it."
"What?" I turn to face him, the cigarette lying between my fingers.
"Prove that what your saying is true, that you're not as good as you come across." Jax leans closer, his eyes hold a glint, challenging me.
"Fine." I huff. "How?"
Jax rubs his chin with his fingers, doing that animated thing where you're supposed to look like your thinking but instead, it just looks like your stroking your chin hairs. "Ride my motorbike."
My eyes widen. "You have a motorbike?"
"Yep."
I begin to refuse but then I see the glint in his eyes disappear. Oh, screw it. "Fine, let's go."
All of Jax's friends and Esther have come out of the sea and are now watching me as Jax shows me his motorbike and how you actually drive it.
"This is your accelerator." He twists the handle, making the engine rev. "And your brake is here, just like on a normal bike."
I nod. He hops off his all-black motorbike and holds it in place for me to get on. Once I'm on, he shoves a helmet on my head. My heart is pounding fast. I could die but I could also live.
"Off you go." Jax pats the helmet, stepping back and smiling at me.
I accelerate and the bike shoots forward....fast. I brake immediately and the bike skids along the dirt road. I hear celebratory shouts behind me. I smile. I turn the bike around to face the group. I rev up the engine. I let go of the brake and shoot forward, I slow down a bit and I start pulling the handlebars up, pressing the rear brake for grip. I feel the motorbike go up and I hear shouts louder this time. I keep going and then I slam the motorbike down on ground level. I skid to a stop right in front of the group. I take off the helmet revealing my stupid smile.
"That was fucking incredible." I hear Tyrone shout.
"You did a frickin' wheelie," Brian says with disbelief.
I hop off the bike and hang the helmet on the handle. I turn around and I'm instantly met with Jax standing in close proximity to my body. I can feel his breath on mine. He leans into my ear and whispers.
"Now, kiss me."
I look at his grey-blue eyes and I don't think I just lean in. My lips collide with his, feeling electric waves travel up and down my body. His mouth moves against mine, gently. His tongue asking for permission. I open my mouth as an invitation. The pace moves quicker this time, making the most out of every second. His hands move to my waist, holding me in place.
"Emmm, you know we're still here, right?"
I pull away at the sound of Esther's voice. I look up at Jax and see his eyes sparkling. His smile is wide across his whole face.
"Woah," he whispers under his breath.
Driving back to my house with Esther was interesting. She kept talking about the wheelie that I managed to pull off, I'm surprised that I'm not in a hospital bed right now. She barely mentioned the kiss, well as for me, I couldn't stop thinking about it. First off, I was in disbelief the fact that I was actually in such close proximity to a guy, period, and our mouths joined. I had no feeling of disgust or the ache in my stomach, pleading me to throw the contents of my stomach up. It was sweet but it also felt like fire. I couldn't get enough of it but at the same time, it was the perfect amount. Jax was different tonight. Whenever he came to my house, he was sweet and gentle but today he was in charge, fearless and strong. It made me way more attracted to him.
I finally lift the covers up and I slide into the warmth. Jax on my thoughts as I lull myself to sleep.
The weather is gorgeous again today, putting on my gym shorts and a black tank top, I go outside and run. Last night I kept dreaming about Jax. I feel like a normal human being for once, having a crush on a guy, day-dreaming about him, kissing guys, smoking, all of the teenage stuff that I should be experiencing. I run against the hot air, taking a different route. A smile plastered on my face for the whole world to see. I run along the path, people walking by me with their sunglasses on and their summer clothes on. I spot a group of moms walking along with a stroller in hand and a child seated in it. I smile at the sight of the little children. I run past them, approaching the off-road type walking area, with patches of mud along the grass, showing a trail where people have walked along the grass. I notice the black and yellow barrier open. That's weird. I've never seen that open before. I push away that thought as I keep running forward. I pass the green bushes, occasionally I get a fly flung to my face. As I turn the bend where the river also bends. I spot blue and red flashing lights. I slow my running to a jog. I squint my eyes. In the distance, I see a police car and an ambulance. Oh God. I run faster, curious to see what's going on. As I near the vehicles, a crowd of people are gathered looking at the sight. I finally catch up and go up to the crowd. I pull out my earphones and I push through the crowd. I'm not quite sure what I'm looking at, it's just a river with water, but then a diver arrives on the surface of the water. Carrying something in his hands. It takes me a second to realise it's a body. My own body tenses up as I recognise the limp, lifeless body in the man's arms. It's Maddy.
Tears spill out of my eyes as I see the body being covered up with a black cover while being hauled up into the Ambulance. My mind barely processes the extent of the situation due to the shock that is coursing through me. I spot a policeman a few metres away. I push through the crowd while saying sorry to anyone I bumped into. I face the bearded, dark-haired, middle-aged policeman.
"What happened to Maddy?" I ask my voice coming out chocked up.
"Did you have any relation to the deceased?" he asked formally. Deceased. It rang through my head.
"I was her best friend."
"I'm not supposed to give any information out, except for family."
I look up to him with pleading eyes. "Please, sir."
He stares at me, I can see the confliction in his eyes. He nods before speaking. "It's ruled as a suicide."
Suicide? Really?
"How?" my voice sounds unsteady.
"Jumped off of the bridge."
I look up at the high bridge where the cars drive along. It's a long way down, I observe. I wince at the image of her plummeting down.
"I'm sorry for your loss." I hear him say.
I smile up at him and walk back along the trail that brought me here. My phone vibrates. I look at my phone, nearly dropping it from my hands at what I read.
Who's going to be next Haley or Esther, or maybe even Jaxon?
I don't think I've ever run to my house as fast as I did from the river. The text plaguing my thoughts. I arrive home out of breath. I slam the door and run upstairs.
"Are you ok, Maya?"
"Yes, I'm fine," I call down, feeling anything but fine.
I pace my room, thinking everything over. They said it was a suicide, but clearly, from the text, it's portraying that baby face has killed her? This is insane. It's not hard to do, I guess. Kill her and dump her in the water. Maybe he's taunting me, Maddy could've committed suicide and he's just messing with my head. Well, it's clearly working if he is. But I can't risk it, if there's even a slight chance that this is real then Haley, Esther and Jax are in danger because of me. Shit. Why is he going after me, I don't get it. I grab my phone out of my pocket.
What do you want from me?
I stare at the screen, willing for a text back. Five minutes go past, nothing. Ten minutes, nothing. Ugh, I drop my phone on the bed. I turn around and I hear a ping. I dive for my phone, I sigh in disappointment. It's Haley asking me about last night. She probably heard about the events that took place the night before from Esther. I lock my phone, not in the mood to think about anything. I have to figure this out. Maybe we can all run away get new identities. Yeah, that might work. That idea is squashed when I realise that we would be leaving our families behind, meaning they would be the target. Whoever this guy is, he's a psychopath and he needs to be put behind bars. But how? I drop onto my bed, trying to think of something. I could go to the police, but then I remember baby-face specifically telling me not to go to the police or else my mam would die? Wait, how do I know that there the same person? I got an envelope with the pictures, attached with a note, I'm certain that was baby-face as I remember what it said.
I will always be with you, forever. Don't tell, your mother lives. You tell, she dies. It's simple. You nearly told, you nearly slipped up. Don't let it happen again.
Xxx
The exact words that were said to me in that god awful dark place. But the texts? There wasn't anything specific showing that it was baby-face. I better not be dealing with two separate people, because if I am, I'm so screwed. I scrunch up my face when my thoughts travel back to the start of all of this. The enclosed space, with tiny windows. I search deep into my mind, maybe if I can remember what it looked like, I can find it and hunt him down. I give up once I realise I haven't seen the outside of the room. It could be anywhere. Even If I do find him, what am I going to do? Kill him? And what if there are actually two guys? I wouldn't survive if I was going after two grown men. I would end up at the bottom of the river. Just like Maddy. What if he was doing the same thing to Maddy and she told, or is he getting back at me? I suddenly crouch into myself. This is my fault. Everything's pretty much foggy except a couple of things.
1. Baby-face has to go behind bars or he has to die, I don't really care.
2. And I need help.
I get up from my bed and grab the envelope which I've hidden in my closet. I grab my phone and run downstairs. I slam the door closed once again and I jog over to the house next door. I ring the doorbell impatiently while scouring the area, looking for anything suspicious. Jax opens the door, his upper body bare. My eyes travel down the length of his body. He coughs, bringing my attention back to his face. He smirks at me. My face stays neutral, in business mode.
"I need your help."
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I'm seriously hating summer right now. I have the worst hayfever. My eyes are so itchy, I can barely leave them open.
With that said, How is your summer?
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