The Bridge Over Snake Creek

by Nikki Bolvair

  I made it to Spanish class and straight away Quinn met me at the door, took my bag with ease, and moved to the two seats that he had saved for us. By his expression, I knew that Drex had texted him. What did I have to do to let them know I was okay? Why did they even bother? Did they know something? I shook out of my morose thoughts and proceeded to pay attention in class; this one I had to because Señora Hall was a stickler for participation.

  For some odd reason, when the class was over, Quinn hugged me as well. I took the opportunity to breathe in his earthy scent. It felt nice - right. For whatever reason he thought to do it, I didn't care. I was grateful for the strength he had given me. Time seemed to slow down in this moment, and I felt like I was going to break. But I couldn't. So, I withdrew from his arms, knowing that it had been so long since another person cared. Since I’d actually received a hug from someone else besides my dad or Trace. How Quinn and Drex made me feel scared the living daylights out of me.

  The teacher shooed us out, ending the moment, and I didn't say anything, just turned around and headed off once again to my next class.

  While on the way, I stopped in the restroom for a moment. The noise inside was loud as I moved past students who were standing around gossiping, washing hands, or taking selfies and took a stall toward the end.

  Inside the stall, I turned and shifted my backpack to my front to unzip the small pouch there. I sifted through my things until I found the prescription bottle I hid there, shook two tablets out, and took them, hoping that it would ease the aches and pain that seemed to seep into my bones.

  My body hated me. My blood was angrily multiplying to the extreme. I was struggling to live, and that fight was destroying the very essence of my being.

  Gripping my bag, I asked myself, why? Why did I even fight so hard? Why bother? Then I thought about my dad and sighed. I fought for him. If not for me, then for him. I needed to get it together. Stay happy, be cheerful, and keep thinking positively. The doctors were bound to find a cure. I returned everything to my backpack and made my way out of the bathroom with my emotions back in check.

  On the way out, the people I could have done without today caught up to me. Serena and her lackey, Beth.

  “Well lookie here," Serena said in a patronizing tone. "Little Miss Popular. All huggy-huggy with Quinn and Drex. Are you trying to piss me off?" She gave me a sickly sweet smile as I moved out of her way, but blocked me with her arm. As if I couldn't get around her I told myself.

  "You need to watch yourself," Beth warned with a sardonic gleam in her eyes. “I don’t know what you did to make them bring you into our group, but don’t get comfortable. None of them will ever be yours."

  Annoyed, I replied with a hint of mockery, "This is so cliché. Are we done here?"

  Serena’s blue eyes flamed. “You don't get it, you pathetic bitch."

  I pushed her arm aside and walked past.

  "They could never be with the likes of you." Her cruel words rang out through the halls. Luckily, by this time the halls were empty. I was late for class, but at least no one was around to witness this little showdown.

  My lips pursed as what she was saying struck me, but I kept going. I wasn't even sure why.

  "They'd never choose you, want to know why?" she continued in her snide attempt to capture my attention. "It's because we have arranged marriages!”

  I paused, turning around to glare at her. "You've got to be kidding me. That doesn't happen in this day and age."

  "You don't know our culture," Beth, who was beside her, snarled. She seemed to glow, or maybe my medication was kicking in. "You may get all of them to fall in love with you, but in the end, Miss Hannah Cain, you will never be accepted into our lives. So protect what little dignity you have and move on."

  "You're not good enough," Serena cruelly suggested as she came forward. "Not. Enough."

  I leaned in and smirked. "It seems to me someone’s insecurities are showing. Quit projecting."

  Beth's hand came up as if to slap me, but I moved away quickly and started down the hall. "I think that confirms it," I called, my pace unnaturally fast as I made my way to PE. A million thoughts ran through my mind at what Serena and Beth had said. Who made up that crap, and was this town over-run by a cult? Surely it wasn’t true. The way I saw it, that was taking away freedom. Everyone has the right to choose who they get to be with, right? Then I thought about my mother and how she had to run away. Or, was what they said true?

  I was late to PE as I’d predicted and Coach benched me. That was a good thing today. I didn’t have to explain why I was feeling off.

  Making my way to the bleachers, I watched Jamison and Drex hustle out on the field, ignoring my classmates who were running track around them. Drex was the first one to spot me. He had scanned the runners before settling his gaze on where I was walking. I brought my hand up waist high then gave him a small wave before I sat down on the bleachers. His tall frame tensed and for some reason I knew he was worried about me. When Jamison noticed, he seemed worried as well.

  When PE was over, and we were all back in the girl's locker room, the coach called me into her office. She closed the door behind me and gestured to the chair by her desk. "Have a seat."

  I sat and readied my speech about being late, but she handed me a piece of paper. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing, Ms. Cain, but you are no longer required to take physical education as a requirement for graduating high school due to the severity of your illness.”

  My lips pressed as I gleaned over the letter. Anger spiked. “I never asked for this.”

  Her reply had my head shooting up. “But your father did.” Her eyes softened. “Why didn’t you tell me you were terminal? I wouldn’t have ever let you-”

  Shooting up out of the seat, letting my aching body waver for a second, I shot back, “Because maybe that’s the reason why.”

  As I was heading towards the door, she called out, “I’m sorry, Hannah.”

  The door slammed against the wall as I stormed out of her office. Everyone in the locker room turned their gaze to the noise, and I yelled back to coach as I left, “Sorry’s not enough!”

  I didn’t wait for anyone, but as I got out, Drex was there. He put a hand on my shoulder, stopping me, and my pain lessened. His eyes held mine for that brief moment, his tall frame leaning over me. “Hey, what is it? What’s wrong?”

  My heart raced, anger flooded my entire being. I needed another release. I shoved away from him. “I’m leaving.”

  He caught my arm but I shrugged him off. “Wait. Wait,” he called as he tried to keep up with my furious pace.

  I didn’t want to wait. I wanted to run away from my problems. Leave them behind.

  “I’m. Leaving!”

  “Wait up, I’m coming with you!”

  I slowed my stride a bit to let him catch up. “Where are you going to go and what are you going to do?” he asked as we kept a steady pace down the hall. The bell had rung, and now students were filling the halls. Drex grabbed my hand in order not to lose me. Again, I immediately felt better. What was it about him? What was it that made my body react the way it did when touching him? It was weird, but I wasn't going to question it further. Not when his touch gave me some relief.

  I pushed open the doors that led outside, not deterred in the least by seeing the gate surrounding the school building. I knew they'd be locked. Instead of going to the office like a good teenager would have, I decided on something riskier. I pulled out my phone while I walked and sent my dad a text about not feeling well and that I was leaving school, then pocketed it.

  "They lock the gates during school. Where do you think you're gonna go?"

  "Where there's determination, there's always a way. We just have to find our options and figure out which one's the best course of action."

  "Jumper, I don't think this is the place to test your risk taking skills."

  We walked around the building towards the back while I tried to figure out a way to get
out. "It's the perfect place," I told him, like I had something to prove. And maybe I did. I might have been dying, but I wasn't dead yet.

  His hand tightened in mine. “Man,” I heard him curse. “You're almost as bad as he is.”

  I ignored that comment when I saw a lower part of the roof that connected to the gate. It had access to the other side. On the other end of the fence, there was a rain gutter that I could use to climb down. I just needed something to stand on so I could climb onto the roof and get over there.

  “Hannah, I’m not sure what you’re thinking, but I don't think it’s such a great idea."

  I withdrew my hand away from his, almost hissing at the pain that came flooding back. My eyebrows pinched with concern. My medicine should have kicked in by now. Shaking it off, I answered, "Life's too short to wait for great ideas, Drex. Sometimes you have to take a chance and make your own." Looking at all my possible choices, I turned back to him, taking in his tall frame."Do you think you could make it up there if you give me a boost first?"

  His face shadowed with concern as he put both hands on my shoulders. My pain lessened. "I don't think you're thinking clearly."

  I shrugged him away, determined to do this. "You're either with me, or you're not. I'm getting out of here one way or another - with or without you. You can either make it easy on me or hard."

  His mouth twisted, unsure of what he should do, as his hazel eyes stared into mine. He finally nodded. "Fine."

  He glanced around, realizing that the lunch bell had rung and no one was close. Turning so his back was facing the wall, he laced his fingers together. "Here. Put your foot in my hands."

  I held onto his shoulders, put the front part of my shoe into the foothold he had made and pushed myself up. My backpack shifted with the action and my muscles strained from weakness. It almost felt like I wasn't going to make it, but a tingling warmth spread through me for a brief moment and my pain was completely gone. With my strength back, I pulled myself completely on top of the roof. My medicine must have kicked in.

  I twisted around to see Drex still standing there. I grinned at him, feeling normal once again. "Coming?"

  Not waiting to see if he was or not, I carefully walked over to the other side of the roof line where the gutter was and turned to climb down. There was a flash of light on the rooftop then the scent of cinnamon as something dropped down beside me.

  "Uh, Drex?"

  "Down here, slowpoke." His amused voice filtered from below.

  I continue to climb down the drain pipe, gripping the sides, hoping the fasteners would hold, wondering how in the hell he could have gotten down that quickly. "Did you... jump?" I asked him while I made my quick descent.

  Hands gripped my waist as he tugged me down beside him. When my feet touched the ground, I twisted in his arms, and he pressed me back against the brick wall, his body caging me in. Drex's unusual eyes of mixed colors stared into my own as they danced with amusement. "You're not the only one who can jump."

  My cheeks bunched up, I'm sure with a crazy smirk, and for that moment the anger of what happened in the coach's office disappeared, as did my worries. "Copycat," I jested, pushing against his shoulder. “Admit it, you were secretly jealous about not falling with me at the party."

  His body shook with laughter as he pushed away, letting go of my hips. "Oh, Jumper, you are not what anyone expects." He took my hand, tugging me away from the wall, his eyes bright with mischief. "All right, we've made it outside the fence. Now what do you want to do?"

  I turned away from him and searched the parking lot. "I don't know. Let's find my car, and we'll figure it out."

  Chapter Thirteen

  Drex and I took my car, and I drove us through a fast food restaurant then out of town. When we came up to a set of railroad tracks, we pulled off and drove beside it until we had distanced ourselves from the main road and parked.

  I rolled down the windows as Drex handed me my food. A hamburger. I was splurging today.

  As I took a delicate bite of my hamburger to savor it, a moan slipped out of my lips at the first taste of calorie overload goodness.

  Drex chuckled. "And I thought you didn't eat anything but vegetables."

  I finished my bite and glanced over to him, lifting up the hamburger for his attention. "I'm being bad. This - this is so good." I picked up my drink, took a sip then shook it at him. "At least I ordered water."

  As he ate, he asked me questions. "So what happens when you're being bad with what you eat?"

  I shrugged. "It messes up my sugars."

  His eyebrows drew together. "So, you're diabetic?"

  "Sort of. My body doesn't react the way it typically should as a normal diabetic or as a normal human being. I'm sort of a conundrum to the medical professionals. A medical misfit." I stopped there, knowing I had said too much, and changed the subject. "Do trains still come down these tracks?"

  Drex stared at me a bit longer before answering, “Yes. It goes up a ways to a little town before it crosses the border into Montana. So what do you mean by ‘a medical misfit’?”

  I tensed. “I don’t want to talk about it.” Then I decided to pepper him with my own nosy questions. "So... more than one dad, huh?"

  His whole face shut down like my question had caught him off guard. Touché, buddy. He crumbled up his burger wrapper, taking that moment to figure out how he would answer, and tossed it into the brown takeout bag. "Where did you hear that?" He seemed... cautious about responding. I guess he would be since it wasn't the norm.

  Finishing the last of my hamburger, I scrunched my wrapper into a ball, as he had, and shoved it into the brown bag too, then shifted in my seat so I could see him better. "My friends, Novalee and Cass. They didn't want me to freak out when I noticed." I studied him carefully to see if he was uncomfortable with my line of questioning. He seemed a little bit off, but I still went on. "So tell me Drex...what is your first name?"

  This time he chuckled, flashing his paradox gaze my way. "Wouldn’t you like to know."

  I made a face. "Aw, come on. You know I'll find out anyways."

  Smug, he leaned his seat back and folded his arms behind his head. "Yeah, but you want to know now, don't you?"

  I twisted my lips. He had me there.

  He chuckled, realizing this. "Tell you what, you give me your middle name, and I give you mine."

  I glared at him and sat back against the door. "But I don't want your middle name. I want your first name."

  One of his arms shot out and took my hand. He tugged a bit, insinuating he wanted me to lean forward. "Come over here."

  Staying put, I gave him a look. "You want me to straddle you? Sorry buddy, I've only known you for two days."

  Letting go of my hand to scrub his face, he sighed. "Has it really only been two days?"

  I knew what he meant. It seemed like a lot longer. "Well, if you count the party and that brief moment where we spoke, then it's four days."

  He stared out past the train tracks. "But still..."

  I looked out there too. "Yeah. So... name?"

  He turned and grinned. "I'm not that easy."

  "Okay, fine. Then tell me about your family. Are you the oldest, youngest, or in the middle?"

  "I'm in the middle of seven boys."

  My eyebrows shot up. "Seven boys... whoa."

  Then he turned the question to me. "How about you?"

  "Only child. How many dads?"

  "Five. When did you become sick?"

  Eyes widened, my mouth popped open. "Five! Holy crap! Trace is totally going to want to move here."

  Drex was amused. "Who's she, a friend from your hometown?"

  "My best friend," I corrected.

  He sobered. "Oh. You miss her?"

  I shifted in my seat, looking out across the railroad tracks to the field on the other side. "Sometimes," I answered, rolling up the windows. I missed her all the time.

  “So, back to your condition. If you can’t have a lot of sugars, what kind of
treats can you eat?”

  Thinking of Trace and my smoothie, I answered him. “Trace always brought me a peanut butter berry smoothie.”

  He nodded, taking it in what I said. “But aren’t berries sugar?”

  “Yes, but not refined sugars. Natural sugars are healthier for me.” I turned the questioning on him. “What about you? What kind of treats or dessert do you like?”

  The deep rhythmic hum of a train coming had me turning to peer out my back window.

  “That’s easy. Mint fudge brownies.”

  The railroad sign from the main road flashed red, and the two arms came down, blocking the non-existent traffic from its course. The train would slow down because it was going through town, but I knew it would pick up once it was out of the area.

  “That sounds good.” I flashed him a grin before I opened my door and scrambled out.

  Drex did too. The train whooshed by and the repeated, metallic clicking sound as the train sped down the rails had my pulse racing. I walked in front of the vehicle and Drex followed me. As the train raced by us, I noticed that every so often there was an open boxcar. A tremor of excitement coursed through my body. I already had one idea, but now I had a better one. Another open box car was coming, and I was going to be ready. Putting my keys in my pocket, I pressed the lock button on my key fob and started to run.

  "What the fuck!" Drex called, racing after me. Knowing my speed, he'd have a hard time keeping up.

  When running, I kept as close to the rail as I felt comfortable and watched for the open boxcar to catch up to me. My heart raced, my body tensed with anticipation.

  As it came, I drew in a deep breath and leapt, catching hold of the bar beside the car, jerking as my body caught up. Scrambling to gain my footing, my stomach muscles tightened as I pulled up my feet onto the platform. Steadying myself, I laughed, a deep, fulfilling laugh that came from my soul. I made it!

  "You're fucking crazy!" Drex shouted from beside me. I gripped the handle, careful not to fall, and twisted around to see him hanging on to the other boxcar platform. I grinned. He was glaring at me.