Ginny and Georgia: The Younger Shadow

Chapter 17- Wellsbury Park- and the man in the shadows...
My mouth felt oddly warm and my finger had practically frozen to icicles as the wind slapped my face and brought my honey hair flying back.
"Char! Over here!" Kara called. I could see her, Madi and the noticeably smaller figure of Aria as they all sat under the ancient oak tree, with a fine picnic spread out in front of them.
"God, it's getting colder! Couldn't we have just had a picnic in your room, Madi?" I grumbled. The wind creaked and groaned like an old rocking chair.
"Yeah, but that's no fun! It's much better out in the cold, duh! That's cos not many people are around too" Madi grinned and flung over a packet of chips that I hungrily opened and delved into. The salt and vinegar flavour seemed to give me a odd warmth on the inside. Aria was looking up at the dull, colourless sky, and her red hair seemed to bring brightness to us now that summer has blown over and we would have to get used to colder, frost-bitten days. It was funny, really, how you never get used to something that happens so often. Like death. We all expect it, or winter to come eventually, yet it still shakes us and ruins everything.
"What are our sisters doing today then?" Kara asked, while munching on a ham and cheese sandwich.
"Don't know. I think Max has theatre practice, but who knows about Marcus. He's been a bit strange lately. Do you notice how Ginny tenses up around him? Wonder if there's something going on between them." She plucked a purple grape into her mouth, and I pondered over what she had said. Marcus and Ginny? But she was with Hunter. I'd never seen them exchange more than a couple greetings and "how are yous" to each other.
"Let's not talk about our sisters. Let's talk about what we're gonna wear to Brodie's Halloween party!" Aria cried, and we all nodded. We didn't need to be involved in any possible Mang drama. Doing that had been our ultimate sacrifice at the sophomore sleepover.
"Well, sadly Mang will be at the party, and a few other sophomores, but I'm pretty sure we're gonna be the only freshmen there." Kara said.
"Wait, does that mean we can't drink? They wouldn't let us, would they?" I asked. Madi bit her lip, then started with: "who cares? Technically, they're not old enough to drink and our moms would kill us, but I don't wanna look back on my childhood memories and be one of those boring old farts that get good grades and go to sleep at 9 because their mom told them to."
"Amen to that!" Kara laughed.
"Wait, we're Jewish!" Aria laughed. Their laughter was honestly contagious sometimes. I almost forgot the painful cold as our breaths rose with a jocund vibe to greet the cold winters clouds, to become a tiny part of warming up the cold. A few minutes later, just as we were clearing away the food and brushing the crumbs off our pants, I noticed a figure- not just a random passerby. Sometimes you can feel the eyes following you, watching you, never leaving you. A shiver danced up my spine as I turned around. I could tell at once the figure was a man. Not particularly tall, but from what I could make out he had a strong, muscly build. And his eyes weren't trained on Kara, Aria or Madi- just me. When he noticed I was watching, he stepped away from the spindly tree, tipped his hat to me, and calmly walked away. An uneasy feeling settled in my stomach. Who the hell was that? Some sick Peeping Tom? What did he want? Was he following me?
"Charlie? Are you ok?" Kara asked. Madi gripped my arm.
"What's wrong? You looked like a ghost just asked you to a tea party!" Her lame joke didn't make me feel much better.
"There was some man watching me behind the tree. When he noticed that I was looking at him, he just walked away. I don't know where he is now."
"Shit! Ignore him, Charlie. Probably some sick pervert." Aria gave me a sympathetic look.
"Should I tell my mom? She says I should always tell her about these things."
"Ok, just be careful. Have you seen him before?" Madi asked. All the contented ness dulled from her face. She had slight creases on her mouth from the way she always smiled, and I felt bad I had bothered them all with my stories. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe he just confused me with someone else. Or maybe he didn't.