New Beginnings (Chapter 1)

Nothing gold can stay.

“Katrina! Jack’s here!” My cousin Seth called from the front door. Seth is three years younger than me, fourteen. He’s the only one that pretends to care about my life outside of the family.

“Alright! Coming!” I grab the jar of jalapeños out of the fridge and nod to Seth as I exit. I grin at Jack through the tinted windshield of his black Camero. It has silver leather seats that match the strip running along the length of the car. I don’t speak Car and Driver so I can’t really describe it anymore without sounding like a three-year old. “Hey.”

He offers me his trademark grin; half of his mouth pulls up higher than the other, showing his white teeth. “Hello, Miss Katrina.” He pretends to tip his imaginary hat towards me.

“What’s with all this formalness, Mister Jackson?” I laugh when he makes a face at the use of his full name. He revs the engine and I relax into the worn seat as we drive through the suburban streets.

“Well, I must be a proper gentleman, shan’t I?” His voice has a bitter undertone that I like to think only I can detect.

I angle my body towards him and survey my best friend, Jack Navine. His family owns a large company, located somewhere in Toronto, I think, making them very wealthy. Hence the ownership of this beautiful car. But he doesn’t like the money and you could say he has trust issues. I guess that’s what happens when a whole lot of people have only pretended to be friends with you for your money. Most locals in town know him and much of them aren’t afraid to tattle to his strict parents. They fight sometimes, but nowhere near as much as my mom and me.

Jack has black hair that often falls into his eyes. His eyes are the most brilliant blue I’ve ever seen and I love to stare into them. They’ve even inspired me a few times. He is tanned and wiry from running. That’s what he’s best at, and I’ve been to every track and cross country meet he’s had since we met.

Jack and I met about twenty-one months ago, or a year and nine months. We’ve been best friends ever since. He’s helped me with a lot of issues, as I have him.

“What happened this time?” I ask, tilting my head and letting my dark chestnut hair fall to the side. He glances at me, and I see the look that means he already knows that he can’t lie to me. Not about this.

“Dad was drunk again.” Jack’s dad’s drunkenness was always a cause for concern. “He came at me spouting s**t about how I was supposed to be more like him.  He…he hit me this time.”

I stiffened in my seat. My voice was whisper as I pleaded with him, “Jack. Jack, you didn’t hurt him back did you?” The first time Jack hit his father back, he got into some trouble with the police. His dad made up all kinds of lies to protect himself.

Jack’s jaw was clenched, as well as his fists around the steering wheel. His back was tense and rigid and I hoped he wouldn’t hurt himself. “No, I didn’t hurt him this time.”

I relaxed again, exhaling in relief. “Good, I don’t want to lose you.”

Those five words seemed to relax him more than anything. “Back at ya,” he winked. He looked over at me as we slowed to a stop for a red light. “So, feel like messing with the freshies?”

Freshies are what we call new tourists around here. They’re fun to mess with provide entertainment for all of us. We’re not mean about it, though. It’s usually just harmless stuff. I open the jar of jalapeños and pop one into my mouth, savoring the juicy flavor. “Of course!”

Jack speeds up and I turn on the radio as we drive closer to Downtown. He parks across the street from the string of beaches along the coast. For a second memories flash before me, reminding me of the days leading up to the finalization of my misery which I later found to be temporary…ish.

We get out of his gorgeous car and head toward the beach nearest to us. I sit down in the warm sand and he follows. I pull my knees up to my chest and bury my feet in the sand. “So how’s life?”

I throw my head back and laugh, but it fades when I see him looking at me seriously. “It’s just fine and dandy, you? Are you alright?”

“Don’t worry about me, I’m fine.” His voice has a slight sting to it and I can’t help but wince. He doesn’t notice because he’s turned his head away. I close my eyes for a second, trying to push back the bitchy reaction that was sure to come. “S**t.”

I open my eyes and look at him questioningly. Jack is peering at me apologetically, which is kind of confusing. “Sorry…I’m still not used to having someone who’s affected by what I say.”

“It’s fine, really. How about you buy some food before we start our fun filled day?” I smile at him reassuringly and he returns it. He hops up, brushing sand from his pants.

“Whaddaya want?”

“The usual,” I smirk. As he walks away towards the snack shack, I realize just how far I’ve come since that day. I’ve smiled at least twenty times since he picked me up. In the three months before we met, I was a wreck. I never smiled, never went out, never even had a single friend. But then one night I walked like a sleepwalker to the waves. I was intent on doing one thing right in my soon to be short life. I’d only been knee deep in the beautiful, dark, salty water before someone was shouting. I kept walking and was only stopped by a someone’s strong arms around me. Jack was a damn good runner, remember?

After that, things seemed to fall into place. Jack encouraged me to be better and I did the same to him. And now here we are. Sighing, I open my shoulder bag and retrieve my camera. I smile at I look at the last picture I took.

I’d been aiming the camera at myself and Jack had come from behind and grabbed the camera, snapping the picture. We’re both laughing and the looks on our faces are so natural.

“Excuse me?”

I look up into the brown eyes of a complete stranger. His almost-blonde hair and slightly tanned skin tell me he’s a freshie. Actually, his flower printed swim trunks tell me, because no one here would dare leave the house in those. I suppress a laugh. “Um, yes?”

He looks stumped for a second before he regained his composure. “Ah, I’m looking for BWS? Would you be able to point me in the right direction?”

This guy is total bullshit. BWS, a.k.a. Blackwater Super Shop is about three shops away from us. But still, he is kinda cute. And anyway, this is what I planned for my day. “Oh, well, I think it’s right over there. That all?” I blink and hope I look innocent enough.

“Well, see, I….look,  I’m not that good at these kinds of things. Would you- maybe, would you like to go out some-” the poor guy was cut off by a voice from behind.

“Honey, I got your food! You wouldn’t believe what- oh, who’s this?” My everlasting best friend had finally decided to make an appearance. I played along, flashing another innocent smile.

“Oh, sweetie, this is…well, I don’t know his name yet.” I looked at victim numero uno questioningly and he coughed, “Mark.” “Mark was just asking for directions and something else too…you interrupted him! What were you saying, Mark?”

Poor Mark was shining red and his hands were twisted together nervously. “N-nothing. Well, thanks anyway…for the directions.”

He turned away and I felt the slightest bit bad. “Alright, if you’re sure Mark. I hope I see you again soon!”

I waved as he walked away, and when he was pretty far, I turned to Jack. “Honey? When have you ever said the word ‘honey’?”

Jack laughed. “Well, it was the only couple-y thing I could think of!”

“You better be on your game for the next one,” I mock threatened. I glared at him until he held the mouthwatering clam strips in front of me.

“Strip?”

“Hell yes!”

We settled back in the sand with our food between us. I was in the middle of trying to make Jack smile. He bet me that I couldn’t but I knew I could.

“Katrina?”

I’m pretty sure my heart stopped beating for a second. I looked up into hazel eyes so familiar to me that at one point in my life I would have done anything to make them show happiness.

“Max.”

Author's Note

Exactly 1500 words of pure uncertainty

Reviews

[Jordan's Back]

I loved it Excellent!!!

[Sophie]

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