Catch Me When I Fall

iv

My life is a wreck.

There is absolutely no way for me to start over. Or at least give life another chance. Or give him a chance.

...But he did save my life.

If I did jump off, I might have regretted it. But I had no choice.

I slowly nodded, "Okay."

Rider's face lit up with joy, "Great! I promise that you won't regret this."

We'll see about that...

Rider lead me out of the hallway and into the cafeteria. The room was boisterous and people were chatting with their friends. I followed him to the side of the cafeteria, to a lunch table where no one was sitting at.

Rider took a seat down and gestured me to sit down next to him.

I sat down and looked around.

"It's been a while?"

I turned to Rider and sighed, "Yeah."

He let out a soft chuckle, "That's fine. I hope you're not intimidated or anything. The reason why I asked you to eat lunch with me is because I didn't want you to go back to your habit of spending time during lunch in the bathroom. It's all about confidence, Addy."

"Thanks...I guess." I said, quietly.

I grabbed my bag and took out my lunch. As I took a bite out of my cheese and turkey sandwich, a tall, built blonde guy took a seat in front of Rider.

"Yo, Jamisen's test sucks ass. I heard most of my class had to cheat 'cause it was so hard." the guy said.

"Crap. I guess I'm beat. Thanks for the warning, bro." Rider said.

The guy glanced over at me as I tried to avoid his eye contact by continue eating my sandwich.

"Hey." he greeted, making me flinch a little.

I looked up at him, "Hi."

"You new here?" he asked, giving me a smile.

I mentally rolled my eyes at his question. Of course, I'm not surprised. I wouldn't blame him for asking since I haven't eaten in "public" for a while.

"Dude, she's been here since middle school." Rider corrected him.

The guy's eyes widened in surprise, "Shit! I'm so sorry!"

I gave him a small smile, "It's fine. I get that a lot anyway."

I saw Rider shooting the guy a glare as the guy mouthed, "Sorry" to him.

"Drew can be an ass sometimes. You wouldn't imagine what I have to go through every day because of him." Rider told me.

I smiled and couldn't help but to giggle.

"This is Addy." Rider introduced me to Drew, "Even though you should know her."

"Sorry, I guess it's just that I don't really see you around school anymore. At least Rider reminded me." Drew said, apologetically.

"That's okay." I said, softly.

"But weren't you friends with that Melissa chick once? I remember how you two were the most 'popular' girls in school." he asked.

I froze at his question and stared down at my sandwich.

"Did I ask something that I wasn't supposed to ask?" he asked, unsurely.

I shook my head, lightly, "No."

"Okay, because for a second, I thought that--"

"But you don't know, do you?" I asked him, cutting his sentence off.

"I'm not sure." he said, "Guess not."

"Melissa and I aren't friends anymore. That's it." I told him.

Drew made a small "o" with his mouth as Rider gave me a sad look.

"Sorry." Drew said, softly.

I shook my head and gave him a small smile, "It's fine. Whatever."

There was an awkward moment until Rider broke it by clearing his throat.

"So...Addy, what class do you have next?" he asked me.

"Italian." I replied and took a bite out of my sandwich.

"Same here. Sort of. I have Spanish." he said.

"That's cool." I whispered.

I continued eating my lunch as Rider and Drew started talking about their English test tomorrow.

I thought or...rethought about everything what Rider said to me yesterday. About how I should give him a chance to make me regret the bad choices I've made. And to forget the awful things I've experienced.

I really shouldn't rethink about all these stuff over and over again but it's the only thing I have in mind.

"Hey Addy?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at Rider, "Yeah?"

"We're going to get some froyo. Want to come with us?" he asked.

I shook my head, "I'll stay here."

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yeah." I replied, nodding.

"Alright." he said and got up from his seat, "We'll be right back."

Rider and Drew walked off to the frozen yogurt line as I finished eating my lunch. As I packed everything away, I saw a tall figure in front of me. I glanced at the ground and a pair of grey Sperry's were staring right back at me.

I froze, knowing that I recognized those grey Sperry's from somewhere.

"Hey Addy." I heard a sweet yet devilish voice call my name.

No.

It can't be.