Catch Me If I Fall

by Daniele Lanzarotta

  “Alec doesn’t know,” says Sebastian.

  “Give me your phone,” says Kyle.

  “Why?” I ask.

  “I’m calling your parents. This will be a lot better coming from me. And then you will tell me about this stalker.”

  I gladly hand him my phone.

  “Hey, Mom!” says Kyle. My parents love that he calls them mom and dad.

  “Please don’t be mad at me but—”

  “You don’t have to do this,” I whisper, already knowing he will say this is his fault.

  He shushes me. “I told Skylar and her friend that they had to come to a party with me and I was going to drive them back, but I had a few beers and I really shouldn’t be driving.… Yes, Mom. It was out of town… Yes, she knew, but I was going to have her home on time… Alec is sleeping. He was working all day… Yes, Skylar and Sebastian are in front of me right now.”

  He covers the phone. “She wants me to put her on speaker.”

  And he does.

  “I’m very disappointed,” she says. “There is no way you didn’t know you’d be breaking curfew.” I don’t say anything at first. She is right.

  “I’m sorry, Mom.”

  “We will talk when you get home. Sebastian, make sure your parents know, unless you want us to call them.”

  “No, ma’am. I will call.”

  “Good. Take me off speaker. I want to talk to Sebastian.”

  Sebastian’s eyes widen. He listens and then hangs up.

  “What did she say?” I ask.

  “That I need to watch your every move. Especially around Alec. And to make sure Kyle gets up bright and early to take us home.”

  Sebastian texts his parents next and after a few seconds, all he says is, “Told you.”

  Kyle and Sebastian sit on the couch and I sit on the bed. Sebastian’s eyes widen again.

  “Relax, man,” says Kyle. “He is passed out and we are sitting right here.”

  I keep looking over at Alec to make sure he looks okay.

  “So, what is the deal with this stalker?” asks Kyle.

  “It’s really nothing,” I say. “Just some guy who keeps showing up at random places in town.”

  Sebastian opens his mouth to say more, but I give him a warning look and he shakes his head, but doesn’t say anything.

  Kyle keeps glancing over at Alec and he is so worried he doesn’t notice our interaction.

  After a few minutes, Kyle gets up. “Well, I think he will be okay. We are all already in a hell of a lot of trouble anyway. I’m not letting this night go to waste. Come on, kid,” he says to Sebastian. “You will be my DW for the night. Skylar, keep an eye on Alec and text me if you need anything.”

  “DW”? asks Sebastian, confused.

  “Yeah, instead of a designated driver, you will be my designated walker. Just come along and make sure I don’t do anything too stupid.”

  “What is your definition of too stupid?” asks Sebastian.

  “Ha. I’m sure you will figure it out,” says Kyle

  I can’t help but laugh. Sebastian looks at me, concerned.

  “Trust me,” Kyle tells him. “They won’t be doing anything. I know them. They are the good kids.”

  I roll my eyes at him, and after they leave the room, I lie down next to Alec and watch him sleep.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “Sky?” I wake up to the sound of Alec’s voice. I open my eyes and find Alec watching me. He—I can’t even describe his expression.

  “What time is it?” I ask.

  “Three-thirty.”

  I sit up and look around the room. I find Sebastian and Kyle passed out sitting up on the couch, and I lay back down.

  “Please tell me I didn’t do anything stupid.” His looks truly worried, and scared.

  “You didn’t.” I say and I can see the relief in his eyes. “Are you feeling okay?”

  “A little dizzy when I try to sit up. How much trouble are you in?”

  “Hopefully, not too much; Kyle said it's his fault that we are here.”

  “He did that, huh?” he asks.

  “Yeah. He is a good friend. That is for sure.”

  “I’m sorry,” he says. “If I wasn’t so frustrated about Sebastian, I would’ve probably realized it wasn’t a good idea to drink out of something that was already open.”

  I lean in and kiss him, then pull away slowly.

  I take a deep breath and stare into his chocolate brown eyes, watching me curiously as we lay next to each other.

  “What’s on your mind, Sky?”

  “Even with all of this… I’m still glad that I’m here with you.”

  He grins and that alone is enough to take my worries away; at least for now.

  I try to take his mind off what happened. “Tell me about that list of yours.”

  His grin widens, “The secret list?”

  “Why does it have to be a secret?” I ask.

  “Because I enjoy surprising you.”

  I sigh.

  “What’s wrong?” he asks.

  “I don’t know. I guess—my parents are probably going to ground me. I thought maybe that would give me something to look forward to.”

  His grin turns into a frown.

  “I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell me,” I say.

  “How about I tell you one thing that won’t happen for a while.”

  I laugh. “Okay. Deal.”

  He looks down, “But I don’t want you to say anything in return. We won’t talk about it either.”

  I give him a confused look. “Okay.”

  He pulls me closer to where my head is against his chest. I can hear his heart beating faster and I’m suddenly nervous about what is on this list.

  “You know that my list is really all about you, right?” he asks.

  I laugh. “It shouldn’t be. It should be about you.”

  “Well, this one is from my personal list.”

  I look up to where I can see his eyes. “Just tell me! You’re driving me crazy.”

  “Okay.” He is nervous. “Close your eyes,” he asks. “Remember… don’t say anything.”

  “Alec!”

  I feel his lips on mine for a split second before he pulls away.

  I keep my eyes closed as he asked.

  “I’m going to ask you to marry me,” he whispers against my lips.

  I open my eyes and I don’t even know what emotion I’m conveying, but he is still nervous. He asked me not to say anything, but everything in his body language says that he is waiting on an answer.

  ALEC

  Damn it. Why did I tell her not to say anything? Now I have no clue what she is thinking. She probably thinks I’m nuts… or that I’m still drugged. It’s too soon. She is too young. I should have picked something else from the list.

  She studies me for a while, and then smiles and I feel like I can relax again. At least I didn’t scare her to the point where she took off running.

  She leans against me. She isn't tense like she was before I told her this, so hopefully that counts for something.

  “I told you I wasn’t going to let you get away from me again,” I say.

  She laughs. “I thought we weren’t going to talk about it.”

  I laugh. “Right.”

  She bursts out laughing now.

  “What?” I ask.

  “I was just thinking that, you know… if I were to say yes,” I freeze as she says that, “well, it would be our second wedding.”

  “Huh?”

  “How could you forget our first wedding Alec?” She pauses then continues… “At your aunt’s wedding… you were the ring bear and I was the flower girl. You thought that meant that we were getting married by association.”

  I laugh. “You remember that?”

  “Yeah, and I’m kind of hurt that you don’t.”

  “Well, if it makes you feel any better, I would want to marry you over and over again, Sky,”

  “Jesus. You two make me
sick,” we hear the sleepy voice from across the room.

  “Shut up, Kyle!” we both say at the same time.

  She faces me again, smiles, and kisses me.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  SKYLAR

  We end up snuggling and fall asleep like that. In the morning, Alec is the first one awake. I wake up to find him watching me again.

  “Good morning, beautiful,” he says and I blush like never before.

  “I wish we could stay here all day, but I guess I should get you home,” he says.

  “Hmmm. Maybe it's best if Kyle takes me home.”

  He shakes his head. “I should. I’m not leaving you to deal with your parents alone.”

  I laugh. “You’re brave.”

  He shrugs. “Come on,” he gives me a quick kiss. “If I don’t take you back now, I might not take you back ever.”

  I laugh even more and sit up.

  Kyle and Sebastian are both passed out on the couch.

  Alec grabs a pillow and throws it at Kyle.

  Kyle quickly sits up, and looks confused.

  “Dude. Was that necessary? Holy shit. My head hurts.”

  “Come on,” says Alec. I’m going to drop you off at the apartment and take Skylar and Sebastian back.

  “I should probably be the one to take them back,” says Kyle.

  “No, I got it. Thank you for all of your help and taking the blame though.”

  Kyle nods and pokes Sebastian’s arm.

  “Come on, kid. Wake up.”

  We leave shortly after. On the way out, I think of how glad I am that I don’t have to clean up after this party.

  Before heading home, Alec stops by his apartment and invites us up to see the place while he gets changed.

  We go up and while Alec is in the shower, Kyle gives us a tour of the apartment. After Kyle shows us his room, Sebastian stays back to look at Kyle’s collection of comic books, and I pull Kyle to the side.

  “Kyle,” I say in a low tone and he looks at me. “Please don’t tell Alec about the creeper guy we told you about. I know Sebastian. And I know he probably told you the whole story last night.”

  Kyle’s expression tells me I’m wrong. He raises an eyebrow, “I don’t remember a thing about last night. But whatever is going on, Alec will likely find out at some point, and he will be pissed. Obviously, this is bigger than you made it out to be.”

  “Maybe a little. But please, Kyle. What good will it do if you tell him? He will just feel bad that he can’t be home instead of being here.”

  “That ship has sailed, Skylar. He already feels like that.”

  I sigh. “He is going to be worried all the time. You know how he is. I’m afraid he would do something stupid like quit school because of it.”

  “Okay. You have a point.”

  I get a text from my parents. ‘You better be on your way back.’

  ‘Leaving right now,’ I text back. This is not going to be good.

  I hear a sound coming from Alec’s room and I go to tell him that we have to get going. He is sitting on the bed with his head lowered and resting on his hands.

  “Is everything okay?” I ask.

  “My mom called. She heard about you being here.”

  “Well, did you tell her that nothing happened? That you didn’t even know I was coming up here.”

  He nods. “Come on,” he says as he gets up. He looks so defeated. He starts to walk toward the door.

  “Hey,” I say as I stand in the middle of his room.

  He turns around, looks into my eyes and next thing I know, he is standing in front of me, giving me a kiss that I can pretty much taste how much he doesn’t want me to go.

  “Do you know how hard it is to leave this room right now?” he asks.

  I smile against his lips, “I think I have a pretty good idea.”

  We both turn around when we hear Kyle at the door, “The sappiness is getting out of control! Come on. This is an intervention. Get her home before you are not allowed to see her ever again.”

  The drive home is quiet, and tense at first. It is not until we’ve been on the road for about an hour when a word is finally spoken. Alec stops to get gas, but before he gets out of the truck, he looks at Sebastian in the backseat.

  “I’m sorry, man. I didn’t mean to be such a jerk last night.”

  Sebastian nods.

  “And thanks for watching out for Skylar, and giving her a ride back from school and all.”

  “No problem,” says Sebastian.

  This moment makes me smile. This is the Alec I know and love. I glance at Sebastian in the back and he winks at me.

  Alec takes a deep breath, relieved that he got that off his chest.

  He steps out of the truck to get gas and some drinks, and I turn around to face Sebastian.

  “Not bad,” says Sebastian. “He is nice. Kyle was right about everything he said last night.”

  I laugh. “What did Kyle say last night? Because he seemed like he couldn't remember anything.”

  “Yeah. He had more to drink than he should have. But he said I can trust Alec. That Alec respects you and wouldn’t try anything that could jeopardize what you have. And he said that he hopes to one day find what the two of you have. Then he started babbling something about some guy named Grayson and about finding it hard to be in a relationship with anyone. He was not making much sense about anything. Then he passed out and some guy helped me carry him to the room and put him on the couch.”

  I look down at the mention of Grayson. “Grayson was one of the guys on the baseball team. He and Kyle were close. Kyle was dating a girl from school on and off at that time. She and Grayson both died in the shooting and, honestly, I haven’t seen Kyle with anyone since.”

  Alec comes back with drinks and starts the truck back up. The whole vibe is down now that we were talking about what happened.

  “Is everything okay?” Alec asks.

  “Yeah. We were just talking about Grayson,” I say.

  He doesn’t say anything. He just reaches over, grabs my hand and starts to drive.

  He drops off Sebastian first, and then we go to my house.

  He reaches for the door handle to get out of the truck.

  “This is going to be bad,” I say, stopping him.

  “Was it worth it?” he asks.

  I nod and smile, then I look up and see that mom and dad are standing at the door.

  We both take deep breaths.

  “Let’s go,” he says.

  As we approach the house, without saying a word, mom and dad turn around and walk back in. We follow them.

  “Sit down,” mom orders and we do.

  She is furious. “What the hell were you thinking, Skylar?” she asks. “You knew you wouldn’t be back in time for curfew. Why you even bothered asking us to extend your curfew is beyond me!”

  “I’m sorry, Mom. I wasn’t thinking straight. And Alec didn’t even know I was going up there. None of this is his fault.”

  Dad just stands in the corner of the room, with his arms crossed.

  “Give me your phone,” she says.

  “What? Why?”

  “No phone or going out for a month. That is why. You lied, broke curfew, and stayed out all night. Actions have consequences.”

  “But how will I get to talk to Alec?” I ask, with tears already running down my face.

  “Alec will be busy with school and work,” says dad. “But he can call my phone once every other day to talk to you.”

  “This is so unfair,” I whine.

  Mom tilts her head to the side in disbelief that I just said that. “Go to your room, Skylar. Your dad wants to talk to Alec.”

  “But Mom—”

  “Go, Skylar. You can talk to him before he leaves to go back to school.”

  ALEC

  She doesn’t look back at me as she goes up to the room and I know it’s because she doesn’t want me to see her cry.

  “Come on,” says her dad and I follow him t
hrough the kitchen, out to the backyard.

  He crosses his arms and takes a deep breath obviously trying to calm down.

  “Were Kyle and Sebastian with you the entire time?” he asks and I know what he is trying to get at.

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Look, Alec. I will be honest with you. We’ve known you basically your whole life. We know that you are a good kid and from a good family. My main problem with you and Skylar as a couple isn’t the age difference… my problem with all of this is that Skylar is too young and naïve. You are her first boyfriend. And this relationship is just too intense. If she is willing to take a bullet for you, who knows what else could happen? It’s overwhelming. She should be able to go a day or a few days for that matter, without seeing you and not do what she did last night. Not to mention, that she is a wreck every damn time you leave. Every single time, Alec. We are tired of seeing her like that, and I’m sure you wouldn’t want to see her like that either.

  I shake my head. I don’t know what to say. I hate every time I have to leave to go back to school, and Kyle is always complaining that I don’t do anything other than school, work, and seeing and talking to Skylar.

  “I know you care about Skylar, Alec, which is why I’m going to ask you to consider putting some distance between the two of you.”

  I look him in the eyes. “Sir, with all due respect, I love your daughter and I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Jesus!” he uncrosses his arms and points a finger at me. “That is exactly what I’m talking about.” He stops and takes another deep breath trying to calm down. “I’m not saying break up with her… just some distance! And maybe that will make it easier on her every time you go back to school.”

  I stop to think about that. There is no point in arguing. It is not like I will be allowed to call her every day during this entire month, which is going to be a nightmare. It sounds like they are forcing this distance on us either way.

  I just listen and nod.

  “Your mom wants to talk to you. You can come say bye to Skylar before you leave.”

  “Thank you,” I say before I walk over to my house.

  Mom is waiting for me when I walk in.

  She shakes her head in disappointment and we both sit down on the couch. I tell her everything: how I didn’t know Skylar was coming; how someone put something in that drink and I was stupid enough to drink it; and then passed out for hours; and that yes, I know better and I learned my lesson. I also tell her about the conversation with Skylar’s dad.