Catherine (GirlxGirl)

Catherine- Running From Nothing

Chapter 4

Running from nothing

Sixteen hours, thirty two minutes and twenty one seconds. Twenty three seconds. Four.

The sound of a twig falling into the river woke me from my trance. My head was spinning in circles, I couldn’t take my mind off the watch that lay in front of me, ticking, ticking away against the mud. The small crack of the glass was echoing the sounds of time going by.

Sixteen months, thirty two hours, and thirty minutes since I had dropped Catherine home that day. I could feel the wet sticky blood between my fingertips. I could taste the salty tears that were escaping my eyes as I stared forward, watching the sun kiss the earth once again.

I remember this place.

I remember, when, after walking for hours and hours, with my bags packed, I set off for the road and never looked back. Before I completely left this place, I had taken a quick stop by at mine and Catherine’s spot. What had I been doing? I had everything here. However, back then, a part of me was lost and I needed to get away from everything that I did have, even if it was just for a while.  I guess I lost my way.

I needed to find myself, the person that had been missing since I was even born. I felt empty, only Catherine could fill this emptiness, but she was here and I couldn’t drag her along with me before. She probably doesn’t even remember me, she hates me, I know it.

I promised I’d come here every month, on an exact day, midday. Now here I was, not exactly in the best position, right below our spot as I stare into the crusty bridge, the bridge I had been mugged on not even ten minutes ago. All these memories were evading my brain, shooting into the pit of my heart as they reminded me of the reasons I should have stayed. The reasons to why I shouldn’t have left.

I had been so caught up in my own drama; I forgot that the most important reason for staying was my love for Catherine.

It sounds stupid, but standing here now, looking into the river beneath my feet, back then I didn’t know what I was doing, where I was going and how I ended up here. I had finally realized where I was. I was back in our spot where I promised to be midday for Catherine. I had lost track of the days, thus, I was sure Catherine didn’t come here no more.

I still remember the day Catherine and I first met, just like I remember the day we first went to school together and when i first found a family. It was amazing to finally be out of that foster home, it was clear I didn’t belong there and after a while, it was clear I didn’t belong anywhere.

The taste of her perfume on the first day back at school filled my nose, as if I was standing there in her room with her again. The smell was too familiar, it was like she was here with me right now, it was strong, mesmerizing. Just like her. Like time had reversed and everything was normal again, well, almost normal.

It was the first day back after the holidays and now we were starting a new year, the last year of school.

'Hey Tay, what do you think of this? Does it smell good?' She asked after placing her perfume back onto the side where she first had it.

I smiled, as her hands grazed mine slightly, where it had been flat against her book case, searching through her taste in books. I must admit, her taste in books was just as good as her taste in movies. She certainly had a lot of things in common with me. 

The frown on her face proved to be scary so many times I had ignored her. I just couldn’t help it though, when I was around her, my mind was blank. My knees would falter and her eyes could freeze my every nerve just in an instant. I couldn’t even form speech when i was surrounded by her beauty. So, I just nodded and continued searching through her shelf.