5 Waterfall

I kept walking. My legs had gotten sore a while ago, making me struggle to keep up with the man before me. I remembered him from the bar the other night, the way I’d danced with him, only to barf all over his obviously expensive clothing. A frown married my lips as my mind sunk deeper into the memory.

“Who are you?” I mumbled the question just loud enough for him to hear. I didn’t understand where he was taking me. Yet I’m not scared. Something about the way he held himself calmed me.

“You can call me Gabriel. I told you that the night you threw up on me and bolted.” His tone sounded a bit irritated at the memory, I couldn’t blame him. If someone had vomited on me, I would have flipped out. “Why were you crying back there?”

His question made me stop, I had expected us to reach our destination by now, but we seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. “I bolted on my first date. He went in for a kiss.. I panicked.” I’d muttered the words, feeling an embarrassed blush feather across my cheeks as I looked up towards the man.

“First dates can be scary, especially if people avoid you because of your appearance and rumors.” He muttered softly under his breath. I almost didn’t hear him with the way he had whispered it, but it didn’t appear pointed at my experience but his own.

“Yeah, I get that. So where are we going? I don’t mean to be rude, but I am following a stranger at night into the woods.” I let out an uneasy laugh as I realized how seriously messed up this situation was.

“It’s further this way, it will be worth the walk, I promise.” Looking back at me, he gave me a small reassuring smile. Unsure of how I should respond, I nodded and kept walking behind him. My pace slowed as I kept up my guard, ready to bolt in another direction.

Later I could feel moisture in the air. We must have gone near a creek. The scent of wet earth was almost overwhelming. It had been so long since I’d gone into the woods. It felt like home just to be near them. I couldn’t help the small smile that formed on my lips as we trudged along. I could now hear something that resembled the sound of a waterfall, but as far as I knew we didn’t have one of those in or around town.

“Are we there yet?” I couldn’t help but ask, I loved the movie named after the saying. It brought back fond memories of mother, father and me sitting on the couch. Popcorn always ended up everywhere by the end of the movie, not because it was scary but because the goofiness of the movie made us all playful. I missed the popcorn wars we had. They’d stopped soon after father had left us. Mom and I had tried to have one, but it just wasn’t the same.

A disheartened frown quickly replaced my smile as my mind sank further into the memories. The tight grip of Gabriel’s hand yanked me back into reality as he tugged me against his chest.

“Are you trying to kill yourself?” He hissed the words at me, causing me to tug my arm out of his hold. “Look down at where you’re standing.” He grumbled the words, realisation showing on my face as soon as I turned my gaze to where I had been about to step. Nothing. Nothing was there for quite a way. At the very bottom of the drop off was a river, and just before it was the most beautiful waterfall I had ever seen in my life.

“Woah.” That’s it, the only word that came to my mind as I took in the magnificent sight before me. The way the water fell and glistened in the light made it look like the end of a rainbow which cascaded over shining water smoothed stones. “How did you find this place? Can we go down there somehow?” My eyes locked on his, I knew they’d shown excitement and wonder, making his gaze soften. He’d gone from furious at my stupidity to adoring at my curiosity and amazement.

“The next time I bring you here, we can go to the bottom together.” His hand came up to my cheek, brushing at the now dried tears I didn’t know even fell. Their salty trails down to my chin were the only evidence they’d left. “It’s good to see you are feeling better now, get some rest.” With those words, the world fell out from under me, my vision going dark.

The light which shown through my window woke me, pulling forth an exhausted groan from my lips as I pulled my blanket over my face. The grumble of thunder outside made me jump. Tossing the blankets off I turned my gaze to the window, the blackened sky looked as if it were a black hole which only allowed the escape or rain and lightning.

Another flash made me shrink back into the blankets, something about this storm put me off, it made me feel as if my home was the most dangerous place to be right now. Deciding to leave, I slid out of bed and made my way to the closet, pulling on my faded jeans and a light sweater before I slipped out the door. I didn’t know where I was going to go, but anywhere would be better than there.

Taking out my phone, I quickly typed in grandma’s address. It had been some time since I had seen her. She had a knack for making me feel better when I got like this. As soon as I stepped foot on her property, I had a sense of warmth flowing through me, as if I would always be safe and welcome there.

Starting the car, I made my way through town. It wasn’t until I passed the Welcome sign I got the text.

Hey, I just wanted to say sorry about last night. You’re really cool and all, but maybe we should just stick to being friends. -Nate.

That was all he gave me, not that I deserved much more than that after taking off on our date. My mind went back to last night’s events, taking off because of a kiss made me feel more than stupid. I had to admit I was ashamed of myself. How did I get home, or even into bed? I remembered walking towards the woods, but everything after that was fuzzy. I knew I had been with someone, but only the earthy scent of them remained in my mind.

Shaking off the increasingly uncomfortable feeling that was building up in my chest, I stepped on the gas. Nate was just going to wait.