“No offense but you make a better human than a blanket.”
She gives me a little shove and I roll away, watching as she gets to her feet and pats off some of the dust.
“Well, that was a shortcut. How’s your arm?”
“Still in one piece.”
She spins around and walks with more pep in her step and sway in her hips. I lift myself up and follow her over grey and tanned rocks until we reach a small pool with a waterfall booming into it.
“Welcome to Lucy Falls,” she yells back to me as she removes her clothing revealing that stunning, soft, and curvy body barely hidden under her tight black swimsuit.
“You just gonna stare, or are you gonna join me?”
There’s no way I’m not taking up the opportunity to get wet with this gorgeous human being. I wait until Lucy has dived in and lifted her head back out of the water. Only then do I peel off my shirt.
Lucy panders to my little strip-show with a closed smile. When I catch her staring she dips back under the water.
Lord, give me strength.
There’s shade from the redwoods that dapples sunlight over the dark green of the water. I stand at the edge of the pool on a larger stone and look up to the waterfall. Am I sixteen again? Because all I want to do is climb up there and jump.
Why not?
With Lucy submerged under the crystal water, I make a move around the side of the rock-face, doing my best to scale it.
While being careful not to hold any moss-covered rocks, I make my way up to a cave half-hidden behind the waterfall’s stream. Something about it seems inviting and new, and with my arm aching I can’t resist sitting in it for a while. It seems a safe place — A place where I can be with whatever thoughts and memories I have left. I’m able to fit inside, the waterfall giving me some security for contemplation. The ambient gush of the water roars before me.
What the fuck am I doing out here?
I think of Mia again.
Is she looking for me?
Where does she think I’ve gone?
The same feelings of anger and disgust start to well up inside. Memories flash by like ghosts. There’s some kind of deal… Some kind of necessity…
I reach out to get a handful of water that I splash onto my face. It’s freezing. So freezing in fact it offers relief to this relentless migraine.
“Hey, you!” I turn my head to see a very wet Lucy holding onto the side of the rock and crouching into the cave. “Can I join?”
“Get in here.”
I offer out an open arm for her to tuck into. “I’ve been to this waterfall that many times,” she yells over the roaring, “and I’ve never been up here…”
The space is so small she has to squeeze right up against me. I have to hold back another urge to kiss her.
“Why haven’t you?”
She brings her knees up to her chin and hugs them tightly. “Safety… You’re the first person I’ve ever brought here. I just didn’t wanna slip when I was alone. Wouldn’t be the best way to go, being leech food.”
“No, you’re right. I’m glad I’m your first.”
“Oh my God!” she yells, her voice echoing. Her arms extend triumphantly, her face beaming with happiness.
“Ha! What are you so excited about?”
“Just this. I can’t get over it. This is amazing. I could live in here. Something about the loud sound, the chill. Chaotic serenity, right?”
“It’s a bit tight for my liking. I guess you’re used to small living spaces, though, right?”
“Hey, my studio is perfect. You shut your mouth. There’s something about the simplicity of having a small place that calms me. That and little belongings.”
“A minimalist, huh?”
“I guess, yeah… Makes it easier to move on. I can put my whole life in a car and be gone tomorrow…”
“Why would you need to do that?” I ask.
Even bathed in the roar of the waterfall, her silence is deafening.
“You know… You’re growing on me, Lucy,” I finally say, breaking the tension.
“Why?” she laughs nervously, tucking her head into her forearms.
“You’re not as innocent as I thought you were.”
“I’m really not,” she says with a smile and a blush.
“I’m embarrassing you.”
“No…”
“Darlin’, I gotta know your whole story.” She giggles nervously back at me again. “Where you’re from, who you are, who’s hurt you, who you loved, your boyfriend, where you’re headed…You…You fascinate me.”
She pushes her damp hair back and sighs. “It’s boring, Landon.”
“Well, bore me then. I’m in the mood for boring.”
“I’m from San Francisco,” she starts. “I don’t speak to my parents… No boyfriend…It—It’s a little confusing. I like painting, hiking, and swimming and Babeen, Todd and Billie are the only people in my life.”
What she says is surface level. It’s been well-rehearsed. My gut tells me this girl has been through hell. Maybe some abuse in the family or something like that. Whatever it is, any thought that someone could hurt her makes my fists clench. All I can think of is the girl in the painting back in her room.
“That’s it,” she shrugs.
“That’s not it, Lucy.”
“What do you mean?” she says a little more concerned now. “That’s…it.”
“There’s more to the story, but I’m not going to make you tell it if you don’t want to.”
“I’m boring, Landon. I told you. Any pivotal life events of mine are painfully basic and predictable.”
“Such as?”
“Uhh, such as…Like…” Lucy searches for a believable answer. “I dropped out of high school in my junior year. I have a tattoo on my ankle of the Chinese symbols for fried rice. I’ve never really had any close friends.”
“Sweetheart, you gotta sell it to me better than that if you want me to believe you.”
“I’m not a liar.”
“I’m unconvinced, Lucy.”
“Landon.” Her tone turns serio
us. I put up my guard too.
“What, you think I’m slow? Maybe I hit my damn head but I can still read people.”
She doesn’t respond. Before I can say another word she’s leapt through the heavy blast of waterfall and dived into the pool below.
“It’s rude to ditch a conversation!” I shout down to her.
“Come on, pussy! Jump!”
I tilt down to see how far the fall is. Adrenaline grips me but I crouch and prepare to dive. Lucy’s distorted figure appears through the stream. “Move away!” I yell down to her.
And then, I jump.
The cold nearly makes me gasp as I hit the water. I can feel it penetrating my wounds, flaring up pain from my accident, turning my head into an ice cube. I use my legs to kick myself to the surface and I let out a shout.
“Holy fuck!” I shout over the deep hiss of the waterfall pounding the surface behind me.
“Toughen up, Princess.”
Lucy is treading water a few feet to my left. Her lips look to be turning purple but she’s hiding any indication it’s bothering her.
“Why is this fun for you?”
“It’s refreshing. It’s good for the muscles.”
“No, it’s the damn arctic in here!”
I swim toward her until we’re face-to-face. We’re both breathing heavy, our lips so close. She definitely looks down to my mouth then coyly looks away to the shore. She wants to kiss me as much as I do her.
“You’re fucking crazy, you know that?”
“You’re right,” Lucy breathes, hesitating. “It is cold. I’m gonna head out.”
She swims to the shore then takes a towel out of her backpack. As she dries herself, she watches me playing around while I think. I don’t know what I’m thinking about specifically— The thoughts are flying by way too quickly to make any sense. I’m thinking of when I should leave this place. I’m thinking of the accident. I’m thinking of the cops, or the permanent brain damage I could be causing myself by not going to the hospital. I’m thinking about my ride that’s now in pieces still sitting in a fucking ditch outside town, and I’m thinking of the time it’s going to take to fix it.