4

Our friendship progressed quickly, and soon I felt myself beginning to piece the fractured shards of my soul together. We talked about everything, and I told him about mom and Aunt Carrie. Cody became my one and only friend, and soon I felt those feelings transition into something more.

I began to notice how the light turned his blonde hair almost white, and how his eyes had golden specks that seemed to dance around whenever he laughed. 

After an exhausting day, Cody had offered to walk me home, and I gladly accepted his gesture of kindness. As we stood outside my gate, I turned to face him and realised that his lips were only inches away.

“Goodnight Anna.” he whispered huskily, and I felt his warm breath caress my cheeks.

The air was silent, and the stars twinkled above us like tiny gems. The moonlight bleached the surroundings of all colour, and I couldn’t notice anything except for how his blue eyes turned silver.

Without thinking, I closed the distance between our lips.

A few blissful moments passed in which I felt his inexperienced lips move against mine hesitantly, and his hands reached up to cup my cheeks. Feeling passion flare within me, I responded with more vigor and twined my hands into his hair, pressing my lips against his more fiercely and tasting a combination of mint and vanilla, a flavour that was uniquely Cody.

That was when he began to choke.

I drew back from him, alarmed when his eyes rolled back into his head. He released me quickly, as if I had electrocuted him. With growing horror, I watched as he fell to the ground and began to twitch, froth gathering at the sides of his lips and the colour draining out of his skin, leaving him a pallid and ghostly white.

“Cody? Cody what’s happening!” I shrieked, falling to my knees beside him. He gave no response, and continued to choke and writhe in agony, his head shaking back and forth violently.

“Help! HELP!” I screamed, as I held him close to me and scrambled for my handphone, praying for him to stay alive.

Within minutes, an ambulance was rounding the corner, the dissonant sirens piercing the silent air. Paramedics jumped out of the back of the van and unfolded a stretcher, before wheeling it to Cody. His seizures were becoming weaker, and his lips had turned a stark blue. Passersby watched, some with curiosity and others with anxiety as Cody was hoisted onto the stretcher.

“Take me with him!” I cried as I tried to follow Cody into the ambulance. To my utter shock, Cody’s eyes flickered open at the sound of my voice and his gaze met with mine. Immediately he began to shake his head back and forth again, moving away when I tried to touch him.

“C-cody?” I stammered, hurt.

A paramedic looked from him to me, before shaking his head.

“Sorry miss, but you’re agitating him.” he said firmly before the ambulance doors slammed shut.

I watched as the ambulance drove off, the sirens fading into the distance. Shakily, I glanced around at the bystanders and I felt an unfamiliar emotion lance through my heart when I saw their cold, unsympathetic expressions. As if I was at fault. Finally people began to move away, but I stayed rooted to the spot, feeling my blood turn to ice.

The stars, which had looked so magical before, now looked like malicious witnesses, mocking my despair. I stared unseeingly into the distance, feeling goosebumps erupt on my skin as the cold wind stung my cheeks.

It was so cold.