I let out a soft breath as I stare at the water below.
Gentle. Blue… beautiful.
I watch the sunlight scatter across the water's surface as the water sways and claps peacefully. A peace my heart and mind can not mirror.
I roll my head back and begin to count as I sift through and search for whatever little happy memories I may have.
"Five…" I whisper, loosening my grip on the railings behind me.
"Four…" I breathe as I listen to the water crash against the bottom of the bridge.
"Three…" I shudder as I loosen my grip further.
"Tw—"
"HEYY!!!" Someone suddenly screams in the distance, and I almost lose my balance.
I turn towards the sound of the voice and see a guy standing in the middle of the empty road behind me.
He's dressed in the same college uniform as me, but from the pattern and stripes on his uniform, he's clearly in a higher year.
He sprints toward me with wide, horrified, but beautiful eyes.
A backpack hangs off one of his shoulders, and he's holding a book in his hand.
"What the fuck are you doing? Get back from there!?" he scolds as he runs over to me, like he knows me, and I tilt my head as I watch him.
He stops at the other side of the railings and looks down at my legs, which are close to the edge, and then back up at my face.
The scent of his pheromones tickles my nose, but I can't tell exactly what it is… They smell repressed, like he's used Pheromone inhibitors. Why?
"Are you crazy?? Do you want to die!?" he scolds, and I raise a brow.
Then his lips form an 'O' as the realisation dawns on him.
"Oh… clearly you do." He mumbles under his breath, and I stare at him, fascinated.
At his eyes, which catch the sunlight like broken shards of precious stones.
What is he going to say to try to stop me?
Would it be some sanctimonious crap about how much there is to achieve in life and how I still have so much to live for—
"Do you want to read my novel?" He questions out of the blue, and I raise a brow as he holds out the book in his hand to me, with both of his hands.
"It's The Mafia's Boy Toy by BlueBird. Good stuff." He adds nervously, and this time my brows crease.
"It's… a gay novel though… I don't know if you're… into that kind of thing." He adds as he averts his gaze to the ground, while still holding out the book, and I blink at him.
"I know you think there's nothing to live for, and you may not achieve the big things you have planned for your life… so maybe don't think about the big things for a while?" He says gently, and my grip on the railings instinctively tightens.
This is not what I expected to hear.
"You… you can take life one small moment at a time… like— starting with this novel. And when you're done, I can hand you another. Bluebird isn't a big author, and they're not… exactly the first name that pops into your mind when you think about authors…but they write with heart…" He continues rambling, and I stare at him in stunned silence.
I can't help but study the delicate, gentle beauty of this older stranger.
He blinks at me, and his cheeks heat up as he looks back at the book he's been holding out.
"I'm sorry. This is dumb. This… probably isn't something you wish to hear right now, I'll…" He begins as he starts lowering the book, but before he can fully drop it, I reach out and grab the book from him.
"Be careful!" He panics as my movement made my legs slip a bit, but my gaze is now on the two men on the cover of the novel.
The book's title is written in beautiful golden font, and the men on the cover are looking at each other with so much love, it fascinates me.
"Can you please come back… don't kill yourself. We can read Bluebird together for as long as you want."The stranger speaks again, and I turn my attention back to him.
I look back at the book in my hand, and for some weird reason, now, I'm more interested in knowing more about this stranger and the novel in my hand than how the water beneath this bridge would feel if I throw myself into it.
A smile splits his face when I hoist myself off the railings and stand on the safe side, and I watch his eyes twinkle.
"I see we go to the same college. I may be a senior… but would you like to be friends?" He questions as he holds out a hand to me, and I stare down at his hand.
Friends… with the stranger who used a novel to stop me from committing suicide…
That sounds interesting…