A Little to Late

The sea stretched for as far as my eyes could see. Silhouettes of the black buildings stood proudly in front of the pink and orange sunset. The beach was full of playing children with their families, all enjoying the evening sun. There was a calmness in the air as if the whole city had fallen silent. It really was the perfect night to carry out my plan. Standing on top of that cliff, the sun shone brightly on the side of my face and the light sea breeze crawled all over my skin. I felt a deep inner peace rise within me, as I breathed in the cold sea air. I felt all my troubles drift away from me, as for once in my short life, I felt happy. I took a few staggered steps forward and cautiously looked down the eighty foot drop into the raging sea. I took a deep breath and was about to jump when I was disturbed by the sound of footsteps coming up behind me.

I stood still, too scared to turn around. I broke out into a cold sweat as I realised that I had been watched.
“Are you sure you want to do that?” a male voice asked.
I recognised the voice but I was still too scared to turn around. I could hear the footsteps getting louder and louder as he came closer.
“I’m here to help you.” he said.
I slowly turned my head and instantly recognised the face looking back at me. With dark brown eyes and floppy brown hair, he was still just as perfect as the last time I had saw him.
“Jack!” I exclaimed.
Jack just stared back me with a look of confusion on his face.
“Brooke?” he asked.
I nodded my head and with that he knew who I was.
“You’ve changed quite a bit.” he said.
It was true; I had changed a lot since high school. I was surprised that he had even remembered my name. Back in high school, I was a normal, average girl. There was nothing special about me nor was there anything bad about me. I just wasn’t the girl that the guys went for. The good looking boys always went for the cheerleader. The girls with the inch thick make-up and got all their money from the bank of daddy. They were the girls that Jack went for. He only ever blinked an eye towards me once, even though I was the person there for him when girls broke his heart.
“You haven’t changed a bit.” I replied.
“Let’s go for a walk.” he said.
He took my hand and led me away from the cliff. We walked up the hill which overlooked the city and we sat down under the large apple tree. We looked out into the ending sunset, not quite sure of what to say to each other.

We sat there for what only could have been a few minutes. I felt uncomfortable sitting beside him.
“You know I did like you in high school” he said.
I just sat there, not quite sure what to do of the information he had just given me. I was angry that he hadn’t told me back then but I also felt a sense of happiness that he had appreciated me.
“Why didn’t you tell me then?” I asked.
He gave the excuse of protecting his reputation. Typical boy statement. It’s annoying that I wasn’t good enough for him. That going out with me would make people disrespect and hate him. It wasn’t fair. He went on and on about how he wished he could make it work with me and how he had always secretly liked me more than all the girls he had gone out with.
“Would you go out with me now?” he asked.
“I would but I really can’t” I said.
“Do you remember that last day of school?” he asked.
I could remember. I remembered it like it just happened yesterday, etched in my mind forever. The last day of seeing all your friends together for the last time. The last day of seeing the teachers who taught you the ways of the world. The last day of seeing the people you loved. Jack had asked me out that day and again I said no to him. That was the last day he ever spoke to me.
“Yeah, I do.” I replied.
“Do you remember what you said to me that day?”
I did. The thought of it brought tears to my eyes as I thought of the deep meaning of what I had said to him. That moment when he asked me out was one of the greatest moments of my life. I never thought in a million years that I would ever say no to Jack but at that point in my life it was the only thing that I could say. That day I told him I couldn’t be the next girl to eventually break his heart. He just looked at me, with intense confusion in his eyes, turned around and walked away. That was the last time that I had seen him.

He explained to me that he had always dreamed of finding me again and how he wanted to share his life with me. I couldn’t help but think about the times when I had the same thoughts too. I had mostly always imagined my life with him in it and now he was telling me the same the things that I had always wanted to hear. I felt angry inside knowing that I was never going to be able to do anything about it. How it had all come too late.

It was getting dark now and the coldness of the night had come.
“Should we go somewhere warmer?” He asked.
I was shivering and I felt too weak to get up. I felt there was a ton of bricks bearing down on my shoulders and I felt extremely tired. It was getting difficult to breathe and my head throbbed from the lack of oxygen.
“I don’t think I can get up.” I replied.
“Why?” he asked.
“I have cancer and its terminal.” I said.
He looked out into the bustling city, trying to decipher my words. Tears started rolling down my cheeks as I realised these moments with Jack were to be my last. He sat down beside me, took of his jumper and covered me with it.
“Maybe I should phone an ambulance.” He said.
“No, I don’t want that.” I replied.

He held me in his arms, while I got weaker and weaker. I looked up into the starry night and remembered all the good times I had shared with Jack and I thought about the future which could have been. I looked into his tear filled eyes and felt all my pain disappear.

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