"Stop!" a voice yelled pulling me off the railing to the concrete sidewalk.
"What the hell!" I yelled.
I looked up at the stranger. She was taller than me, but not by much. She had breast length strawberry-blond hair framing a long face. Her eyes were a crystal blue. I knew she was around my age if not older by some years.
"I should be asking you that! What are you doing! Why do you want to kill yourself!" she cried.
"Why should you care! You don't know me!" I argued. I was starting to get pissed off at this girl.
"Why should I care?" she laughed hysterically "My brother did what you were about to do. I loved him and there was nothing I could've done to prevent it". I blinked.
"Oh" I said softly.
"Yeah, thats right. Now I'm going to do that right now for you whether you like it or not" she responded "Walk with me".
She dragged me to a dirt path leading to a small stone bench. I tried protesting, but man she was strong!
The girl sat down. She patted the seat next to her. I sat down beside her.
"Whats your name?" she asked.
"Andrea. Andrea Samuels" I answered.
"Hi Andrea, my name is Lalaine Reynolds" she told me "Now tell me, why did you want to jump off that bridge" .
I hesitated. Why would I tell this stranger the things I've gone through?
"Please" Lalaine begged.
"I hate my life" I answered.
"Thats not a solid reason, and things get better"
"My parents probably wish they never had me"
"You said probably. Its possible they just don't show it"
"I have no real friends"
"I'll be your friend"
"I was raped" I blurted. If I could do anything to prevent those words right now, I would. Lalaine was silent for a minute. Then unexpectedly, she pulled me into a hug.
"Oh Andrea! Thats awful!" Lalaine responded"Why would someone do something like that to you?"
"I don't know" I whispered, the dreams flooding back into my mind. The constant "little girl, little girl", the evil grin he had on the whole time, the way he laughed when I was in pain. It all had happened to me, the man had no reason. Tears started running down my cheeks as I held back a sob. All of a sudden I blurted all I could tell her about that day. I restrained telling her anything more about me, she was still a complete stranger.
"Shhh, things will get better. I know it. Cmon, I'll drive you home" she said softly.
"No, I'll-I'll be fine. Really" I said
"Promise me you won't try again?" she asked
"Promise" I agreed. She walked me back to my car, her caring half smile never wavering.
"Here" she said handing me a piece of paper"if you need to talk, don't hesitate". I thanked her then drove home.
***
When I got home I read the paper Lalaine gave me. It said:
Email me at: lalalalaine@gmail.com
Phone:859-3210
I stared at my new contact for a minute before going inside. I stuffed it into my jeans pocket. My dad sat in the living room, watching tv, not bothering to acknowledge me.
"How was your day?" he asked just as I approached the doorframe.
"Good, Cathy picked out a scarf for me"
"Can we see it?" my mom asked, entering the room in her flower printed apron.
"Uh, sure" I responded, pulling out the scarf. It was more detailed than I thought. Gold swirls imprinted on the velvet leading down to gold fringe. I held back as much surprise as I could, hoping my parent weren't too suspicious.
"How nice" my dad said.
"May I see it on you?" mom asked. I wrapped the scarf on, it was so soft. I had to admit, Cathy did know how to find functional clothing that looked nice, even if she was a walking hellhole.
"It looks so nice on you" mom complimented.
"Thanks. Well, I'm tired. I think I'm gonna to bed" I said making my way to the stairs.
"Goodnight" they echoed. I entered my lilac room, shutting the door behind me. I exhaled, relieved at the sight of my room. I replayed every detail of the day, tears streamed through my eyes. I almost killed myself. I held back a sob as I uncapped my water bottle on my desk. I took a long drink, distracting myself.
I turned on my computer, I had a few new messages. One was from Alicia, venting about how her boyfriend found her and Brad together and broke up with her.
I moved onto the next one, it was a stupid friend request from some girl on Facebook. I deleted it, I didn't go on my Facebook at all. Why? Because Cathy had made one against my will.
The next one took me by surprise, it was Jason. It read:
_____________________________________________
From: [ jY_45@yahoo.com]
To: [ xRNRAndreax@gmail.com]
RE: you ok?
Hey Andie, sorry about today. You didn't mean what you said did you?
Jay
I stared at the email for a long time. The words were stuck in my throat. He was drunk the entire time, how could he remember what I had said? I wrote him back and sent the message without hesitation.
______________________________________________
From: [ xRNRAndreax@gmail.com]
To: [ jY_45@yahoo.com]
RE: you ok?
I'm fine Jason, and its ok.
-A
I felt bad lying to Jason, but it was the right thing to do. I didn't want him worrying about me when he could barely hold himself together. Another message came in, Jason had written back.
________________________________________________
From: [ jY_45@yahoo.com]
To: [ xRNRAndreax@gmail.com]
RE: your not ok.
Andie, your not telling me something. Like you said, you can't be just fine. What's going on Andie? You can tell me
Jay
My jaw dropped. That's the thing, I couldn't tell him. I sent him one last message.
________________________________________________
From: [ xRNRAndreax@gmail.com]
To: [ jY_45@yahoo.com]
RE: I'M FINE DAMMIT!!!
I'm okay Jay, really. Look I'm tired I'll ttyl.
-A
I shut off my computer, hoping Jason would let it go. I plopped myself into bed, not bothering to change into pajamas and shut my eyes closed.
| 
Email this Novel
| 
Add to reading list
