One World Apart

I jumped on grandma’s old rusty bike and rode down the road to the local park. A place I hadn’t visited since last summer when I’d ventured into the creek there with Jasmine. The park wasn’t anything special just a spare block with a heap of overgrown trees and rotten wooden tables.
As I rode, I contemplated turning back, running away. I was dead nervous. Meeting strange boys in parks wasn’t something a normal teenager my age would do. Anything could happen, we’d be all alone and if I screamed I’d doubt anyone would notice. I hadn’t even told my grandparents what I was doing, just that I was going to go for a ride around town for a little while. They trusted me. Then again, Crimson Creek was a safe place to venture around, I and my grandparents knew every person who lived in Crimson Creek and quite well.
I turned onto Weir Street. There was no turning back now. Curiosity had gotten the best of me again. I had to know more about this boy. I had to know how he knew my name.
As I approached the gate of the old park, I hopped off the bike.
I couldn’t see Adam anywhere within the park though. Not sitting at one of the rotten tables, not waiting for me beside the rusty iron gate.
Maybe he wasn’t coming. I checked the time on my old silver watch, it read exactly ten thirty. Maybe I’d wait for a little while, people were late for things all the time. I rested my bike against the park fence and turned around. I wasn’t sure if I should wait for him at the fence or go into the park and sit down. Why couldn’t he have been early?
Hesitantly I opened the gate to the park.
That’s when he caught me by surprise. He tapped me on the shoulder and immediately I wheeled around to see him standing in front of me a massive grin pasted across his face.
“Hey,” I managed to croak.
“Hey,” he responded. “I’m glad you came.”
I nodded at him unsure of what to say next even though I had so many questions I wanted answered. It would’ve been rude to swamp him with all of them at once. We stood their staring at each other for a moment before he motioned for me to follow him through the gate.

He paused briefly to hold it open for me and then continued into the park. Silently I followed him through the trees until we reached the creek. It was here we stopped.
He sat himself down in-between the roots of an old willow tree while I decided to sit on a tree stump across from him.
The silence quickly grew awkward. My palms started to sweat with anxiety. What did he want with me?

“So, Hailey, how long have you been living in Crimson Creek for?”
The question startled me; why was that even important? It took me a while to think before I answered.
“My whole life, my grandparents raised me here.”
He nodded his hands clasped in between his legs tightly.

“And your parents?”
Sorrow filled me as I remembered the story of what had happened to my parents. Most of the time I tried not to think about it, I’d never even met my parents.
“My mother died giving birth to me. My father loved her so much he could not survive without her even though he knew he had me. In his depression he killed himself.”
Adams face fell with shock as hot tears started to pour down my face. I tried to hide my sorrow by biting my lip, but I couldn’t make the tears stop.
He jumped from his seat in between the roots and sat next to me placing an arm around my shoulders.
“I’m so sorry, Hailey,” he said.
I looked him in the eyes and sniffed shaking my head slowly.
“You asked me to come here if I wanted answers. So give me them.”
He nodded taking his arm off my shoulders and sat in front of the tree stump at my feet cross-legged.
“Have you ever dreamt of a different life? One out of Crimson Creek?” Adam asked.
“Yes, all the time,” I replied wiping the tears from my face.
“How does that explain how you knew my name?”
Adam considered the question for a moment and then replied, “Your parents were good friends of mine once upon a time.”
There was a pause for a moment before I asked another question.
“Why did you come to Crimson Creek?”
He leaned in close to me placing his hand over my right, which sat beside me on the stump.
“Are you scared of me Hailey Smith?” He whispered, and it sent a shudder down my spine.
“Yes.”
He laughed at me and placed his other hand on my other. The he whispered in my ear, “What would you do if your whole world changed in an instant?”
Before I could answer I felt the world spin beneath my feet.