The In-betweens

Chapter 3

I was hoping that I could witness the  sunset but we only got 2 hours before our ride arrives by 4. The 30-minute bus ride from Lluvfrea brought us to this remote beach an hour and a quarter after noon.

Sam and I have been dipping at the warm water near the shore for almost an hour. She lent me some swimwear but like I have been telling her it will never fit my petite frame. While Sam has these curves of the 1950s celebrities, I have the flapper girl shape of the 1920s. There is indeed a startling difference. I have no choice but to settle with my navy blue running shorts and my  gray Everly Brothers cropped top while Sam is looking stellar with her one piece suit straight from Baywatch.

I told myself, and Sam that I am not scared, but my body chose not to drift too far away from the coast. The water never really reached my chest and I make sure that the rocks and sand would graze my feet.

When our skin are all wrinkly for being soaked,  we decided to lounge on the sand. Sam cannot part with her phone. With my eyes closed while cherishing the sun's warmth, I could hear the shutter as she took tons of photos of her self and the scenery. On my part, I would like
to capture the view with my eyes and record it in my memory.

"Let's go for a walk" I stood up so suddenly my blood rushed to my head making my vision a darker hue.

"Sure. You go ahead. I'm just gonna pack this all up" Sam's pertaining to her stuff that she dump on the sand, positioned chaotically yet beautifully, for her instagram posts for later.

I picked up my messenger bag and sling it over my left shoulder. Decided to untie my hair bun  hoping that my utterly wild mane, exacerbated by the heat and salt water, can shield me from the harsh sun. Tried to shake the sand that peppered my dark brown locks, but to no avail. Who cares, right?

I started walking along the coastline, with the goal of reaching the arch-like rock formation, never paying attention to the faint glow of in-betweens doing their own stuff. I do not want to delve on the reasons why they are tethered here.
Some are just running past me while some are just stationary, more like the  living people who chose to have a fun time at the beach on a weekday during the cold days of September. A handful of living humans, including us, and a handful of in-betweens, nothing out of my ordinary.

I can feel Sam just feet away from me, still busy with her phone, Probably capturing some clips for her vlogs that  reach a thousand views, even in our small town. I pleaded her not to include me in any of her photos or videos for public consumption. As much as possible, I would like to avoid the beach conversation with my mother. Here is to aimlessly hoping that she would not see the videos or photos of Sam, because where ever Sam goes, I usually tag along. She knows that, at least.

∞

Since our transfer to Lluvfrea in the middle of summer break, my mother seemed to be busier than ever. She used to bring me to her workplace, and I was instructed to stay at a corner in the nurse station, away from walkways because I should never block the nurses' access especially during emergencies. Since I am that type who can really sit still and be quiet for hours, my mother does not have much difficulty.

However, at times, I just can't bear the in-betweens anymore, especially during my early years of discovering my gift. Sometimes they were too many, sometimes they were too noisy, sometimes they were all coming at me at once after they realized that I could see them. That is when I learned to ignore them.

I tried, numerous times, to tell my mother about my gift, but she was just too overwhelmed and tired to listen to every stories. She told me  that it was just a phase and it might be caused by the changes in my life,  her separation with Papa and us relocating.

During one of her bad days, she scolded me to stop creating imaginary friends and make friends with the neighbors' kids. Those in-betweens were not my friends, they love to pester me trying to convince me to help them. Our neighbors' kids, on the other hand, refuse to play with me because they caught me, multiple times, whispering, talking, and even shouting by myself, all because of those pesky in-betweens.

Then summer's over, my mother enrolled me to this expensive primary school, forcing her to work double shifts and even part times if she could squeeze it with her loaded schedules. Then Sam befriended me, I do not have to tag along with my mother to her workplace. I could stay in this mansion, two blocks away from our one bedroom house.

Since Mama can't pay extra for a babysitter, Mrs. Silvera is always so kind to take me in. I am their extra family member who once constantly shadowed Sam. In an instant, Sam's not the only daughter anymore, I became their family's youngest before their biological son, Al, was conceived a year later. From being Sam's shadow, I started to find my own voice and self-constructs with the Silveras.

I remember Mama quietly waking me up in Sam's bed at wee hours, the dim light illuminating her tired eyes, telling me that we should head home. We would walk the two blocks home with my sleepy eyes and my dragging gait. This daily routine continue for almost 3 years until I was ten, old enough to be left alone in our small home. At first I would wait for her in the couch with the television on until I fall asleep. She'll wake me up once she arrive so I could comfortably sleep in our pull-out bed but as years progresses I learned to stop waiting for her. Though, I always leave her meals at the table, in case she's hungry upon her return.

∞

The arched rocks was actually immersed in water and I do not want to tread the uncertainties that could lead me there. As consolation to my long walk to something I decided to give up on reaching, I settled my gaze to other rock formation just beyond the archway. The tabletop rocks seems accessible from the coastline but someone already beat me there.  If only Sam and I saw that a little earlier, that could be a nice spot for her instagram posts. I move closer to assess the area thinking that maybe we could wait for that person to leave or we could go and intimidate him to leave by bypassing his personal space. Sam can do just that with her selfie stick and unlimited camera poses.

Just as I was about to call Sam, falling behind and still caught up with her camera angles, I realized that the incoming waves are huge and it is about to hit the tabletop rocks. The rocks are probably regularly bombarded by the strong waves polishing it smoothly. The person sitting on top of it seems unfazed,  maybe too  occupied with his thoughts. He is in grave danger.

Without thinking, I shouted "Hey!" at the top of my lungs as the crashing sound drown it. The humongous waves engulf the tabletop rocks with a thunderous force.

While waves are retreating to the vast ocean, a voice reverberated, rough as stones striking each other and distant as being underwater, "You can see me?" more like a statement than a question towards me.

I froze. My eyes fixated on the tabletop rocks. No body. There was never a living  person on it.

Suddenly, he was  in front of me. Too close. Inches away from my face, his faint glow almost touching my disheveled hair. I should have known, but his glow is not the same as the others. His is darker and somewhat sadder, like when you take a picture of someone against the light.