The Kids in the Dark

Life is a funny thing, it can one day be miraculous and wonderful and the next it can completely flip on you and throw you into darkness before you could even fathom what had happened. That's what happened to me, all the things that had led me up to that moment, all the little events that had shaped my life - and the not so little ones - had pushed and shoved me along my path.

Only now, I was faced with three paths - and I'd be damned if I knew which one to take.

The dark water was cool on my aching feet as I slowly lowered them into the depths. The sun had just begun to set over Matapeake beach - casting a golden glow over the restless waves and soft, gritty sand.

Despite the calm and peaceful atmosphere that came with the isolated beach, a war was raging within my body - a war between my heart and my head. Despite everything my heart was telling me - telling me to keep fighting, to keep on going - my head was telling me to run away.. and it was winning.

My fingers curled in the sand, the soft grains coating my slender digits as I exhaled deeply - the sigh lost in the breeze that had slowly begun to pick up in the early evening.

In my pocket my phone buzzed incessantly and yet despite my curiosity, I didn't look at who might be contacting me - I had a pretty good idea of who it might be.

I couldn't get his face out of my mind - the way he'd looked straight into my eyes, his own eyes widening in horror as he'd taken in my presence - everytime I closed my eyes, it was all I could see.

"Fuck YOU!" My voice echoed throughout the bay. In the trees behind me, birds flew out into the air - fleeing the source of the sound.

I'd given up almost one year of my life - my senior year, the supposed 'best year' of my school life - and it was all tainted.

Unable to hold back the tears anymore, I found myself curling up on the sand, my Ravens hoodie - his Ravens hoodie - baggy on my curvy frame and my skinny jeans rolled up to the knee.

My composure had melted away and now the cracks had appeared in the façade I'd maintained until that moment - my shell, my protection shattering.

Once again - buried deep in my pocket - my phone buzzed with an alert and with a heavy swallow and a hefty breath, reached in and pulled it out.

'I'm sorry.'

My eyes rolled into the back of my head and with a flick of the wrist my phone was hurled into the murky, blue depths - the breath I didn't know that I'd been holding was leaving my body.

I guess with hindsight, I should have realised that it would come to this - nothing lasts forever - if someone had told me that one year previously I'd have been torn between the two great loves of my life - I never would have believed it.

The two boys couldn't have been more different - one thoughtful, creative and tame and the other, funny, exciting and energetic - and yet, I had no idea how I could ever choose between them and now after the events of the day, I knew what I had to do.

I remembered that there was a flight at 9pm - non-stop - away from the town that I called home, my plan was to be on it. I knew that people would never understand, how could I ever expect them to? The way they'd see it was that I was a scared little girl running away from her problems - I didn't care.

Pulling myself up from the ground, I picked up the duffel bag - that I'd discarded off to the side as I'd pulled off my slip-on Vans - and slung it over my shoulder, my Vans hanging on the index and middle finger of my right hand as I took one final look at the beach in front of me.

It'd be a long time before I ever saw it again.

Notes

Okay guys, this is the new and (hopefully!) improved version of the teaser I posted yesterday, this is now the official one leading into the main story and I hope this one is better and more liked than the one I posted yesterday. I realised afterwards that there was very little context and it was hard to write it in a way that I wouldn't give away too much of what was to come.
Thanks for reading and I hope to have the first chapter out tomorrow night at the latest! ~ MiniMisha