She stood before him.

Simian's water bottle slipped through his fingers and crashed on the linoleum tiles, sending icy shockwaves to his brain. He had nothing on - except for his boxers, and those had a hole...

Swiftly his hands settled awkwardly on his lower body. His eyes shot behind her. 3 steps. 3 steps back were all it would take for her to stand at his grandmother's door. 

Simian gulped down the words stuck in his throat. His heart rattled so hard on his rib cage he could hear it. The bottle was way too loud. His gran was a light sleeper; she would be up in no time. 

Simian searched for any answer. He had none. Lying was no problem for him but he would be hard-pressed to lie away a live Trinity girl standing before his half-naked form in the middle of the night. 

He didn't even know her name. 

A strange laugh bubbled in his chest. No one would believe that.

The light from the fridge bounced off her dress, every step illuminating the pitch-black kitchen. 

Her bare feet caught Simian's eye. It dulled the shock. His mind began to function. How on earth had she managed to sneak into his house?  Why? How did she know how to come here?

No answers seemed logical. He looked up.

Too late.

He felt her warmth on him. Simian's mind raced, she was too close.

She clasped his face in her hands and drew him to her lips...

His heart stopped. Literally. He felt his blood turn cold in his veins. His breathing was laboured. Pushing her off was useless, she was a dead weight. She inhaled, draining all the strength from him.

His grandmother's shouting woke him. 

Simian sat up in a sweat. He turned to his phone beside him. 

Noon. 

This was the third time this week. 

"Simian!" Gran screamed filling the door frame of his room, "This is enough! People woke up early, picked tea, planted, harvested, and here you are sleeping."

Simian jumped out of his bed and slipped on his jeans.

"Where are you going?!" Gran asked blocking his path. This had been the order of the day for the past three days.

"Town," Simian blurted heaving.

"Who are you going to see? Are you still hanging out with those boys-"

"Gran please, I don't want to fight today-"

She put up a hand "Do I need to worry?"

Simian didn't remember going to sleep. He didn't understand the dreams and didn't quite understand why he woke up so late. He, however, knew everything started on the day of the bet.

He was worried about himself. 

"I'm fine."

Silence sat in the room.

It was clear to both of them he wasn't.

"Think of your mother Simian," Gran finally said.

The memory of the school incident flashed across his eyes. Simian pounded fists down a boy's face. A blood spatter landed in his eye. 

Simian smiled as he wore his trainers, "I am." He wasn't. His mother was the one person he did not want to think about.

Gran looked straight at him, Simian struggled to keep his smile plastered. She stepped aside. Simian wangled inside last night's navy polo shirt. Pausing by his 70-year-old Gran, he kissed her forehead before rushing out.

Simian rode through the country roads onto the highway and into the forested cover of the village road that led to Harry's farm. Harry's grandparents were hosting a lunch for his 17th birthday, he was finally as old as the others.

Simian found Harry and the boys waiting by the old Quaker church.  Wekesa had on the latest designer athleisure fitted on his bulky figure. Justin as usual always resembled the British countryside gentry. Harry with his linen shirt, pants, and custom Birkenstock sandals appeared to have docked off a yacht. Jacob would be coming later.

It was safe to say Simian looked like garbage. The boys stared but made no comment. 

Simian was going to have to tell them one day he wasn't as rich as they were but this was not the time. 

They cycled to Harry's in silence, the warm tropical weather beating down their back.  

Lunch was held at the purple bougainvillea lined gazebo. It was a fusion feast starring traditional food with a modern flair. Everyone talked, traded hilarious stories but Simian remained somber, eating less and talking even less.

Jacob joined at the end, coming straight out of a shift at the restaurant. Harry suggested a swim in the river. The boys agreed, taken by the idea of cooling down. 

The river ran through Harry's 20-acre farm. When they descended the steep hill to the river, the boys peeled off their clothes and jumped in.

Justin was less inclined. The water was not as clear as he liked, besides, there was the threat of snakes, foxes, or worse leopards.

Harry's farmhand insisted the area was safe. Justin peered into the forest cover.

"No thanks."   

Harry dismissed the farmhand promising to call if anything dangerous happened. 

"Justin come on!" Wekesa said as he floated. Harry swung on the tyre swing above him and catapulted in sending waves over to Simian who'd chosen to stay perched close to the banks.

Jacob swam strokes back and forth.

Justin sat by a blooming Jacaranda tree, he took in the clean sword tattoo that ran down Simian's spine.

"It has no meaning," Simian said without looking.

Justin smirked, "Sure." He went back to watching his friends.

"How's the bet coming along?" Justin inquired. He knew full well Simian had been avoiding the town square.

Harry had managed to get a Trinity Church pamphlet. Wekesa traded in his usual urban fashion for a church boy look when in town and only managed to get as far as a pamphlet as well. Jacob and Simian had not made a move yet. Jacob was too shy but Justin noticed something else was going on with Simian.

"Want me to trade secrets? What if you're a spy?" Simian joked as he exited the water.

"You know you can quit. It's super childish."

"It is," Simian responded. The Trinity girl had spooked him but he would be damned if he admitted it. "Keeps me busy though," a devilish smile caressed his features. Blood rushed to Justin's face, he looked away. 

"Eyy! We're betting!!" Wekesa shouted as he floated over to them.

Justin stood, desperate to leave Simian, "Again?"

"Whoever's the last to the other side has to walk buck naked to the house!" Harry laughed.

"What about who wins?" Simian responded as he slid into the water.

"Only losers this round," Jacob stated as he docked by Justin and Simian. 

"I'm game if you are," Simian pitched Justin. 

Justin whipped off his shirt and trousers, "Enjoy the walk losers."

He jumped in. The rest followed.

Simian swam hard. The further he got, the further the sounds of his friends faded. The further the sound of his mother crying when she told him she couldn't take care of him anymore. The further the sound his father's head made when he fell. 

His hand tapped the earth. He won.

Simian came up for air and came face to face with her.

The Trinity girl.

"The clock, tomorrow," she whispered. The scent of jasmine enveloped Simian. 

He nodded in a trance. 

"Violet!" a female voice called. Violet froze. In one swift moment she stood up from her crouched position, grabbed her bouquet of wildflowers, and took off into the forest. 

She was barefoot.

"I guess we have a winner..." Harry managed to say.

Simian turned. 

His friends had stopped swimming. They stared at him, mouths agape.

Simian felt a smile pump life into his face. 

If they'd seen her, he wasn't crazy after all. 

He wasn't his mother.

*Simian's shaping up to be more than what meets the eye. Justin clearly has a secret and the Trinity girl is stranger than even I could've imagined. What does she want from Simian? Find out in the next chapter!*

If you like the story so far, hit that star button or a leave comment, I'd love to know your theories. Thanks for sticking by!