Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the girl, who was driving the car in clear concentration. He had to admit that she was beautiful, including in profile. With such beauty, she undoubtedly made a career as an advertising model. People admired her and many of them wanted to get to know her, while he got that chance and directly to her face announced to the girl that he didn't like her. Another boy would have called him a finite moron because he squandered such a wonderful opportunity to get close to Naomi. Although, how he treated her did not contribute to the girl's hatred of him. She still tried to gain his attention and did everything to get close to him. He couldn't understand it. Why did she care so much about him? He was just a gray student at a public high school, where his peers treated him like trash because he was poor. He was not discernible to people, and out of nowhere Naomi appeared and went crazy about him. She wanted to gain his affection and adoration at all costs. Her behavior even approached obsession.
What was driving her?
He shook off his thoughts when he noticed that the girl had stopped in her tracks. She unbuckled her belt and smiled at him in a friendly manner.
- I always come to this place when I need a moment of peace. There are no people here and no unnecessary commotion, so I don't have to worry about anyone seeing us.
Mark looked into the glass and noticed that a dense forest surrounded them. In front of them stretched a road that led to the river, or more precisely to a wooden bridge.
- How do you know this place?
- My friend Alex showed it to me. Not far from here is his former home, where he spent his entire childhood," she announced, nodding, pointing deep into the woods. - People don't come here because there was a murder here. - She pointed to the bridge with her finger. - Everyone is afraid to set foot here for fear that the same thing that happened to that family will happen to them. They were all murdered.
Chilling chills ran through his body.
- It's terrible.
- After what happened here.... Alex moved out of here immediately," she declared, swallowing her saliva harder. As much as she wanted to share what she knew with him, she couldn't. Only she knew the whole truth, but she was Alex's friend, and he trusted her, so she had to leave the details to herself.
- Aren't you afraid to come here? - A strange current coursed through his spine, so strong that the boy flinched.
- This happened ten years ago, so I rather doubt that someone would repeat the crime in the same place.
Naomi was brave. Compared to Mark, she was very charismatic and confident. People loved such people.
- Do you want to go there? - He tentatively pointed his finger at the bridge, opening his eyes wider.
- If you don't want to... - she broke off and looked at his face - then we can stay in the car.
Seeing her slightly amused look, he didn't intend to come off as a wimp. He was a man, so how could he confess to her that he was afraid? He preferred to save face and show the next person that he wasn't the wuss everyone thought he was.
The time had come when he decided to take the plunge and show everyone what he was capable of. People who know him will still start admiring him and apologizing for the awful words that came out of their mouths.
The teenager unbuckled his belt and got out of the car. He smoothed his shirt and took a confident step toward the wooden bridge. Although his knees buckled under him when he thought that someone had been murdered here ten years ago, he wanted to prove people wrong about him.
He stopped mid-step and looked to the side when Naomi caught up with him and grasped his hand with her palm.
- I must accompany you, after all, this is a continuation of our date.
- If, according to you, this is a first date, why did you take me to such a place? - He asked shyly.
- I wanted it to be special. Don't you think it's the perfect place to feel a certain thrill? They say that the first date should be original so that the couple will immediately become interested in each other and feel desire.
Mark opened his eyes wider with fear, seeing her glittering gaze.
- Let's go to that bridge," he mouthed with difficulty, preferring to be attacked by a psychopathic murderer than by her.
- I can already feel the desire...
These were the words that made the boy nervously grunt and with a hurried step headed toward the river. Naomi ran after him, but fortunately did not continue the previous topic.
They both sat down on the bridge, the wood of which had already begun to creak from old age.
- Will you finally confess the truth to me? Will you tell why you are interested in me? - The boy gained the courage to ask her a bold question.
In response, the girl took out a modern phone from her pocket and unexpectedly took a picture of him. Mark was greatly surprised.
- That's why," she declared, presenting him with his face. - You are so handsome.... so beautiful. Look at your features. They are perfect.
The teenager pulled down his eyebrows, thinking that Naomi was making fun of him at that moment. He didn't think he was ugly at all, but he described himself as rather average? His peers at school gave him a clear reason to do so.
- Are you making fun of me? - The girl was surprised by his answer. She saw that he was serious about it, so she couldn't understand why he didn't recognize his beauty? If he became a model, he would undoubtedly have a giant career!
- Someone here seems to have an understated sense of self-worth.
The brunet lowered his face and stuck a disgusted look in the water.
- I just don't think I'm some super perfect person. I don't like it when someone says that because then I think it's mocking.
- I guess you don't have an easy life, do you? - She surprised him with this question. He lifted his face and blinked his eyelids. - People can be awful occasionally. I know something about that, but you make a huge mistake. You believe what they say, and then you undervalue yourself. I don't do that because if I took to myself all the nasty words that people slander me with on the Internet, I would have been sitting locked in a dark room and crying a long time ago.
Was this the first time Naomi impressed him? Now that he had a chance to talk to her, he was slowly discovering another side of her. When surrounded by other people, could it be that the girl was only pretending to be someone she wasn't?
- I have reason to believe that I suck," he declared with pain in his voice. If she opened up to him, why couldn't he tell her what was on his heart? - There is no person who sincerely likes me. I have no friends. What am I talking about, I don't even have a friend.
- You are mistaken. There is certainly one person who likes you. That's me," she declared directly to his face. With this confession, she made the boy blush. - I don't know how it happened and what influence you had on it, but I think I fell in love with you, Mark.
He opened his mouth and stuck a frightened look at her.
Not knowing how he should react to this, he bolted from his seat, and his steps were so fast that he almost ran. He stopped in front of the car when the girl caught up with him and grabbed his hand.
He was embarrassed and breathing heavily.
- Something has led you to be afraid to let another person in, but I will change that," she declared boldly. She was so close to him that she touched him with her body. This panicked the boy, and in fear that she would do something more, he clung with his butt to the hood of the car.
- What do you want to do? - His voice trembled. The boy was concerned about the whole situation.
- In the end you will find out that you are worth more than those nasty people who destroy you.
She leaned over him and cupped his face with her hands, which completely intimidated the teenager. He wanted to save himself, so he laid his back on the mask, but this was a mistake because she took advantage of this and lay on top of him. She kissed him forcefully, and he, in an act of desperation, started waving his arms. He didn't know what he should do, so despair took over his body. With wide-open eyes, he stared at the branches of the trees as he felt her greedily thrust her tongue into his mouth. Although it wasn't bad, it was what made Mark completely panic. He didn't know how he should react. He was inexperienced, and moreover, he was so embarrassed that he was about to cry.
At that moment, Naomi destroyed him mentally.
*
It was the middle of the night. Breathing heavily, he leaned with his hands on the sink and opened the cabinet hanging above it, where he kept all his medicines. Tears streamed down his pale cheeks as he took out a small box with a trembling hand. He slipped two white pills out of it, which he immediately put in his mouth. He tilted his head back and swallowed them, eager to calm down after the nightmares that destroyed his sleep for another night in a row.
Ten years passed, and the nightmares — which were memories from the past — did not in any way subside. They continued to ruin the boy's life.
He squatted on the bathtub and hid his face in his hands, trying to control the trembling of his body. He wanted to forget about it, but even visits to a psychiatrist didn't exactly help him. The man continued to prescribe him only prescription pills, which he thought should eventually help him.
Alex had lost hope that he would ever forget the past and be cured of the nightmares that came over him every stormy night. He needed something that would help him put the events of ten years ago behind him and allow him to live a peaceful, joyful life alongside the woman he would eventually love.
He felt he was breathless. Furthermore, he left the bathroom and on the way grabbed the cell phone lying on the coffee table. He couldn't stay at home any longer. He required a moment to breathe some fresh air, so he headed toward the garden. Although it was pouring outside, that didn't stop him from sitting on the steps in front of the house to cool off.
Tears mingled with the rain as he dialed one on the keyboard, which automatically connected him with his best friend. Although it was the middle of the night, she reiterated to him that he could call her anytime to pour out his grievances or vent his anger.
She picked up after four signals.
- I can't cope anymore, Naomi," he said so quietly that he was drowned out by the raindrops, which unexpectedly picked up steam.
- Alex? - He heard her concerned voice. - What is going on?
- Advise me... What should I do to free myself from this nightmare again? - He asked, trying to hold back tears. He lowered his face and closed his eyes, pressing his lips tightly together. - Tonight is especially hard for me.
- Call her. - Her words made him lift his eyelids and fix his puzzled gaze on the concrete steps where he was sitting. - Alex, I noticed that you are different in her presence. You can laugh, you are happy. She lets you forget everything, although I have no idea how it happened.
- What do you mean?
- I'm talking about that monkey - Samantha.
The two were silent for a long time. Naomi listened to the raindrops on the other side of the receiver.
- You are always right, so I should do so....
- If that doesn't help you either, then call me again, Alex. - She hung up, and he lifted his face and squinted at the raindrops.
In accordance with his friend's words, he searched in his contacts for the number, which he wrote down under the nickname "Teenage Scoundrel."
She answered the second time. Her voice was sleepy. It woke her up.
- Who is such a moron to wake me up in the middle of the night? - she attacked the boy, clearly agitated that anyone dared to rouse her from her sleep.
- Samantha," he whispered in a sad voice, and she fumed. - Isn't the night too bleak?
- Alex? - The teenager was surprised by the phone call from him. On the speaker his voice seemed very bitter. - Are you all right?
- Can I say that if I omit the fact that I'm sitting in front of the house, getting wet in the rain and looking for something to save me from such a terrible night?
She fell silent. She could hear by his voice that something was wrong. The boy was concerned about something, but it was surprising to her that he had called her exactly that. They didn't know each other well enough for her to give him any advice in the middle of the night.
- Will you tell me why you are getting wet in the rain? - The girl sat on the bed and brushed unruly strands of hair out of her face.
- Rain is pleasant, don't you think?
Samantha furrowed her eyebrows because the conversation with Alex was completely unlike the last chats she had the opportunity to have with him. Usually, his expressions were confident and humorous, but now she got the impression that she was having a conversation with someone entirely different.
- Can you reveal to me what is going on? I'm starting to get concerned because your behavior is completely out of step with your personality.
- Sometimes people's strange behavior is because they need some kind of reflection and hide behind a mask that makes them become entirely different people. I think this is the case with me, Samantha said.
She frowned.
She threw off her quilt and rose vigorously from the bed. Pressing the phone against her shoulder with her cheek, she hurriedly put on her pants. Over her head she threw the first sweatshirt she found hanging on the chair, then she spoke to him:
- You're home, aren't you, Alex?
He didn't answer, but she was sure that's where he was. She remembered the address, so she called a cab and decided to go to him as soon as possible. She had a bad feeling that something bad was happening to him.
*
That night, Mark couldn't get to sleep. He lay in bed the whole time thinking about what Naomi had done. He wriggled from side to side, unable to forget that she had kissed him. Likewise, he should scold her and hated her even more for turning the show around, but some part of him wasn't even angry with the girl because of it. Furthermore, he had to admit that her attack even pleased him, but he was disturbed by how inexperienced he was with her.
He should be jumping for joy and be all in a tizzy because he had been kissed by an advertising model for what another boy would have let himself be killed for. He might have acted that way if it weren't for the fact that he eventually burned from embarrassment.
When she looked at him, his face was red, so she found it cute. She winked at him and announced that she would give him proper practice, which made him even more embarrassed. At that moment, he felt like collapsing to the ground.
They spent the way back in the car, silent. Mark stared out the window the whole time, listening to the music she played in the player. As far as musical taste was concerned, he had to admit that they had similar tastes. However, that didn't change his opinion on the fact that she was sometimes overly crazy.
The boy got out of bed and walked over to the window, hearing how much it was falling apart. Large raindrops were streaming down the glass, and although they initially caught Mark's attention, his gaze stopped on the girl, who was standing aside the road.
He shook his head, confident that it was his neighbor. Although it was the middle of the night and the heavy rain so unfavorable, she had decided to go somewhere. Nothing could stop this girl when she planned something.
Mark was sure she would bring trouble on herself again, but he wasn't going to interfere. Since she was so reckless, it was already her business what she was going to do at that hour.
She loved to create problems.
*
Samantha paid the cab driver and ran straight out into the rain. The car drove away, and she walked to the gate and carefully looked around the garden. She spotted him. Soaked to the bone, with his head down, he was sitting on the concrete steps.
She tugged on the door, but it did not open. She pressed her lips together and jumped to the wicket. Furthermore, she lifted herself up, and although her feet slipped on the rungs, she eventually managed to climb the gate and jump over to the other side.
Somewhere in the distance, dogs barked as she ran directly to Alex. The boy lifted his face and, squinting, looked at the girl as she stood before him, clearly worried. Long brown hair stuck to her snow-white face. A wet sweatshirt as well as pants clung to her slim body, and she stood still, breathing hard and watching him carefully.
- Samantha?
- Can you tell me what you're doing, you moron! - She raised her voice, not caring that it was the middle of the night and his neighbors might be unhappy about the noise she was making.
The boy did not respond. He just stared at her face, surprised that she had come to see him in the middle of the night, even though he hadn't asked for it.
- I don't know what shot into that stupid head of yours, but you're so drenched that you're bound to be spread sick. On top of all that, you're sitting on concrete stairs? Have you gone completely insane! - she screamed, but Alex immediately shut her mouth when he unexpectedly stood up and embraced her.
The teenager opened her eyes wider, not seeing anything in front of her. The boy hugged her, and she felt that at that moment something happened to her heart. It undoubtedly began to beat faster; so loudly that she got the impression that even he could hear it.
The gray-haired man snuggled into her wet hair. Raindrops ran down their faces while he held her tightly in his embrace.
- She was right... you are my salvation," he whispered in her ear. She opened her mouth to say something, but eventually became speechless. - You are better than prescription pills," he added, smiling slightly.
At that moment, nothing bothered her. She didn't give a damn that she was soaked to the bone and would undoubtedly get sick; she didn't care if she got another beating from her mother for running away in the middle of the night because what she felt now, being embraced by Alex, made her feel good.
Could it be that in his arms she was beginning to find happiness?