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I couldn’t pull her to safety.
I couldn’t save her from this.
Feeling pissed off and irritated, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and sent two quick texts that contained the same information to both her mother and mine.
* I have her. *
Sweating buckets from my excursion, I sank down on the grass beside her and loosened my school tie before ripping it off altogether and tossing it aside.
Un-popping a couple of buttons on my school shirt, I blew out a pained breath and rested my elbows on my knees and then myhead in hands, wondering what the fuck I was supposed to do next.
Filled with unspoken resentment for the girl in the ground and fucking shattered for the girl asleep on the grass beside me, I wondered if there would ever come a day when the torture of Caoimhe’s suicide subsided for my girlfriend.
I had so much I wanted to say, so many angry words I wanted to scream, but I never would. Instead, I kept my mouth shut like the good boyfriend I vowed to be and did my best to love her back to life.
I could feel the darkness was settling over her, threatening to overtake her, and I was determined to keep her heart in the sunshine.
No matter what.
LET’S STEAL AWAY
Lizzie
JUNE 17, 2000
“ARE YOU GOING BACK TO SCHOOL BEFORE THE SUMMER HOLIDAYS?” Hugh asked on Saturday evening, as we sat in the tall grass in the meadow on my parents’ property. “I suppose there isn’t much point,” he added in a thoughtful tone when I shook my head. “Not when there’s two weeks left of term.”
“How is school going for you?” I managed to ask him, forcing myself to come back to the real world andbewith him. “When is your sixth-class graduation?”
“School is as underwhelming as always,” he replied with a coy smile. “And I graduate the Thursday after next.”
“You do?”
“Yeah.” A slow smile crept across his face. “It’s still surreal.”
“Do you know if you’re getting it yet?” I asked, feeling a flicker of excitement inside of me. “The student of the year award?”
“Yeah, Liz,” he replied, scrubbing his face to hide his smile. “I’m getting it.”
“I knew you would,” I replied, feeling proud. “I’m so proud of you.”
He was quick to interject, “Enough about me,” giving me his full attention. “Talk to me, Liz.”
“About what?”
“About you.” He reached up and stroked my chin. “I want to hear about you.”
I don’t.
“Uh, what about rugby?” I blurted out. “How’s that going for you?”
“Really?” Smirking, Hugh arched a disbelieving brow. “You want to talk about rugby?”
“I want to talk about anything that isn’t me,” I admitted, exhaling shakily. “I want you to distract me, Hugh. Please.”
His brown eyes burned holes in mine for a long beat, and I thought he was going to go deep, but then he shook his head and cleared his throat.
“Rugby.” He tilted his head to one side, clearly thinking about the subject. “It’s been a lot better since the Dub joined the team. I think we have a real shot at snagging some silverware next season.”
