Sunset Hill

by J.R. Black

I fell in love when I was seven-years-old. Maybe it happened sometime before… I only remember that at seven it was like I just realized this beautiful boy had always been there. And of course, he had.

He was different than the boys at these social events, with blue eyes the color of the clouds with the moon behind them, and hair as dark as the night sky. He was pale with a lean build that spoke to the fact he preferred chess to more rough-and-tumble activities like football.

These boys all smile with perfect teeth; they have broad shoulders, rich parents, new sports cars. One by one, they clear their throats and ask: "Would you like to dance?"

I smile and make my mother proud by accepting this one's offer. His grip on my hand as he leads me to the dance floor feels insubstantial. As if I am delicate. I'm sure I appear so with my long, blond hair – dressed in so much satin and lace a porcelain doll would be envious.

I suppose I was raised to be delicate. I was meant to marry one of these Chads or Blakes, have an appropriate number of children, and raise my daughters to live for cotillions and balls, rich parents, and sports cars.

But it had not always seemed that way to me.

William was the grandchild of the Parkyn family who owned the estate next door to my childhood home. I heard his mother described as a 'common woman' their son had gotten pregnant and then abandoned. The Parkyns took her in so their grandson wouldn't have to live 'on the streets'. Or, at least, that was the story my mother used to tell. Despite the circumstances, our mothers formed a friendship.

I've seen pictures of William and me toddling together at age two, hand in hand. Photographs of us napping, cuddled close to one another in the same playpen. My mother showed the album to me once when I was ten-years-old, accompanied by motherly cooing of how cute and small we were back then.

Sometime before my eleventh birthday, William's mother took her son and ran off – presumably with another man. My mother never mentioned them again.

But my memories of him….

It was late September when William decided he would prove himself to my older cousin Stephan by climbing to the top of Sunset Hill. William had a stronger will than he did body. The boys in what my mother referred to as our "circle of influence", Stephan especially, would tease him and call him 'a weakling'. In truth, even I could outrun William.

"I bet I can beat you to that rock." He pointed at the large rock at the end of the walking path that led from the garden around the woods situated behind our families' estates.

I shook my head. "No way. You know you can't run that far."

That earned me a sharp glare from his blue eyes. "Whoever touches it first wins. Ready?"

"Wait!" I shuffled to stand beside him on the dirt path.

"Go!"

It was a sound beating. William faltered to a walk at just over the halfway mark. I didn't slow, but continued to run all the way to the finish. William may have lost, but he never gave up. Heaving and sweating, his dark hair slicked against his forehead, he reached the stone where I was already waiting.

The end of the trail was our boundary. Our mothers didn't like us to wander farther than the very rock we'd raced to. When William had recovered, I started to turn back.

"Where are you going?"

"Home, silly. We can't go out there."

"We have to. I told you, I'm going to climb that hill." He pointed across an expanse of grass to a sharp incline of gravel and dirt; the hill looked like it went straight up for miles.

"But we can't go that far. Mom would—"

"I told you when we left I was going there. I need you to—"

"We'll get in trouble."

"I know. But, I gotta do it. I'm tired of being pushed around, Emily. The things they say about my mom… I can't beat any of them in a fist fight. I'm not strong enough. But if I could do this, maybe…maybe they'll back off. Even a little."

He looked at me with such sadness in those blue eyes…I knew the things Stephan said about William and his mother – and I knew he was just repeating the things adults said whenever William's mother wasn't around.

"All right, but I'm not just going to watch. If you're climbing to the top, I'm going, too."

It took us the rest of the afternoon to make that trek up the hill. Several times, I swear I was the one carrying us both to the top. It was hot, and the ground was nothing but sand and rocks. As we neared the top, I tripped, and it was William, with his tight grip on my hand, who kept me from falling.

When we reached the crest, we spilled to the ground, both of us tired, filthy, and out of breath. Night had already fallen. Stars glittered overhead.

"We're in trouble," I told him.

William wheezed. "Yeah."

"You know you're always getting me into trouble."

He turned his head to look at me. The two of us lying side by side on the grass. He grinned; his two bottom teeth missing since he'd lost them the week before. "Yeah, but. I wouldn't have made it without you, Emily."

I returned the smile. The night breeze whispered over our cheeks. I found his hand, and we held onto one another until we made it home.

The song ends and without thanking my partner, I walk back towards the tables at the edge of the dance floor. I don't stop. I continue past my mother's invited guests, out into the hall. I clench my hands in the skirts of my dress, pulling the lace over my ankles as I pick up speed and run towards the exit.

I hit the door with a solid 'thunk'. It swings open, and I emerge into the thick night air. The stars wink in the sky. I trip over my shoes and so I kick them off in a spectacular arc. On the other side of the parking lot, the grass runs up a short hill.

I sprint towards it, laughing all the way to the top.

The End