Amor

Soar High

There are always people who like the indoors, those who are sporty and like the outdoors, and then there are people who like mountaineering. Just like the girl who we would be following today. This girl, let's call her Jessie, who would be climbing a certain mountain in California. She went with some of her friends, whom we would not name. They play but a little part of this story. So Jessie is this girl who loves adventure. She also loves books, particularly thrillers and adventure books. She first went mountaineering and hiking with her father when she was young. She had already climbed atop mountains higher than this, but she wanted to try climbing Mount Tamalpais, and also to relieve some stress. Jessie hiked ahead of her friends, who were chatting absentmindedly while walking up the slope.

Jessie was almost to the top when she saw that there were other people already there. When she saw those other people, she couldn't help but feel disappointed that other people reached the summit before her, and started hiking back down. Yes, this girl was jealous. She wasn't looking ahead and was too distracted to notice that she was about to step on soft land instead of hard rock. Her foot fell through and she tripped. Jessie waved her arms in the air trying to regain her balance, but to no avail. She fell.

Strong hands suddenly caught Jessie and steadied her. Guess who it is? A boy that we'll just call James. so they'll be Jessie James. Yeah. So James caught her, and he steadied her. Once she was back on her two feet, James asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yes," Jessie answered. "Thank you,"

"Were you here alone?" James asked Jessie. "I'm with my friends. They're over- Hey! Where did they go?"

"So now you're alone," James laughed. "I'm with my friends too, it's my first time climbing though, nobody told me it would be this hard." Now it was Jessie's turn to laugh.

"You just need to practice and keep on climbing."

"Really?" James raised an eyebrow. Yeah. some people can only raise one. James probably wanted to ask her a question, but instead gave Jessie an offer. "Are you already going down? You can go with us if your friends wouldn't mind."

Jessie snorted. "They left me here, didn't they? Do you think they'll care if I went down with a guy and his friends?" So Jessie and James went down. Once they reached the bottom, James asked his question.

"Do you think we can climb again sometime? I mean, you're obviously a pro, so can you like, help me? Maybe we can text or something where to go next? I liked that hike, even though it was hard." So erase that. He had a lot of questions. Jessie cast him a look.

"Well, alright. When I'm going climbing again I'll text you. Give me your phone." James handed her his phone and she exchanged their numbers. After that, they went their separate ways. Cool fist meeting right? He got her number on the first try!

So they met again on another mountain. They hiked, they climbed, and they talked. It happened a lot of times. Climbing this mountain, climbing that hill. Hiking to that waterfall. The two became fast friends, though Jessie was kind of awkward at first. Then, on their nth hike, she didn't show up. James waited the whole day, and the day after that, and the day after that. He waited a whole week and she didn't appear. He was at a hotel (what, you thought he waited a whole week at the base of a mountain? They were supposed to meet before hiking, duh. Jessie wasn't responding to any of his texts.

It wasn't until a few more days later that someone contacted the guy. Jessie got hit by a truck right before they met. She was in a critical condition at the hospital. James immediately rushed to the hospital. Once he reached the ICU, he saw what happened to her. Her face was broken, swollen, and had a lot of bruises and cuts. Her hands were also bruised and cut, and her legs, oh god, her legs. They were shattered. The sling that kept her feet up made it obvious. If ever Jessie woke up, she wouldn't be able to walk again. She hadn't woken up yet.

James just hung his head. Jessie was emancipated, and nobody knew her parent's numbers. her friends weren't there too, and the only one they could call was James. He sat beside Jessie and put his head in his hands. "You know, when we were supposed to meet near that mountain, when we reached the peak, I was supposed to ask you to be my girlfriend. Maybe even take you on a date the next time we meet," he said to nobody in particular. A loud groan escaped the lips of Jessie. James rushed to her. "Hey, hey, Jessie, are you alright? Shh, I'll call someone over, wait here." Jessie couldn't speak due to the swelling, but it seemed she understood and nodded weakly. James called a nurse and they went to check on her.

"You'll be alright, they said. you'll just have to recover first, and we'll wait until the swelling of your face decreases before you can speak." The swelling didn't ease until a week later. By that time, Jessie already knew about her shattered legs and couldn't stop crying and sobbing. James could only do so much to comfort her. How do you comfort someone whose only source of joy was hiking, when her legs get shattered? Nobody knows.

"Jessie?" James said.

"Yes?" Jessie looked up from her side-crying position.

"Do you remember what I said when you woke up?" James asked. Jessie shook her head.

"Let me tell you. Jessie, I'm always here for you. I like you. Hell, I think I even love you now. When we were supposed to meet, I was supposed to ask you if you wanted to be my girlfriend."

"How can you love someone- someone like me?! I wouldn't even be able to walk anymore!"

"I will always love you. Don't let yourself down, I'll be here to help you. You can still go on hikes with me. I will climb for the both of us. It would be like you were there with me. We will soar over those mountains, over those hills. Do you think I'll even let you down?" Jessie shook her head.

"Then be with me. I wanted to ask you this before, and I'm asking now. Jessie, do you want to be my girlfriend?" Jessie looked up at him, eyes wide. "I- I, Yes. Yes, I'll be your girlfriend."

There. That's it, that's all I remember from what they told me. I was that nurse who helped Jessie. (wink wink) and I asked them about it. That's the story of two mountaineers, who, even without the legs of the other, always soar high over the highest mountain.