Falling by Paige Cunningham (ebook reader library .txt) 📖

wrong with me. It was like I had just skipped adolescence and gone straight to adulthood.
A sudden thought entered my head, mum. I hadn’t seen her since this morning and since she was currently unemployed, she was usually home. My mum was a solicitor but her firm just want bust so now she was jobless. Luckily we had saved up enough to get by until she found another job. My dad left when we were three so the only other income that we had was from mine and Rose’s Saturday job. I worked in the local corner shop and Rose, being a fashionista, worked in one of the high street’s many clothes shops. I bet it was really hard for my mum, being a single mother must be an almost impossible challenge. Rose and I were only ten months apart in age – my mum literally had me and then got pregnant again – so we were both seventeen and perfectly capable of looking after ourselves. I think that made it easier on my mum.
I walk out onto the landing and lean over the banister.
“Rose, Where’s mum?” I shouted so that she could hear me from downstairs.
“She’s at a job interview, she’ll be home soon. I thought she told you.” She shouted back but her voice was still a bit muffled.
“Oh, OK.” I walked away from the banister and back into my room. I jumped onto my bed, laid back and closed my eyes. For the first time today I actually felt relaxed. The next thing I knew I was in a deep slumber.

I was standing on a cliff. Below me was a beach made of small stones and a raging ocean. It was freezing, typical British weather. I looked up and saw a grey sky, a storm was coming. A gust of wind smacked against me and sent shivers down my spine. We live nowhere near the sea but yet this place seemed vaguely familiar. I felt like I had been there before even though I didn’t remember. Despite the approaching storm, I felt peaceful, serene. This place was an oasis of tranquillity.
I took in a deep breath and the aroma of the beach filled my nostrils. I bent down to feel the patch of grass beneath me. I don’t know why, it was like I wasn’t in control of my body, almost like an out of body experience. Without warning, my whole body leaned forward, nothing but the wind kept me from plunging to my death. I wanted to lean back, I wanted to scream, and my heart should have been beating at one hundred miles per hour. I had a fear of heights, actually more like a phobia. I was absolutely petrified of heights. I would shake uncontrollably; I would get woozy and light-headed. The whole world around me would spin and my whole body would go numb. But right then, as I was leaning out and I stared down, I didn’t feel like that. My heart beat was slow and my breathing was steady, I didn’t feel dizzy or shaky. This wasn’t normal; it was like my phobia didn’t exist.
The first drop of rain hit me. Like I had expected it was icy cold and it ran down my face. It didn’t make me shiver like it should have; instead it was cool and refreshing. A few seconds later another drop hit me, then another, then another. The heavens had unleashed a shower of icy drops. My hair got wet and stuck to my face. The white dress that I was wearing was soaked and it clung to me. It was stupid that I would be wearing a dress in this weather. I didn’t usually wear dresses at all; I was a jeans and Tee-shirt kind of girl, so I didn’t understand how I came to be wearing this white evening gown. I leaned my head back and the rain splashed my face. I smiled and chuckled. My laugh wasn’t right, it wasn’t my laugh. It was too sweet, too angelic it wasn’t me. The water fell into my open mouth. It was very refreshing. It slid down the back of my throat and quenched the thirst that until that moment, I hadn’t realised that I had.
I was startled by the thunder. It vibrated in my eardrums. The cliff trembled and a small piece of rock fell into the sea. This is where I should have started to freak out, I should have started to hyperventilate, I should have done something but I didn’t. I didn’t move, I just stood there. Even when the lightning shot through the sky I stood there frozen.
“Hey,” A mans voice came from behind me. I had heard it before, this voice. But it couldn’t be. I refused to believe it. It was Matt.
“Hey, what are you-“He started to say something. What was he doing here? I turned to face him and ask him where I was and why he was here but as I turned my foot slipped. Why did I have to be so clumsy? Before I knew it my whole body was over the side. I turned; I arched my back, straightened my arms and executed a swan dive. How was I doing this? I had never been diving in my life, mostly due to my fear of heights but this was like a reflex, I did it automatically. My brain had no say, my body just did it. Crack, my head smacked against a ledge on the cliff. The pain was too much to bear, I struggled to keep my eyes open but I was overwhelmed with the pain. My eye lids closed and I plunged towards the sea.
I fought so hard, ignoring the agony. My head was pounding but I opened my eyes. The fall seemed to last forever. I didn’t think that I would ever reach the bottom. I felt a whole new pain when I saw what was happening above me. Matt jumped off the cliff, diving towards me. He moved faster than I did and he was so close. My stomach wrenched at the sight of him. Was he crazy? What did he think would happen when he jumped? That somehow he would save me? He was insane. Now not only was I going to die but he was as well.
I looked into his green eyes, hoping that they would send me into a trance, hoping that they would numb the pain, hoping that they would distract me from the fear. I couldn’t handle it, the anticipation, I knew what was coming, I knew what was going to happen but time was standing still. I wish it would just end, I couldn’t wait any longer, it was killing me. Then, I didn’t have to wait anymore. I smacked the water, staring into his eyes the pain disappeared. I could feel the darkness taking over but I kept my gaze steady, focusing on the emerald green. Then, just as his eyes were fading away, I woke up.


5.
It all seemed so real, too vivid to be just a dream. I could feel the wind, I could smell the ocean, I could hear the thunder, it couldn’t be just a dream. It was so strange, why would I dream of that place? Why would I dream of Matt? I was short of breath and beads of sweat were trickling down my forehead. How could a dream make me feel this way?
Light cracked through my curtains and lit my room. I was still wearing the clothes I had worn before I fell asleep. My glasses were digging into my head where I was laying on them. I checked the clock, still in a daze from the bizarre dream. I wiped my eyes trying to get rid of the sleep dust that was blurring my vision. Jumping out of bed, I started to panic. Eight fifteen AM, I was going to be late for school. I rushed to the bathroom to have a shower. I was quite proud when I saw that it only took me five minutes. It took me three minutes to blow dry my hair. I ransacked my wardrobe searching for a outfit (I’m no Saffron Maxwell – who by the way probably gets up at like five so that she can get ready- but I still care about my appearance). I grabbed out the first thing I found which was a pair of black skinny jeans and a red top. I threw them on and raced down stairs. I got my school bag from the cupboard, my jacket from the coat rack, slid on my shoes and grabbed a cereal bar from the kitchen, before running out to my car.

I got to school just in time. I found the same space in the car park as I had yesterday because I knew it would be the only one left. A lot of help that mental note did. I ran towards the gate, tripping over my own feet a few times but eventually I made it. I was glad that my first lesson was RE, the humanities block was right next to the gate. I arrived at the class room as everyone was filing in and, apart from my heavy panting; there was no sign that I was late.
Oh, no. The thought hadn’t occurred to me until now. I sat alone in this lesson and the seat next to me was the only available seat in the class. I hated RE already without the added aggravation of having to sit next to Matt. I tried using my little gift again but it didn’t even get a chance to work as, before Mrs Brunel scanned the class for a seat, Matt had already suggested the seat next to me. Great.
I was sat in the back of the room, just like in English. As he strode up the aisle it was like de-ja vu. All of the girls gawked and ogled brainlessly at him just like yesterday in English when everybody saw him for the first time; I was annoyed that Matt was coming to steal my beloved empty seat and again, just like in English, he shot me one of his brilliant smiles and I couldn’t help but smile back.
He slid into his new seat and placed his arm around my shoulders, resting it on the back of my chair as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Even through my clothes his touch managed to give me an electric shock. I realized then that the shocks had nothing to do with a static charge. I put it down to my loathing of him. I thought that it was just my body’s way of reacting to my strong emotions. I knew that this theory was total rubbish but I had no other ideas/excuses on how to explain the shocks.
“Hello” He said in a cheerful friendly tone
“Hi” My tone was the opposite of his. I was dismissive, trying to tell him that I didn’t want to engage in