04 | 𝐼 𝐴𝑙𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝐷𝑖𝑒𝑑

It couldn't be that bad, I thought, but of course those foolish inquiries in my mind dissipated into anxiety the second I laid eyes on him.

He was perfect, in every way possible. His honey blond wave with strips of dark russet highlights laid on his head messily. A quiff of hair fell over his forehead at times and it was adorable. The sun laid along his warm ivory complexion, kissing him in all the best places and his cheekbones were sharp up to his ears. When he smiled, his dimples poked out of hiding, creasing around his mouth, lips slightly chapped.

And his eyes, fuck me-- I mean, they're beautiful and lively and I only wanted to stare into them when I glanced, but he never held eye contact long enough to do so. They're perfectly green, the crisp spring leafy type of vibrant green that overshadowed my dull, brown eyes.

His chest rippled through the green shirt, a football team logo decorated along his muscles. He wore fitted dark wash jeans that hugged his thighs with a beige fur attached to the denim jacket he wore. His hands were stuffed into their pockets while he walked down the wooden boardwalks wrapping around the forest. Staggering alongside Kayla, who made it blatantly known to him that he was unwanted, but I wanted him, I wanted to talk to him, and Jay, who trailed beside me noticed.

"Are you planning on talking to him anytime soon? Or continue to stare like a creep?" he suggested weakly in my earshot, nudging my shoulder.

"I don't know," I sighed, trying to squirm my hands closer into the cuffs of fabric belonging to my mustard colored crocheted sweater. The chilling November breeze wasn't comforting, especially in Wyoming. Luckily for Kayla, she wore a soft gray crewneck with 'RAVENCLAW' scribbled on the front and a baseball cap atop her blonde curls that had One Direction on it. She loved Harry Potter and Harry Styles, either one could be a conversation for hours with her.

"So, are you?" Jay pressed into my side, his voice low.

I glanced up to him and shrugged again. "I don't know," I repeated a bit more irritatingly, the envy punching my gut at hearing Kayla making him laugh, the perfect laughter erupting between his lips.

Good grief, they're talking about Harry Potter.

My eyes gravitated towards the single fence outlining the bridge, restraining us from getting too close to the edge, though I would dream of being able to approach the fence more freely. The scenery beyond the wooden planks of walkways were filtered in soft orange tones and crimson red leaves which loosely dangled from tree branches. The tips of mountains on either side of us were prodding into clouds as the Wyoming sun cascaded down our bodies.

We kept climbing numerous mini stairs, binding around mountain curves and I felt my calves pulsing with a never-ending throbbing ache.

Curse everyones' athletic ability, and my lack thereof.

"Look!" Kayla exclaimed quietly, her index finger pointed towards a tree branch close-by where a Western Meadowlark perched, the yellow and ivory colored bird was the size of my hand nearly, with a pointed beak as it waddled along the branch. "It's so cute."

"Not as cute as a Mandrake," Sully remarked, making a Harry Potter joke, but she swung around, shaking her head sternly.

"Those things are not cute at all! I stand by my word, they are ugly," she informed before beckoning her head to continue. The blinding afternoon sun washed over the boardwalk in clean strips of yellow-tinted light while the trees rustled their auburn leaves until they wafted to the ground.

I muttered sheepishly to Jay, "I think you only brought him to make me jealous." I continued to not-so-casually drill my eyes into Kayla and Sully's backs.

For some reason, I never found their friendship to be jealous-worthy, but today, was different. The two walked ahead of the group and were laughing to themselves. They shared inside jokes and he'd nonchalantly bump into her shoulder as they walked.

I knew deep down that I had to do something to get his attention away from my best friend and onto me. Kayla didn't even like him, if anything, I'd be doing her a favor.

Jay assured me suddenly, "I didn't do it for that. I did it so I could have a friend, plus you can shoot your shot," he urged softly, a bit of thrill in his eyes. "This is literally the perfect chance--"

"How?" I rebuked aggressively. "He's distracted and invested into their conversation--"

"Just, join in," he coaxed.

"I don't know anything about Harry Potter and hate J.K Rowling's opinions!" I truthfully admitted, flitting my eyes to their presences further ahead. They were in their own little world.

He rolled his eyes and informed, "We'll be at the waterfall soon. Maybe then I can offer a group photo and you can stand next to him?" he relayed and I couldn't help but smile. He always knew what he was doing. It was a simple gesture, being given a photo as a little keepsake, however, it was the memory entangled into it which mattered. Until I was brave enough to talk to him, this was the closest I could get.

"You sly dog, I still hate you but at the same time, I kind of love you," I teased with a smooth-tone.

"I'm gonna pretend you didn't call me a 'sly dog' just then and yes, I'm only doing my job," he joshed. "But like I said, it's never too early to start getting his attention." Once the words slipped from his mouth, I thought back to what Victor had said prior that morning.

Fuck, that was this morning.

Things were happening fairly quickly. Last thing I remembered was when Victor told me about the six personalities, though I forgot one.

Okay, that was a lie. I remembered one of them, forgot the rest.

I only had my mind focused on damsel in distress. Maybe he was right, all I had to do was have him think he needed to be with me and the perfect idea came to mind.

Safe? Not exactly, but I had to get him to notice me and that gave me all the confidence needed to do what I was about to do.

♡♡♡

"We've arrived!" Sullivan boasted happily, slipping his hands out of his pockets and outstretching his arms towards the glistening waters pouring out of the mountains' divot. The platform we stood on was a bridge above the gentle and calm river that the waterfall emptied into. A dirt landslide executed off the bridge and bits of the dirt fell in pebble-sized clumps.

The waterfall itself wasn't even blue, it was a navy-tinted white, splashing like a geyser when it smacked against the surface of water below. We were astonished at how energetic the current was, and no matter how many times we've individually seen it, it never got old or less-amazing.

The river that drew all the water through the reserve danced below the wooden planks we stood on and to the opposite side, carrying segments of rock away with it. The volume was thunderous, pounding into the ground repetitively.

Kayla breathed, "Wow, this is beautiful." She hurriedly searched behind her before noticing I was standing close by. "Isn't it?"

"Yeah," I agreed mutely, my eyes trained on the streams of water, tiny droplet after droplet creating this massive flood.

Jay nonchalantly whacked my shoulder with the back of his hand to gain my attention and I turned to him whilst he declared, "How about we get a group photo?"

He slipped his phone out, not even listening for the mantras of 'yes' which he received nonetheless as he walked to the opposite side of the bridge. "Can you take a--" His tone trailed, noticing he was talking to no-one. "I swear he was there two seconds ago," he cursed under his breath.

He suddenly turned around, nodding and gnawing on his lip in debate before spotting a woman linking hands with a man. "You see her too, right?" he whispered sharply with a chortle.

"Yes," Sully whispered mockingly with a grin.

Jay nodded and walked over to the woman, holding out his phone and asking for her to take a photo. She nodded, unlinking hands with the man and nearing us. I quickly scurried over to Sully's side before anyone could notice.

Damsel in distress.

The woman held up the phone vertically, raising it above her eyes, snapping a few photos before switching the phone horizontally to capture the waterfall behind us.

"Thank you!" Kayla called when her and the man began walking in retreat, smiling and saying 'no problem.'

It was all happening so fast, but with Victor's advice and Jay's suggestions, I put my foot below the open gap in the fence and stepped onto the dirt landslide. With everyones' attention deviating away from me, I stepped a little further and the sole of my foot had finally slipped.

My hands quickly snagged onto the fence to keep me from sliding all the way down but I'd managed to slip perfectly into a V shape, half on one side and half outside of the enclosed fence, falling towards the violent waterfall.

A bubble of noise trembled up my throat, high pitched and grabbing their attention. Sullivans' conversation with Kayla was cut short as I heard her call my name.

My butt had smacked against the edge of the wood, for sure leaving a bruise. My ass stung and most definitely was covered in a bit of mud, ruining my nice light wash jeans.

I didn't think this through... clearly.

A pair of arms grabbed onto my biceps and hauled me up, but the voice that asked if I was okay, was not the dreamy fairytale prince I anticipated. "You alright?" Jay pressed, "what happened?"

I was standing in front of him, his hands latched onto my shoulders while I saw Sully and Kayla staring at me wide-eyed and stunned. He looked freaking adorable when he was concerned for me.

Kayla inched to my side and asked, "what happened? Are you hurt?"

"I just slipped," I uttered as Jay released his grip around my arms.

"Well," Sully started with a laugh, "Good thing you didn't get hurt, Mia." He placed a hand over Kayla's shoulder blade, which she swiped away, following him and trekking to the opposing side of the bridge, circling our way back to the entrance.

I glanced over my shoulder to Jay who'd started following along, though he waited for me when he reached the stairs. I mocked under my breath sarcastically and out of earshot from everyone, "Good thing you didn't get hurt, Mia."

I rolled my eyes, retreating to Jay's side as we continued to walk up excruciating steps. Jay turned to me, a bit startled. "Did you hit your head before or after you fell?" he questioned.

"Ha. Ha," I joshed with no smile. "You weren't supposed to catch me," I explained, "The plan was for Liv to catch me."

"And what?" he rebuked quietly, "You guys kiss under the sunset with the waterfall in view!?"

Completely serious, I yelled back, "yes! That's exactly what was supposed to happen, but you were in the way," I accused.

Jay gave me a look. His lips were pursed, head tilted down, and arms folded over his ribcage. I bowed my head shamefully in response whilst thinking about the fact that Sully didn't even try to catch me, yet I still whole-heartedly believed he would've if he saw me fall. I muttered abruptly, "Sorry, Jay. But thank you for saving my life back there," I teased.

I glanced down to my right foot, my sneaker tip had absorbed a bit of water when I slipped through the fence and my sock was slowly filling up as well. My ass was also cold and wet, and for sure, I looked like I shit myself.

"That's alright," he crooned.

"I can't believe it," I suddenly voiced, my mind swirling with the memory. Each step we took, a shooting pain ran up my tailbone to my shoulder. "I almost died."

"No shit, Sherlock," Jay laughed off. "So, did you admit you fell on purpose?"

"Noooo...?"

"You did!" he confirmed knowingly.

"I wouldn't have died," I assumed, "That's a little much, don't you think?"

He elaborated his perspective with eyes that could kill.

Okay, I was certain they were going to kill me if I didn't already almost die.

"If you would've let go of the fence, fell and hit your head on a rock, passed out, and laid in the little lake area before your body got picked up by the river and you drowned then yeah, you would've died. We also don't have service cause we're in the fucking woods and park rangers our forty minutes away. So, rest in peace."

"That got real morbid," I admitted.

"No shit," he repeated. "Why am I friends with you?" he finally asked, but he was chuckling and I started to laugh with him.

"I don't know," I mused, but through the smile that was fixed on my face and the jeans that looked like I shit myself (it was mud), I was focused entirely on Victor Vislocky. He gave me the advice and therefore, it wasn't Sullivan's fault for not catching me, wasn't Kayla's distractions, or Jay's superhero instincts, or my stupidity for actually doing it, it was Victor for giving me the terrible advice, that led me to almost die.

Therefore, I was going to bring his clothes to school the very next day we had school to teach him a well-deserved lesson.

x