Jump

It was winter when she died. Loosely, it was Winter. It was more like March with the February chill lingering in the air. You could get away with a T-shirt, as long as you had a jacket on hand.

It was Wednesday, or maybe Tuesday, could have been Friday, even. Not that it really matters. A day is still a day is still a death in the woods. People will still be sad, they'll still cry, and eventually they will move on.

On that particular day, whatever it was, Erin was supposed to be meeting some guy named Jimmy at Barnes & Noble. He was on the football team at her school. For some reason, Erin liked him.

"Meet me at Barnes & Noble, yeah?" He'd asked her the day before. He was leaning against her locker, all casual and shit; the way guys do when they want to hook up with a girl.

Erin, completely oblivious, smiled and nodded eagerly. "Yeah, okay. When?"

Jimmy looked down at his phone, texting his friend Cole, and then looked back up at Erin. He grinned and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Tomorrow good? Five or so?"

Of course Tomorrow was good. It was always good when Jimmy from football was asking you out. Erin would have to have been dying the next day to deny that offer. "Of course," she said. "Tomorrow is perfect."

So, when she got home that night she phoned her friend, Beth, and told her all about that five minute exchange of words. The two girls dissected every bit of the conversation searching for a hidden meaning behind Jimmy's words. Obviously, there was no hidden meaning. Jimmy wasn't quite bright enough to slide in secret codes and messages in between sentences.

"I'm so jealous," Beth groaned on the other line. She leaned back against her headboard and toyed with the ears of a stuff elephant she had lying around on her bed. "Did he really tuck your hair behind your ear?"

Erin smiled, nodding her head. "Yeah," she answered, shyly. "He did."

"I could just about die for you right now. Jimmy Norway wants to go out with you.You! Do you know what kind of power you have right now?"

Erin sighed, sinking into her blankets. She didn't exactly want power, all she wanted was a boyfriend. She wanted to hold someones hand, kiss their cheek, tell secrets and jokes. She wanted more than just a best friend, she wanted someone to call her own.

She didn't tell any of this to Beth, in fear of sounding stupid or immature. Beth was a good friend, but she wasn't the kind of person you could just talk to like that. Instead, Erin laughed.

"Yeah, I kinda do," she said. "I mean... if I play my cards right, I could have him eating out of the palm of my hand."

The next day, perhaps it was Saturday, Erin wore her favorite skirt-outfit combination. She slipped on a brand new pair of flats and for the first time, Erin was pleased with what she saw when she looked in the mirror. Never in her life could she remember being so happy with her reflection.

"Where are you off to?" Her mother asked as she climbed down the steps.

It was four thirty, giving Erin half an hour to get to the book store. Not that she would need that much time anyways.

"Book store," Erin answered, smoothing down her skirt.

"Oh. Getting anything special?"

Erin shrugged. "I don't know yet. I just wanted something new to read. I've been bored lately."

It wasn't a complete lie. She was bored lately, but it wasn't a book she was looking for. Her mother, however, didn't seem to notice. In fact, she reached into her purse and pulled out a twenty. Handing it to her daughter, she smiled and smoothed down the hair on her head.

"I'm so proud of the way you turned out, you know," she said. "You're a good girl and you're doing the right things. You have a bright future ahead of you."

Erin looked down at the wrinkled bill in her hand, and then back up at her mother. "I don't need this, mom. I've got the money."

Mrs. Dawson shook her head. "No. I want you to get something with it. Buy a Starbucks, or a Cd. I don't care. I just want you to have it, okay?"

Erin sighed, nodding her head. "Okay then, I've got to get going though. I don't want to miss the bus."

"See you later, sweetie. You look cute by the way."

Erin reached the bus stop at 4:57. Three minutes early. She waited at the coffee bar just next to the entrance and ordered a small coffee while she waited. 5:15 rolled around and Jimmy hadn't shown up. Fast forward thirty minutes, and then an hour, and then an hour and a half, and Erin was still waiting, three empty coffee cups at her table and a fresh one in her right hand.

"He stood me up," Erin said to Beth over the phone as she threw her empty cups into the trash. She was about to leave the store when she remembered she was supposed to go home with a book.

"Really? How could he do that?" Beth asked. She mumbled something to someone in the background .

"I don't know," Erin sighed. "Who are you talking to?"

"No one. Jasper was just nibbling on my ankles," she answered, referring to her dog who wasn't even in the room.

"Oh, well, I have to go anyways. I'm supposed to come home with a book, and I haven't even started looking yet. I feel so pathetic though, you know? Like I should have known he didn't even like me in the first place. I'm a nobody."

"You'll find someone... that someone just isn't Jimmy Norway," Beth reasoned.

"Whatever. I'm going now. Talk to you later."

Another hour or so later, Erin was leaving the book store with a copy of the newest Sarah Dessen novel. She figured reading about other girls finding love and losing it and gaining it back all over again would give her some sense of hope.

It was pushing seven o'clock when she reached the bus stop.

She sat down next to a man who was reading a newspaper, and checked her phone for the time. "Do you know what time the bus is coming?" She asked.

The man turned to her. "Where are you headed?"

Erin blinked once, then twice. She wasn't sure what her destination had to do with her question, but she answered anyways to avoid any conflict. "Home, I just wanted to have a general idea about what time I'd be getting there, you know? My mom worries."

The man nodded. "About twenty minutes, I'd say. You know how the buses run slower near the end of the day." Erin nodded. "I'm Walter, by the way. Walter Penn."

Erin smiled, and shook Walter's extended hand. "I'm Erin... Dawson."

Walter returned the smile and put his newspaper down. He was a man who liked to talk. "What brings you out so late, Erin?" He asked.

"Uh, book store," she said, turning back to look at the Barnes & Noble. "I was supposed to meet someone, but they um, they flaked. I stuck around for a few hours to kill some time."

Walter nodded. "A boy?" When Erin didn't reply, he took that as a yes. "Yeah, I know what you're feeling. I was a young guy once myself, as hard as it is to believe. I've had my fair share of let downs too, though. Girls can break hearts just as well as guys can."

Erin wasn't sure of why this guy was talking to her the way she was. In fact, it made her a little uncomfortable. She stayed still, and kept her eyes on the the road, looking for the bus that would take her home.

"What was his name?"

Erin cleared her throat. "Jimmy."

Walter laughed. "Ha, my best friend in high school was named Jimmy. He was a real asshole, though. Still is, actually."

Erin laughed. "Yeah? That sucks."

Walter shook his head. "No... not really. I was gonna go grab a coffee while I waited. You wanna join me?"

Erin froze, looking to her left and then her right, willing the bus to show up and save her from this stranger. "You know," she began. "That sounds nice, but I really don't want to miss the bus."

Walter scooted closer towards her. "It will only take a moment. We can drink them out here, if you want."

Erin shook her head. "I really don't think I'm up for that. You can go if you want, though. I'll just wait here."

"C'mon," Walter persisted. "Just a coffee. I'm not gonna bite."

Now, Erin was getting angry. "Listen, Mister. I really don't wanna grab a coffee with you. You're twice my age, okay? I'm not into that."

Erin was about to stand up when Walter grabbed her arm, pulling her back down to the seat. Erin tried to wriggle her arm out of his grasp, but his grip was too tight. "Listen, sweetheart," he whispered, moving her hair out of her face. Erin thought of Jimmy. "We're going to go get a cup of coffee."

Walter didn't need the bus, because he had a car. He was actually just waiting for some young, innocent young girl to come and take a seat next to him. Erin, happened to be the lucky winner.

He drove for about a half hour, Erin seated next to him in the car. Her hands had been tied, as well as her feet. She didn't care to make conversation.

"Why so quiet?" Walter would ask.

Erin stayed silent.

"Oh, I see how it is. You're mad at me right?"

She shot him a warning stare, and turned her head back towards the road.

Beth had tried calling fifteen minutes earlier, but Walter had left Erin's purse and her Sarah Dessen book at the bus stop. She'd actually called to apologize. She felt guilty for inviting Jimmy over to her house to hang out that day. When Erin didn't answer, she just figured she was bummed after being stood up.

Walter pulled onto the side of the road, just outside the woods. Erin glanced out the window and then at her kidnapper.

"What are we doing here?" She asked, her voice panicked.

"We're just gonna hang out for a while," he said. "Don't worry about it."

When the clock hit 9:30 and Erin hadn't gotten home, or even called, her mother began to worry. She'd tried her cell a million times, and it just wasn't Erin not to call back. After calling Beth and receiving no information she didn't already know, Mrs. Dawson tried the police.

You have to wait twenty-four hours before you can file a missing person's report. By then, Erin was already gone. Her body was found in the woods a few days after the incident, her bags and Sarah Dessen novel a day later.

It resembled a suicide. The cliff, her body lying at the bottom. The police found her lying in the rocks just outside the beach. Looking up, you could see the 60ft tall cliff.

"We think she jumped," the officers told her mother.

The funny thing? Erin had always dreamed of falling. She wondered what it would be like to feel the wind rushing through her hair and her clothes only to be interrupted by the harsh cold of the ground. It was nothing like she had imagined, it was scarier.

"It looks like suicide," the officers told her mother. "It all fits."

The only thing that sort of proved otherwise was the bags left at the bus stop, and it could easily be said that Erin simply felt she didn't need them anymore. Her mother found it hard to believe, her father said nothing. Beth? She just felt bad.

It was sad at first, losing Erin. Especially when it seemed as if she had died by her own hand. But, it was just a Wednesday, or Thursday, or maybe even a Saturday. Days go by fast, and while her mother cried and her father stayed silent, things slowly grew easier. A day is just a day is just a death in the woods.

People still cry, they're still sad, and eventually, they move on.