“Come on, Trav,” I call over my shoulder, as my feet pound against the crisp grass under my sneakers.
“I don’t think this is a very good idea,” he stutters through his labored breaths. Travis is my best friend, and had been since last summer when he moved in next door. He came at the right time. Just when I needed a friend the most. “My mom is going to wonder where we are. We shouldn’t have strayed from the yard.”
“Quit your whining,” I yell at him as I stand in front of the huge oak tree. “It’s this one,” I point up to the biggest, most beautiful tree I’ve ever seen. I stare at the base, noticing some carvings on the side of the trunk. The initials ‘I G’ carved over and over.
“I’m not doing it,” he replies sullenly, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Pussy,” I taunt with a lift of my brow.
“Am not.”
“You so are, Trav. I don’t care whether you are coming or not anyway, because once I get to the top of that tree I’m going to be able to see for miles. I bet I can even see the fair from here.”
I lift my eyebrows in an attempt to draw him in, but he stares back at me, his arms still crossed firmly over his chest. “You know your mom isn’t going to take you to the fair. Ever. I’m not sure why you want to torture yourself by looking at the stupid thing.”
“It’s not just the fair, it’s everything else. The view is going to be amazing from up here,” I say, reaching for one of the small branches, pulling up, until my foot is resting on it.
“Oh, God. Oh, God. He’s doing it, he’s really doing it,” Travis mumbles to himself, pushing his hand through his light-brown hair dramatically. I shake my head, reaching up for the next branch, pulling myself up a little more.
“Braxton,” he calls. “You have to get down,” he shouts, his voice wavering. I look over my shoulders and half of his face is covered with his hands. He peeks at me through the small gap in-between his fingers. I laugh, continuing to make my way up through the branches, aiming for that huge one near to the top.
“What are you two doing?” I hear an unfamiliar voice calling, and although it’s loud, I’m pretty sure it’s the sweetest sounding voice I’ve ever heard. My belly flips and for a second I hold my breath, my whole body tensing at the sound of the unaccustomed voice.
I look down sharply to see where that voice came from, releasing the breath I’d been holding. All I can see is a girl with blonde hair, standing next to Travis. She has the whitest-blonde hair I’ve ever seen. And she looks beautiful. Even from up here.
“What the hell do you want?” I call back down to her, unable to stop myself.
“I want you to get down from my tree,” she yells at me, stamping her foot against the ground.
“It is not your tree. It belongs to nature, so it’s everyone’s tree.”
“It’s my tree; It has my name on it.”
I nod a little, remembering the initials etched into the tree trunk. “Just because you write your name on something, doesn’t mean it’s actually yours.” I push myself further onto the thick branch, allowing my legs to swing below me.
“You know that’s not safe, right?” she asks, pointing up at me.
“It’s perfectly safe.”
“No, it’s not,” she tuts, “this is a really old tree. Those branches may look big, but they could break at any time.”
“So?” I say with a shrug of my shoulders. “What do you care?” I continue to swing my legs. One after the other. With every movement, the old tree creaks.
“I care a lot, actually,” she says, kicking her hip out in some kind of sassy girl move. “This tree is where I hang out most days. See that house there?” She turns to her right, pointing to a house a little way in the distance. “Well, I live there, and this tree kinda belongs to us.”
“Why would you say that? That’s a stupid thing to say,” I laugh a little louder than intended.
“The only thing that is stupid is you climbing that damn tree.”
I swing my leg one last time as my fingers pick away at the few leaves on the adjoining branch. I pluck them one by one, dropping them to the ground.
“Don’t do that,” she yells. “Stop ruining the tree.”
“Make me,” I say, reaching for that one leaf just a little too far away. I stretch, but can’t reach it. I lean a little onto my side, desperately trying to grab the damn leaf, but the creaking becomes a cracking sound, and before I can try to understand what is happening, I’m falling.
Thud.
My leg hits the ground before my body does. The sound of cracking fills my senses and despite my best attempts, I can’t move.
I can hear voices and see the faces of the girl and Travis, but the buzzing in my ears stops me from focusing on the words that are tumbling from their mouths. I let out a groan, my whole body aching and confusion buzzes through my mind. But the pain in my leg is the worst. I let out a yelp as I drop my head back, closing my eyes. “Braxton, oh my God, are you okay?” He leans over, pulling on my shirt. I open my eyes, focusing on his face. It’s contorted, his nose scrunched up as his face hovers over mine.
“My leg, Trav,” I cry out, not daring to move at all. “I think I’ve broken my leg.”
“What should I do? I don’t know what to do.” The panic is evident in his voice.
“Don’t freak out,” the girl soothes Travis, resting her hand on his shoulder. “I will stay here with, uh, him…”
“My name is Braxton. Got it?” I grate out, a little nastier than I’d intended.
“Okay, okay,” she replies as she walks around kneeling beside me. “I will stay here, you go tell his parents.”
“Oh, yeah, sure,” he fumbles, before jumping to his feet and running across the field, making his way home. My eyes follow him as he runs faster than I’ve ever seen him run before.
“Look at me,” she places her warm hand against the cool skin of my cheek, turning my head until I’m facing her. “I got you. Okay?”
“How bad is it?” I ask, not daring to look at the mess my leg must be in.
“Broken,” she mutters, shooting me a sad smile. “It’s best not to look.”
“I don’t feel too good,” I say, resting my forearm over my eyes.
“You’re okay, it’s just the shock. Keep talking to me. Tell me about yourself,” she asks, her hand now working in a circular motion against my chest.
“I like to climb trees,” I say sarcastically.
“And you don’t listen, that much I do know about you. I mean, you broke my beautiful tree.”
“Your beautiful tree broke my leg,” I retort. “I have no idea who you are, or what your name is,” I say with a grimace. The pain increasing with every second.
“My name is Isabelle, but most people call me Belle, or Bella,” she looks directly at me with her huge blue eyes, her long blonde hair cascading down the side of her face. She has a smile on her face, the kind that makes my belly flip over and over.
“I like Izzy,” I say a little breathlessly, my breathing becoming more erratic as the pain grows.
“Uh oh. No you don’t. I hate that. It’s Belle or Bella. Take your pick.”
“Sure, Izzy, no problem.” I let out a stifled laugh. She playfully slaps the top of my arm.
“Ouch,” I say with a pout. “Talk about kicking me while I’m down.”
“I did warn you. Are you always this stubborn?”
“Always,” I say, sticking out my tongue at her. This girl is bossy, annoying and I already know I’m going to hate her. Jeez, who am I kidding? She’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. The kind that stands out in a crowd. Yeah, that’s right. I’m going to love to hate this girl.
And that’s exactly what I did for the next eight years.
For eight years we were best friends. Completely and utterly inseparable. There wasn’t a day that passed by where I didn’t see her. Where we weren’t hanging out.
We were like the three amigos, only better.
Until she disappeared.
Gone.
And no one would give me any answers.
That was the moment my life changed forever.
The moment when I felt like I lost my reason for living. Losing her was the catalyst for the rest of the shit that happened to me. And that shit made me the person I am today.
A person with secrets I hide away from the world. The burden of those secrets that have cut so deep they are like scars deep inside my soul. Scars that will never heal.