Chapter 14
He was seated on the family's living room couch with a bag of salt and
vinegar crisps and doing his best to concentrate on the telly. Nothing could
hold his interest. His mind kept on wandering to the event that happened
several hours ago. He saw Gaby and her tear-stricken dark eyes, her pale
cheeks and full lips. Lips, he thought. His mind went back to her lips. He
reached for his lips and touched his fingers to it. Her lips touched mine,
he thought, absurdly happy. "Why didn't I ask for her number? Or her
address?" he wondered, feeling like a complete deutz for not doing so. "Now
I'm stuck here, wondering where the hell she is!"
He sighed resignedly and shrank deeper into the soft leather couch.
He banged his head several times, trying to eject thoughts of Gaby off his
mind. It didn't work. "Damn!" he cursed. "Now I have a headache as well!" he
grumbled and stared at the telly, not caring what was showing. This is
insane, he thought, cursing under his breath. What is happening? A girl
kisses you and you go lunatic! I'm a pervert! I'm a pervert, he screamed
mentally.
Mark grabbed a pillow and propped it on his head, liking the feel of
the soft material cushioning his head. I`ll sleep this off, he told himself.
When I wake up, thoughts of Gaby will be completely erased. "Right," he said
audible enough to convince himself that he could brush her off that easily.
He sighed. The last thing he needed was to go crazy over some girl who's
hooked on a lad named Sean. He still can't believe how he felt when she
kissed him, though. It felt so good. The good feeling started down his feet
and traveled to his head. And how can he forget the butterflies in his
tummy? It all felt good.
Mark heard a loud scream. He snapped his head around and moved his eyes to
see who it was. Instinctively, he started walking briskly until he was
running, matching the power of his strides with the terrified screaming. He
skidded to a full stop when he realized he reached the end of a cliff. "Oh
my God!" he exclaimed, looking down to see a girl with cropped hair holding
on painfully to a raveling rope. "Hang on! Hang on!" he screamed nervously.
The girl's screaming decreased, steadying a bit as Mark crouched on his
knees. "Gimme your hand," he instructed, reaching out his left hand to the
girl. She hesitated, scared that if she moves the rope will split. "I won't
let you fall, I promise. Now take my hand," Mark said firmly. She has to
grab my hand now or else she'll fall and die, he thought dreadfully.
Slowly, the girl extended her arm but Mark was still too far. He moved
farther, not caring if he's risking his life. Her life depends on me now, he
thought, brushing aside the fear building inside him. "Come on!" he shouted.
"Push yourself up a little more. You can do it!" he encouraged. Their hands
were almost touching. Then they heard it.
SNAP!!! The rope finally split! The girl started to fall fast and she was
screaming. He was shouting as well, leaning over some more hoping against
hope he could grab her hand and save her. But she was plunging so fast and
he couldn't stop it. He stared at the descending body and his eyes found his
way to her face for some reason. What he saw shocked him.
"Gaby!!!" he bellowed, tears threatening to fall from his big blue eyes.