Homeless~Phan

Chapter 3

I'm still on the dock. There is a light breeze, gently blowing humid wind through my hair. I can faintly smell dandelions, along the mixed smell of pond water and mud. Pj and Chris have abandoned all conversation; and are on a mission to make flower crowns. They're on the edge of the forest, picking the wildflowers. Phil is accompanying me on the dock, sitting cross-legged in silence with his eyes closed. Whenever the wind blows, I can smell his scent. He smells of the woods, honeysuckles, and, strangely, campfires. He must have had a bonfire or something recently. Phil opens his eyes and meets mine, and I'm engulfed into a great blue sea, detailed with hints of green. Blinking hard, I turn away. I can feel red swimming to my cheeks, and pretend to sneeze to cover it up.
Why am I getting butterflies in my stomach?
"You have nice eyes, Dan."
Surprised, I look at Phil.
"What?"
"They're a nice color. Not just 'brown'. It's like..."
Phil squints, studying me.
"Melted chocolate mixed with a perfect shade of hazel. Brown eyes are so under appreciated. There's so many different shades and colors; diverse in every way. They're beautiful, really."
He stops talking, and stares into the pond water below us; leaving me with butterflies in my stomach.
When he said 'they're beautiful', did he mean my eyes or brown eyes in general? Maybe he-
My thoughts are interrupted by Chris and Pj, who run onto the deck with handfuls of flowers. Chris yells,
"Alright, motherfuckers. Today, we're gonna show you how to make a bitchin' flower crown."
He sets down the bundles of flowers, and Pj separates them into piles based on colors. When they're finished, they both sit down and Pj begins to instruct us.
"First, place two flowers of your choice like so."
He selects two purple flowers, and crosses their stems.
"Then, you lock them into place by doing this."
Pj wraps one of the stems around the other, and tightens it into a knot. I attempt to mimic him, and break my flower stem in the process. I sigh, and throw it into the pond. After my third attempt, I'm extremely frustrated. I'm about to throw yet another flower into the pond when Phil's soft hands wrap around my own. When our skin makes contact, it sends electric pulses through my body.
"You need to tie them like this," he says softly, his hands moving mine to tie the flower around the stem.
"See, it's not that hard," Phil grins.
When he lets go of my hands, the electric pulse is gone, but the butterflies in my stomach remain. I focus intently on my flower crown, determined to not let Phil see me blush. Pj continues to instruct,
"Now, you just have to repeat that last step; until you finally lock the last flower into place with the first."
Chris is selecting flowers at random, causing his crown to be a whirlwind of different colors.Pj is rotating between red and purple, coordinating them perfectly. Phil is making his crown entirely of the blue flowers. I'm just picking up whatever is left over and weaving it into my crown. Since I finally understand how to weave the flowers properly, I'm finished quickly. I place my flower crown on my head, a bright burst of color amongst the dull brown shade of my hair.
I stand up, and shout,
"I declare myself the king of Grantor Park! Bow before me, peasants!"
Chris suddenly stands up, flower crown on his head, and retorts,
"You fool! Is is I who truly rule this realm!"
"Prove it!"
Chris thinks for a moment, and suggests,
"First one to the jungle gym is the king?"
Off in the distance, I can see the twisted metal dome.
"You're on," I begin to say as Chris gets a head start.
"Hey!" I shout as I dash after him, determined to win. I catch up to Chris, and it looks like we'll tie. Suddenly, a blur of blue and black darts in front of us, reaching the jungle gym first. As we approach, I realize that the victor is none other than Phil, with his blue flower crown askew on top of his dark hair. He triumphantly climbs atop of the dome, and proclaims,
"Bow down before the true king of Grantor Park!"
Pj, who is just now reaching the dome, yells,
"Bow down for King Phillip!"
Chris, Pj, and I all bow mockingly, and Phil declares,
"I invite you peasants to have the golden opportunity to sit with his majesty on his throne!"
He gestures to around him, and we all climb the jungle gym to settle beside Phil.
"We're all too fat, it's gonna break," Chris mutters, earning snickers from everyone. Phil shushes us, and says quietly,
"Look over our vast, futile kingdom, and bask in the glory of being able to rule it."
"Looks like a shitty-ass kingdom if you ask me," Chris interrupts.
"We're trying to have a moment here, Chris."
"Sorry."
We are all silent again, looking over the park. If you ask me, the true kingdom lies in the forest surrounding the park. Off in the distance, it looks beautiful; with the sea of green leaves gently waving in the breeze. I wonder what lies beyond the tree line. Hopefully, something better than the actual park. My eyes observe the forest, when I see something shift among the trees. I squint, trying to figure out what's moving. There's an outline of a tall figure standing behind a tree. It could be an animal, but it looks too big; and bears aren't common in this part of England. Suddenly, a wave of fear overcomes me.
Animals don't wear clothes.
There is a person standing in the forest, watching us.
"G-Guys," I stutter.
"Yeah?" Phil asks, a hint of concern in his voice.
"There's someone in the woods."
"What?!" Phil suddenly sounds terrified, sitting up straighter. "Where?"
I turn to point at the forest, but the person has vanished. All I can see now is the shadows of the trees, no mysterious figure lurking among them.
"There was someone in the trees, watching us!" I exclaim. Beside me, Phil is breathing heavily, clutching the bars of the jungle gym. His knuckles are turning white. Pj is by his side immediately, placing a hand on his back.
"Phil? Phil!" Pj says with distress. Phil doesn't answer him, but stares at the forest, with a look of pure fear on his face.
Pj looks at Chris, whose face has gone white.
"He's having an attack," he mutters to Chris.
"Does he mean an anxiety attack? What caused it?"
They both wrap an arm around Phil, and help him climb down the dome. They begin to walk towards the entrance of the park, me trailing behind them.
"We're gonna take you home, Phil," Pj says soothingly. "You'll be fine."
Chris is talking to Phil in a hushed voice, and I can catch pieces of what he's saying.
"...you don't know that it was actually him, it could have been anyone. People are in the park-"
"It was him, I know it. He's...he's..." I hear quiet sobs as Phil breaks down, his two friends rubbing his back. I want to help, but I don't know how.
It hurts me to see Phil like this. He was so happy and carefree, then...
"That's the cause of this. He must have been triggered...by a person in the woods? No, that doesn't make any sense."
"Will he be okay?" I ask suddenly.
Pj turns to me.
"Yeah, he will. Sorry, mate, but... I think that you should go home now. We all need to. Especially Phil..." He trails off.
We're at the park entrance now, and Phil has calmed down a bit. Chris says,
"Well, um, we'll be going now. See you around, Dan."
"Yeah...bye."
The three of them begin walk off, but I stay rooted in place, watching them go. Phil looks over his shoulder at me, and I gasp at his emotional state.
His eyes are puffed up, and bloodshot. The outline of tears trace his cheeks, and his blue eyes are full of trepidation.
Phil opens his mouth, and I can barely hear what he says.
"S-Sorry."
Fresh tears begin to mist his eyes, and he turns away.
I stand still for the longest time, watching them walk away. I can see Phil trembling, while Pj and Chris support him.
I can't bear to see Phil like this. Breathing heavily, I walk in the opposite direction, away from them; never once looking behind me. The sun is beginning to set, casting long shadows on the pavement beneath my feet.
"I need to look for a place to sleep."
I can't go back to Tesco, because of what happened earlier. I can never stay at one place for too long, because I don't want any trouble. I usually go from place to place, never staying for more than three days.
Eventually, I find an abandoned gas station. The empty shell of a building looks decent for the night. It's sheltered, at least; better than being outside.
Making sure that no one is around, I duck into the doorway. There's signs that someone's been here before, but not recently. I can tell by the empty cans of beer and old crisp bags cluttering the floor.
Stepping around a puddle, I set up fort in the corner furthest from the door. I unpack my sleeping bag, and change into a pair or sweatpants. I settle down into the sleeping bag and shut my eyes, but sleep refuses to come. I find myself tossing and turning, thinking about today's events.
What happened at the park? What made Phil so upset? Who was that person in the woods?
Then, my thoughts drift to the unavoidable:
I'll probably never even see Phil again. We just met today, under the wildest circumstances. No strings attached. He probably doesn't even like me, he just feels sorry for me. Phil might not want to see me, because of what happened at the park. I shouldn't have even mentioned the person in the woods, then he would have been okay...
I feel sleep creeping up on me. Before I drift off, one thing lingers in the back of my mind.
Please let Phil be okay...
A/N:
I'm just evil. Sorry!
Yeah, this was a really hard chapter to write. I usually don't have a lot of emotional shifts in my writing, and this particular scene was a challenge to write. I think I did a good job, though.
THE FEELS IN THIS CHAPTER, THOUGH.
They made flower crowns, and hung out in the park, and we're huge dorks all around. There's also an anxiety attack! Surprise! That was another challenge for me to write. You'll find out more about what triggered it in future chapters...
Look for an update in the next week or two!