Alice is drowning, but it's not something she likes to admit, even to herself. She's stuck in a whirlwind of bad habits and bad influences. But on the night of a crazy outing, she meets Erik, who teaches her a little something about the meaning of l...
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"Why are we at the high school?" I question Erik suspiciously, walking around the hood of his car to meet him on the driver's side, "I don't recall this place ever being fun." I confront him because he'd specifically said on the way here that our next destination was going to "bring out the fun side of me." I guess egging houses isn't fun enough for Mr. Bad Boy.
"That's because you've never experienced the after-hours of school. No teachers, no classes, no homework; trust me, you'll have fun." He teases with a broad smirk. With that he slams his car door shut and heads to the rear of the car, shoving a key into the trunk's lock. It pops open to reveal a bunch of loose items such as jumper cables and wrenches but Erik grabs for the giant set of pliers. And I'm talking about the kind you see on those crime TV shows that people use to break into places.
"Uhm...why do you need those?" I ask with a brow raised and arms crossed but the answer is pretty clear already; I just hoped that there was possibly another reason.
"What do you think?" And that smirk of his is back. Oh god.
"Erik-" I exasperate but he cuts me off into silence, "don't even start. I've done this before and you won't get caught, besides," his lips curl and his voice lowers to a seductive whisper, "you're with the King of Everything. I never get caught."
With that he heads towards the back entrance, the pliers swinging at bay. My teeth grind into my bottom lip as I get crushed with doubts and what-ifs. I couldn't get caught for any petty theft or little accidents anytime soon. I had enough on my record. Though it didn't seem like Erik cared so I have no choice but to go along with it. We did make a deal. Discouragingly, I follow Erik to a set of green, rusted back doors, locked with a fresh silver chain--and I can't help but think it's brand new for a reason. But the pliers are much bigger and Erik proves that by snipping the chain clear off with a clatter. I suck in a breath, waiting for an alarm to go off from within when Erik creaks the door open, but silence resumes.
"And we're in," Erik says low and devious, a tight-lipped grin reaching from ear to ear. I roll my eyes and step aside as he kicks a rock between the door and its frame, refraining it from slamming closed. He slips into the door without a thought, the only trace of him being from the precisely placed rock and the vehicle parked hidden by the dumpster carts.
Before I even think about stepping foot in, I peek my head in, seeing nothing but darkness and the slight reflected glow from the tile floor. With nothing alarming in sight, I slide in and stand. I obscurely see the outline of lockers and classroom doors but nobody. Where's Erik?
"Erik!" I call out with a minuscule whisper, not taking a step out of my planted spot. There's no reply. And there's no way he just ditched me like that, but he couldn't have gotten too far.
"Erik this isn't funny," I mutter, irritated. My feet begin to shuffle slowly from the door and I scope out my surroundings--at least as much as I could see of them. The West Wing is where I stand since I could tell we were in the construction hall by where we entered the school. To think, I never thought I was going to step foot in here again after graduation only a month ago. Now, here I stand, breaking in, with bare limbs, and a mysterious boy as my partner in crime. Yet, even after all these bad doings, I still wander on, calling out Erik's name in a hushed yell.
The heels of my Vans slap and echo down the empty hall, but other than that, the only noise is my shallow breathing. The hall comes to an end at a T-zone and I pause to holler for Erik again, but this time, louder. I'm not in the mood for a game of hide-and-seek. And though Erik has many years over me, his immaturity bled darker than most.
"Marco!" I jokingly shout with pursed lips, tapping my foot with annoyance. There's a steady pause before the faint call of "polo," bounces off the walls from every direction. I internally groan--if childish games it what he wants, then that's what he'll get. Louder this time, I yell "Marco" again. His response is louder this time too, coming from the eerily lit hallway to the left of me. I rush in the direction of his voice, only to meet another empty hallway and receive a wave of irritation and nerves. The nerves derived from every horror movie I've ever seen that set place in a high school at night. And there's a lot of them.
Quickly, I repeat "Marco!"
"...Polo!"
This time he's farther away, so I run to try and keep up with him. But it seems Erik is always two steps ahead of me and he even manages to disappear in the clearing of the cafeteria. I groan out loud this time, beginning to curse my previously sought deal. I couldn't bail even if I wanted to. The clock hasn't struck six yet and is no near close to. So, I search for Erik but with the futile amount of light, it's damn near impossible. I'm forced to continue with Erik's elementary school recess games, "Marco!"
His response time is longer, waiting and waiting in pin-drop silence, putting me on edge. He's messing with me. I'm tempted to call out again but shadowed movement from behind me throws me off. I spin on my heels, whipping around to catch the imbecile red-handed but there's nothing but blank space. Suddenly, there's a loud whistle and I find Erik--well, a black figure--leaning against a wall and I could just imagine the grin splayed on his face right now.
A chuckle causes his shoulders to bounce and he taunts in a quick whisper, "polo," before darting off down the hallway. "Erik!" I holler furiously, racing after him. I zip through the hallway fast enough to catch the door of the boy's locker room closing. Following him discreetly into the locker room, I softly call out "Marco" again, but I receive silence.
Slowly I make my way to the pool entrance, making sure to check every row of lockers to find a hiding Erik. But he's nowhere to be found in the locker room. The only other place he can go is out to the pool, so that's where I go.
The pool is subtly lit a turquoise blue by automatic pool lights, while everything surrounding is left in darkness. In the dim light, however, Erik is still nowhere to be seen. Inching towards the edge of the pool, I peek over, curious to see if he'd hidden within the pool. Noth-
I screech as my body sails into the air, crashing down into the water; and due to the unexpected sabotage, I choke on a mouthful of chlorine water. Clawing to the surface, I cough and splatter to force the water out of my lungs. Before I can even catch a deep breath, Erik soars in after me, jumping over and just inches from my head. A wave splashes after and I'm sent underwater again. I'm going to kill him.
Spluttering for air once again, I break the surface and immediately splash at Erik, cursing under my breath, "you're such an asshole."
His head throws back with bellows of laughter, floating next to me. I can't muster to smile because for the second time tonight, I'm soaked from head to toe, but the same could be said for Erik. His rambunctious laughter calms to a soft chuckle and he gazes innocently, smiling like a lovely goofball, "come on...I'm just messing around. Don't pout." He pokes me on the nose and I feel my heartstrings pull and squeeze for longer than I can bear. His hair is matted and his green eyes sparkle from the water's reflection. How did I get myself into a situation like this with a boy like this?
I quickly turn away because I'd begun to stare for too long, and my heart palpitations are so fast I thought I might have a heart attack if I kept looking. Unlucky for me, Erik is much more fearless and charismatic. Tugging me around and to his body, I find myself frozen and lost in his eyes. They're wide with affection. His thumb grazes my lips, drawling out a tight gasp. And soon enough, his lips are replacing his thumb, oh-so-gently.
Then we're underwater, sinking but soaring all the same. Seconds, minutes, I'm tangled within him. And the last of our air being spared to each other. I'm not drowning anymore. I'm falling.
