Okay, people have said that the chapter names confuse them. Through the whole thing it is Poppy's point of view. No one elses. The bold names (Olev and Arden) are just the names of the chapters. Please point out any mistakes and if you can answer these questions;
one. What part did you like the most?
two. What part did you dislike the most?
three. Who do I need more character devolpement on?
four. Is there anything you are super confused about?
Prologue
“The wrong of unshapely things is a wrong to great to be told.”
W.B Yeats
And that was when I realised I was wearing a white shirt, when my long gaunt fingers urgently tapped on the road, I looked down to find my favourite shirt covered in blood. Jasper’s hands were cold next to mine; I turned to watch my brother. His wild blonde hair flickered with blood. His eyes, blue with gold specks, were closed. His eyelids were purple and I could faintly see the veins running from under his eyebrows. For a while I sat there wondering silently if he would wake. I touched his cheek, the warmth had left his face, and his milky skin seemed unreal. I whispered that I would never forget him, and it was entirely true.
I heard the siren’s not long after, but I was already almost asleep and it wouldn’t matter if I stayed like that. I pulled my fingers from Jasper’s cheek and wrapped my arms around myself. My skin was dotted in blood, my eyelids were heavy and my lips were blue. My teeth chattered against each other and I imagined Jasper telling them to hush.
But he didn’t seem to mind tonight and I frowned, this boy next to me just wasn’t my brother anymore.
Olev
Olev stood, with her back perfectly straight on a dock looking out onto the sea. She shook her head at me, her brown hair trashing in the wind. She squinted her eyes then whispered something under her breath but I closed my eyes for a moment, not wanting to see her disappointment. She was older than me, barely though. She curled her hands into a fist and then shoved them in her jeans. The fake fur on her jacket hugged at her slender neck.
“Olev,” I whispered, but she didn’t even hear me. She had no shoes on, she never did, her toenails were blue and almost the colour of her frost tipped lips. ‘Olev,’ I said, louder now ‘You’re eyes look like my brothers.’ There was a pause before she wiped the tears from her cheeks furiously, she hated when I mentioned Jasper.
“Don’t say his name Poppy.” She choked.
“I won’t, I love you enough to promise you that I won’t say his name.”
She nodded her head this time, but it didn’t seem in acceptance of my plan. She didn’t say she loved me, she didn’t mention that she would always watch my back, but her nod was enough because I’d never seen it directed at me. She turned and walked off trying to look sophisticated but I couldn’t help but laugh at her feet. She was brave, this fifteen year old woman striding away from me very quickly. She was braver than me, but not as brave as my brother had been. I guess she inherited it, the will to move when she was wrapped in duck tape and glued to the ground. I had no idea what she would do now, no one was in love with her and her family had died when mine did. It was always Jasper, Olev and I. Now Jasper was dead and I was departing, she was alone, but to be honest so was I.
“You’re being ridiculous Poppy!” She’d stopped walking.
If there was ever a time that you should ask a magic eight ball a question, it was now. If you ever happen to be stuck between the longing for freedom and your cousin ask one of those balls. I would’ve but I couldn’t see one anywhere, I didn’t even know if I owned an eight ball. As Olev stared at me all I could think of was that magic eight ball and the fact that Olev’s feet were very bare.
I smiled “You’ll be fine without me.”
“But you’re my cousin, almost my sister Poppy.” She paused and looked at her naked feet, when she looked up again she asked very seriously “Where are you going to go now?”
“Maybe France.”
Her serious face melted and she laughed.
“You haven’t changed one bit.”
I nodded; I didn’t plan on changing in time soon. I waved her goodbye and she smiled again. I couldn’t stop thinking that this Olev was very different to the one I’d known as a child, she was almost laughing in the face of danger, maybe she was related to me after all. The dock suddenly seemed longer as she disappeared behind a row of shops. There was no one on the beach now and I lay on the dock, stretching myself out and watching hundreds of cumulus clouds drift quite high above me.
“Let’s go, Poppy.”
“Arden?” I looked up. His green eyes sparkled in the sun and his brown hair streaked with blonde was long and unruly. I scrambled to my feet and stood watching him throw his suitcase into my boat. Then he turned with a crooked smile on his face and kissed me very quickly.
“We’ll leave,” I paused “right now.”
He hauled me into the boat. I stumbled around for a moment before he asked if I knew how to sail. I shook my head.
When I woke up is was in the cabin, the room was dark even slightly cold but I didn’t mind. Arden was still awake; his rosy cheeks were stained with tears. I stood for a moment and then bent down so I was right next to his thin crimson lips. I wiped his tears with my thumb and kissed the side of his head, near his ear.
He held my face in his hands and when he let go he was no longer crying. I ran my fingers along his naked shoulders.
“Are you cold?”
“Barely.” He whispered.
He pulled me closer, his lips almost touching my own. His breath was erratic. His hair, messy over his ears.
“You don’t need to worry about me, ever.”
All I could do was nod, as he pressed his icy lips against mine. I sat near him for a while, leaning my shoulders against his. He pulled me back into the hammock. He pushed his hips into mine, Arden’s lips pressed on my neck.
“Goodnight.” He whispered.
But I couldn’t sleep with him kissing my hair. A shiver ran down my spine, he ran his hands down my neck. The boat swayed for the rest of the night, depriving me of sleep. The last thing I saw was the ceiling swinging and Arden’s fingers softly stroking the bare skin on my legs.
Arden
The sun slid over the horizon, more beautiful than I’d ever imagined. It seemed so close, like I could reach out and touch the most romantic thing on this earth. But I refrained myself, whispering that Arden would be mad if I stretched to stroke my fingers along it and suddenly fell into the cold Pacific beneath without him here to save me.
I could feel him breathing on the back of my neck even before he spoke. I was sure he could hear my heart beating, or see the grin I was trying so hard to conceal.
“Good morning.” His lips ran up the back of my neck, pulling at my bathers.
I struggled to my feet. My hands were shaking and I hid then around my back.
“Let’s go swimming.” I whispered.
“This, Poppy,” He pointed to the water. “is the Pacific Ocean.”
I raised my eyebrows, it was just an ocean.
“Sharks,” He murmured. “sting rays, manta rays, you might even find a whale, jellyfish, you can’t swim here.”
“Are you kidding me? I swim wherever the hell I want.”
He signed and plunged into the water. When he resurfaced I smiled at his courage. “Hurry up Poppy, before I change my mind”
I threw my shirt onto the floor of the boat; I could feel the harsh wind on my stomach. Arden watched me carefully, even inventively and I was suddenly ashamed of the tiny white hairs that Arden couldn’t even see. He smiled, his slightly crooked teeth showing. I bit my lip and dived in to the sea green abyss. I pulled my head above the surface, blinking furiously.
“Cold?” He smiled again.
“Salty.” I corrected.
He scrunched his nose, creasing his freckles and sniggered. I nodded and starred at his lime eyes reflecting the ocean. His brown hair was almost black now. His thin cerise lips curled over his teeth, freckles covered his nose and there were three close to the edge of his lips. He watched me inquisitively and I saw my reflection inside his eyes. My straight brown hair was dripping and it clung to my forehead. I couldn’t see the colour of my eyes from the reflection but I could guess that they were glittering topaz right now. I saw the shape of my lips, thin like his, and smiled. Like Arden’s nose, my forehead was dotted in freckles.
“Are you done?” He whispered, ashamed by his mirror image in my eyes.
“You’re very beautiful, Arden.”
“I doubt it.”
I swam towards him, my arms flailing in the void around us.
“Don’t ever doubt anything.”
And I kissed his salt tipped lips, wondering if he really believed that he wasn’t beautiful. He pressed his lips hard against me. My arms wrapped around him so I could stay afloat. For a while I forgot about what could be lurking under us, I was to busy in the soft tangle of Arden’s lips. The way he gasped for air, how his voice shook. For a moment, I fell in love with the way he said my name. When he pulled me into the boat I wrapped a towel around myself, my teeth were chattering like they had been the night Jasper died. Arden stood right in front of me, his lanky white legs and green boxer shorts dripping in salt water. He slipped my towel around him and then hugged me to his chest.
“You look like you’re brother Poppy.” He touched my nose. “You’re cheekbones, the way your eyebrows crease when you’re mad, even you’re smile, it reminds me of Jasper.”
I threw my arms around him, sobbing into the cave in his chest.
“I’m sorry, Poppy.”
“It’s not your fault.” I choked out. He sniffled and I looked up at his face, his tears dripped from the edge of his chin down onto my nose
.
“A life like your brothers didn’t deserve to die.”
“No life does.” I whispered and he pulled me into his arms cradling me down into the cabin. I curled into a ball on the hammock, still sobbing at thoughts of my brother. Arden kissed my nose, whispering.
“Your Jasper always loved you.”
He left the dark berth, and as soon as I couldn’t see him anymore or hear his steps on the stairs, I whimpered.
“Jasper.” I wiped my cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Jasper.”
I could hear his supple voice in the cavity inside my head.
“I was driving the car, Poppy”
I had so many things to say to him, but I knew it would be a wasteful use of air in my lungs. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep but outside I could still hear Arden’s footsteps. I could still hear him pacing back and forward, thinking of my brother. His checks would still be damp; he would gasp for air as he tried to comprehend this situation. He would scratch at his forehead, claw at his arms; he would even dive into the ocean ready to leave forever. But Arden would remember me and resurface. I tried to imagine his wiry body, recalling he had me to care for, climbing up the side of the boat and running to kiss me in my sleep, although I wasn’t I tired, I would pretend to be dreaming, just so I could feel his lips on my forehead. I smiled at the thought, I smiled at myself being so helpless, being utterly pathetic and it pleased me a little. It pleased me to know he would save me when I couldn’t save myself.
“I’ll take care of her Jasper.”
I think he said it a little too loud, I think he thought I was sleeping. I let his voice stain me, those simple words soaked into quickly and I drifted away with them echoing in my head.
