Dreams // Newtmas

16. Down We Go

Thomas hated pop quizzes. And I mean hated pop quizzes. He didn't understand them. Whenever he thought he did well he failed, which was just great, and whenever he thought he had failed so badly the teacher was going to figure out he hadn't studied at all in the past four months he got an A. Like, where was the logic in that?

So, after a test that he was probably going to pass based on how horribly he thought he did but still finished surprisingly early, Thomas was mad. Though the anger was more because Jansen had magically decided to burst into the room the moment Thomas was trying to tell Newt something important. Something that he didn't want to make a big deal out of in front of all his friends in case it was highly embarrassing for either of them and something that would have been better off said gently and casually in private or in an overly crowded classroom.

But no, of course it couldn't be that easy. They had to have a dumb test and not have any other classes together for the rest of the day. Newt also had to disappear off the face of the planet the second the bell rang, a mildly annoying habit that Thomas was beginning to notice. It was as if Newt was scared to stay in school any longer than he already had to, which was strange considering he was the type of person that could spend literal hours in the school library if he wanted to. Thomas hadn't mentioned it to Newt yet but made a mental note to do so when it began to become a serious inconvenience.

Thomas could, of course, have simply texted Newt about the entire situation that his head was blowing wildly out of proportion but, having no idea as to how to even begin that conversation, he decided it would be best if he went for a run instead. That always helped to clear his mind and then he would be able to text Newt, or leave it until the next day- whichever one he had the courage to do first.

After dropping Brenda and a few of her more tiresome friends at the mall, Thomas went back to home, changed into something he could actually run comfortably in and then jogged to the park  in the centre of town. It was only a few blocks away thankfully, and Thomas reached the place in no time. 

The park itself was packed with people. Kids raced around the playground as if there was no tomorrow, screaming their lungs out. Thomas wished he could borrow some of their hyperactive energy, it seemed like kids never got tired. Parents sat at benches, chatting as they watched their children and kept pigeons away from their picnics. There was a few older kids hanging about, enjoying the exceptionally warm day .

The place was massive for a public park in the middle of a relatively medium-sized town. A sprawling area of grass covered the majority of the grounds with the playground situated at the end Thomas had arrived from. Covering the edges was a sort of U-shaped forest that provided shade for many of the people that were out for a picnic. Many different trails made their way in and around the trees, making use of just about every inch of ground in there.

Thomas veered off onto some of the lesser known paths around the park, heading for the forest. He normally preferred to stay away from running in public places in general but, since he'd run just about every road and trail within a five mile radius of his house, Thomas had decided it was time for a change of scenery. 

Still, he didn't want to go ducking and diving around people to avoid them. That would take away probably one of the only good things about running. He enjoyed the peace of running and not having to think about anything else, just the next ten steps. For Thomas, going for a run meant escaping from his overly crowded head and not letting himself dwell on any of his problems, and he couldn't really do that if he had to be conscious of his surroundings.

So Thomas stayed off the main footpaths and took every small path of trail he could find going deeper and deeper into the forest which, until he was about halfway around the park , was working just fine. He was in a world of his own, the horrendous pop quiz having faded into the background of his mind long ago. It was replaced by the pounding of Thomas's legs on the pavement, the controlled breaths he let loose from his slightly burning lungs and the feeling of sweat beading his forehead. In other words, Thomas was in his own little paradise.

It was because of this that Thomas didn't realise he was about to send that paradise up in flames. As he ran, Thomas had continued to take what looked to be the least used paths around the park. At the beginning, he knew which trail led to where, but as he went farther into the forest the paths grew more and more foreign to him. It wasn't often that Thomas went for a run in this park, much less often that he went this deep into its grounds.

Of course, he himself didn't actually notice this and he continued to forage deeper into the forest before he made the mistake of taking one particularly unused path. Roots had grown up through the pavement, cracking it and forcing it into jagged rocks. Thomas hopped past these, completely oblivious.

The only thing he did notice was the fact that the path rose in a steady incline, and that was only because it was making his legs burn. Thomas hadn't been aware that he had gone down this far as he went through the forest and needed to gain the height to get back to being level with outside park he was sure he was nearing, but with the way his mind wandered he couldn't be certain.

Still, he only took the hill as a challenge and pushed on. Thomas's legs began to ache and his breathing came harder, but he persevered. That was, until, a petrifying scream broke through the still air like a knife. Thomas half turned to find the source of the scream, his momentum carrying his body right over a protruding root. He had barely enough time to see the dangerously steep drop in front of him and turn his body away, before he came crashing to the ground.

The ground rose up to meet him, the jagged edges of the broken pavement ripping through his t-shirt and inevitably, his skin. Sharp pain rose up his shoulder blade, pain Thomas barely registered before more flared up as he tumbled down the hill. The path was so steep it shouldn't have been allowed to be a path in the first place. Roots had broken up almost every piece of it, making it all the more painful for Thomas as he fell.

Thomas tumbled backwards, the ground cutting into him with its jagged edges as if this were penance for some terrible crime he had committed. The hill was too steep for him to slow his momentum, and so he didn't try to. Instead he focused on limiting the damage as much as possible. Thomas curled into a ball, shielding his head with his arms, and prayed for the end.

Hi guys! Sorry this chapter took so long, but I promise I will make up for it. Summer holidays have finally begun and I have some great ideas for what is to come. Comments are always welcome, and I hope you like it! - Y