A Second Chance

I stumbled into work that night in the worst of moods possible. I said as little as possible as I could to Sam and Taylor, and I wasn’t all that sociable with the customers. When I had first gotten to the bar I noticed that Chase was back in the kitchen, cooking in his own solitude. It mildly surprised me to even see him there, considering the events of the day before. I didn’t say a word to him; I hadn’t even gone within speaking range of him. I also noticed that Chase wasn’t talking to Sam when given the order of what to cook. Taylor was now in this sense being the messenger girl in a feud between two sides, those being Sam and Chase. They wouldn’t even so much as look at each other, let alone talk. Though I can imagine why, they didn’t exactly end things yesterday on the best foot.

The night was almost over; time had seemed to slip by excruciatingly slowly. Almost all the customers and beer heads had left by now, and the only people who were still hanging around where only there to finish up the meals that they had been eating. Not having work at the moment, I sat down at the bar counter and took a small rest. I sighed to myself and thought of Luke. I would have to go apologize to him tomorrow, I can’t bear it if one of my best friends, and not to mention my only friend was mad at me and wouldn’t even speak my way. I heavily sighed again and rested my head onto the counter and closed my eyes.

What’s wrong with you?” I heard a voice say. I opened my eyes and lifted my head to see Chase leaning over the other side of the counter next to me. I looked away from him for a moment and gave another small sigh.

“I’m an idiot, that’s what’s wrong with me.” Chase gave a small chuckled, though not in the mean way. I looked back over to him; he surprised me with having a small smile on his face.

“I suppose this is where I’m supposed to ask ‘why are you an idiot?’” He had warmness in his voice that shocked me; he was talking a bit quiet, but very sweetly. His beautiful purple eyes were burning aglow.

“I totally screwed things up.” I said absentmindedly shaking my head.

“What, did you and Luke break up?” He asked with a confused face, sounding a bit more like his normal sarcastic self. I looked over at him a little surprised but also dumbfounded at the same time.

“No, because there was nothing to break. We weren’t together.” Chase gave a small shrug.

“Could’ve fooled the town.” I looked at him a little wide eyed.

“The town?” He gave a sly smile.

“Yeah, ever since I moved here I heard people talking about this amazing fairytale couple that like everyone was envious of. Learned a few days ago that it was you and good old Lukey-boy.” I was in a small state of disbelief. “But alas, there was no fairytale couple to be envious of. So now the small peasants of this mediocrity can go about and rejoice in the streets and sing and dance and throw bread in the air.” He said with his normal sarcasm, I rolled my eyes at him.

“I can’t believe the whole town thought we were dating.” I said, though I wasn’t exactly talking to Chase. It was more an out loud thought that rolled through my head.

“You guys were always together.” Chase pointed out.

“Still no matter, I have to apologize. I can’t have him mad at me.” Chase looked at me with a confused face and a slightly raised eyebrow.

“What exactly did you do that was so terrible?” I shook my head back and forth absentmindedly again.

“I got under his skin when I shouldn’t have. You know maybe I should go apologize tonight, if he’s still awake. I mean I know he has work in the morning but I—”

“Mallory,” Chase stopped me. I looked over at him. “You need to learn how to relax. You still got too much of that city girl tension build up in you, you gotta let that go. Look, Luke is mad at you, but that doesn’t mean that your whole universe needs to stop moving around.”

“But he can’t be mad at me, I’ll have no one else. He’s like my only friend on the island.” Chase stared at me confused, and looked at me like I was a little crazy. I stared right back at him, with a confused face, trying to figure out what he was trying to get across to me.

“But, apparently you’re my friend?” I took a stab in the dark. Chase smiled at me then pat me on the arm lightly.

“There you go.” He pointed his index finger at me and looked mockingly serious. “Now, tonight after work I’m gonna teach you how to relax.” I stared at him with a smile, but looked at him like he was mentally insane.

“After work?” I glanced over at the clock that hung above the back wall. “Work ends at 3am.” Chase put his hands out like he was shrugging. He smiled at devilish smile at me.

“Perfect time to relax.” He put his hands back together. “You up for it?” I side smiled at him.

“No, but I’ll be there.” He smiled at me and started to walk back over at the kitchen.

“Then I will see you once shift lets up.” He turned around and treaded back over to where the kitchen was. I looked over at the clock, it was only about fifteen minutes away from 3, and for some reason, that thought made me smile.

When 3 am rolled around, I said my goodbye to Sam and Taylor. I looked around the bar and couldn’t even catch a glimpse of the blonde haired boy. I looked all over but couldn’t find Chase. I began to worry a bit that he had forgotten, and had gone home. I called over to Taylor to ask if she had seen him, and she said that she saw him leave already. My heart sank a bit. I sighed, and then walked out the door, with my head hanging low.

When I first walked out the door, I heard it shut behind me. I began to walk away but thought I heard footsteps. I paused in my walking for a moment and looked around. I didn’t see anyone; then again it was 3am. I didn’t know who in their right mind would still be out. I looked at my feet and was about to take a step forward when I felt something poke me on the side of my stomach. I yelped; the side of my stomach was a tender spot, and often led me to release a small yell. I turned around and smiled slightly when I saw Chase. He laughed at my yelp; for a guy with a sarcastic personality he had a nice soothing laugh.

“You still have way too much stress,” He walked out in front of me; I took a few steps forward as well. “Lesson one in relaxing is to clear your head of everything.”

“It’s not exactly that easy you know.” He looked over at me with a smug grin.

“That’s where lesson two comes in. You need to find a nice relaxing place away from any other distractions.” I looked at him with a small confused look. The only soothing relaxing place that I knew about on the island was Luke’s spot at the falls, but I doubt that Chase would know about that. He walked over closer to me, very close actually, and stood in front of me. He was only slightly taller than I was, and he stared into me with his beautiful eyes. I could feel him breathing on me; I couldn’t breathe myself for a moment. “Lucky for you I know the perfect place.” He said in almost a whisper, as a small devious smile curved on his lips. He jerked his head over to the left and stepped back from me. I breathed. He continued to walk over in the direction that he had jerked his head in. I stayed where I stood, in shock almost. I almost found it hard to believe that Chase had gotten that close to me; I also couldn’t believe how nice he was being to me, after everyone had said what a horror he is. He looked back over at me. “I can wait.” I shook my head slightly, as if to knock me out of my own trance.

“Uh, no I’m coming.” I said as I trotted over to where he was standing. We both started to walk, as he led me to his soothing relaxation spot.

“It’s a little bit of a walk away. I hope you don’t mind walking.”

“Nah. I mean what else would I rather be doing at three in the morning?” He looked over and stared at me, but then smiled and laughed slightly.

We talked some of the way, but it was silent for the most part. It was a lot like with Luke, it was quite and silent, yet it wasn’t awkward. The island was darker than I had ever seen it before, though at the same time it was glowing. We had been walking through a small forest when he stopped walking. I looked over at him, and saw him staring at me.

“Don’t take it all in at once.” He said, confusing me. He stepped through some tall grass ahead of us and grabbed my arm and pulled me through too. When he grabbed me, I started to speak.

“What do you m—” I stopped talking once I got through the grass. I looked around me, and all I could see was white soft crystal sand and a sapphire ocean that spread for miles. The moon was straight in full view above the ocean, and it line casted an almost haunting reflection over the water. Waves were gently lapping up against the shoreline. The beach was small, but it was big enough for two people who wanted to get away from the town. “Oh my God…” I breathed as I took it all in. I heard Chase snicker beside me. “This place is incredible.”

“Whenever I move to a new place, I always find the most peaceful place that I can, away from people, and the city and life. This is on the completely other side of the island. I heard that no one ever really comes here.” Without another word Chase walked over into the beach more and sad down close to the waves. Though not so close that the waves would hit hm. He looked over at me then patted the sand next to him. “Come, sit.” I walked over and sat next to him, the breeze of the ocean slapping me in the face. It felt good to feel the air against my face, it felt realistic. “See, now don’t you feel more relaxed?” He asked. I looked over at him.

“I don’t understand you.” He looked at me confused; I stared out at the ocean as I spoke. “I mean everyone says that you’re this mean, horrible, devious, nasty human being that shouldn’t be trusted.” I turned and looked back over at him. He shrugged like it was nothing.

“I shouldn’t.” I shook my head slightly.

“Why?” He sat with his knees bent and his arms were laid over his knees. He looked out at the sea, with a distant look in his eyes. He sighed.

“Because if you trust me, I’m only going to let you down.” He wasn’t looking at me, but I stared at him with both of my eyebrows furrowed.

“I don’t believe that.”

“You should.” He sighed again. “Look, I’m a screw up kid. I was a drug addict in high school; an alcoholic in middle school, a cutter for five years.” He looked over at me. “I didn’t exactly have the best record with the police either. I’ve been a screw up all my life, and everyone who’s ever trusted me I’ve let down, even the people that I was really close to. That’s why you shouldn’t trust me; because if you do you’ll get hurt in some way. Happy now?” He said everything in a bit of a rush.

“Chase, take it from me. A kid who’s been through crap too. Your past may have made you the person that you are, but it has no effect on the person that you’ll become.” My words of wisdom surprised even me. Maybe I should try applying those words to my own life sometime.

“You don’t understand. I was made to be like this ever since I was born. Maybe people knew I would be like this, maybe that’s why my par—” He abruptly stopped talking and looked away.

“What?” I asked, softly.

“Nothing. I can’t tell you.” I was about to take a huge leap off a mountaintop.

“If you tell me, then I’ll tell you something about my past.” He looked over at me like I was crazy. “And I won’t bullshit you like saying that I had a dog named Rover or something like that.” He seemed to be chewing the idea over in his head. I was mentally slapping myself in my own head. Had I gone insane? I was going to tell someone I hadn’t even known a week my secret that had been gnawing at my mind for ages. But then again, this someone isn’t just a someone. It’s another kid who was like me, with a story; I prayed he would understand.

“How do I know you’re not lying?” He asked skeptically. I sighed and looked up at the moon.

“Because I’ve needed to get this out in the open for a while. I couldn’t tell anyone though; I didn’t think they would understand. They would have thought that I was insane…” I trailed off looking the opposite way of Chase.

“How do you know that I’ll understand? What if I think you’re insane too?” I looked over at him and gave the smallest smile.

“I trust you.” Chase sighed and rolled his eyes. But looked over at me with a small smile too.

“You’re driving me insane, I hope you know that.” His smile disintegrated and he looked away into the sand. I heard him give a huge sigh, and he was silent for a few moments. I could see that he was mentally preparing himself to tell me.

“I’m an orphan.” He said quietly but quickly. It suddenly made a whole world of sense why Sam’s remark about him being a “good for nothing bastard” struck such a hard nerve with him. He stayed silent and wouldn’t look at me. I didn’t know what to say.

Chase I—”

“There’s more.” He cut me off. “A lot more.” As he spoke, he paused at points, like it was hard for him to keep talking. “The family that adopted me when I was four,” He let out a small sigh, like he was trying to keep all his emotions inside still. “They…they did things to me.” He wouldn’t look at me. “The woman, she, when her husband went to work, she would…come into my room.” He swallowed. “She would, take off my clothes…and…touch me.” He looked down on his lap, and shook his head silently. “Then she would, take off her own. And…do things.” I could barely even believe what I was hearing; Chase was molested as a child. “Eventually the husband found out. He, he didn’t do anything to stop it.” He looked over at me, his eyes filled with pain. “I was only a kid. I didn’t know, I didn’t know it was wrong. They always told me to not tell anyone, they both said that it was a family secret. So I never did.” He looked away. “It happened until I was seven. I was with a friend and it had accidentally slipped out. He went home and told his parents, and they called the police. Before the cops came though, I got beat brutally for saying something. They both denied every word of it in court, but of course the law believed a small child over two sickos.” He paused for a moment, like he was trying to collect his thoughts. “I didn’t have any other family. Not that I knew of. So I went to a foster home. And let me tell you, those places aren’t as happy and easy to live in as those shitty Disney movies make them seem.” He fell silent. I had been watching him as he told his story the whole time, but now I looked out to the ocean. My own past is pretty bad, but I can’t even imagine what that must have been like for him, especially at that age. “That’s why I turned to alcohol and drugs. That’s why I cut myself. I didn’t know how else to deal with my life being a shit fest.” I was astounded.

“Chase, I can’t even begin to imagine what that must have been like. I’m so sorry.” I said when I couldn’t think of anything else to say. There was nothing else I could say.

“This is why I don’t let people in. This is why I stay mean, and cold, and sarcastic. Because if you let people in, then you open yourself to vulnerability. I opened myself to those people, and I became vulnerable.” He looked out at the ocean for a moment, and then looked back at me. “Alright, you’re turn.” I felt my stomach tie into knots; I was about to tell someone my secret, someone I barely even knew. But I couldn’t turn back now; he had just told me his gruesome horrible story. So now it was my turn. I sighed and looked at him.

“Sit back and grab some popcorn; it’s going to be long.”