*03/03/2020 - 𝙐𝙉𝘿𝙄𝙎𝘾𝙊𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙀𝘿 𝙁𝙀𝘼𝙏𝙐𝙍𝙀𝘿 𝙇𝙄𝙎𝙏*
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Everybody at Black Hill knows about the lake by the old house. They know never to let an open wound bleed out in the murky waters. Never to take their e...
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BEFORE THE INCIDENT - Summer '18
Arthur Beauchamp was a whirlwind.
A tornado of silver dyed hair and large, white smiles. I first met him when I sat on the low wall a few meters away from the edge of the Black Crag cliffs. They stood, imposing and deep, on the edge of Black Hill. The seawater was choppy and reflected the bright blue of the summer sky. Lost in thought, I bit my lip and worried over how my first day at school would go tomorrow.
"If you're going to jump, you must be a bit closer than that." The voice startled me out of my daze. I turned my head.
A boy stood, leaning against the wall I sat on. He looked only a few inches taller than my five-foot-six. The tips of his brown curls looked like molten silver. They matched his round grey eyes. I groaned, looking away.
"I wasn't planning on it," I said, frowning. "It's not good for your health."
He laughed. It was a bright, breezy thing. "It is a bit worse than that. Still, do you want to try it?"
He started walking backward, pulling his jacket around him tighter. Despite it being summer, a cold biting wind cut through the air. I hesitated. I didn't know if he was joking. The wildness around his eyes was too attractive to be dangerous.
"I'll take you down to the shops later, is that alright?" He called over the wind.
It whipped his hair around his face, and I took a deep breath, breathing in the salty air. The sharp sting grounded me, and I shook my head.
"It takes ages to get down there on foot," I said.
The guy made a face and gestured behind me. I turned around. My jaw fell open. What seventeen-year-old had a Bentley? I had known Black Hill was rich, but I hadn't thought the kids would also reflect it. They shone as bright as diamonds.
You don't even know his name.
But I could remedy that.
"I don't go flying off cliffs with anyone," I said. I stood up, kicking away a stray beer can. They littered the clifftop, as though nobody came up here to clean them up. "Who are you, then?"
The guy smirked and saluted me. "Je m'appelle Arthur Beauchamp."
"The Mayor's son?" My head reeled. Here I was, on top of the most dangerous cliffs I'd ever seen, with the Mayor's son. Arthur grinned and dipped into a bow. He was a buzz of energy, a thread of sparkling electricity that seemed to split reality apart.
"The one and only."
At the time, I thought he was a cocky little shit, but looking back I realised he was right. I had never met anyone like Arthur before. He had waltzed into my life and became the person I went to whenever I needed to feel free. We raced each other the few meters to the edge of the Cliffs. He seemed to glide across the ground while I tripped over every rock possible. The sea cried a warning call, but we didn't care. Arthur was pure recklessness, and I loved every moment of it.
