Hi guys! So I'm not knew to Fanfiction, but I decided to start a new account to kind of start fresh on here. I started this knew story out of the blue, but I hope you like it. Please make sure to review and let me know if I should continue. Enjoy!
Cammie trudged through the grass down to the lake that she had discovered just a week ago on a night similar to this one. The lake was pretty secluded. A grassy pasture led up to a wooden pier that was built on the water.
Cammie pulled the ends of her hair, tightening her ponytail. She used one of her hands to pinch the fabric of her dress between her fingers and lift the dress off of the ground to keep it from collecting dirt. Her other hand held a book that her father had worked very hard to complete. She would wake up and see him in the living room at his desk, his head bent over as he wrote. He looked up to see Cammie and left his writings only to tell her good morning and give her a hug before school. Other days, he was in his private lab at their house, working on some sort of project.
She loved him, and memories like these are what made her smile the most and cry the least. She was happy to have those memories. Now, her mind was filled with pictures of him on a hospital bed, connected to tubes, his cancer getting progressively worse. She sighed and let her dress fall as she slipped off her flats to feel the hard wood under her feet as she walked down the pier. She sat on the edge of the pier and set the book in her lap, quietly listening to the comforting sound of the water as it danced in the moonlight.
She closed her eyes and dropped her feet into the cool water. Her blue eyes shot open when she heard the sounds of tires screeching and loud music. Loud laughter followed and she heard car doors shut.
"Come on Zach don't you want to go back to the dance." She heard a voice say. She knew that the owner of the voice was Macey Mchenry.
"No way, Mchenry." She heard Zach reply sharply. Other voices clued into the conversation.
"I'll dance with you." Another voice slurred. Cammie knew that voice belonged to Landon Rogers. Everyone in school knew that he liked Mchenry, but she didn't seem to care since she believed that Zach was her property. Despite the fact that they hadn't been together for months.
"Gross." Macey replied. The voices were closer.
Why are they here instead of at the dance? Cammie asked herself. She knew why she didn't go to the dance. She hated that dances were always so depressing for girls, like her, who had only one friend and no one to dance with. Besides, she and her mom were taking turns sitting with her dad.
Cammie turned around and her eyes immediately connected Zachary Goode's dark eyes. He gave her a simple nod of acknowledgement and sat on the grass near the water. She turned back towards the water, slightly embarrassed. She was sure that he and his friends thought that she was some sort of freak. But curiosity urged her to turn around again. Zach, Macey, Grant, Landon, Chance, and Tina were staring at her. She watched as Macey whispered something that only the group could hear. Everyone chuckled except Zach. He kept his eyes trained on Cammie, taking note of her every move.
Then Macey stood and gave Cammie a sickly sweet smile. Cammie snapped her focus back ahead of her, at the water. She picked up her book in her hand and stood, knowing that she didn't want to start any trouble or be in any.
"Leaving so soon?" She heard Macey ask from behind her.
Cammie jumped at the sudden sound of Macey's voice behind her.
Cammie turned around. "Yeah," she said, "I'm going back to the hospital to sit with my dad." She didn't know why she felt the need to tell her that. She kept her eyes trained on the wood of the pier below her feet. She grabbed her shoes from the edge of the pier and Macey moved in sync with her, standing directly in her path.
"Let's talk about that horrible dress you're wearing. It's literally at your feet and the color is disgusting." Macey wrinkled her nose in disgust and pinched the fabric of Cammie's dress and wrinkled her nose in disgust.
Cammie heard laughter coming from the direction of the group. And she felt the heat in her body rise. She threw Macey's hand off of her, making Macey stumble backwards a little. Cammie's heart jumped when Macey's foot almost dropped over the edge of the pier.
Cammie began to walk off as Macey regained her footing. Everything about this scene felt off.
She felt a sting of pain on her face, the impact sent her backwards and she felt her foot slip, and her heart leaped. She fell backwards into the water with a loud smack as she broke the barrier.
She wasn't prepared for the fall and felt herself struggling for air. She moved her arms in the water, but to no prevail, the water felt like mud.
Don't panic. She told herself. She could hear the muffled sound of sirens. And she felt herself letting go, lungs burning, and eyes fluttering to stay open.
I don't want to die here. She told herself. That's when she heard screaming and another splash.
She closed her eyes and sucked in a mouthful of water when she tried to catch her breath. Strong arms wrapped around her waist and she felt herself being carried to the top. She felt her face finally break the surface of the water and she spluttered to try to take a breath. The arms lifted her up and onto the pier. She turned onto her side drenched, coughing, and spitting up water. She felt awful.
She felt the pier shake with new weight.
"You good?" A voice said.
Cammie turned over to face the person who had saved her, still coughing. She sat up straight and stared at the boy with the wet hair who had stripped his leather jacket and shirt to save her. She took in the boy's dark hair and dark eyes. Zachary Goode, of all people, had saved her. He stood, his towering height even more intimidating to Cammie as she sat on the pier. He seemed to be in a hurry, quickly grabbing his shirt and jacket.
She sniffed and said, "No, I feel like I almost died." She cracked a small smile and began coughing and spitting up more water.
He looked off towards the woods and grabbed his converse. Cammie guessed that his friends had already ditched.
"Well I gotta get outta here before the cops make it over here." Then a flashlight beam could be seen darting around the trees. Without another word Zach ran, towards the woods and then darted around a tree and disappeared.
How could he leave me like that? She thought, angered.
She breathed in a shaky breath and laid back down on her back. She heard keys jingling and shoes hitting the wooden pier. The cops had arrived. Arms wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her up into a sitting position.
"You okay, Hun?" The officer asked. She had her hair pulled into a tight bun and a black uniform with a gun, handcuffs, and taser hanging from the belt around her waist. A short and chubby officer stood behind her. His hair was balding at the front of his head.
"I'm fine." Cammie choked out. The officer didn't seem to believe her, taking in her wet clothes and hair. But she didn't make any other efforts to figure out what had happened to the young girl. She could tell the girl was going through a lot.
"I'm Officer Julian and he is Officer Jameson. We got a call from the owner of this land with a noise complaint. You do know this is private property?" She asked.
Cammie stood up quickly. Too fast, she could feel her head swimming a little.
"No ma'am, I had no idea. Honest." Cammie truly had no idea this land was private, she hadn't seen any house.
"Okay we'll then-" Officer Julian started to say.
"You believe her?" Officer Jameson said, cutting in. His words made Cammie feel nervous.
"Well of course." Officer Julian said turning to face him. "I can't smell any alcohol on her breath and she doesn't exactly look like the trouble type."
"I promise I'm not." Cammie said almost begging the man to believe her." I just came out here
to-" All of a sudden she felt all life drain out of her body.
"You okay?" Officer Julian said.
Cammie look out into the dark water.
"It's gone." She whispered.
"What's gone?" Officer Julian asked, looking out into the water as well.
Officer Jameson made a noise. "And you say she hasn't been drinking." He said sarcastically.
"I-" Cammie started, but couldn't even begin to finish her sentence. Her heart ached more than it ever had before. She wanted to just break down and just scream and cry until she couldn't do it anymore. Everything her dad had worked so hard for was in that book and it was gone.
"Let's take you home." Officer Julian said, wrapping her arms around Cammie's shoulders, slowly leading her to the police car.
Cammie slid into the back seat and shut the door. Her life was like a series of bad endings. For once, she just wanted to witness a miracle in her life. She leaned her head on the glass window of the car door and silently cried as the car pulled off.
A boy emerged from the shadows when the car had pulled off. He had watched the whole scene. He ran his hands through his wet hair and pulled on his shirt and leather jacket. He hoped that Cammie wasn't mad about him leaving her.
What do I care what she thinks? He said to himself.
He couldn't risk getting arrested again, his dad promised he wouldn't bail him out and his mom didn't have enough to do it. But he guessed that some part of him did care enough to risk watching out for her and he didn't like that part of him. He sighed and walked to his car which was hidden behind some of the underbrush and hopped in and started the engine. He lit a cigarette and blew some smoke out of the window. And he kept the car silent on his ride home, his mind too loud to do anything else.
The cop car pulled up to the Roseville Hospital per Cammie's request.
"You got family here?" Officer Julian asked through the glass separator.
"Yeah my dad-" she choked back a sob. "He's here."
"Who's your dad?" Officer Jameson asked.
"Jameson." Officer Julian snapped.
"It's fine." Cammie said, even though it pained her to talk about her dad's condition with others. People always apologized about her father as though he were already dead.
"His name is Matthew Morgan. He is a scientist." Cammie said.
"Old Mathew?" The lady said. "Well do me a favor and tell him Julian said hello."
"Sure thing." Cammie said and offered her a half smile, thankful that she didn't apologize.
She shut the car door and walked through the automatic doors to the elevator. She was dreading to see her dad's face when she told him about the book. Her throat burned as she kept down another sob.
Did you like it? Did it give you any feels? Haha. Make sure to let me know in a review. In the next chapter I will reply to any of the reviews I get. Again let me know if I should continue. Thank you!
Love,
~EternalBookWorm98