The Glass Passenger

Rachel Elizabeth Margot had arrived in Baltimore only two days ago, and at her arrival she had gently escorted by Zack and Rian her to the hospital, where a hysterical Jack had been waiting for her.

Since her arrival at that hospital she hadn’t left. She only left the room grudgingly when she had to get another cup of weak coffee or use the bathroom. She hadn’t eaten either, despite the best attempts of Mrs Gaskarth who wore the same worrisome and anxious expression as the 21-year-old Rachel, but Mrs Gaskarth wasn’t only worried about her son.

Alex saw all this and it stung his heart. He played absentmindedly with the next charm on the bracelet and tried very hard to think of the better days when Rachel didn’t look so sad and so destroyed.

“Tell the next story,” Annie had said gently and in a way that reminded himof a child.

He still had so many questions he wanted to ask, who she was, or moreover what she was. The lack of explanations caused Alex to feel some resentment, and as if Annie could sense this she quickly diverted his attention.

“Is it a shoe because she’s obsessed with collecting them?” Annie asked innocently and the question was enough to draw Alex’s mind back to his current purpose.

“No, she actually didn’t really care for shoes at all, especially heels so it’s quite a funny story really…” Alex tailed off as he gently slipped into the treasure chest of old memories.

The minute that that the bell of Emma’s Cupcake Shop tinkled and a young boy with a baseball cap walked in, Rachel knew that she had lost her bet. With a groan she had tried to hide behind the counter, but it had all been in vain because Alex had seen her through the large glass window.

“See,” he had said gesturing widely to himself and speaking loudly so that everyone in the shop could hear. “No food poising. Looks like you’re having dinner with me tonight.”

Rachel had always been the kind of girl who dreaded dates, simply because she had hardly ever had the experience. She had dreaded seeing Alex walk through that door because the idea of a date sent her into a mass panic. What to wear? What to say? When to kiss him or not to kiss him? To eat spaghetti or a salad? Slutty of girly? Full make up or not much make up? The questions had been chasing each other around her pretty head for the rest of the afternoon after Alex’s victory visit.

The minute she had been allowed to leave the bakery she had sped home and raided her closet, cursing herself for being so unprepared for moments such as these.

In the end she had called Charlotte; her older sister by two years.

Charlotte was a girl’s girl and once she had found out about the cocky boy who had asked her baby sister out on a date she screeched with joy and began to bring some structure into Rachel’s outfit, in a way that had suggested she had been planning it for a long time.

On the other side of town Alex Gaskarth was having a situation mildly similar to Rachel’s. He too was stood in front of the wardrobe cursing it for holding no items of clothing that seemed fitting for the occasion of a date.

“Dude chill,” Zack had said as he stuffed a whole pop tart in his mouth. “It’s just a date.”

But even as Zack had said those words he knew they didn’t reign true. Alex had never gotten so worked up about a date like this, and he had been on many a date before. Zack knew long before anyone else just how special Rachel was.

The ringing of the doorbell at the Margot household highlighted the inevitable, and slightly apocalyptical hour of seven o’clock. On one side of the door Alex was stood, shuffling his feet awkwardly and tugging at a plaid shirt. On the other Rachel was stood trying to calm her breathing down, swaying slightly in heels which were already killing her feet.

But the door had to be opened and after a couple of seconds Rachel had felt brave enough to go through with it.

The sight of Alex had caused an almighty lurch in the base of Rachel’s stomach and ironically enough Alex felt the same sensation when his eyes fell upon Rachel. She was wearing an outfit hand picked by Charlotte and even though she felt slightly uncomfortable in the purple dress she pulled it off convincingly and she even succeeded in making Alex stutter.

Something no other girl had ever been capable of.

Alex had been worried that the usual date rundown of a film and then dinner would be too predictable, but then he daren’t scare Rachel off. Silently he decided that next time he would go all out. Even from the very first day he was desperate to prove his worth, something that Rachel always said was unnecessary.

Everything had gone perfectly until halfway through the evening.

They both had managed to agree on a film that they would both enjoy and Alex had won the fight of paying for Rachel’s ticket and popcorn, all of this had been underlined with banter and laughs that made everybody else visiting the cinema that night jealous. Throughout the movie they had held hands and smiled at each other, causing the butterflies in both their stomachs to make their presence know.

When Alex and Rachel walked out of the cinema, still holding hands, the streets and sidewalks were glistening with fresh rain that had just fallen from the now cloudless sky. But Alex wasn’t going to take chances and so he bounded off the sidewalk and hailed a taxi to take the two of them to the restaurant.

However that was the part that hadn’t gone so smoothly.

Whilst Alex had been getting the cab, Rachel had been looking at the wet pavement with serious doubts growing inside of her. How she was going to walk anywhere on the wet and slippy pavement in the shoes that she was currently in, mystified the girl and she was only pulled out of her deep contemplation when Alex called her name and held the cab door open for her; always the gentleman.

That had been the moment when all of Rachel’s worst fears had come true. She made it so far as the boardwalk when she slipped. She managed to slide down gracefully all the while cursing her sister for persuading her to wear the shoes, but the actual fall itself was not without damage.

Alex and Rachel spent the rest of the night in ER whilst a strikingly handsome male nurse, who reminded Rachel of George Clooney but she didn’t day this for fear of annoying Alex, put a white cast around Rachel’s broken ankle.

“She always said she was a klutz, but that proved it right there and then,” Alex said with a rueful grin on his face as he saw Annie laughing. “She’s never worn a pair of heels since, all her shoes are either flats or converse.”

“She must have felt so bad,” Annie said thoughtfully, but the traces of a grin were still present.

“What do you mean?”

“Well if I was on a date with a guy I really liked and I broke my ankle I’d feel terrible for ruining the date and being so stupid,” Annie said never taking her eyes of Alex.

It was a new enlightenment to him, although Rachel had never stopped apologising profusely on the way back home he never thought she would feel bad about it, never even considered that part of the option. He had been angry with himself; he was the one who felt bad for not being able to make sure she was ok. Looking back on it Alex realised that that moment had been the moment that had spurred his protective instinct to the maximum.

Alex stole a glance past Annie’s shoulder and looked at Rachel again. He couldn’t bare to look at her face, which held so much emotion, and so instead his gaze fell to her feet. She was wearing a pair of bright blue flats.

He suppressed a smirk and vowed to buy her some expensive high heels when he woke up.

That is, if he woke up.