Fall Into Me

4 | Walks in Parks

Theodore Elias Woods

My mother dropped me off at the park about fifteen minutes ago.

I wandered around for a while, relatively slowly due to all the limping, finally settling near the fish pond in the far end.

I've been staring at the fat little orange fishes for a while when I hear a small voice. "Aw, I missed you guys too." 

I look to my right to see the girl from school. Theia. The last time I saw her, she was on the verge on a panic attack and took off.

I've also been binging her vlogs for the past couple months. There's really not much to do when you're stuck in bed. 

She seemed different in her vlogs. There's thirteen videos in total and she's progressively more confident, more comfortable being herself throughout them.

Sheesh. I sound like a stalker.

Also, was she just talking to fishes?

"Uh, Theia?"

Her head whips around to face me. She narrows her eyes and stares at me for a good moment. 

"Oh, um, hi" she mutters still looking at my face.

"What are you doing here, Theia?" I ask as if I've been here everyday. Offence is the best defence after all.

"I, um, I usually go for a run around the block in the morning." She tries so hard not to look at my leg brace or my left eye. It's funny. "I'm usually earlier, though." 

It's 7 in the morning, earlier than that?

I look at her for a moment. She's flustered. Probably from her run, but still, the light blush on her caramel skin looks cute.

"You can continue your run, you know? It's alright." She looks at me confused, her brows scrunch together.

"Do you have something to support your leg? You shouldn't put too much pressure on it." Her hand gesture to my right leg.

"I can limp around alright. The crutches hurt my arms," I answer in a nonchalant way.

Theia's eyes study me for a moment. She shakes her head and moves away to continue her run.

But she backtracks a moment later, "You really shouldn't limp around putting pressure on your leg, the bone can easily snap. Like that." 

She snaps her fingers for emphasis. And stretches her hand out to me. "Come along."

Okay.

Is she offering to help me walk? Ooh. This could be fun.

"I walk really slow. I can't run at your speed."

Theia's confident expression falters for a moment, but she recovers quickly. "I can walk slow," she says quietly as her cheeks redden.

I hold onto her long arm, careful not to hurt her. Her entire body stiffens like she cannot phantom what's happening right now.

"I don't bite. Relax, Theia-girl." I whisper leaning into her.

"Okay," she shakes her head. "Where's your car?"

"What car?" I ask confused.

"You know, the one you drove here in. Oh, don't tell me you walked all the way here with no crutches." She's rambling now, furious.

"Hey, clam down, yeah? My mom dropped me," I answer. "And I've been holding on railings and lamp posts. I want my leg to heal as much as the next person."