Open Your Eyes - Chapter One

One

The sun beat down upon the sand, teasing it as it stroked its way towards the sea, causing the water to reflect and glisten in the searing heat on the first day of a supposed week long heat-wave. The sea lapped up onto the shore, depositing sea weed, shells and creatures a-plenty dirtying the pristine expanse of beige that travelled for more miles than the eye could tell. A single cloud brought a momentary shadow across their path before it quickly disappeared again leaving only the clear, blue sky and the bright flare, shining up higher than anyone could reach. No one could stop it even if they wanted to. Rosaline definitely wished she could. Stretching her arms as high as they would go, she made grabbing gestures at the sun, willing it to fall into her hands so she could dispose of it as she so desperately needed to. Soon enough she settled for dropping back into the shadow which Aaron‘s tall yet slightly scrawny frame created in his wake, just for a moment of calm and cool where she wouldn’t be agitated, stressed and well-done. The heat-wave had only been affecting their lives for a few hours but it was unbearable to the residents of their small town, not entirely used to hot, sweating summers and more like rain showers.

Soon enough they noticed more clouds appearing in the sky as the evening dragged on, the temperature beginning to drop but still being far too warm. It was a sweet kind of relief for Rosaline who could resume her position alongside Aaron, brushing his hand every so often as a reassurance that he was still there. It wasn’t that she was needy but she didn’t deal so well with being on her own. Their footprints trailing behind them told others that they had been walking this way for a couple of hours now, yet they had hardly said anything to each other. Their friendship didn’t require words though, they were much more comfortable than that and only really needed to be near each other to be settled and calm.

Aaron slowed down, slinging an arm across Rosaline’s shoulders, pulling her towards him slightly well aware of how uncomfortable it might be for her, how it was entirely too hot for two people to share physical contact without sticking to each other constantly but he didn’t care. He enjoyed the feel of having her in his arms, of having her close-by because it made him feel like she was his for a little while. She rather liked the comfort she felt whenever he did this so she let him, time and time again, not stopping to consider why he was doing it. But it was like some sort of unspoken agreement, he would do it and she would let him. End of. It was nobody else’s business.

“What do you want to do now? We’ve walked as far as I think we can before we pass out.” Rosaline asked quietly as she leaned into his side. He smiled slightly but tried not to show it, keeping his arm exactly where it was.

“We can do whatever you like. We’re quite near my place; we can go there and hang out?” He suggested, wishing she would agree. She nodded slightly before moving her arm around the middle of his back, holding onto him almost as desperately as he was to her.

“I’ll have to call my mom and let her know.” She said unnecessarily. He already knew that, it was standard protocol within the very small yet amazingly close Day family. It was only Rosaline and her Italian, widowed mother, Rosita. It was where Rosaline inherited her name, her father’s wish being that she was named after her mother, but Rosita finding her name slightly old fashioned, adapted it to something more acceptable for a teenager in the twenty-first century. Aaron was glad she did, because she was one of the few people he had met whose name truly suited them.

Not that he ever called her it. She was his Rosie, forever and always. He vowed he would always be there for her, annoying her all the time, protecting her should she need it and loving her if she so requested it. He was ready for anything as far as she was concerned but he had no plans to let her know that now. When the time came, he would, but for now, he wanted to take being her best friend into his power and do all that he could within that role.

He could remember the first time he met her, the day she moved into his town an absolute mess after the death of her father. She was thirteen and destroyed so young. It was awful to witness from afar, she was so beautiful to him even then, so he decided to swoop in with a mission to make everything in her life okay again, to never let her have to feel that kind of pain again. Fourteen-year old Aaron Clark was besotted and he knew it would never go away. There was something quite supernatural about it, but he knew better because if there was, she would have loved him in return some time ago.

Walking along the beach aged eighteen to her younger seventeen, he remembered the early days when she was closed off to him, yet still curious and when he was persistent with her, making sure she was more than aware of him.

“Hey, you’re new in town, right?” He had questioned almost four years ago to the day.

She had looked up at him with confusion and continued to stare as she put headphones on and pointedly turned her iPod up to maximum. She clearly wasn’t interesting in making friends that day but it didn’t stop him from coming by every single day that week until she finally spoke to him.

“Are you some kind of crazy person? You’re beginning to freak me out. I don’t even know your name and you think its okay to come over here like you’re my friend?” She had asked him in a raised voice, this time with only one headphone in.

“I’m Aaron Clark. I live on the outskirts of town, small house but fair bit of land. What’s your name?” He offered with the biggest smile. Just to hear her speak felt like all his Christmas’ had come at once.

Once more she looked on at him with confusion but this time she switched to curious, turning off the iPod and looking at him intently. She did this for a good few minutes before sighing and sitting on the front porch.

“I’m Rosaline. Nice to meet you, farm-boy.” She had teased, clearly displaying more knowledge of the area than he had initially anticipated.

Back then she had blonde hair that fell halfway down her back, which she usually half-tied up to keep the bangs out of her face. These days she was a far more vibrant brunette, a cut to just below her shoulders and it suited the personality which gradually emerged as she came to terms with her almighty loss. She had been forced to grow up entirely too fast after that, to help her mom get through it as much as she needed to pull herself out of the slum but that was the task Aaron had issued himself and looking at her that day on the beach, he felt a small sense of pride at the woman he had helped shape her to become. She was remarkable and he loved her all the more for it. Yet still, he waited.

They stopped a little way in from the sea so she could dig her phone out of her pocket. Aaron watched her face, her look of concentration as she frantically tried to remember which pocket – if any – it was in. He smiled slightly at how sweet she could seem to him sometimes and began raising his hand to her face. He calmly placed his hand on her cheek, stroking her with his thumb just under her eye. She stopped on her mission and looked up at him with confused blue eyes but she didn’t remove his hand, which encouraged him to move his other hand to her waist, pulling her towards him. She frowned slightly but still did not say a word or act in protest.

“Rosie...” He said into the breeze so lightly he did not know if he had whispered it or actually spoken it clearly. His voice was all she needed to snap out of whatever trance they were under and shake out of his hold.

“Damn heat-wave, it’s making everyone act all funny.” She found an excuse which she was clearly sticking to despite knowing the weather was not the reason for that little encounter at all.

Chance moments like that one had happened a few times in the past but before anything could happen, she would break away with some fabricated excuse but he was never angry. He knew if he carried on, one day she would let him go further, to kiss her as he had dreamt of doing for so long but he still had many walls to break down before they got there.

He nodded in agreement before running his hand through his black hair which had begun to dry out under the burning gaze of the sun. Laughing slightly, he grabbed her hand, tiny in his firm grasp, and began to direct her towards his house where they would most likely spend the evening and night drinking beer from his dad’s garage and watching crap movies. It wasn’t romantic or unpredictable but it was what they did and it was comfortable.

Walking through his front gate, they had started laughing and playing around with each other now they were away from the constant glare and could feel a real breeze, cool against their clammy skin. They had discussed all their plans for the evening and what exactly they aimed to achieve by the end of the night and began by heading to the garage for a cool, refreshing beer, beginning as they aimed to continue.

But everything came crashing down and was cancelled in a matter of minutes after they stepped into the front room from the garage, when they found Aaron’s sister, Jane, with her friend Daniel watching some awful infomercial.

“Rosaline!” Daniel said with slight surprise as she beamed and ran towards him, seating herself next to him, kissing him on the cheek and resting her head on his shoulder. He looked a little uncomfortable but there was not a chance Aaron was going to point this out. She was always so happy when she was with him, her boyfriend of just over a year now, whereas Aaron was always so jealous and hurt. She thought he made her happy but Aaron knew he could do better and knew that he did do better. Daniel didn’t care too much per se but she would never believe him if he tried to tell her.

It hurt him because Aaron was in love with Rosaline Day and had been for nigh on two years, spending the first two years with her building their friendship. But as he had been wishing for too many months now, Daniel was just a phase. He could bide his time, show her how happy he made her and wait for her to one day ask that he love her, obviously without knowing that he already did. Aaron was in the game of waiting and that was what he planned to do every day for the rest of his life if he had to. For him, Rosaline was it and that was something he held onto and knew he always would.