Taylor
Hands braced on my knees, my chest heaves as I gulp down air. I’m raking a hand through my hair when I see her. My heart leaps as she steps into a pool of lamplight.
Her sundress clings to her soaked skin and I watch as her slim fingers twist strands of blond hair. My eyes are drawn to the curves of her hips which are outlined by the sheer dress. Confusion creases my brow when she stands motionlessly, staring blankly into the darkness behind me. She makes no move to swipe off the droplets of water peppering her pale arms....which are marred by ugly bruises? Immediately, my focus shifts, zeroing in on other initially invisible injuries. Scrapes on her legs, a cut on her neck...My vision blurs and I realize I’m tearing up.
Unable to stop myself, I call out to her. “Nina.” My hoarse voice cracks on the last syllable as fragments of memories play through my mind. Falling asleep with my arms around her. Sharing clandestine kisses in the corridors. Hugging outside her house.
A hesitant footfall brings me to the present and I tell myself I don’t deserve to feel this pain after cheating on her.
“Taylor?” Her voice is soft, questioning. “What are you doing here?”
“What are you doing here?” I ask her. The confusion etched in the lines of her face prevents me from stepping forward and letting the confession flood from my lips.
I can barely keep up with the emotions flitting across her expressive face. But just being here with the girl I’ve dreamed of since that night is enough for me. Looking around desperately, I see a cafe. “Let’s go sit outside the cafe,” I suggest, desperate to keep her from walking away from this moment.

Nina
When I sit down across from him, Taylor’s jaw unclenches slightly, his shoulders slumping as the tension floods out of him. This encounter must have been far more stressful for him.
Pulse pounding, I wait for him to make his move.
“We need to talk,” he says softly. “I don’t blame you for breaking up with me but I never got to explain.” I immediately break eye contact and search my mind for a viable excuse because I know I shouldn’t be here - least of all with my ex-boyfriend. After what I do next, he’ll just blame himself! My desperation must show on my face because he reaches across the table and grips my fingers.
“It was a dare,” he blurts, exhaling roughly and letting go of my numb fingers. For a minute, I’m disoriented but then I realize what he’s referring to. “I know I shouldn’t have gone out with her but...”
“I wasn’t supposed to find out,” I finish. Except I did and broke up with him.
“You didn’t have to change schools,” says Taylor.
“I know.” But I was tired of rejections from faceless college administrators and breaking up with Taylor was the last straw. I had to move on and with that in mind, I enrolled at St. Marie. With that one decision, my life started going downhill but I wasn’t about to spill my guts to Taylor.

And yet, when he fixed his pleading eyes on me and said, “tell me what happened, please,” I couldn’t hold it in anymore. The truth gushed from my lips as I stumbled over words, struggling to summarize the hell I’d been through.
“I got rejected by all my top colleges and now sexts of me are being spread around St. Marie because girls in the changing room take pictures of me. And I recently, I was expelled from St. Marie for doing drugs.” 
I choke on that last confession, forcing myself to spit out the words and embrace the memories they bring with them. The hate and ominous whispers were a cloak surrounding me and stifling me. Even my drug-induced haze was no longer enough to keep me from making this decision.

Taylor
“I’m sorry,” I say because I don’t know what else to say.
“Don’t be.” She tries to keep her voice light but I know she is seconds from bursting into tears.
Drugs, sexts, rejection. I close my eyes briefly, struggling to hold back the emotions threatening to overwhelm me. I triggered this chain of events. This is all my fault. My throat constricts with emotion as I realize why she’s walking alone along a deserted street in the evening. She’s here to jump and I don’t know what to say to stop her so I stand up. “Nina don’t do this.”
Her chair falls to the ground with a clatter and she backs away from me, shaking her head. “Taylor, I’m sorry. It wasn’t your fault okay? Just remember that.”
We both know that’s a lie but I’m still standing, speechlessly gaping at her when she pivots and runs. Spurred into action, I race after her. “NINA!” I call.
I turn a corner and abruptly arrive at Crossing Bridge. The name of this bridge is originated from a cheesy myth about two lovers crossing paths on the bridge... Thanks to the myth, the bridge has a reputation for being the site of multiple hook-ups. Now, the bridge is about to gain an unsavory reputation of being a suicide spot.
Nina, balancing lightly on the stone railing, peers down at the murky water below. When I reach for her arm, she dances lithely out of my reach. “Nina, please.” I beseech her again, berating myself for being naive enough to think that I’m the only source of her pain and discomfort. If I had known sooner, I would have called someone.

Nina
“I’m sorry,” he repeats but I don’t care about an apology that is long overdue anyway.
“It’s too late,” I tell him. “I’m broken and I can’t be fixed.” Standing on the edge, I realize just how much I have to lose. How much those who loved me will lose. It’s inhuman to force my parents to experience the misery of losing a child to suicide and yet... I will finally be free. And that is all I want now.

Taylor reaches for me again but this time I jump. His fingers briefly grasp my dress but he’s too late. The water seems to rush up toward me and a scream claws its way out of my throat. But before long I am drowning, choking on the water rushing into my lungs. Clawing and thrashing, a primal instinct to survive kicks in. But like I said to Taylor - it’s too late.