"This way!" I sang letting a large smile slither across my face. I expanded my arms feeling the wind race through my fingers. The way the air tastes was intoxicating causing my eyes to roll into the back of my head in sheer delight.
"Lia!" Kailey croaked nervously. Instinct kicked in, I spun on the balls of my feet placing a hand on top of my head to keep my hat from falling. "We shouldn't be here."
Blake looked at her sideways, then flickered his gaze back to me. He licked his lips, a sign that he was just as anxious but unwilling to vocalize it. My grin grew.
"It's alright, my loves!" I cooed arching my back. "I come here all the time. It's one of my many secret hiding places."
"If this is a hiding place, then why are we here?" Kailey asked gesturing to the lanky boy to her left and herself. I glanced back at them and sighed.
"Isn't that what friends do?" I wondered aloud. "Share secrets?"
"Friends?" Kailey's voice was caught between a scoff and a snicker. Blake shot daggers at her with his eyes.
"Yes, that's exactly what friends do." He said to me, but it was clear his tone was directed towards Kailey. She shifted uncomfortably as he carefully made his way towards me, and without giving it a second thought, started climbing the rubble of stone that barely made up the wall I was perched on. Once he reached the top, he sat down and swung his legs off the side letting them dangle just above Kailey's head.
"You too?" She grumbled crossing her arms over her chest. She pouted out her bottom lip and shook her head. "Isn't this illegal? Haven't either of you heard of trespassing?"
"Kailey, come on!" I laughed. "It's a gorgeous day, please don't be upset."
"Don't be- don't be upset?" She choked out a very stale, very forced laugh. "Are you kidding me? We could be arrested! This is stupid! Why are we here, Lia? Besides your obvious desire to get us all in trouble."
"Kailey…" Blake warned curling one of his legs into his chest. He wrapped his arms around it, rested his chin on his knee, and scolded her with his eyes. But his attempt to calm her seemed to have the opposite effect.
"No! No! Don't you 'Kailey' me!" She shouted stomping her foot into the ground. "I'm sick of this! Sick of all of this!"
"Kailey." Blake tried again, his voice harsher this time. "Not here. Not now."
"Then when?" She growled. "When, Blake? Can't we talk about this? Everything was fine until-"
"Until when?"
Tension was rising, so quickly I couldn't breathe. The two stared each other down. Both grinding their teeth together with an emotion that teetered on the edge of hatred.
"You have the choice to make today happy or sad." I interrupted. "Don't you want to be happy?"
"Happy!" Kailey spat dropping her arms to her side and balling them into tight fists. Her blue eyes clouded to gray. Muddied up with anger and jealousy. She ended her staring contest with Blake to scream at me. "Oh, look at me! I'm darling Amelia Grace! Just moved here from the blessed state of South Carolina! Aren't I just a delight? Ain't nothin' bad ever happen' to lil' ole me!" She mocked in a horrid Southern accent. My smile faltered. "Please." She growled. "Don't pretend like you know a thing about me. You took away my choice to be happy when you-"
"When she what?" Blake was standing now. I didn't have to look at him to see the intensity in his glare. Kailey started fidgeting with her hands. "Answer me!" He demanded. "I dare you."
"When she started talking to you."
I could barely hear her voice, but Blake sure did. He didn't move. He didn't even breathe. He just stood there watching her. I let my eyes wander along the horizon. I tried to focus on the autumn leaves raining down from the clustered trees crawling up the mountainside. I tried to smile, to pretend like the conversation being held didn't bother me. But it did.
In an attempt to distract myself, I started to hum and glide along the wall to the window. This place was my sanctuary, and I wanted to share it with my two friends who were turning out to be more of a source of anxiety than a stress relief. As I scaled the wall to get to the window, I remembered us. Our history. How I met Kailey my first day at my new high school, and how she confessed to me her crush on Blake. How close we were, the two of us, and how quickly it became the three of us when Blake decided to join. Sure, I had lots of new friends. But they weren't like Blake and Kailey. I couldn't really describe it. Kailey seemed so real to me. While everyone was trying to figure out who they were, Kailey knew. She didn't care about being popular, she had a plan. College, a career, and even a crush. The three Cs, as we called it. And Blake? He was intentional in everything he did. And loyal. I loved my other friends, and I trusted them. But I thought Blake and Kailey were more.
"Amelia?" Blake sounded concerned, but his voice was quickly warping in and out of my eardrums. Everything around me began to shake. My breathing became uneasy. My palms, a sweaty disaster. My temples throbbed, my stomach ached, my lungs swelled and expanded, taking my heart on an overactive ride for its life. I stumbled, my knees buckled and threatened to toss me off balance. My vision blurred in and out, switching from tunnel to fishbowl over and over again until it finally gave up and black. I wheezed, hoping to cool my nerves, but all it did was encourage the panic to take over. "Amelia!"
His excited scream was the last thing I heard.