Wait for Me at the Bridge

Honestly? A carnival consolation prize looks better than this junk.

That one sentence snapped something inside me. I took the watchthe one Id starved myself for a year to buyand hurled it into the trash. Right in front of Cole.

For a second, I felt powerful. I felt like I had my dignity back.

Three hours later, the sky opened up.

Rain hammered down as I fell to my knees beside that same filth-crusted dumpster. I clawed through the garbage like a stray dog, frantic, desperate.

Sobs ripped out of my throat as I dug. Because five minutes ago, my dad told me the truth. Mom has cancer. We have zero money.

Regret tasted like bile. That watch could have sold for a couple hundred bucks. But I couldn't find it.

When I finally dragged my soaked, shivering body home, there was no comfort waiting for me. Just the end.

"Your parents they jumped off the bridge."

That year, I was eighteen. I threw away my pride, and the universe took my family.

Chapter 1

My eyes locked with Coles. His expression? Frozen.

Connor, the guy standing next to him, scratched his head, looking like he wanted to be anywhere else. He held out the mangled box. "Do do you want this back?"

I stared at the watch in his grip. It was trashed. Clearly, nobody had bothered to take care of it.

That watch cost two hundred dollars. It wasn't a Rolex, but for me? It was a fortune. Id skipped lunch for a year to save every penny.

My gaze drifted to Coles wrist.

He was wearing a timepiece that probably cost more than my fathers life earnings. The contrast burned.

I took the watch from Connor. My voice came out hollow. "Sorry. Ill handle it."

Cole didn't look up. He kept his eyes on the floor, lips pressed into a thin, silent line.

Humiliation crawled under my skin. I gripped the broken watch and turned on my heel.

At the school gates, I passed the first metal trash can. I didn't think. My heart hardened. I just let go.

The watch clattered against the metal bottom.

I glanced back. Just once.

Cole was watching me now. He looked bored, his eyelids heavy, a faint smirk playing on his lips. His eyes held nothing but mockery.

My stomach dropped. I lowered my gaze.

Pathetic. My secret crush was absolutely pathetic.

I didn't know it then, but that look would haunt my nightmares for years.

When I got home, the air felt heavy.

Ralph sat on the front stoop. A cheap cigarette dangled from his lips, smoke curling around his exhausted face. SharonMomwasn't there.

He didn't speak. He just handed me a crumpled piece of paper.

A biopsy report. Breast Cancer.

Ralph took a harsh drag, the cherry of the cigarette flaring against the gloom. "Treatment is going to cost hundreds of thousands. I talked to your mom were not treating it."

"She said she wants ribs for dinner. The kind I make. Go buy some meat. Ill go pick her up in a bit."

"No." The word scraped my throat. I flipped through the pages, hands shaking so hard the paper rattled. "This is wrong. These things get misdiagnosed all the time. Im taking her to a specialist tomorrow. Its a mistake."

I stared at him, stubborn tears blurring my vision.

Ralphs eyes were bloodshot. He looked at me, and the silence screamed.

The dam broke. Tears spilled over my cheeks, hot and fast. "Ill quit school," I choked out. "Ill get a job. We have to treat her."

Ralph hung his head.

I knew he was dying inside.

My dad had a bad lega permanent limp. Mom was the only one who ever looked at him like he was whole. She married him when no one else would, always lifting him up.

We were poor, but God, they loved each other.

Chapter 2

Back in middle school, the other kids started finding Jesus. Or at least, they started wearing crosses and talking about spiritual awakenings.

I asked Ralph, "Dad, what's your religion?"

He didn't get it. I had to explain the conceptworship, devotion, the thing that keeps you going.

He scratched the back of his neck, looking sheepish. "Your mom. Sharon is my religion."

Later, I found mine too.

My religion was the future. It was making enough money to show them the world, to pay them back for every sacrifice.

Now, Ralphs church was burning to the ground. And mine was crumbling right along with it.

I gripped Ralphs rough hand, my voice steady despite the chaos inside. "Im done with school. Im getting a job. Were going to the city. Were going to find the best specialists for Mom."

Ralph just smoked. He didn't say a word.

But my mind was made up.

I told him to go pick Mom up, to pack some bags. We were leaving.

Then, I turned and ran back toward the school.

Halfway there, the sky bruised purple and broke open.

Rain.

People scrambled for cover, heads down, running for awnings.

Perfect.

I let it out. The scream Id been choking on. Rain mixed with the salt on my lips, masking the tears.

By the time I reached the school, the campus was a ghost town.

I walked straight to the metal trash can near the gate.

The smell hit me first. Rotting food. Stale soda. Wet cardboard.

I didn't care.

I shoved my hands into the filth. Digging. Clawing. My fingers brushed against slime, sharp edges, grit.

I needed that watch.

I bit my lip until it tasted like iron. I wanted to slap myself for throwing that watch.

That watch was cash. Cash was a doctor's visit. Cash was hope.

I tore through every inch of that garbage. I went through it twice. Three times.

Nothing.

Gone.

The walk home was a blur.

The rain wasn't just water anymore; it was ice, pelting my skin, bruising me.

When I got back, the house was dark. Cold.

I sat on the couch. Soaking wet. Shivering. Waiting.

And waiting.

The knock came.

It wasn't them.

It was a neighbor, breathless, face pale as a sheet. "Your parents they jumped. From the bridge."

Senior year.

I lost my religion. I became an orphan.

Eight years.

Youd think the memory would fade. It doesn't. It festers.

I sat up in bed, gasping for air.

The phone screen glowed in the dark. 4:00 AM.

The room was empty. Silent.

"Dad? Mom?"

The silence pushed back. Heavy. Suffocating.

They never visit. Not even in dreams.

My dreams belong to him. Cole.

In the nightmare, hes always there. Leaning back, that lazy, cruel smirk on his face. Eyes full of disdain. "Have you no shame, Sage?"

"I do!" I always scream back. "I have dignity!"

Thats when I wake up.

Sleep was a lost cause. I dragged myself out of bed and started packing.

After the funeralafter the numbness set inI fled that town. I moved to a new city. I erased my past.

Waiting tables. Studying until my eyes bled. Survival was the only thing I had left.

Chapter 3

Stillness is the enemy.

If I stop moving, the dam breaks. The screaming starts.

I went to a doctor once. Moderate depression, he said, scribbling on a pad. He told me I needed an anchor. Someone to pull me out of the deep end before I drowned.

But there was no one. There never was.

Eight years of running. But lately, the pull of home has been getting stronger. Its a physical ache. I need to see that river.

I need to stand on the edge. I need to jump.

I need to find them in the dark and scream, Why? Why were you so cruel?

I am so, so tired.

Since I was going back to die anyway, the reunion invitation didn't scare me.

When Wesley, the old class president, texted about the gathering, I was the first to reply. Yes.

I hadn't spoken in the group chat in eight years. Id deleted everyone. Including Cole.

I booked the earliest high-speed train.

Strange. My chest felt light. Lighter than it had in a decade.

I watched the landscape blur past, a genuine smile touching my lips as I chatted with the girl in the next seat.

Chloe was young, vibrant. "You wouldn't believe how hard it was to bag him," she chirped, showing me a picture of her boyfriend. "He had girls lining up around the block. But I stuck it out for two years. Now? Im taking him home to meet my parents."

She beamed. "You seem happy, too, sis. Are you heading home? I swear, the air just tastes sweeter when you're on your way to see your mom and dad."

The smile froze on my face for a split second. Then, I forced it back into place.

"Yeah," I said. "I'm going home."

"Home to see my parents."

The words were a whisper, meant only for me.

A twisted sense of relief washed over me.

Soon.

I hummed a tune the rest of the way.

I went straight from the station to the venue Wesley had booked.

Most of them were already there.

I pushed the door open. The chatter cut off instantly. The room went dead silent.

I didn't make eye contact. I just walked to the empty seat nearest the door. My escape route.

The smile Id worn on the train vanished.

Wesley pushed his glasses up his nose, the nervous habit kicking in. "Sage? You made it."

I nodded.

A sharp, mocking click of a tongue broke the tension.

Shelby.

She leaned back, eyes scanning me with open disdain. "Well, well. If it isn't the elusive Sage, the Great Scholar. Looking at your face just killed my appetite. Honestly, someone needs to warn Cole. Tell him to skip tonight."

No one knew why I dropped out back then.

But everyone knew I had a pathetic, unrequited obsession with Cole. They knew about the gifts. The rejection.

Kerry, sitting next to Shelby, tugged on her sleeve, trying to hush her.

Wesley frowned, his voice dropping. "Shelby, knock it off. Cole has been looking for Sage for eight years. You tell him shes here, hell be happy."

Shelby let out a harsh laugh. "Please. Cole is just nice. He probably feels guilty because he rejected her and she spiraled. Who knew you had to apologize for not liking someone?"

She swirled her drink, eyes locking onto mine. "Hes been looking for eight years just to say 'sorry.' Don't get it twisted."

"Is it a crime to not like someone? Everyone knows Sage transferred because Cole humiliated her. You make it sound like he actually liked her."

She smirked. "Besides, doesn't Cole have a girlfriend? I heard shes gorgeous and loaded. A real heiress. What does Sage have? A pretty face? A cripple for a dad? A house so poor the rats moved out?"

"Give me a break."

Chapter 4

Shelby didn't stop. Her voice was a cheese grater against my nerves, peeling away layers of silence until the whole room winced.

I stood up.

No anger. No tears. Just done.

"I'm not eating," I said, my voice flat. "Don't worry about losing your appetite. I just wanted to see everyone one last time. I have. I'm going."

I didn't wait for a response. I turned and walked out the door.

Wesley scrambled after me, catching the heavy door before it swung shut. He grabbed my wrist, his grip desperate. "Sage, wait. Im serious. Cole has been hunting for you for eight years. Eight years, Sage. Don't you want to wait for him?"

Cole.

His face flashed in my mind like a strobe light.

He was devastatingly handsome. The kind of face that ruined you for anyone else. But I couldn't remember warmth. I only remembered eyes devoid of emotion and a mouth permanently curled into a mocking sneer.

I shook my head, gently prying Wesleys fingers off my arm. "I'm on a schedule," I said, forcing a soft smile. "When you see him tell him I'm sorry. Really. I'm so sorry."

Wesley froze, confused by the finality in my tone.

I turned and walked away.

I didn't go to a hotel.

I drove to the cemetery.

I didn't bring flowers. I brought letters. Eight years of words Id never sent, scribbled on loose-leaf paper. I sat on the cold grass in front of their headstones and lit a match.

I fed the pages to the flame, one by one.

I burned enough paper money to last a hundred years. I watched the ash curl and float up into the gray sky, a smoke signal to the afterlife. Im coming.

When the last ember died, I went home.

The house was a tomb. Dust coated every surface like snow.

I didn't clean. I didn't touch a thing. I just stood in the doorway, breathing in the stale air of my childhood, letting the ghosts settle around me.

By the time I stepped back outside, night had swallowed the world.

It was pitch black. No streetlights here. I checked my phone. 10:55 PM.

I called a ride.

"To the river bridge," I told the driver.

The city at night was quiet. The bridge was deserted, save for the occasional moped whizzing byUber Eats drivers racing against the clock.

I dragged my suitcase to the railing.

No one looked twice. A girl with a suitcase standing by a bridge just looks like someone waiting for a ride. Or a tourist taking in the view.

I waited.

Midnight struck. The witching hour.

The traffic died completely.

I pulled a folded note from my pocket and taped it securely to the handle of my suitcase.

Then, I climbed.

The metal railing was cold against my palms. Below, the water was a black void, dark and calm.

I didn't hesitate. I vaulted over.

Gravity took me.

The wind roared in my ears, but just before the water hit me, a sound ripped through the air. A voice. Raw, terrified, and familiar.

"Don't you fucking dare, Sage