Careless and Reckless — Chapter 10

After I finished eating, I had seconds so it took a while, I thanked Wyatt for his hospitality and made my way to leave. It was more of an attempt because before I got more than a few steps away I felt him grab onto my arm, stopping me in my tracks.

"Where do you think you're going?" He queries.

"To school. I know I'm late but I still don't want to miss all of my classes," I reply, trying to yank my arm out of his vice grip and failing miserably. He chuckles and shakes his head at my attempts to remove myself from him.

"No can do green eyes. I need to hold up my end of the bargain and one of the most important things you need to learn is to not give a shit. So today you're skipping school with me."

Hell no. "Not a fucking chance in hell. Just because I want to let loose doesn't mean I want to risk my grades. I still want to pass all of my classes."

"Language! Calm yourself. One day isn't going to kill you, come on it will be fun, just trust me." With that, he leads me out of his front door and to his car. There's no point in protesting because he's a lot stronger than me and he does have a point so I comply with his demands. I hop into the passenger seat and off we go.

As Wyatt was driving he began to pick up speed a lot, too much. "What the fuck are you doing?! Are you trying to kill us both?! Slow the hell down!" I shouted, fearing for both of our lives. He ignores me and the dial continues to go up: 95mph, 110mph, 140mph! At this point I'm absolutely terrified, I'm at the point of nearly fainting out of terror. I close my eyes and just pray that this is all some crazy dream, that I'm not going more than eighty miles over the speed limit.

After what seems like an eternity the car begins to slow and I ever so carefully open my eyes and am welcomed by countless trees and forest. "You drive like a maniac. What the hell is wrong with you!?"

He turns his head to me and–you guessed it–smirks. "I'm just living a little, green eyes, you should try it some time." The nerve of this guy!

I don't say anything and instead get out of the car, slamming the door behind me. Wyatt then jumps out too, turns to see where I am, jerks his head to the right and starts to walk through the masses of trees, myself closely in tow. We walk in silence as I'm still furious with him and refuse to speak.

We trudge through the forest for what feels like an eternity and my feet feel as though they are bleeding. I love walking and all but I do have my limits and Wyatt has greatly exceeded them. I don't exactly want my feet to be in excruciating pain but it seems as though Wyatt has other plans.

A while later he finally stops on the other side of some shrubbery but by this point I'm quite a distance behind him so I've no idea what he appears to be staring at. "Hurry up green eyes!" He calls.

I begin to sprint towards him, ignoring the searing pain in my feet. It isn't until I reach him that I snap my head up and take in the view before me. It's absolutely breathtaking and I'm momentarily immobilised by its beauty. We're at a cliff's edge and there is a gorgeous waterfall cascading down onto the rocks below. Sitting to the side of this is a stunning cherry blossom tree, large enough for a few people to sit beneath, pink flowers in bloom. The whole area is surrounded by tasteful plants and bushes, hiding this perfect sight from view. Unless you were actively looking for it you'd never know it was here or be able to find it.

"Wow" is all I say as I gape at the beautiful sight.

"Wow indeed, now come on," he says as he grabs onto my arm and pulls me towards the edge of the cliff.

We're millimetres from the edge and my fear of heights begins to kick in. I start to wheeze in panic and scoot away from the edge but Wyatt's firm grip on me stops me getting very far. "What's up with you, green eyes?"

"I'm afraid of heights," I whisper as I continue to struggle in his hold.

He looks at me as if he's studying me, eyes boring into my very soul, not looking away for a second. After a few moments, he grins. "Perfect."

I give him an incredulous look. "Ah, you see we are going to be cliff diving today. You being afraid is a bonus because as well as helping you become reckless I'll also be helping you become fearless."

This is his fucking plan?! Is he trying to get me killed. First the driving now this. "Wyatt, don't you think this is a little extreme? I mean, can't we just cross a traffic light without waiting for it to turn red, that's pretty crazy if you ask me."

Now it's his turns to give me a look but I choose to ignore it. I'm just not a very crazy person so I've actually never crossed a road without waiting for the light to change colour, some call it stupid I call it safety.

"Next you'll be telling me that you've never pretended to be sick to miss a day of school." I give him a sheepish smile. "What!? That's crazy. Have you ever done anything you're not supposed to?"

"Actually once when I was in year three I used my friend's green crayon without telling her, accidentally snapped it and just put it back. To this day she has no clue."

"Wow, you truly are daring," he says, unappreciated sarcasm dripping from his words. "Now it's my job how to teach you to have real fun." I pout at him but he just ignores me and continues talking. "It's actually amazing just give it a chance. Trust me on this, you'll love it."

"Look, there's no way in hell that I'm going to jump off a cliff. I know it might be hard to believe but I do want to live to see tomorrow."

"Come on Aurora, it'll be fun," he protests. I shake my head at him. "Don't be so boring."

Boring. He thinks I'm boring, maybe James had a point. Nope, I have to prove him wrong. I will not be boring, I can't be if I ever want to win James back. He'll love me again if I can be fun, I just know it. I'll change for you James. I'll fix myself for you James. I'll be better for you James. You'll see, he'll see, everyone will see and James will love me again, I just know it.

"Okay, I'll do it."

Wyatt looks to be in thought for a moment but soon smiles and holds his hand out to me. I take it and we stand directly at the edge, not a hair separating us from the edge. "I'll jump with you," he says in a comforting manner. I smile at him gratefully, clutching his hand tightly in my own.

He counts to three and we jump. I freaking jump off of a cliff. I can honestly say that I'd never thought I'd do that, to be honest, I don't know why I did it.

As we're falling, I feel tingles erupt in my stomach and a smile spreads across my face. I've no idea why but I love this feeling, something about it just seems so calming and freeing, like I have no cares or worries, like nothing else matters at all. All that is happening in my mind is the present, there's no need to worry about the consequences of this decision, I just enjoy the current feelings as they come. Let me tell you, it's an exhilarating feeling, a euphoric one, an amazing one, an addictive one.

All to soon we hit the water below and my high begins to fade. I need to feel like that again, just once. We get out of the water and begin to climb back up, I'm too excited to even care about my wet clothes.

"I think I want to go on my own this time," I tell Wyatt.

"Are you sure?" He asks hesitantly.

I nod my head and make my way to the edge again. I collect my thoughts and using all of my willpower I step off of the ground. The feeling is even better this time, if that's possible, I can't deny the fact that I love it. It's so unlike me but at the same time, I feel as though I couldn't be more like myself than I am right now.

Wyatt jumps in not long after he hears my splash and when his head pops up he shakes his hair, wetting me further in the process. Just like that, a full blown water fight begins. Neither of us holds back, splashing each other at full force. It almost looks as if a tidal wave has started from the amount of water we've thrown at one another. To an onlooker, we'd look extremely childish but I don't care.

After our war–which I won–we headed back up to the cliff and jumped several more times, even trying flips here and there. I think that it's safe to say that I love cliff diving now, the height no longer bugs me. I guess that that's one fear off of the list. Maybe this deal wasn't such a bad idea.

One thing is for certain, I can honestly say I haven't had such a good day in ages.