Chance Encounters

Ellie clung to me as if she were terrified. Or maybe she was exhausted. I didn’t know which, but I was relieved that she had told me. I didn’t necessarily need to hear that, but I felt closer to her. I felt like she trusted me.

“Hey, it’s okay,” I said, comforting her. “That’s hard to tell someone. But you’re still here. You’re alive, and you have me to protect you.” I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her onto my lap. Ellie burrowed her head against my chest.

We stayed there for a while, sitting contentedly on the beach, holding each other. I watched as the waves lapped over one another, getting bigger and then backing away. Loose grains of sand washed away as the water engulfed the shore. I could see adults sitting lazily on the sand, not caring to get wet. Others ran straight into the water as if they were still children. I chuckled gruffly, listening to the seagulls crying in the distance. I could make out small figures as they flew over the ocean, their wings persistently flailing around.

I, after rigorously fighting with myself, decided it was time to help Ellie face her fears. I ran my fingers through her hair, softly tugging at the knots. “Hey, El?” I asked. She mumbled something that I couldn’t understand. “Can I show you something?” Ellie promptly removed her head from my chest and looked at me.

“What?” She asked hesitantly.

“Stand up,” I requested. She uncrossed her legs and shakily stood up, using my shoulders to balance herself. After Ellie was properly on the ground, I stood up as well and carefully led her to the water. “Okay, close your eyes.” She looked at me suspiciously, almost as if all the trust she had for me had fled her body completely and instantaneously. However, she closed her eyelids and waited for the inescapable.

I walked behind her and placed one arm around her waist and enclosed my other hand with hers. My head burrowed on top of her shoulder so that my lips were next to her ear. Ellie shivered immediately but just as abruptly composed herself. “Take your shoes off,” I said delicately, but loud enough so she could hear.

“Luke,” she said, fear covering her voice entirely.

“Just trust me,” I whispered.

Ellie did as I said and leisurely took off her shoes, pushing them off to the side. I pulled all of the fragile objects out of my pockets and set them on the ground. She sighed deliberately, waiting. I pressed my arms against her softly, guiding her towards the water. The second her toes touched the water she jumped into the air and stopped.

“I…I can’t do this,” she said, turning around.

“Ellie,” I said firmly. “You can do it.”

She looked at me, about to protest, but then saw the determination in my eyes. She huffed, taking my hand in hers and stepping into the water.

“Geez! That’s freezing!” Ellie said, her grip tightening around my hand. I took off my flip flops and stepped into the water as well, following her.

“You’re doing it,” I said, smiling. Ellie’s gaze met mine, her eyes still showing that she was scared, but I sensed something else as well. “Let’s keep going.”

“Lu…” she started before I interrupted her.

“No. You’re doing this,” I said, scaring her a bit. She tensed up and waited for me to guide her. I took two more steps, my arm stretched out so I could still hold her hand. Ellie looked down and then at the sky. She closed her eyes once more and walked next to me. The water was now at Ellie’s calves. Her jeans were soaked, but now she was anticipating my pace. She kept going. I was shocked by her courage, honestly.

By the time Ellie had stopped, we were both covered in water to our waists. Goose bumps were all over my body, and I was freezing, but Ellie started to laugh. “What?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she said between gulps. “I thought it would be so much harder. Thank you.”

I smiled and wrapped my arms around her. “You’re welcome,” I said, kissing her gently, feeling the waves crash against us. Our body heat radiated onto one another, and I was finally beginning to get warm until a giant wave engulfed us completely.

I remember falling into the water, choking when I came up. I was terrified, not for me, but for Ellie. “Ellie?” I said. After a couple of seconds, I screamed her name. Finally, after minutes of scaring myself to death, I felt arms surround me. Her laughter consumed me, and I turned around.

“You’re not scared?” I asked, shocked.

She simply smiled and shook her head.

“No, I have you.”

I was surprised, honestly. She had done it. She had faced her fears. Ellie told me that it was my doing; that I was the reason. But I didn’t believe her. I feel I was the one that helped her, but she did it by her will.

She was so much braver than I thought.

That was when I realized I loved her.

~~*~~
We stood on the top of a cliff, about a mile and a half away from where we originally were. We were overlooking the water below. Ellie had wanted to get a picture of us. After walking together, she saw the cliff and knew it was the perfect opportunity.

Ellie set the camera on a rock about twenty feet away from me and turned it on. She walked up to me and smiled, taking my hand in hers.

“You ready?” I asked.

She nodded and smiled.

“Okay. One….Two….Three!” She screamed, pushing the button on the remote she had in her other hand to make the camera take numerous pictures. We jumped into the air, screaming and laughing, our fingers entwined together and our hair flying everywhere.

Instantaneously, the water hit, and I was being pulled down by the heavy weight of my clothes. I swam to the top and took in a deep breath. I saw Ellie smiling, quickly getting out of the water and running to get her camera. I chased behind her, stripping off my shirt so I could run faster.

“Hey! I found a really great picture!” She yelled running towards me and trying to keep her weighted down pants from falling. When we were next to each other, Ellie showed me the photograph. It was nothing less than beautiful. The picture showed Ellie and I, laughing and holding hands while in midair. It was gorgeous.

I kissed her cheek softly, insinuating that I loved it.

“Shall we head back?” Ellie asked me. I nodded and guided the way, picking up my shirt from off of the ground.

“Thank you Luke,” She said, smiling up at me.

I smiled back.

We walked in a comfortable silence for the thirty minutes back to where the car was, before I got an idea.

“Hey El, we don’t have to go home right away,” I suggested.

“What do you mean?” She asked curiously.

“I packed a bag of marshmallows and some blankets in the back of the trunk earlier this morning. If you want we could make a bonfire.” I offered. Ellie gave me a strange look at first, but then considered it.

“Sure. But we cannot stay out too late. Aunt Mary would never let us live it down,” she said. We walked to the car about twenty feet away, continuously having to stop and shake the sand off of our wet feet and ankles. I opened the trunk of the car and grabbed a bag of marshmallows and a couple of blankets in case we got cold later that night.

“Gosh, you’re sure prepared,” Ellie said, half-jokingly.

“Well, you never know. Anything can happen,” I said, closing the trunk and handing Ellie the bag of marshmallows. We strutted around for several minutes, searching for the perfect place to set up a bonfire. Finally, right next to a dock, we found a soft, sandy location with a couple of dry logs sitting around.

“This is great!” Ellie exclaimed, setting the marshmallows down and getting pieces of wood to make the fire. I rested the blankets next to the bag and joined her. I watched her, running around flawlessly, picking up logs and branches and smiling widely. It was so simple, yet she was so gorgeous.

Ellie looked at me, probably wondering why I was staring at her and not helping. “What?” She asked suddenly. I moved my head around, trying to snap myself out of my daze.

“Oh, nothing,” I said, smirking and setting the logs up in a decent pile. I took out a small box of matches from my pocket and took one out. I slid the stick against the box, watching as it burst into flame. Hanging it carefully over a small branch, I waited for the fire to grow. However, it burned out almost immediately. I sighed and looked at Ellie. “Do you see any cardboard boxes? I think it would be easier to get them to light up.”

Ellie looked around for a couple of minutes and came back with and old empty beer case. “Will this work?” She asked, handing it to me and sitting down. I nodded, striking another match and directly resting it on the box. As I predicted, the fire grew over the cardboard. I carefully placed the box onto the logs and watched as the fire expanded.

We huddled close together, barely two feet away from the warmth that was in front of us. I opened the bag of marshmallows and handed Ellie a stick that I had found earlier. “Thank you,” she said, grabbing a marshmallow and sliding it a fourth of the way down the twig. I did the same with mine and rested the stick just above the fire. I could hear twigs crackle. I could see sparks literally flying around. I could hear Ellie softly breathing. I could feel our bodies together. The sun was setting.

“I know I already said this, but thank you for today,” Ellie said. I looked at her and nodded, and then promptly looked back at the marshmallow that I had almost burned.

“I wanted to do something special with you,” I said.

“Helping me face my fears is special?” She asked.

“Yes,” I replied simply.

“Why?” She asked.

“I want you to know you don’t have to be afraid of anything. I’m here to protect you, even if I have some fears of my own,” I said. I took the marshmallow off of the stick and attempted to eat it without getting my fingers sticky.

“Luke, what are you afraid of?” Ellie asked suddenly.

“Do you mean in general?” I asked.

“Sure,” she replied.

“Well, for starters, I’m afraid of losing you,” I said. Ellie glared at me.

“No, really. I want to know. Tell me. Please?” She begged. I sighed and shoved the marshmallow in my mouth to gain a couple of seconds to think.

“My father,” I confessed. We were silent for a while, most likely because I had brought up bad memories. But it was the truth. My father terrified me. He was a terrible person that got angry too fast and always had to take control of things. I honestly hated him.

After several minutes of silence, Ellie spoke again. “Luke, um, how did your mom…..” I didn’t let her finish. I couldn’t bear the words.

“Car crash,” I said coldly. I didn’t mean to sound so cruel, but it came out that way. I honestly was trying to forget about my mother. I couldn’t though. She was the only thing that could hold me together.

“I’m sorry for bringing it up. I just wanted to know,” she said, sounding almost scared of me.

“It’s okay. I just don’t like thinking about it. I don’t like thinking about anything that happened around the time my mom died,” I said, mentally slapping myself for walking into another trap. Sure enough, Ellie looked at me with even more curiosity in her eyes.

“What….What did happen after your mom died?” Ellie asked, even though she knew she shouldn’t have.

I looked away from her. I didn’t know if I wanted to tell her, or even if I needed to. But I understood that she trusted me, and I couldn’t break that. I glanced at the fire and looked away, realizing how bright it was. I waited until I was breathing normally to begin.

“After my mom died, I was a complete mess,” I started. “At first, I would lie around the house and just stare at things of hers. I would hold her old necklaces and think about how she used to wear them all the time, how her favorite one cost more than our car. But after a couple of days, my dad freaked out at me. He didn’t even care that she was gone. Or maybe he did. But every day he had a new hooker and it killed me. She was the best thing that ever happened to him and he didn’t even have the decency to mourn over her,” I said. I paused for a couple of seconds to see if Ellie was okay with what I was about to say.

“My dad told me I needed to get out of the house and do something. He told me not to come back until I could stop complaining about mom. So, before I left, I called a girl and asked her if she wanted to hang out. I never really even liked her, but I just felt so empty. We met at a park and talked for a couple of minutes. I knew that she wasn’t really much of a talker, more of someone that liked random hook ups. I mean, maybe that’s the reason I called her, to get mom off my mind and just forget. So when we got quiet and everything started to get awkward, I kissed her. It was nice at first, but then it led to something. We were in a secluded area, so no one even knew what we were doing. We hooked up a couple more times after that, but eventually I realized it wasn’t making me feel any better. I knew that it was wrong, but I did it anyway, and I can’t forgive myself,” I concluded, looking at Ellie.

Ellie was quiet for a long time. She didn’t look at me, or at the fire. She stared out into the distance, comprehending what I had said. After the sun had completely set, and it was so dark that I could only make out the fire and the outline of her face, Ellie began to speak. “So, you’re n..not a…virgin?” She squeaked, sounding more distraught than she had intended to.

“Um, no, I’m not,” I confessed.

“How many times?” She questioned.

“Three,” I said honestly, giving her some time to think.

“What was her name?” She requested, still not looking at me. I hadn’t noticed that Ellie was actually disappointed. It was strange to think she cared for me that much.

“I don’t know if that’s…”

“What’s her name?” Ellie said louder, her voice cracking a bit.

“Mena,” I replied.

“But you stopped?” She said, almost as if she was certain of the answer.

“Yeah, I called it off about two weeks after we had…hooked up the first time,” I spoke. Ellie looked at me again, managing a small smile.

“Well, I guess I have nothing to be mad about. You’re obviously not with her anymore,” She uttered.

“I didn’t have feelings for her, and I never will. The only girl I like is you,” I stated, sounding extremely cheesy. However, Ellie smiled widely.

“Thank you for telling me the truth,” she said.

We talked a little more, getting to understand each other better. After thirty minutes of talking, Ellie grew tired, and we stood up to walk to the car and go home. “Thanks,” Ellie said, grabbing the blankets and I picked up the now half full bag of marshmallows.

In spite of what we were intending to do, though, the rain began to fall. It was soft at first, almost peaceful. But then it began to pour. Ellie screamed, trying to run the ten minutes back to the car. “Ellie stop! There’s a dock over here! Come on!” I tried to yell over the deluge of water.

By the time we were both safe under the dry dock, we were completely soaked. Ellie sat down and attempted to dry out the blankets. I sat next to her and smiled.

“What are we going to do? Aunt Mary is going to kill us if we stay out here all night,” Ellie said, starting to stress out.

“We’ll tell her the truth. It’ll be okay,” I said, wrapping my arm around her and pulling her close to me. We were both shivering, and I was trying not to laugh. But I was happy. Not because it was pouring and we were stuck with each other, but because I had finally found someone who understood me.