Chapter 11 – Will

    I felt relief flood through me at the sight of Analise as she walked into class after a couple days of absence, but it was short live when I saw her face. Not that she wasn't beautiful, because she was, but she was covered in bruises and one of her beautiful brown eyes was swollen shut. I walked over to her, taking the opportunity seeing as she was rarely alone.

"Are you okay?" I asked gingerly, nervous of her reaction. I knew we weren't really friends, but I worried about her regardless because I considered her a friend even if the feeling wasn't mutual. I could admit to myself that I had a little crush on her even as much as I didn't want to. There was just something about her. I couldn't place what that something was, but I'd never had a crush on anyone so fast in my life. It had only been a couple of weeks.

She nodded, swiping a stray curl behind her ear. "Just a fight, Rando."

"With who?" I questioned without being able to help myself.

"No one you know," Analise answered vaguely. "No big deal."

"No big deal!?" I all but shouted, shocked to hear the words as my eyes widened. "You look like you just got jumped by a dozen guys!"

She looked down, avoiding my gaze, which only made my eyes widen more if that was possible. "Tell me you didn't."

Analise shrugged, her deep brown pools meeting mine confidently. "I didn't."

"You're lying," I accused, reaching my hand to her cheek. She flinched away from it. "What happened Analise?"

"Nothing," she whispered dejectedly, pivoting on her heel and turning to walk away.

I put a hand on her shoulder, trying to show her I was here for her and she could talk to me about anything. After the other night, I knew there was a lot she was keeping from me. "Analise, come on. What ha-"

Anger overtook her features. "I don't owe you an explanation, Will! Just give it a fucking rest! We aren't even friends!"

She called me Will. Not Rando. I couldn't believe the empty feeling not hearing the nickname.

I felt a pang in my chest, deciding not to respond. Truth be told, she was right. We weren't friends and I'd been giving myself false hope trying to convince myself otherwise. I knew that already, but sometimes I forgot, or wanted to forget. I at the very least wanted to be her friend, but she wouldn't let me in. I decided to just walk to my locker, blowing out a harsh breath of air and letting what she said roll off my shoulder. It wasn't the first mean thing anyone has ever said to me, and it surely wouldn't be the last.

I saw Mallory standing at my locker as I approached, but this time was different because Justin wasn't with her. I raised my eyebrows curiously, giving her a friendly smile and opening my locker. "Hey Mal, what's up?"

"I had something I wanted to ask you," she admitted, a serious tone taking over her normally playful voice.

"If I wasn't sure any better, I'd say you were going to ask me to go to a funeral with you or something. You look so serious."

She cracked a smile but said nothing, so I decided to encourage her.

I smiled a little wider, turning my full attention towards her. "Okay, go ahead."

Mallory suddenly looked extremely nervous, tucking a strand of red behind her ear. "Will you go to the dance with me?" It's so quiet I almost can't hear it; almost.

Shock coursed through me at her question and I'm just about sure I heard her wrong. "What?"

She looked down at her feet before her bright blue eyes met mine once more. She was exuding a newfound confidence, suddenly very sure of herself. "Will you go to homecoming with me?"

The question hit me and I was taken aback with my surprise. I had never looked at Mallory that way, completely hung up on Analise since first getting here. It was obvious she wasn't interested though, so why couldn't I go with Mallory? She was pretty; no Analise, but she was pretty and I would be pretty lucky to accompany her to the dance.

Mallory looked down at my silence, I suppose taking it as a bad thing and I put a hand on her shoulder to stop her from moving. I nodded, smiling at her. "Sure, Mal, we can go together."

*

It was after school and I had invited Analise over my house to practice our lines instead of her house. I hadn't let her over before and I figured it was only fair she saw my house. When I pulled up the long driveway of my huge house, I saw the surprise on Analise's face as she took in my house. It showed we had money, but I didn't flaunt it.

She trudged after me silently and I unlocked the door, allowing her to go first. Analise looked around in complete shock and I had to hide the distaste for my own house so she wouldn't see. She wouldn't understand why I wouldn't love living in such a nice house. No one ever understood.

"Your house is beautiful," she mumbled almost inaudibly, and I mumbled my thanks. She followed me into the kitchen and took a seat at the island as I walked around to the fridge, my favorite part of the whole house. The fridge was always my favorite part of any house though.

"Want any food?" I asked, pulling out random bags of snacks and a couple sodas. She nodded, thanking me before grabbing a bag of Doritos and pulling it open.

"You didn't tell me you were rich," Analise all but accused, munching on her chips.

I shrugged. "It's not something I tell everyone because it isn't something to brag about. I'm not rich, my mom is."

She nodded thoughtfully. "True."

I watched Analise who was deep in thought about something, and it took everything I had not to ask what about. I watched her brown eyes, thoughtful as ever, and her brows furrow in thought and her lips pursed. I decided to break the silence, completely forgetting we were supposed to be running lines. I picked a penny up off the counter, holding it out to her. "Penny for your thoughts?"

Analise stared at it, cracking a grin and I grinned widely back at her. "You're something else Rando. I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier, it's just personal."

I bobbed my head in understanding. "I'm sorry for prying, I just worry about you."

"Why though?"

I snorted, taking a bite of my zebra cake. When I was finished, I began. "Look, I know you don't see us as friends. I know you say you're not the friendship type. But I want us to be friends, and I consider you a friend. I met you before I met anyone else here and you interest me."

She gulped. "Interest you how?"

"Like why you jump from high places," I offered, and she visibly relaxed, but I had no idea why. "Why do you do that?"

Analise shook her head, pulling her hair into her hands and putting it off one shoulder. "I don't necessarily jump from high places all the time. I just take risks, it's something I've always done. You should try it sometime, it's exhilarating."

I was tentative with what came next, choosing my words carefully. "Would you mind if I tagged along on some adventures?"

She thought to herself for a minute, letting the nerves run their course through me before a small ghost of a smile graced her lips. "Sure, some. Not all of them, but some."

I couldn't contain my giant smile. "Thank you Analise."

"You wanna go on one now?"

I looked at our discarded bags, before shrugging my shoulders. "Sure."

We headed to a patch of forest that was a little bit out of town, not too far, and when we got there I looked around confused. I couldn't see anything but trees and for a second I wondered how this could possibly be one of her adventures. What, was she going to climb a tree and jump off?

"You just gonna stand there Rando, or you going to follow me?" Analise called.

I followed behind her, taking in our surroundings as I did. The trees were tall and looming giving an ominous feel and the birds chirping made it peaceful. There were big rocks strategically placed around, some painted colorfully, and some plain. The grass crunched underneath our feet and I took comfort in that sound. Finally we came to a halt and I looked in front of us to see branches covering our path. Analise pushed them apart, looking like she'd done it a million times.

I followed her out and my breath was caught in my throat as I took in the sight. We were in front of a cliff, and there was a waterfall adjacent to where the cliff dropped off. The waterfall cascaded down in a gorgeous way and fell into a bright blue stream of water.

"Wow."

Then I thought about why we were here and my eyes widened. "Don't tell me you're going cliff diving."

Analise chuckled lightly, heading towards the cliff. "Nah, I'm not stupid."

Could have fooled me.

"We're cliff sitting."

I did a double take. "Cliff what now?"

Ignoring me, Analise sat at the edge of the cliff and turned around to face me. She grinned at me before laying down, her top half hanging off the cliff and making my breathing stop suddenly. How the hell did this kind of stuff not scare her? I was terrified and it wasn't even me doing it.

"You gonna join Rando?" Analise asked, bending her top half so her head was hanging upside down off the cliff. Her hair cascaded down in soft waves and I resisted the urge to ask to run my fingers through it.

That would be weird.

"You're psycho," I said honestly, not to be offensive but saying what immediately came to mind.

Analise laughed. "You coming or not?"

I sat down next to her, already feeling woozy from being so high up and so close to the edge. I felt lightheaded and put my head in my hands, groaning softly before gaining my bearings. I turned to the girl next to me. "You're not scared?"

"I'm not scared of anything," Analise told me, shrugging her shoulders that were hanging off of a freaking cliff! "Why would I be?"

"Why would you not be!?" I all but shouted. "You could die!"

"We're all going to die one day."

I looked at her seriously, her eyes meeting mine. "Are you suicidal? I mean, seriously?"

She chuckled to herself, shaking her head. "Nope. Just like to take risks."

"Why?"

"No risk, no reward," Analise answered simply.

I thought for a minute. "What reward could you get from doing this?"

"Join me and you'll see."

And against my better judgement, I did. I laid on my back, slowly scooting to the edge. When I felt the edge of my cliff between my butt and back, I, too, moved so my head was hanging down. At first it felt like a rush all at once and I was dizzy, causing me to instinctively grab a pile of rocks with one hand and something soft and warm with the other.

Analise's hand.

I cleared my throat, about to pull away, but she squeezed it reassuringly. It sent jolts down my spine, and I had to ask myself if it was from the rush of being upside down almost hanging off of a cliff, or the way her hand felt in mine. "You got this, Rando. Breathe."

I felt my lips curl in a huge smile and I was almost scared my cheeks would crack from the pressure. I couldn't believe I was holding Analise's hand and she wasn't pulling away from me in disgust or something. She was actually holding it, showing me I could do this. And I knew with her by my side, I could.

Once my head – and the weird feeling in my chest – calmed down, I looked around and I finally understood what she meant. Though the view was breathtaking as it was, it was even more so upside down like this. You could see the waterfall and the cliff adjacent, but you could also see the gorgeous light blue sky and the white puffy clouds in the sky. It was like a watercolor painting with all the different hues in the sky blending together, a mix of pinks, oranges, yellows and reds. The waterfall was resting calmly beneath it, the blue at the top mingling with the blue in the sky. The boulders on either side of the top of the waterfall gave it texture, showing where the sky ended and the waterfall began.

I was breathless and amazed.

Besides the view, the rush to my head was amazing and different this time. It wasn't that scared rush I had when I first laid down, it felt like I was on top of the world and I could do anything I wanted to. It was an elating feeling, and I finally understood why Analise did the crazy things that she did. I would do practically anything in the world to keep this feeling with me in a jar and use it whenever I needed it.

I blew out a shaky breath, nodding. "Wow."

I glanced over at Analise. She had her eyes closed contently, breathing even, like all the weight of whatever was bothering her was lifted off her shoulders in that moment. I could see how that would be possible now after experiencing it myself. Staring at her like this, I could see the small birthmark under her ear, and how soft her hair looked blowing in the breeze, and the goosebumps forming on her cheeks.

I couldn't help but think about just how stunning she was, even with all the marks from whatever had hurt her. I wanted to protect her; needed to protect her, from whatever it was. It wasn't my place, but I wanted to make it my place. The thought of her being hurt caused a pang in my chest and it took everything I had to not attempt to claw it out.

And she's so pretty...

"Like the view?" Analise asked after a few minutes of silence.

I knew she was talking about the view of the waterfall and the sky, but I caught myself almost whispering, "Yes."

And at this point, I wasn't sure which one I was talking about.

She suddenly braced her hands on the edge of the cliff, lifting her legs up so that she was almost completely vertical hanging off the cliff. My heart almost stopped watching, but she had a firm grip and her laughter echoed in the silence of the valley, reverberating off the mountainous cliffs. Then she lowered herself back down, looking at me with a grin and then closing her eyes in content once again.

This girl was going to kill me.

We sat there in silence, me switching perspectives from the view to the girl sitting next to me. Thoughts continuously ran through my head about her and why she did what she did and what kind of weight she carried on her shoulders. I definitely felt like I liked her more than a friend, but I would never act on it. Analise would never – could never – feel the same for me, and I was setting myself up for heartbreak if I admitted to her that I liked her. She'd made that abundantly clear and I wasn't one to ignore hints – not anymore.

After a couple more minutes, Analise broke the silence. "Hey, Will?"

I responded in a raspy voice, surprising myself with the deep tone. "Yeah?"

She looked over at me, catching my eyes in a captivating gaze, and smiled slightly. "I guess we can be friends."